Reason #4: He was everywhere, whether her eyes were open or not.

 

 

 

“Four more Sex With the Captains!” Maggie placed the four multi-colored cocktails on the high-top table with a flourish.

Olivia snorted.

She had taken her cocktail captains for quite a few rounds, and they might have gotten her a little drunkie-poo. Not We’re Taking Our Friend’s New Boat Out on the Water drunk. But certainly appropriately tipsy for a Friday night in Shell Grove. If only she had a real-life captain whose world she could rock. Alas, the only captains she was getting busy with these days were on the rocks. Heh.

She sighed.

She wanted sex. Real-life, good sex with a real-life man.

Why in the frick Ben’s face popped into her mind in that exact moment, she couldn’t begin to rationalize. Only that he was the best-looking man she’d encountered in weeks, and her dry spell was starting to cause undesirable side effects. Like hallucinations and schizophrenic behavior. That was all.

Last night had been…confusing.

Their mutual annoyance had thickened the air around them when he’d surprised her in the living room. In fact, it had been as potent as ever. But the longer they had talked, the…duller…their insults had seemed to get. Less cutting. And when he’d started sharing things with her, she hadn’t wanted to listen. Yet she had. Revealing a weakness to her—his lifelong enemy—was completely unprecedented. Something had compelled her to stand there and listen to every word he had to say, which didn’t make a lick of sense. After what he’d said at the carnival, she should have given him the finger and left one of the dead mice she’d caught in a trap in the attic in the middle of his pillow

Then he’d…apologized to her?

The world didn’t make sense anymore.

“Another toast to the bride-to-be!” Jade cheered as she, Olivia, and Maggie all raised their glasses to Mia.

The Clumsy Clam Bar & Music Tavern had the tastiest fried clams in a thirty-mile radius and the best live music in all of coastal South Carolina. The place was known for showcasing some of the hottest trending, up-and-coming artists and bands across the Lowcountry and beyond. To the out-of-towners, it was a Beach House of Blues in the middle of Small Town, USA that dominated their socials for a weekend. To the locals, it was the place you went for an after-work drink, to watch a game or celebrate with friends, or to just blow off steam.

It also didn’t hurt The Clam’s popularity that the building occupied some prime real estate on the beach, nestled right up against the sand dunes. The large back deck allowed patrons to eat their meals against the backdrop of a stellar ocean view or listen to the live bands while breathing in the sea air.

Mia blushed a pink streak, ducking her head. But there was unbridled happiness glowing on those rosy cheeks that Olivia couldn’t help but envy. “You’ve toasted me at least a dozen times tonight,” Mia chortled. “I’m starting to think you’re using my engagement as an excuse to get sloshed.”

Maggie fanned herself with a cocktail napkin and went all southern debutante. “I do declare, that is the most outlandish thing I’ve ever heard. Ladies don’t indulge in spirits. Why, I am just plain offended.”

Olivia hiccupped. “You know we’re pleased as punch for you, Curly Sue. But we all put this night on the books weeks ago.”

Jade nodded in agreement. “Mr. CEO held out longer than I thought he would.”

Olivia shifted her attention across the bar to their group of guy friends. Mia’s fiancée Aiden Beaumont was standing with Hunter and Finn Caldwell—Hunter’s best friend and owner of The Clumsy Clam—shooting the shit and looking like the giddiest freshly engaged man she’d ever seen.

See? she wanted to shout at the entire male population. Getting married isn’t that scary! Some guys were totally cool with it. Especially when you find the person you know you’re meant to be with.

Why did some men—at least, in her experience—suffer from commitment altitude sickness? She had gone on plenty of first dates, even second ones. Some of them had even lasted until the first-month benchmark, and a couple had made it all the way to the six-month milestone. But once they reached a certain point in their relationship, the man started to balk. As in, the higher they climbed, the closer they got to reaching that dreaded peak of commitment—marriage. Then all of a sudden, he got terribly ill and called quits on the whole thing.

To be fair, she hadn’t seriously considered marriage with any of them. But maybe she just hadn’t put in enough time with them. Maybe those seeds of long-term love took longer to germinate and grow and she’d never stuck with it long enough.

Nah. She discounted that.

When it was true love, it should be automatic. Shouldn’t it? You should know right away if it could go the distance. Whether or not it did was up to each individual and the work they put into the relationship. She always knew from the very beginning if a situation had true potential.

She snickered into her drink.

Then again, what the hell did she know? She was the daughter of a cheater and an abandoner—was that even a word? What the hell did she really know about love?

Maggie pretend-scowled at the group of men. “Well, Beau Beau over there has to start back at square one with me. He didn’t ask for my blessing or even run the proposal plans by me before he popped the question.” She plucked the slice of lime from the toothpick in her drink and lazily sucked on it. “He’s dead to me.”

“Your idea was for Aiden to propose during a hurricane, right before he surfed a fifty-foot wave,” Jade said dryly. “You wanted him to pull a Point Break.”

Maggie waved her drink around. “Because how perfect would that be? It’s the ultimate romantic gesture. Of course, that only applies if he survives.”

“Of course.”

“He spoke with my parents and Hunter,” Mia pointed out to her cousin. “They were the ones he figured he had to convince. He knew he already had your vote, Mag. He says you two are tight.”

Maggie raised a discerning eyebrow. “Oh, he did, did he?”

“You shared the link to your private prank board with him that even I don’t have. If you don’t want to get chummy with my fiancée, then don’t send mixed signals.”

Maggie jabbed herself in the chest with her own index finger. “I just want the respect I’m owed as the official gatekeeper of your vagina. No man shall pass unless he passes my challenges.”

Mia scrunched her nose. “He lived with us for three weeks. That’s three weeks of enduring countless pranks at your hands, at all hours of the day and night. He passed with flying colors, Mag.”

“The ring has not been returned to Mordor yet, my sweet.” She blew Mia a kiss. “His journey is not yet complete.”

Mia shivered. “I hate the Gollum voice.”

Their little squabble gave Olivia ample time to chug down her Sex With the Captain with immense enthusiasm. By the time they wrapped things up, she was slurping up the last of the yummy alcohol through her giant pink straw.

“Feeling good over there, Liv?” Jade mused as she daintily sipped from her drink that wasn’t even halfway gone. Slacker.

Olivia nodded brightly, feeling a whole lot freaking better. “You betcha. And you know what? I’ve been thinking.”

Maggie sighed. “Fine. I’ll be the gatekeeper of your vagina, too. But we’re going to have to get on the same wax schedule. I’ll call Ursula in the morning.”

Jade almost spit out her drink, while Olivia just smiled. “Not quite, but you’re on the right track. I don’t think we’ve been taking enough advantage of the sparkling new opportunities The Sapphire has placed right in our laps.”

Mia frowned. “What do you mean?”

Olivia waved to a group of guys crowded near the bar. Maybe a tad on the younger side, but that wasn’t necessarily a problem. Youth had more energy, right? Plus, it took a certain level of boldness to wear that much neon. “I’m talking about all these fresh-faced tourists that are invading our beaches like Red Dawn: Summer Beach House edition.”

Maggie offered a prayer up to the ceiling. “I love drunk Olivia. Last time you tried to ride a blow-up dolphin you named Slick Rick.”

Olivia ignored that. Mainly, because she had little recollection of that night except for some cottonmouth and an unexplained can of whipped cream she’d woken up next to. “These are Grade A out-of-town hookups I’m talking about here, Mag. No messy entanglements with someone’s brother or cousin or grandson. No awkward run-ins at the Piggly Wiggly.”

In small towns like Shell Grove, everyone was always related to someone. Which meant things got suuuper awkward on Sunday mornings when half the church congregation knew exactly who you’d banged the night before.

Maggie’s eyes cleared as she glanced at the group of youngers. Geez, does that make us the elders? “How has this not occurred to me?” She panicked. “Oh, God. I’m losing my edge. I’m going soft. Mayday, mayday—”

Olivia grabbed her wrist. “Pull it back. I need you to keep the hysterics at bay if we’re going to tap these vacation dudes of all their hookup juice.”

Mia gagged on her drink. “I’d rather watch you ride a blow-up dolphin, Drunk Liv.”

Maggie steepled her fingers in front of her as she scoped out their current prospects.

Those guys may not have looked like the cream of the crop, but Olivia refused to judge a book by its cover. They could be quite the upstanding gentlemen. Especially the one with the trash stache and lens-less glasses. He could be like Thor in the sack and that mustache was his Mjolnir. You just never knew.

“Single bros on vacation are always on the hunt for a one-night-stand,” Maggie acknowledged. “We wouldn’t have to mess with narrowing down dating profiles or rolling the dice on creepy blind dates.” She glanced sharply at Olivia and winced. “No offense.”

“Yeah, still raw, Mag.”

Olivia’s last foray into the dating-app-blind-date scene had become legendary among her friends. She’d had no problem that he was seventeen years her senior because her colleague at the day spa had assured her he was as solid as they came. What Olivia had had a problem with was the fact that she’d actually known her date, Jeremy Millstone. Of course, he’d always been Mr. Millstone to her. To all of her friends, in fact.

Because he’d been their kindergarten teacher.

Blind dates were now filed under hard limits.

“But you’re seriously on to something, Knight Light,” Maggie went on. “What say we turn on the headlights and give these young bucks a taste of the local fare?”

Jade flashed her wedding ring. “You remember being co-maid of honor at my wedding, right?”

“Yeah, you were literally toasting my engagement ten minutes ago,” Mia added.

Maggie patted both women on the head. “Were we speaking to either of you committed cock hounds? No. Just stand by to assist with wing woman backup if I give you the signal.”

“What’s the signal?” Jade asked.

Maggie turned a grave expression on the redhead. “Oh, you’ll know, Pippy. You’ll know.”

Mia groaned and pulled out her phone. “Oh, God. I better move some cash around if I’m going to have enough for bail money.”

Maggie blew on her cleavage like her breasts were a set of dice and fist-bumped Olivia. “Let’s go get us some VDs.”

At Olivia’s horrified look, Maggie clarified, “Vacation Dudes.”

“We’ll work on the acronyms.”

Despite her friends’ unwelcome cynicism, Olivia felt like she’d gotten a new lease on life. As Maggie gestured the eager group of guys over with nothing more than a flick of her wrist, Olivia pulled her boobs out, finger-straightened her bangs, and quickly checked her breath out of the corner of her mouth.

This would work.

This would help distract her from the weird shift in hers and Ben’s caustic dynamic. She wouldn’t dwell on his physical pain and wonder how much of it he hid on a daily basis. She wouldn’t wonder why he’d felt the need to apologize to her when he never had before. And she definitely wouldn’t startle awake from a dream of him throwing her up against the bars of a jail cell and having sweaty hate sex with him while she was handcuffed.

That was just sick.

Mustached, lens-less guy would do the trick. He would—

Oh, heeeelllll, no.

He did not just breeze through the doorway of The Clumsy Clam like he was king of the fucking universe. Ben may not have been in uniform or even wearing a badge, but oh, he sure acted like he had authority over every single person inside the bar.

That arrogant smartass seriously burned her biscuits.

The captains are screwing you six ways to Sunday. And not in a good way.

Well, Ben could do whatever the hell he liked as long as he stayed away from her.

She had a mustached VD to charm.