Summer Wish, Page 2

She was proud of Raya, even though she believed that their parents wished she’d attended college. But Lea knew that it wasn’t in her sister’s cards. Raya had never been one for school. She’d barely gotten her diploma, and she doubted Raya would work any harder in college. Her sister was a social butterfly and had more friends than Lea would know what to do with.

  This was why she loved the Wildflowers. The five friends made it easy to be around them. They laughed, joked, and included her in everything, and Lea never felt awkward or out of place. Even if Lea spent most of the time just listening to the friends talk, she always felt part of the group.

  In truth, they were her only friends. She had acquaintances at her other job, a handful of people she’d known over the past few years that she liked, but she’d never spent any of her free time with them.

  There were several people that worked at the resort besides the five friends and their husbands or fiancés that had invited her to hang out. The surprising part was that she had agreed to do so and had always had a good time.

  “Burning the midnight oil?” Dr. Sanjay Rufkin asked her when she stepped out into the hallway after handing off her patient to the ER nurses and the doctor.

  “You could say that,” she answered, trying not to roll her eyes at the man who, for the six months since his divorce had been finalized, had been hitting on her nonstop.

  “Still working for the swinger camp?” he asked, trying to tease her about River Camps.

  It wasn’t a swinger’s camp. Sure, some of the guests liked to party, and there had been a few parties that had gotten out of hand at first. But for the most part, guests came there to relax and have fun. Something she hadn’t allowed herself to have until recently. Fun, not sex. As far as sex went, Lea was… well, picky.

  Okay, maybe it wasn’t necessarily her that was picky. She’d tried dating in school. In college that was, not high school. She’d finished high school at the tender age of thirteen and a half.

  Still, since the high school she’d gone to was small, most of her classmates were in all of her core classes.

  Instead of listening to the teachers, she’d been taking online college classes. Being a teenager at Harvard left her with a huge “Do not enter” sign on her forehead.

  By the time she’d wanted to date, she’d been surrounded by men too old or too engrossed in women who looked like models to do anything about it.

  “You know it,” she answered Sanjay. She walked down the hallway towards the ladies’ restroom, the only way she knew, outside of having another emergency come in, to get away from the man.

  Sanjay was your typical male doctor. He believed he knew more than anyone else in the building. He was nice enough and most of the staff liked working with him. But most of the staff didn’t have medical degrees either.

  Whenever Lea worked at the hospital, Sanjay questioned every decision she made. He was one of her main reasons for wanting to cut back her hours at the hospital.

  Without looking back, she ducked down the outside hallway and slipped out of the building. It wasn’t until she stood in the muggy late spring heat in the parking lot that she remembered she had ridden in the back of the ambulance from the resort. It wasn’t normally this hot mid-March, but they’d been having a heat wave the past few days. The spring grass was still brown. The pollen in the air didn’t help either.

  Still, the tourists didn’t mind. They just enjoyed the warmth, as always.

  She pulled out her phone and had just opened the app to get a ride when a police car pulled up and stopped in front of her.

  Without looking in, she knew instantly who it was.

  Watching Brett Jewel step out of the car in his uniform had her mouth watering. How had the guy fallen under her radar in school? Sure, she’d considered him annoying at first, then he’d shifted to being a friend, and now…

  Just seeing him in his tight black uniform shirt, which stretched over those impressive muscles, had her temperature spiking. She’d never really had a thing for men in uniform. Not until she’d gotten a look at Brett shortly after she’d moved back into town.

  She’d heard at college through the online grapevine that he’d become a cop. Even though he’d always been getting into trouble; she knew it had been a dream of his. But in the past few years, she’d bumped into him enough times at the hospital to see how well he fit into his new role.

  “Afternoon,” he said, moving around the hood of his patrol car. “Need a lift?”

  Lea narrowed her eyes. “Who called you?” she asked.

  The smile he flashed her confirmed that someone had indeed called him and informed him that she’d ridden in the back of the ambulance with the patient.

  “Can’t I just be driving by and decide to come to see you?” he said, leaning against the front of the car.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at him. “Do you know what my IQ is?” she asked smoothly.

  His smile widened. “Probably a great deal higher than mine.”

  “Then you know trying to lie to me is a waste of time,” she replied. “Yours and mine.”

  He laughed and moved over to open the door. “I’m heading out to the resort anyway. You might as well ride along. Unless you want to wait an hour for an Uber. It is spring break, remember?” He cocked his head to the side and waited for her answer.

  She narrowed her eyes towards the back seat, where he stood holding the door open.

  “Do I really have to ride in the back?” she asked.

  His blond eyebrow arched up. “I suppose you’d fit in the trunk.”

  She rolled her eyes and moved towards the back seat. She caught her breath when she passed him. Brett Jewel. Greek God. No, scratch that. Nordic God. He was Thor and Hercules wrapped up in the same package.

  His blond hair had darkened slightly over the years and was cut a great deal shorter than it had been in school. The day’s growth of stubble on his chiseled chin held a slight hint of red to it. His dark blue eyes held humor in them and, if she thought about it, always had.

  He was as comfortable to be around as any of her school friends. Yet a new awareness had her body reacting to him as it never had before.

  “Thanks,” she said as she slid into the back of the patrol car.

  “Why are you heading out to the resort?” she asked when he climbed into the car and started driving out of the parking lot.

  “Aiden asked me to take a look at their new security system.” Brett glanced in the rearview mirror. “He mentioned that you’d had an emergency?”

  “One of the guests had heart failure,” she replied quickly. She didn’t like giving out too many details. “He had a pacemaker.”

  “How’s he doing?” Brett asked.

  “When I left, he was stable.” She looked down at her phone at the update from Karen, one of the nurses that had taken over for her. “They’re moving him to a private room.” She updated him then shot off a text to Elle, giving everyone there an update.

  “Good to know,” Brett said. “I guess it was a lucky thing that they had you there.”

  She thought about what would have happened to the older man if she hadn’t been reading by the pool when he’d collapsed a few feet away from her.

  “Yeah,” she said, looking out the window. It was March and already hitting three-digit temperatures. “He’d had three River Camps specialty drinks in half an hour. Not to mention he’d plowed down one of Isaacs’s specialty burger plates.”

  “Everything in moderation. Right?” Brett threw over his shoulder.

  “Right,” she agreed.

  “I’m sure I’d never catch you cutting loose like that”—his eyes met hers in the mirror— “again.” He smiled and she felt her face heat with the memory of the night a few months back. Well, partial memory. She’d cut a little too loose that night since Brett had tagged along and had made a point of giving her extra attention. She’d needed the alcohol to relax around him that night.

  He had just been injured by
a bunch of out-of-control jocks on a golf cart and was limping around that night. She’d been reminding him—again—that he should be taking it easy when he’d cornered her in the club booth and kissed her.

  She’d been several drinks in and had kissed him back before she’d realized what she was doing.

  “I can cut loose when I want to,” she countered, feeling foolish suddenly.

  “Yeah.” His smile grew. “I remember.”

  She wanted to change the subject. Quickly. But she heard herself saying instead, “It’s not about cutting loose. I can have fun.”

  “Sure you can. When was the last time you had fun?” he teased her, another steady Brett fact that she could always count on.

  “Liam and Elle’s wedding,” she threw out.

  She saw Brett’s eyebrows rise slightly in the rearview mirror. “What’d you have? A glass of wine? Danced a couple of songs?”

  “Two glasses of wine and I danced until I had blisters on my feet,” she countered again, making her feel even more foolish. It was times like this she was thankful that her cheeks didn’t turn pink when she became flustered or embarrassed, like her sister’s did. Still, she glanced down at her phone and avoided his eyes.

  “You had blisters because of those sexy red spiky heels you were wearing.”

  She held her breath, trying not to let the fact that he remembered the shoes she’d worn to a party over six months ago affect her. Or the fact that he’d just called them sexy.

  “Is that why you sat alone for most of the party? Your feet hurt?” he asked.

  “I… didn’t.” She frowned. Had she? She remembered hanging out with Aubrey and Aiden, who had just started officially dating. Or had just started letting people know that they were an item, at any rate. But then they had hit the dance floor and, sure enough, she’d sat there alone for most of the night, when she hadn’t been dancing. Hannah and Owen’s wedding was less than a month away, which meant that, in a year’s span, she would have attended five weddings.

  “What happened to the girl you were with? Crissy?” she asked, changing the subject. She remembered being hurt when he’d walked in with the pretty blonde on his arm. Part of her had hoped that he’d ask her to go to the event.

  “Crystal. Her parents are friends with mine,” he corrected with a shrug. “She’s back in DC.”

  She smiled. “Wow, she had to leave the state after just one date with you?”

  The stab had the opposite effect on him than she’d intended. Instead of frowning or getting hurt, he smiled.

  “There wasn’t really much there,” he replied dryly.

  “Oh, if I remember correctly, there was plenty there.” She held her hands up to her chest, signaling just how large Crystal’s assets had been.

  Brett’s smile grew. “Physically, sure, but up here.” He tapped the side of his head. “She actually believed that this part of Florida was part of Mexico because we’re next to the Gulf of…”

  “Mexico,” she finished with a chuckle. “Yeah, I can totally see that. I found her taking selfies in the bathroom.”

  “Don’t most women do that?”

  She laughed. “She had a selfie stick and easily took more than a hundred pictures.”

  He shrugged. “How many selfies do you take?”

  She thought about it. In the last year, she’d taken maybe one? Two? Feeling embarrassed about that fact, she changed the subject.

  “It was a nice wedding. I’m looking forward to the next three.” She saw a look of calculation cross Brett’s eyes. It reminded her of when he used to try and come up with an answer in class when he had been called on but hadn’t been paying attention.

  “Who are we talking about?” he asked.

  She chuckled. “Hannah and Owen in less than a month.” She counted on her fingers. “Scarlett and Levi this fall. And Aiden and Aubrey. They’ve scheduled their wedding for this winter. Rumors have it just around Christmas.” She shrugged.

  “Aiden and Aubrey? So soon?” he asked, causing her to smile.

  “They’ve been seeing one another on and off for the past three years. I personally got the hint that they were an item long before anyone else did,” she admitted.

  “You did?” He frowned back at her as he turned into the resort.

  “I saw them… one evening at the pool.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked as he parked.

  “It wasn’t my place,” she said simply.

  He turned off the car and turned around to look at her. When she reached over to open the door, she heard him chuckle again.

  “Can’t get out from inside.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “You’re stuck with me until I decide to let you out.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Which is now,” she said firmly.

  His smile grew. “You’re always so serious. Where do you have to run off to? Do you honestly think there’s going to be more than one emergency in a day?”

  “Yes,” she answered quickly. “There’s usually a few.”

  “Seriously?” He frowned and glanced around the empty parking lot. “What kinds of emergencies?”

  “Besides heart attacks? Sickness, sprained appendages, bug or snake bites, sunburns, cuts or other wounds. Not to mention how many times someone has been shot at or knifed around here.” She thought about several incidents in the past that included not only a kidnapping but a stabbing. “Not to mention keeping Zoey from working too hard and watching out for baby to arrive any day now.”

  “Okay, so you’ve got job security,” he said with a sigh. “Who would have thought that an old-people’s camp could be so dangerous.”

  “Snowbirds, not old people,” she corrected. “Calling anyone over the age of forty old is just plain rude. It’s not a retirement home. Most of the guests that visit here are in their forties and fifties.”

  “Right,” he said, sounding unconvinced.

  “Actually, I’m surprised Elle hasn’t hit you up to run security around here. With all the… recent incidents, they’ve been talking about hiring someone full time.”

  “Oh, she’s mentioned it,” he answered with a shrug.

  “Too busy?” she asked.

  He glanced back at her and, instead of answering, climbed out and opened the back door for her.

  Once again, she realized just how nice it felt to be so close to Brett. He was leaning casually on the door as she passed by him. She could smell his scent and was shocked at how familiar it was. How it did funny things to her insides as she soaked it and the sight of his blue eyes in.

  He stopped her from moving behind him by laying a hand on her arm.

  “I’ve thought about it. Working here,” he said softly. “But I’m needed elsewhere.” His eyes ran down to her lips.

  Her heart jumped in her chest at the thought of him kissing her again. What was going on? Did that look mean that he was interested in her? They’d never been anything but friends. After all, he’d spent the first few years teasing her.

  “Lea.” Her walkie-talkie jolted her out of her thoughts. She pulled it from her pocket and answered.

  “Yes?”

  “Are you back on site?” Elle asked.

  “Yes, just got here.”

  “Good. Mr. Ridges fell in a bushel of poison oak. He’s waiting in your waiting room,” Elle answered. “Oh, and Mrs. Lipton took a volleyball to the face. She has a black eye. She’s there too.”

  “I’ll be there in five.” She tucked her walkie-talkie back into her pants.

  “Duty calls,” Brett said, his face void of any of the interest that had been there moments earlier.

  “Yes.” She sighed and turned to go.

  “Is it everything you thought it would be?” he asked, stopping her.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Working here.”

  She smiled. “It’s far better.” She took off down the pathway that led to her small medical building, which sat off to the side of the main building.

  It was a
new building. New to her, anyway. Aiden and his crew had transformed it from an old supply cabin shortly after the hurricane had ripped its roof off. Her old rooms had been in the main building, but she liked the cabin space more. It was… all hers. Another reason she loved her job.

  Chapter 2

  Brett felt the sweat rolling down his back. He endured the ache of his muscles screaming at him as he pushed on through the deep white powdery sand. Running in full uniform in one-hundred-degree heat wasn’t his idea of fun, even on one of the most beautiful beaches in the States. Neither was the fact that he was chasing a kid easily ten years younger than him, who was wearing nothing more than a sock over his junk. Hell, Brett’s badge weighed more than that thing did.

  He’d been chasing the guy for almost five minutes and was actually gaining ground when he passed the sock on the ground and cursed under his breath. Now he had to tackle a fully nude man on the beach. And it wasn’t even noon yet.

  Spring break was always like this. Well, maybe not the naked guy, but there was always a group that partied too hard and caused problems.

  Flying through the air, he finally took down the kid and landed in the soft sand with a thud, making a point to keep his hands far away from the kid’s junk.

  Families gasped in shock as they watched the scene unfold. He cuffed the kid, thankful someone had left a towel nearby. He tossed it over the kid’s waist and stood up.

  “Nothing to see here,” he said, dusting the sand from his uniform. While he read the kid his rights, the guy’s friends finally caught up with them and started harassing him.

  “Leave him alone, man,” one of the other drunk guys said.

  “He wasn’t doing nothin’,” another one yelled at him.

  “Indecent exposure isn’t nothing,” he replied dryly.

  “If you hadn’t chased him, he wouldn’t be indecent,” a girl shouted at him.

  “Your friend is also under arrest for having an open container on the beach,” he added.

  “What?” all three of the other people shouted.

  “Alcoholic beverages are not allowed on this stretch of beach during the month of March. There are signs everywhere clearly stating this.” He motioned to the signs posted on the trash cans no less than fifteen feet away.