Keeping Mr. Right Now: A Kisses in the Sand Novel (Entangled Bliss) Read online

  “Don’t drink it too fast.” Honor tipped the glass away from Sophie’s mouth. “Just because you can’t taste the alcohol doesn’t mean there isn’t any in there.”

  “Right,” Sophie said. “Maybe we could get some lunch, too? I didn’t eat on the plane and only grabbed a banana this morning before I left for the airport.”

  “You must be starving.” Honor reached down the bar and picked up a small laminated card. “How about sliders and a quesadilla? We could share.”

  “Sounds great.”

  “Oh, but the fish tacos are really good, too.” She put down the tiny menu and grinned. “Let’s get all three.”

  Sophie smiled. Yep, good friends.

  She wondered if everyone in White Strand was as nice as Honor. Her shoulders finally relaxed and she breathed in the scent of the ocean, suntan lotion, and something floral. Greenery with bunches of tiny pink flowers decorated the perimeter of the bar and pool area.

  “Are you the liaison for every—” A loud clatter and then high-pitched squeals interrupted her question and drew her attention to the beach. A group of young women descended on some guy, and a few sunbathers around the pool were scurrying to join them. All Sophie could make out was blond hair and broad, tanned shoulders. Probably a pro surfer from one of the films. On the flight over, she’d done her research on the movies but hadn’t had a chance to brush up on all the stars who would be here. She planned to lie in bed and do that tonight.

  “Zane! Zane!” the women shouted.

  Oh. She knew who he was. She had a surf lesson with him in an hour. Her boss had made the date, but when she’d handed Sophie her itinerary, she’d given Sophie strict orders to follow through with everything on it.

  It didn’t matter that she’d never set foot in the ocean before, right?

  Her head swam for a minute. There were roughly one hundred trillion synapses in the human brain, and surely the right ones would fire when she needed the proper motor skills for surfing.

  “Zane Hollander,” Honor said in her ear, her voice taking on a dreamy quality. “The closest thing to royalty around here.”

  Sophie turned and studied her new friend. “You have a crush on him.” She recognized the starry-eyed, lips-slightly-parted look. She’d always had a hard time finding a boyfriend, but when it came to crushes, she was an expert.

  “Who doesn’t? But look up ‘bad boy’ in the dictionary and you’ll find his name in all uppercase letters. He is fun to look at, though. And amazing to watch in the water.”

  “I have a lesson with him.”

  Honor’s eyes widened with excitement. “That is so freaking cool. He only gives a few, so you should feel totally lucky. When?”

  “Three o’clock.”

  “Today?” She gripped the edge of her barstool.

  “Yes.” Sophie took a sip of her drink. Then another. Those pesky nerves were restless again.

  “We’d better hurry up and eat then.” Honor bounced in her seat and called out their order to the bartender, adding, “Please make it quick.” Then they talked about the film festival and the schedule and logistics. They talked about the small beach town. And they talked about how neither one of them had ever been truly, madly, deeply in love.

  “I always fall for the Mr. Right Nows,” Honor said.

  “What do you mean?” Sophie put down the last bite of her slider.

  “You know. Guys here on vacation. Or guys who aren’t looking for any sort of commitment, just some fun right now. A fling.”

  Sophie didn’t know. She’d had limited experience with guys. And fun had never played a big part in it. “I always crush on the wrong guys.”

  “I hear ya.” Honor gulped down the last of her drink and grabbed the check before Sophie could. “I’ve fallen for plenty of jerks I wish I hadn’t.”

  “No, I mean my feelings are never returned, not that the guys are jerks.” Sophie was pretty sure Honor received lots of attention. The bartender had been checking her out the entire time they’d been sitting there. “The few times I’ve been really crazy about someone and put myself out there, I’ve had my heart stepped on.”

  “I’m sorry,” Honor said, rising from her barstool. She wrapped an arm around Sophie. “Those guys were jerks.”

  Sophie smiled. “Thanks.”

  On the walk down the crowded beach after lunch, Sophie had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop from giggling with pleasure. She may as well have been walking in sugar, that’s how soft and wonderful the sand felt beneath her feet. Sunlight glittered and danced around her, as if the sun’s rays acted differently along a coastline. And the brightly colored umbrellas, talk and laughter from beachgoers, and kids chasing each other painted a wonderful picture she tucked away in the back of her mind.

  “Come on.” Honor took her hand and skipped down to the water’s edge. When the cold Pacific slid up to her ankles for the first time, Sophie didn’t care what sounds came out of her mouth. Here she was at twenty-four, finally dipping her toes in the ocean, and it felt amazing.

  She could almost taste the salt on her lips.

  They stepped along the hard, wet sand the rest of the way until Zane Hollander stood in profile a few feet away. Sophie’s breath caught. Up close, he looked like he’d been carved from the most glorious, most gorgeous stone on the planet. His blond hair was straight, on the longer side and sticking up in GQ messiness. Square jaw, high cheekbones, perfect nose. Then he turned and pierced her with ice-blue eyes that knocked her off-balance.

  Literally.

  She tripped over her own feet and face-planted right into the sand.

  “Sophie! You okay?” Honor asked, her small hand taking hold of her arm.

  Until Zane’s much bigger hands lifted her up like she weighed nothing and he planted her in the sand like a Popsicle stick. She brushed the sand off her face and prayed he thought her blush was a sunburn.

  Who was she kidding? He wouldn’t take a second look at her. She’d been teased her whole life for her looks. With her unruly red hair, boy’s body, and unearthly green eyes—kids had called her an alien—she’d grown up a wallflower. Add in her IQ and college graduation at twenty, and any attention she got was nothing near romantic curiosity.

  “Thank you,” she squeaked out.

  “No problem,” he said, his voice deep, rich. Warm.

  He made her warm all over. Especially now that her regard moved to his bare, lickable chest. She’d never seen anything so…so mouthwatering before. She stared, before little by little her gaze slid along the tan, smooth, lean muscle of his abdomen all the way down to the low-riding waistband of his board shorts. Definition at his hips—the kind she’d only seen on men in magazines—made her gulp. And oh my God. Had she just thought lickable?

  “Hey, Zane. I’m Honor. We met last year at—”

  “I remember.”

  “You do?” Honor teetered a little until her shoulder bumped Sophie’s for balance.

  “Of course. I remember all the pretty girls from the Strand.” He moved his gaze back to Sophie. “You’re Sophie Birch?”

  Her gaze snapped up to his face. He’d never remember her if they met again next summer. She didn’t hold a candle to Honor and her curvy bikini body. He’d probably take one look at her conservative black one-piece and wish the lesson were with anyone else.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Zane Hollander.” He gave her his hand. Somehow she managed to shake it like a calm, respectable woman. “You ready for your surf lesson?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Have you ever surfed before?” he asked, scanning her from top to bottom like he wanted to check for signs she might sink.

  Should she mention she’d never been in the ocean before? Nah. She’d been in lakes. They were practically the same thing.

  She shook her head. “Uh-uh.”

  Honor elbowed her. “Sophie! You are about to take a lesson with one of the world’s best surfers. Speak up, girl. And don’t be afraid to ask questions.”
Honor narrowed her eyes at Zane. “Take good care of my new friend. I’ll just be watching from that spot there.” She pointed somewhere over Zane’s shoulder and then walked away.

  Leaving Sophie alone with arguably one of the best-looking men in the world, too. Get it together. You’ll be dealing with him all week during the festival. That thought sobered her up. She needed to be professional around him at all times.

  “Since this is your first time, let’s practice on the sand before we hit the waves.” He nodded to two boards a few feet away.

  “Okay.” She took off her cover-up and dropped it next to her very sandy beach bag. “Is that for me?” A flowered wet suit sat next to one of the boards.

  “If you want it. The water’s cold, but you get used to it pretty quickly. Up to you.”

  “I’m good.” She wanted to feel the saltwater on her skin with as little barrier as possible, no matter how chilly it might be.

  He smiled and led her to her board. “You’ve got sunscreen on, right?”

  “Yes.” With her pale skin and freckles, she’d burn in seconds without it. “But…” She hadn’t been able to reach her back. Her simple black suit covered most of her front, but it did dip pretty low in the back. She tried to make eye contact with Honor, but her friend was lying on her stomach on a colorful blanket and chatting it up with some guy.

  “You didn’t get your back,” Zane said, picking up a bottle of sunscreen and pouring some onto his hand.

  Her legs almost gave out and her heart pounded in her ears. Zane Hollander was about to go where no man had gone before and lotion her back.

  “Turn around.” He gathered her hair and put it over her shoulder before rubbing the cream onto all the exposed spots.

  Tingles exploded through her body, and it took all her willpower not to melt into the sand under his gentle yet firm ministrations. His breath tickled the back of her neck. Her breath got stuck in her throat. He was tall and his shoulders were wider than his hips, and he was so very handsome that for a second she thought maybe she’d passed out when she fell and this was a dream. But then she finally inhaled and smelled him and knew this was real. He smelled like saltwater and mint and man.

  This very normal, casual act set her heart aflutter, and she now understood what it must feel like to melt for a guy.

  He lifted his hands not a moment too soon.

  For the next several minutes, Zane gave her a lesson on land. She copied his form and movements as best she could and hoped the learning process was long enough to commit her muscles to memory. Her brain might be hardwired better than most people’s, but her mind hadn’t been entirely focused on the task. Not when she could watch the strength and power in Zane’s arms and legs.

  “I think you’re ready.” He tucked her surfboard under his arm. “You good?”

  Besides feeling like she’d just worked out for two hours at her cousin’s kickboxing studio, yeah. She gave him a thumbs-up.

  And prayed she didn’t look like a complete fool out there.

  The second the water reached her knees, her breath caught and stuck in her chest, making it difficult to inhale. Exhales in rapid succession didn’t help against the chilly temperature, but Zane’s amiable voice did.

  “Don’t panic, Sophie. You’ll get used to it in a minute.”

  Maybe. But then the tide came at her with more force than she expected. She wavered.

  Zane moved the board between them, obviously aware that she couldn’t keep her balance on top of breathing normally. “Hop on. I’ll get us farther out.”

  She maneuvered onto the board, getting into position on her stomach just like he’d taught, and tried not to freak out. She never should have watched Shark Week last year. And how deep did they have to go? Her pulse revved up.

  A wave came at them, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Zane guided her over it, but she still managed to swallow some water.

  “It helps if you keep your mouth closed,” Zane said in a tone she wasn’t sure was teasing or not.

  So she coughed and sputtered with her head tilted down, hoping not to draw too much attention to her newness. When they reached the strip of white water Zane had talked about, he spun the board around so that she faced the shoreline.

  The sand looked miles away. The gentle sway of the inky black sea made her hyperaware of her surroundings, and fear landed in her stomach like a meteor. She grabbed Zane’s arm, ready to come clean and add that she’d changed her mind.

  But then he whispered, “You can do this. Remember what I taught you.”

  And she remembered what her boss had told her. Live a little.

  Those words had sparked a promise to herself. Try new things. Don’t be a wimp.

  “Now, ready…set…go.” Zane gave her a push.

  She paddled like mad to catch the wave. Way too fast, the tide rolled next to her and she forgot everything Zane had said. The board bounced; she squeezed her eyes shut and thought about throwing up.

  You are not a quitter. She forced her eyes open, pushed up, and…toppled sideways.

  The current tossed her head over feet and pulled her under. She immediately swallowed more salty water, and her eyes stung. She struggled, her arms flailing like mad, her legs kicking but getting her nowhere. Her lungs screamed for air. Then she heard Zane’s voice in her head, telling her not to fight it, to go with the current if she got pulled under. She stopped battling, let her legs and arms turn to spaghetti, and prayed it didn’t take long to break the surface.

  Ten, nine, eight… In a few more seconds she wouldn’t be able to hold her breath any longer. Swim. She needed to swim. Diagonal to the shore, only she had no idea where the shore was. Then, by some miracle, warm sunshine bathed her face and she gulped for air.

  She’d made it. Only she’d exhausted every muscle in her body, and after catching her breath and letting out a very weak “Help,” she slipped back under.

  Strong arms scooped her up. She drew in a deep breath and inwardly rejoiced when fresh air entered her lungs. But it was dark. Her mind couldn’t focus. Voices echoed around her, incoherent. Where was the light?

  A cool, hard surface met her back. The warmth that had engulfed her faded away. “Sophie? Can you hear me?”

  “Ye-yes,” she whispered.

  “Sophie, open your eyes.” His voice carried a powerful tenderness, and she wanted to do as he asked.

  It took a moment, but she finally pried open her lids. She blinked over and over again. A blurry crowd had gathered around her on the beach. Her palms pressed into the sand and she tried to sit up. Why was everyone out of focus?

  Because she’d lost her contacts in the ocean.

  “Hey,” he—Zane—said as he brushed some hair away from her face.

  “Hi,” Sophie answered. “Sorry about that.” Good thing she couldn’t exactly make him out or she would have been really embarrassed.

  “You bet your sweet cheeks you’re sorry.” Honor. “You scared the crap out of me.” Her arms went around Sophie in a tight hug. “You’re okay now, right?”

  “She’s fine,” Zane said, an edge to his voice Sophie hadn’t heard before.

  A lifeguard pressed between two bystanders. “Everything all right here?”

  “Umm…I think so.” A few pain relievers would banish the sledgehammer in her head and the soreness in her muscles.

  Sophie heard a few murmurs of how Zane had saved her. How he was a hero. Since she couldn’t see him clearly, she wondered if pride or modesty shone in his gorgeous blue eyes.

  “How about giving her some space,” Zane suggested. Seconds later, sunshine instead of shadows filled the airspace above her.

  “Jesus, Zane,” a guy said. “What were you doing out there?”

  “Drop it,” Zane said.

  “She could have drowned, dude. Not what we—”

  “I said drop it.”

  Sophie used her hand to shield her eyes from the bright sun and looked up. “I’m okay.” She hated the sound of their upset
voices and that she’d been the cause of it.

  “Sophie, I’m Danny Ellis,” the guy said. He extended his hand and helped her up. “We talked on the phone. I’m Zane’s manager. And I handle his PR.”

  “Hello.” Her legs trembled, but she willed the agitation away and wiped the sand off her backside. She was okay.

  “We could try again,” Zane said.

  “No, thanks.” One humiliation a day was enough. “I’m ready to go back to the hotel. You mind heading back with me, Honor?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Hang on,” Danny said. “We feel bad about how this went.” He elbowed Zane. “I know I speak for Zane, too.”

  “Yes. I should have stuck closer to you out there.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Sophie said, starting to turn. She felt shameful enough for both of them.

  “Let us make it up to you. Be Zane’s guest for the opening of the film festival tomorrow night,” Danny said.

  Sophie froze. Her synapses were definitely firing now. Sizzling, even. Cells sped through her blood faster than she thought possible. Her? The sexiest surfer alive’s date? Honor gripped her arm like she felt the same way. But Sophie couldn’t.

  “That’s really nice of you to ask, but I’ll be working.”

  “No problem. We’ll make it a working date,” Danny said.

  “She’d love to!” Honor piped in. Then she bent and whispered in Sophie’s ear, “Let him be your Mr. Right Now.”

  Sophie shivered at the thought. They came from two totally different worlds. Couldn’t be more opposite. Zane wasn’t looking at her with even the tiniest bit of interest. He didn’t associate with ordinary plain Janes. He was hot and worldly and popular and she was…not.

  “I don’t—” she started to say.

  “We won’t take no for an answer,” Danny said.

  The depths of Zane’s blue eyes were inscrutable, but Sophie didn’t want to argue. After all, she needed to stay on good terms with all the festival participants. Her reputation depended on it.

  “Okay,” she relented. “It’s a date.”

  Chapter Two

  The Happy Harpoon buzzed with reggae music pouring out of speakers and conversations loud enough to interfere with the Rastafarian lyrics. Zane strode through the thatched-roof restaurant, waving and smiling to everyone who wanted his attention. When he reached the outdoor seating area in the sand, a young woman at the table in front of him jumped to her feet.