Dirty Summer 3

“Right. That makes sense,” she managed. “Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

He just stared ahead and avoided her gaze. “I just need to hunker down in the boathouse and get the work done.”

“Ok, well, good luck with that,” she said. If he wants to act like last night never happened, two can play that game. “I’m going to go hunt down Blair, and then take Shirley up on that margarita.”

She turned on her heel.

“You don’t have to go get all huffy on me. Justyn and I are going to be busy for the rest of the summer. But there might be a couple of nights we can go cruisin’ before you leave.”

“Just as friends?” she asked.

“Yeah, you know the four of us,” he said.

Friends? What the hell? No friend I’ve ever had kissed like that. This guy doesn’t know what he wants, and I’m not going to throw myself at him—pact about entanglements or not.

“Like I said, I need to go find Blair.”

Six

Maggie

Maggie lowered herself into the hammock and peered at the brilliant stars above. They twinkled against the sky, and for the thousandth time since her arrival, she was amazed at the sheer blackness of an island night. The stars seemed more vivid here than anywhere else on earth.

With a deep sigh, she stretched her legs, crossed her feet, closed her eyes, and felt the world tilt a bit. Too much wine and margaritas, she thought, and immediately opened her eyes to keep her head from spinning.

After leaving Reid standing alone by the kitchen counter, she found Shirley and took advantage of a couple of those famous island margaritas. She chatted with Blair and Justyn for a while before deciding she needed a break from all the revelry.

A light wind played with her hair. She wiped the brown tendrils away from her forehead and searched the sky for the Big Dipper. She could hear the sound quietly lapping against the bulkhead behind the grove of oaks, where the hammock hung.

Faint sounds of beach music drifted into the salty evening air. Maggie looked ahead and could see through the gigantic picture window. The remaining members of the party crowd now danced and sang inside Shirley and Henry’s house. Shirley, Budweiser in hand, was shouting the words to some favorite song while twirling around and pumping her free hand in the air. Maggie spied Blair playfully cajoling Justyn to join the dancing crowd. He looked reluctant but finally yielded to her spirited persistence.

Maggie grinned in spite of herself. That Blair. She and Justyn made quite a pair. The tall islander gave himself away every time he looked at Blair, though he would be the last to admit the way he felt, Maggie guessed.

Sometimes it was hard to believe they had met such hot guys this summer.

The guys. Damn, what was it about Reid that provoked her into making a complete idiot out of herself tonight? She could see him through the window, standing over by the bar. He leaned his towering frame against the corner of the counter. Like Shirley, he stood with a beer in his hand. Even from fifty feet away, Maggie could make out the way his shirt clung to his sexy swimmer’s arms.

She closed her eyes and let the wine and tequila-induced spinning overtake her. The wind whipped her hair again and sent a chill through her flesh as she rubbed her hands up and down her bare arms.

Maggie heard the faint murmurs of country music. She tried to block out the party sounds, and concentrate on the water’s repetitive lapping. She jumped as a shadow passed across her face. Her eyes fluttered open with alarm.

“Reid! I-uh,’’ she gasped.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,’’ he said, giving her a shy half-grin.

He was at her feet, leaned against the tree. He propped himself against the gnarled oak, beer still in hand

&nbs

p; “Looks like you’ve got the best seat in the house,’’ he said.

“Mmm,” Maggie said as she shivered, and this time it wasn’t because of the wind. His eyes were all over her. She could feel his glance penetrate her entire being. It lasted for less than a moment, but it felt like he was taking in her every detail. Yet, he had said he wasn’t interested, hadn’t he? She shook her head to try to clear her senses.

“So what brings you away from the party?’’ she asked. “Looks like it’s really cranking up in there.”

He took another swig of his beer, glanced over his shoulder, and slowly released a breath. “I could ask you the same,’’ he said.

“Just wanted to get some air. You know, sometimes, I get carried away in there. The music, the people, the drinks. Too many drinks. I’m sorry. You’ve been nothing but sweet to me since we met, and I thought we …’’ she trailed off.