Page 51 of Sand in My Boots

Cameron breaks the kiss. “Later, sweets. You, me, and other things. Don’t drink too much.” He swats my ass before tossing out a, “Nice to meet you, ladies. Have a splendid afternoon,” before sauntering off, a little more swagger in his hips.

The man is pure sex on a stick.

And he knows it.

I’m barely sitting down before I’m accosted with questions.

“So you and Cameron seem chummy.”

“Girl, you work fast.”

“Holy hell, that man is fine.”

“What happened to what’s his name?”

“Does he have a brother?”

“Whoa. Slow down. One question at a time.” I look around at five faces homed in on me. To the two girls I don’t know, I say, “Hi, I’m Juli. It’s nice to meet you.”

They mumble their names, cut off by Erica asking what’s on everyone’s mind: “You’ve got some ’splaining to do, Lucy. Spill it, girl.”

And I do.

Over Sex on the Beaches—the drink choice was on purpose—I fill them in, interrupted every few minutes by a different girl asking questions. I explain how I knew Cameron from when we were young—keeping our one night to myself—and how we reconnected this week. I omit the nitty-gritty details, leaving it up to their imaginations. Everyone’s single except Erica and one bridesmaid. And of course, there’s Naomi, the romance author. She asks the most questions, trying to get me to spill my secrets. I stay as buttoned-up as possible, though my excitement shows on my face.

“He seems just as into you,” Naomi declares, while the other girls nod along to confirm.

I don’t doubt it. In the small interaction they saw, he never let me get too far away from his touch.

“I’m milking it for everything I can this week while he’s a willing participant. It’s definitely a week to remember.” Erica makes a tsking sound, as if I’ve forgotten the real reason I’m here. “Saturday’s all about you, Rica. Until then, let me enjoy my sexy boy toy.”

“What happens after you go home? Will you continue it?”

The question comes from Naomi, reading too much into the situation with her own romantic twist.

“We haven’t talked beyond Monday when I leave. But I doubt it. It’s not as if long-distance relationships work. Besides, it’s convenient because we’re both here. I highly doubt he’s looking for anything other than casual.” The words taste bitter as I voice them. I don’t want this to be a casual thing, a onetime follow-up to our first time. But beyond the physical distance separating us, we don’t have long-term potential. Cameron Fairbanks isn’t the settling-down type. He’s too much of a person who wants to only have fun.

Is that true? What do you know about what type of person he is with relationships?

The answer is I don’t. I’m basing it on nothing beyond us not talking about what the future holds.

“Would Preston mind?”

“What?”

The question gets asked again. “Preston. Would he have a problem with you being in a relationship with Cameron?”

Another thing I’ve never considered.

We hid our fling as teens because we didn’t want anyone in our business. A onetime thing that didn’t amount to anything else.

Except this week.

If I thought it was hard to forget the one time, how is it going to feel trying to let go of this week?

Suddenly, I’m all sorts of melancholy. I’d blame the drinks, but I’ve only had two. And I loaded up on food, so I wasn’t drinking on an empty stomach.

“Earth to Juliana.”