Page 56 of OneTime Lovers
She laughs. “Well, let’s just say when I decide to do something I’m all in. Besides look at the sunrise, it’s going to be a beautiful day. Maybe even warmer than usual for late September.”
I continue to grin down at her like an idiot. “Well, thanks for the weather update and I agree this should be a fun weekend, so let’s get to it. Climb in while I throw your bag in the back. She peers into the back of the SUV and her eyes widen when she sees how full it is of boards, cardboard boxes, and bags.
“Wow, are you moving into the beach house,” she asks.
“I guess it kind of looks that way. But no, I promised I’d leave some stuff at Blake’s beach house for his family to use. It’s all my company’s gear and I like sharing it with friends. His family are cool with letting me stay at the beach house whenever so it’s the least I can do.”
“Finally, I’ll get to see your merchandise,” Jas declares as she settles into the passenger seat.
I can’t help but respond, “Jas, you have seen my merchandise plenty of times. You only need to say the word and I’ll whip it out for another private viewing.” I wink at her, grinning from ear to ear.
With a playful slap on my leg, she does one of her cute eye rolls. This weekend is already looking promising.
Chapter 28
Jasmine
ArrivingattheSouthamptonbeach house a couple of hours later, my real estate brain can’t help but envy the location and style of the house. It’s one of the original shingle-style beach houses which I’ve always loved. They have so much more character than the modern architectural buildings which have been popping up in recent years along the coastline.
As I jump down from the SUV, Scott is already grabbing our overnight bags from the back, leaving the rest of the gear to bring in later.
Walking up to the large wooden door, Scott rings the bell and within moments the door swings open with Cassie on the other side. She envelopes me in a tight hug as if we hadn’t seen each other for months rather than the reality of only a week ago at Friday drinks.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me till this morning, that you were coming for the weekend,” she reprimands me. Little does she know I only finally decided to come, last night.
Over drinks with Lily and Trudy, I shared my worry about going all in with Scott. I like him, maybe even more than like, and talking through my feelings with the girls made me see clearly I need to stop running scared.
They encouraged me to take a leap and accept Scott’s weekend invitation with lots of ‘hot Aussie sex’. Trudy’s words not mine. I guess I didn’t need much convincing after the way Scott came to my rescue the other day during the storm and distracted me in the most delicious way. I did however need some reassurance that I wasn’t opening myself up to future heartache as this weekend away together was always going to be a turning point for us.
Cassie whispers meaningfully for my ears only, “We need to talk,” then louder for Scott’s benefit she tells us, everyone is out on the back deck. “Come on through.”
Scott drops our overnight bags inside the door, saying, “Hey, Cass, can you send the guys out to help me unpack the rest of the gear.” I offer to help but he insists the guys can do it.
Shrugging, I follow Cass through to the open plan kitchen and living room with large glass doors spanning the back wall. Wow, this room would be fantastic in summer with those doors all pulled back open, expanding the living space. She leads me straight out onto the deck and quickly sends Luke and Blake off to help Scott.
The wide wooden deck spans the length of the house, and even though it is tucked into the protection of the grass-topped dunes, it offers a panoramic view of the beach. It appears to be a quiet beach. Only a few walkers down by the water’s edge stroll by, some with children trailing behind or dogs bouncing about at their feet. Still, they are a distance away with the strip of dunes between the house and the beach, then the expanse of sand down to the water.
Hugging Bec, the three of us settle down into deck chairs, turning them around to face each other instead of out to the view. And as soon as the guys are out of earshot, Cassie begins her interrogation.
“What the heck, Jas? You never told me you and Scott were a thing. I know you’ve been a one-time, two-time, I’ve lost count kind of thing, but not a real-life thing. I’m one of your besties. How could you hold out on me like this?” Bec snickers into her coffee cup, choosing to leave all the quizzing to Cassie.
Pouring myself a coffee, I explain, “We’re not a ‘thing’ really. No scrub that, I don’t know what you’d call Scott and me, but I guess our relationship kind of changed the other night when he came over and stayed with me during the storm.”
Cassie sits bolt upright in her chair, “Whoa, back up there. You never said Scott was with you when I checked in to see if you were okay.”
Looking down into my coffee cup, I explain, “Well, he wasn’t, at that point. I was going to try to ride out the storm by myself, like an adult but it turned out when the storm hit, I was one big baby.” I grimace. “Pathetic really. But by that time, it was too late for you to come. Scott texted, realized I was alone, and ran straight over.”
“Ahh, that’s so sweet,” chimes in Bec. She is a bit of a romantic at heart, well more so than any of my other friends.
“Yeah, it was.” I sigh, remembering how safe he made me feel. When I think about how quickly Scott ran to my rescue, putting himself in danger, I get a bit mushy inside.
At that moment the guys return carrying surfboard bags and cardboard boxes. Scott glances my way and my smile beams back at him. He answers silently with one of his crooked, sexy smiles and a quirk of his brow. I know I confuse him a lot of the time with my crazy mood swings.
The guys place the bags and boxes up against the wood railing of the deck. Wow, Scott really did bring a lot of gear, now that I can see it all clearly lined up.
Cassie springs up from her seat like a child on Christmas morning. Having grown up in Daytona Beach, Florida, she has been surfing most of her life and is clearly excited to see new boards.
Scott passes one of the board bags to her, saying, “Here, Cassie––this one is especially for you.”
