Page 53 of A Shore Fling
NINA
My phone buzzes just as I’m settling in on the front porch with my cup of coffee. I glance at the screen, groaning when I see my sister Irene is FaceTiming me. I consider ignoring it, but she’ll keep calling until I finally pick up. I accept the call, and her face appears. She’s grinning way too hard for this early in the morning.
“There she is. The prodigal sister, live from the land of lobsters… and harbormasters who save damsels in distress. How’s beach life treating you?”
I snort. “Well, I don’t miss the city yet, so I’m calling that a win.”
“Wow.” Her eyebrows climb toward her hairline. “That’s a little surprising.”
“How so?”
“You’re a workaholic. I figured after a week, you wouldn’t know what to do with yourself and you’d come back.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Hey, I’m glad I was wrong. How’s the hottie harbormaster?”
Still hot.“He’s fine.”
“Then you’ve seen him since the last time we spoke?”
“We’ve been around each other more than I expected. He saved me from floating out to sea, and I saved him from an allergic reaction.” I cringe as I add, “Which I caused.”
“What?”
“It was a busy weekend.”
“Start with him saving you from floating away and work your way forward.”
I share the critical details from the weekend, and when I’m done, her wide eyes stare at me through the screen.
“You sound like you’re one rescue away from writing his name in your journal with a heart around it.”
“I don’t have a journal with me,” I say.
“I call bull. You’re a chronic listmaker, and that habit didn’t disappear just because you left the city.” Irene raises one perfectly arched brow. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
I sigh, leaning back in the chair and stretching out my legs. The sun’s barely up, but the air already smells like salt water. “Fine. I brought some notebooks with me.”
“And have you written his name down in one?”
This is embarrassing.“No comment.”
She points at me. “I knew it.”
“I don’t know what to make of my feelings for him. I’m not sure if I like him or hate him or both. It varies from one moment to another.”
“I’m just going to put it out there, I’ve heard hate sex is super hot.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not sleeping with him.”
“Pfft. Of course you are.” She grins like she’s won. “You have that face. The face you make when you don’t want to admit you’re catching feelings. I’ve seen it. Remember Louis from college?”
“How could I forget? He ghosted me in the middle of junior year.”
“That may be so, but you had six months of obsessing over him and telling me you were in love.”
“You make it sound like I fall for every guy I meet. And my days of obsessing over a man are over.”
