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I dropped them on the floor and slipped them on. Much better, I thought. I grabbed my tote bag and popped my phone inside. I placed a hand on the door now and looked back one last time before opening the door with every intention to head to the beach. So maybe I wasn’t as cool as her friends and I wasn’t making my first stop the bar. And maybe I wasn’t going to meet another random stranger and have mind-blowing sex, but I was going to have a good time. And I was sure as anything going to try to stop thinking about Lance Easton.
The elevator doors opened and I stepped in. I looked over to the woman next to me, her head down as she was typing something on her phone. Oh, but maybe I could check my email once last time, too. I took my phone out and pulled my email up. Nothing.
I knew I had an automatic reply on that I was out of the office, but this was just ridiculous. Didn’t someone need me? I owned my own successful PR company for crying out loud. And I had no messages? It must’ve been the connection, I decided. Must not have good connection. I reloaded the page just in case.
Still no emails.
I groaned and the woman looked over at me and gave me a dirty look. “Sorry,” I said and put a hand up.
I waited for the elevator to hit the lobby, which happened to be where we were both going. “So what are you here for?” I asked, swaying on the balls of my feet.
She looked at me and tossed her black hair behind her. “My anniversary.”
I swallowed. “Oh, wow. How many years?”
“Ten.” I gave her a once over, just barely, so she didn’t notice. Too late. “We were young when we eloped.”
“Gotcha,” I said, grinning. I held my hands to the front of me. “Well, I’m here for my sister’s bachelorette party.” I didn’t know why I just said that, it wasn’t like she asked.
The woman clicked her tongue. “Good for you.”
The elevator doors opened and I waited for her to go first. She did and I sighed. Thank goodness those doors opened up when they did because I wasn’t sure how much more inane chitchat I could make.
I was so much happier being by myself on my laptop, answering emails and helping out my clients who depended on me. This was a bad idea that was only made worse by that little nagging voice in my head that insisted there was a chance I’d run into Lance again. So not ideal.
I stepped out of the elevator and heard the doors close behind me. I put my sunglasses over my eyes and looked out toward the beach, walking the path I’d walked three years ago. But it’s okay, this definitely wasn’t going to be history repeating itself.
Chapter Seven
Lance
“Which one of you a-holes is going to be getting a tat with my name?” I turned around to where I was sitting on the bench in front of my locker in the locker room and ignored the new guy’s idiotic question.
He was a new hire and I couldn’t even remember his name, if I was being honest. All I knew was that he was another lifeguard and a total ladies’ man. He acted like he was a gift to the female population. He just graduated from college and had no real job experience or marketable skills. It wasn’t true what people said—men gossiped just as much as women did, if not more frankly, and the gossip mill was all over this douchebag and his big ego.
Marcus, one of the other surf instructors, answered him, shooting him a dirty look as he did. “What are you talking about?”
The guy held up two tickets and whipped them around in the air. “It means one of you lucky suckers is going to get the opportunity of a lifetime and you might just love me enough to brand yourself with my name.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.
I scoffed and he came behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders before running through the locker room and brushing his hands over all the lockers. I looked down and shook my head. What an idiot, I couldn’t help but think. I mean, he was clearly looking for attention, and he wasn’t going to get it from me.
I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it in my locker.
“Come on,” he roared. “Who wants to go to the Miami Heat game with me this weekend?” He waved the tickets in the air again, flipping them with his hand. “Any takers? These babies are courtside, or did I forget to mention that?”
Marcus shook his head, but kept his eyes fixed on the tickets. “Uhh… why would you tease me like this?”
“No tease. Come on, it’ll be fun.”
“You might care to ask what you’ll have to do to get them, Marcus,” one of the other guys said before slamming his locker shut and walking out, shaking his head the whole way out.
“No, I can’t, it doesn’t matter anyway. My wife’s family is in town this weekend, there’s no way I’ll be able to sneak away.”
He turned his attention to me just then. “You must have nothing going on. What do you say?”
I got up from the bench and started walking to the door to leave, too. “Looks like you’ll have to go on your own. I’ve got responsibilities of my own.” Like a son, who I wasn’t going to leave with one of his uncles so I could go to some basketball game with a guy I didn’t even know or like. Even if the seats were courtside.
Not giving him a chance to respond, I opened the door and walked out. I swore every time I entered that locker room I felt like I went through a time machine and I was in high school again, having locker room chats with the guys about who was whipped or who was sleeping with the prettiest girl.
