“You found baby turtles?” Greyson said.
“Yeah.” Kitty turned back to me. “You’ve got to come see, Aunt Jo, there’s so many!”
“I can’t exactly go look at baby turtles right now, Kitty.”
“Oh, right.”
Mia approached with my clothes, her barely contained smile infuriating me. I snatched them from her and strutted over to the pool shower, ducking behind the wall to get dressed as quickly as possible.
I combed my fingers through my wet hair, willing my pulse to slow. I needed to play this cool. Not because I cared what a possibly attractive stranger like Greyson’s dad thought, but because he and Greyson were my neighbors, and I didn’t want them thinking I was some sort of weirdo, which wasn’t going so well at the moment. Greyson’s dad was probably calling his landlord to get his deposit back right now.
When I emerged from behind the shower wall, Greyson perked her head up. “Can we go see the baby turtles now, please?” She whirled around to face her dad. “Can we? Please?”
Greyson’s dad shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
Before I could say anything to Mia and Kitty, they raced off with Greyson, probably trying to get away from me and my anger as quickly as possible. But maybe that was for the best, because I didn’t want them to hear whatever lecture I was about to get from Greyson’s dad. I turned around, an apology on my lips as I walked over to where he stood beside the pool.Look apologetic, I told myself, keeping my gaze on my feet until I stood right in front of him.
When I looked up, finally close enough to make out his face, I froze, realizing I’dalreadymade out with his face. Two nights ago. At Mitch’s.
“Alex?” I said before I could stop myself.
His eyes widened. “It’s Jo, right?”
“That’s me.” Heat crept up my neck. How could Hot Guy from the BarbeHot Single Dad? How could Alex be here? Beside my condo pool? Having caught me completely naked? Nina was going to love this. I tried not to stare at him, but it was impossible.
Alex looked like he was struggling not to laugh when I handed him the towel. This was not the face of an angry parent ready to call the cops on some creep in the condo pool.
“I don’t usually do this,” I said. “There’s a whole story to it.”
Alex slung the towel around his neck. “I’m sure there is.”
“And the other night at the bar,” I continued, “when, you know...”
“When you kissed me.”
“Right. I have this list, you see, of thirty things to do before I turn thirty—”
“Like a bucket list.”
“Basically. One of the items was to kiss a stranger, and the other was—”
“Skinny-dipping.” He snapped his fingers. “I knew kissing strangers wasn’t a real Floridian tradition, but a bucket-list item?” He shook his head. “And here I thought you kissed me because I’m irresistibly handsome.”
“No!” I said, then realized I might have offended him. “Not that you aren’t... or are...” I shook my head. “You know what? Forget the kissing. Tonight I only meant to get in and out of the pool, but my nieces grabbed my clothes and ran off, and then you and Greyson came along and...” Alex didn’t say anything, waiting for me to finish my sentence. “And I don’t want you to think I’m some kind of perv... Because we’re neighbors,” I added, just to be clear about my intentions.
Alex laughed. “Actually, I thought it was kind of cute.”
Cute?“I don’t date,” I blurted out.
He raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t say I thoughtyouwere cute.”
“Oh.” My blush returned with a vengeance. Was it possible to die of embarrassment?
I tried to read Alex’s expression. Was this as awkward for him as it was for me? He clapped his hands together and nodded toward the beach, apparently not feeling awkward at all. “So about those baby turtles?”
Yes. Movement. That would be good.
We left the pool area for the beach, walking side by side in the sand. I kept glancing at him, expecting him to disappear, but there he was, as handsome as he’d been at Mitch’s. Maybe I was having a stress-induced breakdown. Maybe he wasn’t even real, and I’d made him up.
