I huff out a laugh. “I have a feeling I’ll run into that a lot here.”
“Maybe, but you’re noticing men. Which is the first step to getting over your ex.” She looks over thepool deck. “There’s one for me.” She peers over the top of her paperback and her eyes are narrowed.
I look over to see a guy around my age or even younger making his way toward the metal ladder at the edge of the pool. He’s tall with longer hair that he throws over his shoulder as he gets out.
“He’s . . . young.”
“A toxic trait of mine,” she says with a sigh. “I love them immature.”
“How do you know he’s?—”
One of his buddies tackles him into the water. I wince. When he comes up, he’s sputtering, but laughing.
“Come on! Gimme a warning before you rail me!” he yells.
“He’s ... uh, not worried about how he sounds?” I ask it slowly.
“You can judge me,” she says back. “And I’m not going after him. Trust me, I’ve learned my lesson about younger men.”
I raise an eyebrow to ask about how she’s learned it, but then her eyes widen and her jaw drops.
“How did I misshim?” She slaps my arm as she sits up. “Jesus Christ.”
“Who? Where?”
“Dark hair. Getting out of the pool. This is eye candy forbothof us.”
I turn. Idosee a man with dark hair getting out of the pool. My mouth goes dry as I see a lithe frame glistening with water. He’s laughing as he gets out, and I swear time slows as my heart kicks into gear.
But I’m not looking at a stranger.
I’m looking atNate.
“Uh, Scarlett?” I manage to say. “I ...”
“Shh, Mommy’s watching.” She’s fully sitting up. “I hope he’s not married.”
I look back at Nate.
Sometimes I forget we’ve both grown up. And over the years, I’ve definitely not noticed that he’s ... hot.
So hot.
I need to rip my eyes away, but his muscles are hypnotizing. All of him is.
Should his swim shorts be that low? And what’s hiding underneath?
Oh, God. Am I thirsting afterNate?The one who’s my best friend? The man who doesn’t even want to be near me?
“Oh, shit. He’s coming this way. I have a rule to stay single here. So don’t let me do anything.”
I can’t say anything. My brain is fried from the thoughts of Nate’s ... everything. Now that I’m having the thought that he’s hot, I can’tstophaving it.
Even though I need to tell Scarlett who he is.Desperately.
“Maisie.” Nate’s voice is now in front of me. “Did you make a friend?”
His voice is deep. God, it’s like velvet.
