Eeek. Lilly didn’t know whether to laugh or shudder.
“But first I have to find him.” Audra continued. “And to find the kind of man who is going to fill the bill means I’ll have to get out of my comfort zone.”
And out of those oversized sweats, Lilly thought, but didn’t say so.
“I’ll have to get out of my comfort zone and be…” Audra eyed Lilly, her gaze steely. “Bad.”
The outrageous plan had seemed to cheer her best friend, so Lilly let it be. Even as she changed into the new suit and made her goodbyes before heading to the pool area, she didn’t enumerate the hundred-and-one ways in which it could all go wrong. Foremost, Audra seemed to assume she could crush the gorgeous, arrogant man’s heart without doing any damage to her own.
Lilly continued to consider that as she wound her way toward Miranda Thatcher, holding court at one end of the crowded pool deck—many guests obviously anticipating movie night. “There you are,” the older woman said, smiling. “Sit right beside me,” she said, pointing to a free chair, “and someone will be by with food.”
The anniversary celebrants were gathered there, as well as many other resort guests, and the staff passed among them palm-sized cardboard trays used to serve a version of summer picnic fare: small barbecued beef sliders; kebabs made of grilled hot dog slices between chunks of onion and sweet pickle; colorful potato salad with red and Yukon gold potatoes, with red onion and crisp celery; juicy watermelon pieces skewered between green and red grapes.
Lilly was enjoying the repast while casually chatting with those around her, when the scrape of chair legs alerted her to a newcomer. Alec dropped down beside her, and she suppressed the impulse to inch away from him. The urge for self-preservation was strong, but as she’d told him this morning, she wasn’t going to play the idiot and pretend she didn’t know the man. She’d promised herself not to worry about regrets and they had been naked in each other’s arms.
Goose bumps lifted on her arms at the memory and she snuck a quick look at him. He sat back in his chair, in black board shorts and a collared cotton shirt, looking like a high-end tourist ad for the French Riviera. Her gaze ran down his muscled legs, hairy but not too, then jerked it back to his face when she felt the heat of his own amused regard.
“See something you like?” he asked in a lazy voice. “Because I sure do. Has anyone told you that hot pink is your color?”
She refused to squirm in her seat or fidget with the deep V of the swimsuit that she’d covered with a matching sarong of a filmy fabric. “Shh. You’ll give people ideas.”
“About?”
“I’m here because your mother asked me,” she said, as he snagged a slider offered by a server.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t engage in meaningful conversation. Remember, I told you I intend for us to get to know each other better.” He laughed at her expression. “Why do you find that so alarming?”
“I’m here because your mother asked me,” she repeated.
“Her questions will be way more probing if you let her get a chance, believe me. And if I don’t appear to be charming you, I guarantee she’s going to fix you up with my cousin Edmund Pevensie.”
The name rang a bell. She narrowed her eyes at Alec. “That’s the younger brother from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The one with the bad judgement.”
“Once again notice how much we have in common,” he said, admiringly. “I read that book as a kid too.”
She had to laugh. He continued to make her chuckle as they finished eating, regaling her with tales of his mother’s attempts to lure her sons into summer reading. “It was an exercise in frustration for all of us, since Simon and I only responded to rewards from the local skateboard shop, which made us eager to spend more time on our boards in the sunshine rather than with the books she stacked up everywhere.”
“I loved reading, particularly in the summer,” Lilly said. During those long days without school, she’d needed an escape from the disorder and dysfunction of her aunt and uncle’s household and had carted back armfuls of books from the local library.
He cocked his head. “Let me guess. The more fanciful the books the better. Princesses and fairies and exotic lands.”
She flushed, because it was true. “Biographies of world war heroes and heroines,” she lied. “Detailed texts on outdoor survival techniques.”
Now he laughed, as if he could see right through her.
When dark descended and it came time for the movie showing, it was Alec who stood in line as the staff handed out floats. He came back with one for each of them, then took her by the hand to tug her to the wide steps leading into the pool.
“You don’t have to be my escort,” she grumbled at him. The pool’s water was heated to such a degree she didn’t even wince as she waded in to mid-thigh.
“I’m your bodyguard,” he said, politely holding her donut-shaped float steady as she attempted to drape herself over it.
“That’s lifeguard,” she corrected, fussing with the now-wet sarong which, like an eel, had wrapped her legs and was making a graceful mount impossible.
Alec’s sure hand found the knot at her hip and in a second’s work had the fabric whipped from her body. He tossed it over an empty chair by the side of the pool, his eyes on her instead of the flying scrap of material. “Bodyguard,” he said, his gaze running over her curves. “As in keeping yours all for myself.”
“Alec!” she admonished, and scrambled into the float to avoid him guessing how flustered she was.
Then the nearby lights were dimmed as well as the pool’s underwater glow. Next the movie began, projected onto a huge screen set up amongst lush greenery. Laughter and chatter quieted as the film
