Page 9 of Promise Not to Fall for the Rich & Famous

“It’s always gorgeous out here,” she assured, handing his board over.

Gage took it, then looked down at the protein bar in his hand, second guessing the gesture. Sunlight bounced off the gold foil wrapping as he considered.

“Oh,” Carly said, her eyes dropping to his hand. “Did you want to hurry and eat that first? Wouldn’t hurt to get a little energy in you.”

“Actually, it’s for you.” Feeling awkward now, he straightened his arm toward her.

Carly shifted her board from one hand to the next and took it. “Oh.” She stared at the snack for a blink, then leaned her board against the counter. A group of rowdy teens stood nearby, talking surf slang and scrutinizing the boards behind the counter.

“I’ll, um, put this in my locker real quick.” She tugged a small key from her suit, pushed through a swinging half-door to get behind the bar, and opened a small locker in the upper corner. She closed it, but then jerked a look back at Gage over her shoulder. “Did you want to put anything in here?”

Gage shook his head no. He’d taken his phone back to the beach house after hitting the gift shop.

“Hey surfer girl,” one of the guys from the group called. “Can I putmyphone in there?”

Another guy swooped his bleach-blond bangs from his face. “Yeah, mine too. And maybe you can put your number in there while you’re at it.”

“Whoa ho, ho!” The group cheered.

“Good call,” one encouraged.

A gentleman who’d been helping them cleared his throat. “If you kids want to rent a locker, you can. Carly can only share hers with her students.”

“Carly?” the kid with the bangs cooed.

“Now we know her name,” another mumbled.

The man’s comment caused the teens to turn to Gage. “Student, huh?” one said while looking him up and down. “Where doIsign up?”

Carly moved back to the swinging half-door and eyed the group before her. “You can sign up right here with Logan,” she said, nodding to the man running the shack. “Marcus has plenty of slots available.” She set her gaze back on Gage. “I’m all booked up.” With that, she walked straight through the gangly bunch and headed toward the waves, not bothering to grab her board.

Gage eyed Logan, who simply nodded toward her board with a pointed look.

“Yeah,” Gage said. “I got it.”

“Should have put your sun glasses in her locker,” the man added. He held his hand out as Gage realized the truth of it. “I’ll keep them behind the counter for you.”

Gage nodded. “Thanks, man.”

“Newbie,” one of the kids mumbled.

Gage turned his gaze back to Carly as he hefted a board in each hand. She was already halfway to the water.

Yep.He was a newbie all right and it showed. If he still had the sunglasses, he’d pull them back onto his face. Instead, Gage puffed his chest, squared his shoulders, and reminded himself that thoseboyswould soon be watchinghimon the big screen which was sure to be a hit among their crowd. It satisfied his ego where the punks were concerned, but Carly was another story. What would it take to get on her good side? Walking down towhere she stood, he vowed to find out exactly what that would entail.

Carly folded her arms as she waited for Gage to make his way through the sand. She hadn’t meant to leave him with both of their boards, but she’d been anxious to get away from the surf boys with their immature comments and catcalls. They were harmless enough, but she wanted to be respected while on the job, not get hit on by a bunch of pre-pubescent surfers in front of one of her students.

Grains of sand slipped between her toes and rushed over her feet as she shifted her weight. She fought the sudden urge to check her hair and make sure it was in place. Standing before the likes of Gage Craven was an experience beyond words. Watching the way he’d pulled the sunglasses off his handsome face, only to reveal the dark brown eyes she’d memorized from the day before…no doubt her face had filled with enough heat to make her cheeks redder than the flowers on her surfboard.

She forced her gaze to a distant row of palm trees and willed herself not to blush yet again. Sheesh, she wasn’t back in grade school. She shifted her weight, allowing her feet to sink deeper, focusing on the cool sand against her skin. It was firm beneath the surface, more solid than the rest. Carly mused she could say the same about herself. Sure, she’d had a rough beginning to her trip to the Palm, with unexpected emotions taking her by storm, but beneath that, she was tough.

As the thought crossed her mind, Carly spotted Gage in her periphery; he was close. Her heart clunked out of beat, then pounded out a new, frantic pace.

“Sorry I left you with my board,” she said, hating how shy she sounded suddenly. She cleared her throat, pulled her gaze off his hypnotizing eyes and stared at her board instead.Yes, Carly. Just don’t look into his eyes and you’ll be fine.Yet as he handed over the surfboard, Gage’s bicep popped beneath the short sleeve of his wetsuit.Fine. Don’t look at his arms either.

She let her board fall to the sand. “Let’s um, start a few exercises first. I’m going to have you drop your board and lay on the sand, chest down.”

Gage rested his board gently beside hers, then looked up at her through a set of dark lashes, a questioning look in his eyes. “Chest down? Right on the sand?”