Sweet Satisfaction

He reminded me I had a purpose here .

“Bye-bye. Bye-bye,” he repeated .

“Bye.” I hung up and faced the mountain in front of me .

I drank my coffee and looked out the window in time to see Kaitlyn .

I could come up with a hundred distractions, but as long as she was in Padre I wasn’t going to forget last night .

Fourteen

Kaitlyn

I looked around my motel room. I couldn’t stay in here all day and hide out from Cole. I threw a bottle of sunscreen into my beach bag and one of the towels he had brought yesterday. A day at the beach was in order and I deserved this. It was my vacation .

I twisted the key in the lock and pulled my sunglasses over my eyes. The sun was blaring .

“No, I understand, but if you could just give me until the end of the month—” I heard Cole’s voice. It sounded like he was near the ice machine. “I have reservations the rest of the month, if you would just let me keep the account open until then .”

He sounded like he was in the middle of a negotiation. It was unmistakably about the Dunes. “Right, I know you have a business to run. I’m just asking as a favor—only until the end of the month .”

The call must not have turned out the way he wanted, because I heard the ice machine take the brunt of his anger .

I clutched the beach bag tightly to my shoulder and took the steps to the boardwalk two at a time. I didn’t want Cole to catch me eavesdropping on his business call. Things at the Dunes must have been worse than I thought .

From the top of the peak, I could see South Padre beach spreading for miles in both directions. To my left was the spot of last night’s bonfire and to my right was the party mecca. I walked straight ahead, shook out my towel, and stretched out under the Texas sun .

I tried to take deep, relaxing breaths and focus on the warmth of the sun’s rays, the waves pounding the shoreline, and the gulls circling overhead, but every time I heard a wave crash, I thought about that kiss and Cole’s hands on my body. Damn it. I sat up .

It was just a crush—a crush that should be out of my system now. Nothing else could happen .

“Here you go! Party at Bottoms Up tonight .”

A runner with a messenger bag slung over his bare chest ran past while shoving a flyer in my hand. I looked at the fluorescent green paper .

Bottoms Up knows how to party

Be there—everyone else will be

I t wasn’t the most creative marketing I had seen, but it was sure to draw lots of other grads like me. Maybe that was what I needed. I should get away from the Dune Scape and hang out with other people my age. I needed to integrate with the rest of the real world. A distraction from Cole and those lips was in order .

There was a long list of performers. Luckily, whoever had designed the Bottoms Up flyer had added a map at the bottom. Like Peabody’s, it was on the sound side of the island and not too far from where I was staying. I smiled before tucking the party invite into my bag .

* * *

T he green sundress would have to be ok for the Bottoms Up party. It was the only dress I had, and I didn’t want to wear running shorts for my night out. I checked my reflection in the mirror. It hit my curves in all the right spots, and I thought about what Lisa had said about how I looked in it. I wasn’t above accepting a few free drinks tonight .

I grabbed my purse and the palm tree key chain, and jogged out of the door and straight into Cole .

“Oh, hey. Sorry. I was—” I looked at him. He was carrying a stepladder in one hand and his waist was wrapped in a tool belt .

“You in a hurry?” He set the ladder down against the wall .

“I thought I’d try the Bottoms Up party tonight .”

I brushed my choppy bangs to the side. I don’t know why he always made me fidget so much. I never did this around Branch .

“Right. I thought you said you weren’t a party girl.” I couldn’t tell if he was teasing me again or offended I was leaving .