He made tracks into the kitchen, the stink of fried fish sticking to him all the way through the door. Outside, he blinked against the sunlight—still bright even near sunset, inhaled a deep breath of salty air to clear his head.
Maybe he could grab a Big Mac and stop by Shelby's house, hang for a while. She was still pretty wigged out by the pregnancy scare and her upcoming move and the way Murdoch was pressuring her to change college choices this late in the game.
Chris kicked gravel. Didn't the guy realize how lucky he was to have somebody like Shelby? Pushing would just screw it all up. Which might not be so bad if it weren't for the fact Shelby would get hurt. And even if by some fluke she dumped her tall cool boyfriend for a scrawny geek, she was still moving in a few weeks.
It so sucked being a teenager stuck living with whatever the parents decided. Moving houses. Splitting marriages.
Definitely sucked.
He tucked around lines of parked cars, putting more space between himself and the restaurant. Okay, so something good had happened today. And the lifeguard job wouldn't be so bad.
But his dad was high if he thought the bathing suit chicks would be hanging out around Chris Price's tower. God, especially not with his bony arms and legs out there and his nose all white from zinc oxide. They'd probably think the base signed on a circus act. At least he didn't have to worry about burning since he tanned like his mom—the one good thing he'd inherited from her.
He rounded the corner to his parking spot—yeah, Dad, away from the ocean and the salt so Mom's car wouldn't rust.
Someone lounged against his back bumper. A girl someone. Shelby? Hope cleared his head faster than the beach air. He stepped up his pace to a jog and saw…
Miranda. Crap. His feet slowed.
Make it official. He now hated Lycra as much as lies.
So much for an easy home free. He'd just talk fast and leave even faster.
Chris threw back his shoulders and walked straight for the car. No hesitation. Ignoring the bodacious bitch, he thumbed the unlock button.
"Hey there, Chris." She arched away from the car and slithered into his path. "I hear you're leaving us."
"Uh-huh. Exams. New job. Less hours. That's life." He reached for the door handle.
Her hand fell on his. Held. Squeezed.
Ah crap, crap, crap. He couldn't push her away, because an honorable guy never got physical with a girl. More of his dad's teaching.
But what was he supposed to do when she got really physical with him?
Miranda slid her body between his and the door. Her cologne wrapped around him and just about strangled off air. "You're sounding mighty cocky there, Chris. You wouldn't be getting any ideas?"
"Only about getting out of here." He pulled his hand off the door handle, which happened to be a little too close to Miranda's butt. Her gloating smile shouted that she knew it, too.
He crossed his arms over his chest.
She flicked her wavy blond hair over her shoulder. "Your quitting wouldn't have something to do with our little misunderstanding, would it?"
Do ya' think? "Nah. It's just what I said."
"About the misunderstanding part, you misunderstood that, too." She hooked a finger in the chain around her neck, sawed it back and forth, bringing the charm up from between her breasts. "So much misunderstanding going on. I'm not saying anything bad happened, but if you go around shooting' your mouth off, people are going to think something did happen."
She kept on stroking that chain, the dangling charm swaying, the red circle with a black triangle in the middle a freaking hypnotizing eye magnet straight down to her—
He jerked his gaze away. Up to her face.
"My reputation will be a mess, Chris. Word gets around, doors will close for me. Word will get around about you, too. People will think you just got away with it, but that you're really a mule. A carrier."
He swallowed down fear and a hefty whiff of her perfume. How could he have ever thought she smelled good? "I didn't have any idea what was going on."
"If you go to the cops with what you think you saw, and say there was something bad going on, do you think they're going to believe you're innocent? They're going to think you're trying to save your skin."
She dropped the necklace back to rest against her tanned skin. "And if, just if, something big really was going on, don't you think the people you're dealing with might be smarter than you?"