Page 29 of South Beach Bodyguards

“Grow up,” Mickey said. “Keep your dick in your pants.”

“Wow. That’s rich. I’m hanging up on you now.”

“How I raised such a brat is beyond me, honestly.”

“You didn’t. I raised myself.” Annoyed that I’d let him get under my skin, I ended the call without saying goodbye and took a few deep breathes. I opened the door and got into my car. It was stifling hot in there. I should have turned it on and blasted the air conditioning. “I’m sorry. I should have put the a/c on for you.” I immediately did that. Isabel looked pink in the cheeks, her forehead shiny from the heat.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine. Just constantly amazed at how narcissistic my father is. He has a gift for always thinking he’s right. It’s amazing.”

“I’m sorry. I could tell you I don’t think he means to be a bully, but I think you know that. Some people are just amazing at assuming everyone else is on the same page as them.”

“That’s very diplomatic of you.”

“It’s true. It means we either have to just accept that’s who they are or spend a ton of energy being frustrated.”

“I guess you’re more evolved than me, because it just pisses me off.” I pulled away and tugged at my T-shirt. I was sweating. “Let’s go get you something to eat, and then fuck it, we’re going to the beach. You need to rest, I need to keep an eye on you, and my dad says he’s ninety-nine percent sure you’re not in danger.” Plus I wanted to see Isabel in a bathing suit.

“I didn’t pack a bathing suit.”

“There are eight hundred tourist shops and a Walgreens. I’ll buy you a bathing suit.”

“Okay.”

I could feel Isabel staring at me, but I didn’t look over at her. I didn’t want to explain my mood, because I didn’t understand it. I just knew that I wanted to go to the beach. I never did this- just spend time with a woman. I was being selfish and playing with fire, but I felt comfortable with Isabel. She was inclined to like me and forgive my dickheadedness.

I asked her about school and she chatted easily as I drove us back to the Beach. She had a nice voice, Isabel. It was soothing. Seductive. Sweet. She told me about her love of animals and how she was applying to veterinarian school in Atlanta. Listening to her, talking about a normal life, with regular goals, made me extremely happy for her. Restless for myself, sure, but pleased for her. That was her future, and she deserved it.

Some day, she’d meet a nice guy who worked at an accounting office, and she would marry him and they’d buy a house in the suburbs of Atlanta or a similar place, and she would spend her days caring for animals, and her nights caring for him.

And I would be alone. Still in my small apartment. Still angry with Mickey. Still occasionally satisfying my carnal urges with women who wanted nothing more from me than a few hours of fun. That’s the way it was going to be, and that was the way it should be.

It didn’t mean that I couldn’t enjoy Isabel’s company now. And it didn’t mean that I couldn’t be her first. That ten years from now, when she was in that house, with that nice guy, that she couldn’t look back on the past, and think about me. Remember that I had taken the time with her to make her first sexual experience a positive one. She could say she changed her mind, but I wasn’t having that. I wasn’t going to let her wind up going home with some guy she barely knew after a couple of dates and having him wind up being a selfish lover.

At the drugstore, I bought a disposable cooler, two beach towels, and a bunch of food, drinks, and ice. I suggested a bikini for Isabel. Yellow. It had fringe on the top, and I was having a fringe fantasy.

She made a face. “That’s a little too… flashy. And these mannequins are ridiculous. They have like Double E boobs.”

“I didn’t even notice.” I hadn’t. But now that she mentioned it… “Well, this is Miami Beach. And you are not exactly an A cup, Is.”

“I don’t look like that.”

“What, plastic? No, you don’t.” I gave her a grin. “How about this one?” It was an American flag design. Patriotic. Sexy.

“Ryan, how about you go get a bottle of sunscreen and I’ll pick out a bathing suit, okay? I’m pretty sure we’re never going to agree on a style.”

That didn’t make any sense to me. “It’s a bathing suit, not a fashion show.”

“Then why do I need fringe on my ta-tas?” She was giving me a pointed stare.

I could concede that I was caught being a perv. But I wasn’t going to. “So it can double as a cat toy?”

Her jaw dropped. Then she burst out laughing. “Sometimes you surprise me. We don’t have a cat.” She gave me a smile and touched my chest, lightly splaying her fingers across my shirt. “Now go away.”

I would but I bent over and murmured in her ear. “I’ve already seen everything you’ve got, Is. No point in trying to hide it.”

Walking away, I let her chew on that for a minute.

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