I jogged over to him and slapped the arm he had dangling out the window. “My name is Samantha, jerk.”
“Sorry I’m late. I couldn’t get the damn truck to start. Are you pissed? You look pissed.”
I shook my head.
“Liar. You were plotting my death, weren’t you?”
How accurately he knew me. I laughed, nodding. “Yes.”
He hopped out of his truck, gave me a hug, and then went around the back, pulling two surfboards out of the flat bed.
I ran my hand over the rust bucket he called a truck. “Nice ride. What happened to your piece of shit car?”
“Well, see, as it so happens, there are plenty of shitty vehicles to choose from at my house. This particular one works well for trips to the beach. Surfboards. See?”
“Ah.” I nodded.Be still my heart.Keith was being so adorably chatty – just the way I liked him. “I see.”
“Officially, I’m only allowed to drive the Surfmobile to and from the beach because every time this baby hits fifty miles per hour, things start flying off. Can you believe my dad has had this truck for over twenty years?”
I glanced over the ancient beast. “Yes. Yes, I can.”
With his winning personality and those affecting eyes of his, I’d almost forgotten that Keith was about to blow my predictable world all to hell. “Relax, Sam. You look like you just found a severed finger in your chili bowl.”
“I wish. I told you I don’t like the ocean. ”
He shoved a wetsuit into my hands. “And I told you, I’m about to change that. Go put this on.”
I held up the tiny suit, seriously beginning to question not only my sanity but his as well. Did he really think I could fit more than a thigh into that itty-bitty wet suit?
“It’s my sister’s,” he explained.
“The four year old’s?”
“No,” he laughed. “Emma’s.”
Oh, well, that explained it. I’d seen his sister around school, and even with my now ten-pound weight loss, there was no way I was fitting into a suit she wore. She was sun-kissed perfection. I was like her pale, plump, fraternal twin.
Keith seemed to pick up on my hesitation. “It’s supposed to be snug fitting.”
Oh, yes. It’ll be snug, all right.
“Come on. Let’s go, Anderson. Stop wasting time. I’ll give you three minutes to get the wetsuit on. Any longer than that and I’ll meet you at the beach.”
I wanted to remind him that he was the one who’d been late, but that impatient expression on his face told me Keith wasn’t playing around. He intended on leaving me if I didn’t get with the program. Maybe him playing hardball was what I needed because, instead of second-guessing myself for all eternity, I raced into the bathroom and began the arduous process of pulling the suit up over my baby-making hips. That was the hard part, requiring a delicate dance of back and forth redistribution before the rest of the suit fell into place with organ-pinching perfection. And, like a seal in a very tight-fitting second skin, I waddled out to Keith with seconds to spare.
His eyes passed over me, landing squarely on my sealskin suit and nodding.
“What? Did it rip?” I asked, crossing my arms over myself. I was so out of my element.
“No. I was just… damn, you look hot.”
“I do?”
Curving his arm around my waist, he yanked me into him, and our bodies pressed together seductively. Keith’s lips hovered close, teasing and tempting me. To say I was out of my element would be an understatement. Last week a boy held my hand for the first time. Today he wanted to kiss me. It was a moment I’d daydreamed about, but now that the boy was here, eager for the taking, I had no idea what to do with him. I ducked out from under his embrace.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, brows furrowing.
“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just – I’ve never been kissed before. If, you know, that’s what you were going to do. Maybe you weren’t, and I totally misread the whole thing, and if I did, I’m sorry, but…”
