His Lifeguard Obsession

“Mr. Sutton, ask Chloe. She’ll tell you that this is nothing,” Carl said. He turned to me, his eyes wide, beseeching me to intervene.

“I don’t need Chloe to defend you, and I won’t put her in the position of being your accuser. I heard enough to make my own judgments. I suggest you get the fuck out of here before I call the cops for trespassing.” With that, Rhett turned to me and put a hand on the small of my back. “Come on, sweetheart. I’ll find someone else to cover your shift.”

I mutely turned from Carl, who was spluttering with outrage. “You can’t do this!” His voice bounded around the pool area.

Rhett barely paused. “I can do whatever the fuck I want.” He turned to toss an insolent grin at Carl. “I’m Rhett Sutton, remember.”

We had left the pool area and made it to the private parking space by the management office before I came to my senses. Rhett opened his car door and ushered me in.

“Wait, where are we going? I have to work. I can’t leave because some asshole propositioned me before I had my coffee. I’d never get any work done if I did,” I protested.

Rhett got into the driver’s seat and pulled out of the space. His hands tightened on the steering wheel until it creaked. “We need to go through the member roster if that’s the case. Those fuckers will be gone by the end of the day.”

My heart leaped in my chest. Rhett was acting like a protective caveman, and something in me was lapping it up. For as long as I could remember, I’d been the caretaker, the provider, the responsible one. Here was this big, strong man, stepping in and taking charge, and a very real part of me wanted to melt into his authority.

“Very funny,” I muttered.

Rhett shot me a serious look. “Who’s joking?”

“You’re just going to get rid of half the club's members?”

“Half? Damn it, Chloe. You can’t be out there day after day, walking around looking like that, smiling at those motherfuckers, being your sweet, funny self. You’re going to give me a heart attack,” he muttered.

Suddenly, the whole situation struck me as hilarious. I laughed, mirth bubbling up in my chest. What the hell was going on? This man was unhinged, and I loved him for it.

Loved him? Shit.

Rhett grinned at me, his anger passing. I sobered as the love word rattled around my head. Did I love this unattainable man? Yes. Wholly, unequivocally yes. My belly dropped.

“Where are we going?” I tried to change the subject.

“Home. My home. You’re done with work today and every day until I can get lifesaving approved Mumu for you,” Rhett muttered, making me grin through the pain in my chest. How had I managed to fall in love with this man so quickly and despite all my best intentions?

“You know, in Italy, they wear bikinis,” I quipped, returning to my usual banter with him.

“Well, this isn’t Italy, thank fuck. I can barely take it as it is,” Rhett said.

I relaxed in the seat and enjoyed how he turned the car along the winding roads outside of town with confident ease. There was nothing about this man that wasn’t a turn-on.

So, enjoy it while you can. Men like this don’t come along every day.

My internal voice was getting hard to ignore lately, especially when she spoke so much sense. What were the chances I’d find someone I was more attracted to than Rhett? Maybe this was my chance to have a memorable whirlwind romance and lose my virginity in style. Sure, it would end with the summer but wasn’t the heartache after worth it, for an amazing memory? When I was old and used up, I could look back on the wild summer where Rhett Sutton had chosen me. I could have the best first time any woman had ever had. So many women would kill to be in my shoes.

“What are we going to do at your house?” I mused as my mind went straight to the gutter.

Rhett raised an eyebrow at me. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”

Well, there was an interesting offer.