“What? You don't want to give me your home address? Are you afraid I might be a serial killer?” Noah narrowed his eyes as though he were serious, but his voice told me he was still playing.
“No, I don't want to give my roommates a reason to point and laugh.” I remembered the last tourist I had pick me up. The wolf whistles from the boys had followed us out into the street, and that was after Brooke had questioned his motives and made sure he had appropriate protection.
“So, you're embarrassed by me?” Noah gave a pretend pout.
“No!” I exclaimed and then took a breath. “I'm embarrassed of wolf whistles and embarrassing stories. My coworkers are like family and they think it's funny whenever I go out on a date. It took them two weeks of teasing before they realized that I was actually working at the bar and not just getting dressed up for fun.”
“They sound charming,” he said with a laugh.
“I love them, but they've decided that I'm their innocent little sister. They like to tease, but they're also very protective of me. They're like the older brothers I never had.” I shook my head and smiled. “I'm really just saving you from interrogation.”
“I don't know, I could go for some embarrassing stories of you,” Noah said thoughtfully.
I punched his arm. “You have to earn those stories. I don't let just anyone hear them anymore.”
“They must be good.” Noah shot me a wolfish grin, and I could feel the blush heating my cheeks. Luckily, the buzz of his phone saved me. “They're starting to get desperate.”
He hit "silence" once more and then brushed a strand of hair from my cheek and back behind my ear. In a graceful motion, he leaned forward, letting his lips graze the tender patch of skin at my temple in a gentle kiss. “I'll see you at seven.”
I nodded, flood of want coursing though my stomach and stealing my words. Noah somehow had the ability to remove any coherent thought in my head and send my insides tumbling in the most pleasant way. I found myself wishing it was already dinnertime.
Noah stood and brushed the sand from his board shorts before giving me one last grin. If I hadn't been sitting, my knees would have gone weak at his smile. I waved as he turned, finally answering the phone with a curt greeting.
I watched him walk down the beach, checking out his perfect ass the entire way. In addition to being tall, dark, and handsome with eyes that could make a harpy melt, he also had a fantastic ass. He was as close to perfect as I could imagine.
I turned back to the sandcastle and put the last finishing touches on it. A few shells, some seaweed pennants, and finished digging the rest of the moat. I snapped a picture of it on my camera, wanting to save this sandcastle forever. It was perfect.
The waves were starting to creep up the beach with high tide. I dug the moat a little deeper to try and fend off the approaching waves, but I knew sandcastles were temporary. That was part of the beauty of them. They were only there for a short amount of time.
I stood and walked away, heading home. I didn't want to see the waves destroy our work. I knew that the sandcastle was the perfect metaphor for whatever was going on between Noah and me. Beautiful and amazing, but destined to fall apart. He was a tourist, and tourists leave. That's just what they do.
Chapter 8
I set the curling iron down and checked my handiwork. Beautiful, bouncing ringlets graced my head, but I knew that the second I stepped out into the tropical air they would go flat. I shook my head slowly at myself in the mirror. Even though I knew it was going to be straight by the time I got to the parking lot, I had gone to the trouble. Noah just had that effect on me. I wanted to look good for him.
“Oh, pretty,” Brooke said, poking her head in the bathroom door. We shared the small bathroom and technically the curling iron was hers, but with the tropical humidity she had stopped trying to curl her hair after the second day. “So, who's the date with?”
“What makes you think I have a date?” I asked, glaring at her in the mirror.
She shot me a cheesy know-it-all smirk “Because you don't curl your hair for bartending gigs.” Her smile widened. “And because you have been humming a Disney princess theme song for the past thirty minutes.”
I scowled at her and she laughed. I put my makeup box carefully away before turning to face her. “Don't tell anyone, okay? I don't need Lucas giving me a hard time again.”
Brooke laughed and stepped out of the door to let me back into our shared bedroom. She ran and jumped onto her twin bed in the corner, tucking her legs under her once she landed. One of her tabloid magazines slid off the bed and landed on the floor, but she just ignored it.
“Your secret's safe with me.” She held up her hand as though she were swearing in at a courtroom before a grin covered her face. “Now, who's the guy? Local or tourist?”
I went to the closet and pulled out my favorite light blue sundress. It was strapless and had a lacy bottom that made my legs look longer than they were. Brooke, with her amazing fashion sense, had picked it out for me at one of the tourist clothing shops. I loved it. It was the perfect dress to wear on my date.
“Well, you know what Lucas likes to call me...” I told Brooke as I carefully slid the dress over my head and dropped the bath towel.
Brooke squealed with delight and clapped her hands like an excited child. “Oooh, a tourist then!”
I rolled my eyes at her once they cleared the dress.
“Are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean, after the last one...” Brooke's smile faded, replaced by concern. “I just don't want to see you get hurt again.”
I sat down into the small desk chair next to my bed and looked at her. “I don't know what I'm doing. I don't want to get burned again, but he makes my insides go all mushy just looking at him.”
Brooke nodded thoughtfully before moving from the bed to stand behind me. She began to mess with my hair, pulling it up and away from my face.
“Then don't get burned,” she said, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. “Know that you're walking into the fire, so wear your protective gear,” she said. I turned and raised my eyebrows at her and she giggled. “That came out way dirtier than I had intended.” Brooke placed a clip in my hair to keep it out of my eyes. “But what I mean is, go enjoy your date. But don't get attached. Know that this is just for fun. You are the one leaving him at the end of this, okay? Not the other way around.”
“You don't think I'm an idiot then?” I asked her quietly as she finished messing with my hair.