Three Reasons to Say Yes Page 4

  “That’s the research you’ve been doing?”

  “Oh, I’ve got more,” Mo said. “I got some good intel on your crush.”

  “She’s not a crush.” Julia swung her toes in the water, sending sparkling droplets into the air.

  “Reed Baxter. Single. Thirty-eight. Prefers she pronouns, but I bet you could call her sir in bed.” Mo winked. “Want more?”

  Call her sir in bed? She was definitely not going there. “Mo, I’m on vacation…”

  “That’s funny. She said the same thing. Says she’s not interested in dating, but I say that body of hers shouldn’t be wasted.”

  “Wait a minute. Now you’re into her too?”

  “I’ll admit, when she takes off those nerdy glasses and shows off her muscles in the gym—”

  “Mo!”

  “Relax, I’m not into her. Although Kate’s right about her calves. Do you want to hear more or not?”

  Julia stared at the ocean vista beyond the pool. She watched a wave crash on the sand sending up a white spray against the turquoise blue. Of course she wanted to know more. But what was the point?

  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  “You can’t resist telling me anyway.”

  “She’s a doctor. Lives in Davis. That’s only seventy miles from your apartment.”

  “And let me guess, you already googled the fastest route.”

  “Of course I did,” Mo said. “I’m very thorough.”

  “Davis, huh?” Long distance wasn’t something she minded, but it did present a whole different set of challenges. “Seventy miles is a long drive for a booty call.”

  “And here I thought you were going to complain about her being a doctor.” Mo shook her head. “Just when I think I’ve finally figured you out, Jules, you surprise me.”

  “I already knew she was a doctor. Her kid told me that on the plane.” Julia avoided Mo’s gaze. She had sworn off doctors after Sheryl. But she’d had plenty of time to rationalize that not all doctors were self-centered pricks. Reed Baxter didn’t strike her as self-centered. Nor did she remind her of Sheryl in any other way.

  “Speak of the devil,” Mo said.

  Julia followed Mo’s gaze to the entrance of the main swimming area. She felt a rush at the sight of Reed holding open the gate. The twins scampered past her toward the kiddie pool. Davis wasn’t that far from Oakland if she timed the drive right, but in the evening commute, the freeway could be a nightmare…

  What was she thinking? She’d hardly talked to the woman and she was already worrying about the ups and downs of a long-distance relationship. Besides that, according to Mo, Reed wasn’t looking to date. And she had kids.

  “By the way, she’s staying all week here at the resort. Plenty of time to do more than ogle her.”

  “Mo…”

  “And we were right—those kids didn’t come out of her belly.”

  “Ex-wife?”

  “I tried to dig out that story, but she wouldn’t give. I said something about her having nice abs and then asked if she did a special post-kid workout.” Mo grinned. “She said she wasn’t her kids’ biologic mom, and we left it at that. So what’s your next move?”

  “I appreciate you talking to her, but…I’m not interested.”

  “Why not?”

  Julia watched as Bryn tackled Reed from behind. She buckled at the knees and tumbled forward into the kiddie pool, laughing. Soon both kids were crawling over her laughing and splashing. Julia smiled. Reed seemed to truly enjoy her kids, even if they hadn’t come out of her belly. “Well, for starters, there’s the kid thing. Hooking up with someone like her would be complicated.”

  “That’s why they have Kids Club. Babysitting until ten every night. Think about it. A little afternoon nookie with a sexy stranger that you’ll never see again…” Mo raised her eyebrows. “Come on, Jules. You need a vacation fling. Maybe she does too. And you’re lying when you say you aren’t interested.”

  Mo knew her well, but there was more than one thing holding her back. “I doubt I’m her type.”

  “Only one way to find out.”

  Julia shook her head. Even if Reed was interested in someone like her, Julia wasn’t vacation-fling material. Although she couldn’t help but wonder if she might be better at sex if feelings weren’t involved.

  “So you’re saying she’s fair game?”

  “What happened to you being engaged?”

  “Mo engaged? Yeah, right. And the Pope’s in favor of birth control.” Kate slipped off her flip-flops and dipped her toes in the water. She settled in next to Julia. “Ah, this is the life.”

  Julia hadn’t noticed Kate walking toward them. She glanced at Mo, wondering if she was going to say something. Mo only mumbled something about birth control and straight women.

  “The dinner buffet starts at six,” Kate said. “I was going to make us reservations, but then I thought maybe you’d want to invite your gal and her kids to sit at our table, Jules. We could all get to know her.”

  “She’s not my gal,” Julia argued.

  “I could ask her,” Mo said. “She probably would enjoy some adult conversation.”

  “Mo, don’t. Please. I’ve been looking forward to dinner all day. I want to enjoy the buffet and forget about my diet—not worry about making a good impression.”

  “I thought you weren’t interested in dating her,” Mo said. “You don’t need to make a good impression.”

  “She sure looks good playing volleyball,” Kate interrupted. “Now we know how she got those calves.”

  Julia followed Kate’s gaze past the kids’ area to the sand pit. The twins were carrying buckets of water from the pool to the sand and building castles while Reed had joined the volleyball game that was in session.

  “Then it’s settled,” Mo said. “Kate can ask her to dinner.”

  Kate arched her eyebrow. “Maybe I will.”

  “Don’t.” Julia knew Kate was only playing along with Mo, but she didn’t want their banter to go too far. She wouldn’t put it past either of them to ask Reed. “I want to eat in peace. With my two best friends. Not with someone who has nice legs.”

  “What are you saying about Kate’s legs?” Mo’s straight face lasted only until Kate looked over at her. She busted up, clearly amused at her own joke.

  “Watch it. Your legs were implicated too,” Kate argued.

  “Good thing you still check them out,” Mo said, stretching out one leg and flexing her ankle to show off her muscles.

  Kate’s cheeks turned cherry red as she stammered out a response while Mo laughed it off. Mo always had the upper hand when they teased each other.

  Julia interrupted with, “I appreciate you both looking out for my interests, but I swear I’m happily single.”

  “Well, you’re certainly happier single than you ever were with Sheryl,” Mo agreed. “Or with that woman you dated in college. She was a piece of work.”

  “But what if you could be even happier?” Kate asked.

  “It’s the what-ifs that get you into trouble.” Mo stood up from her lounge chair and stretched. “All right, me and my sexy legs are going down to the beach. I’ll meet up with you guys at dinner.”

  Julia wondered what Mo wasn’t saying. She’d been quick to end the conversation. Was she thinking of Kate or Tanya in the moment that she’d covered with a smile and a joke?

  Kate waited until Mo was out of earshot before asking, “Do you think something’s wrong? She’s been avoiding me all afternoon.”

  Julia shrugged. She didn’t want to be the one to tell Kate about Mo’s engagement.

  Kate continued, “When I asked her to go to the beach after breakfast she got all moody.”

  “You know Mo. She’ll tell you if something’s really bothering her.” Except this time she wasn’t certain Mo would talk to Kate.

  “That bartender with the big boobs keeps checking her out. I have half a mind to tell her that she’s out of Mo’s league.”

 
“Mo’s not interested,” Julia said.

  “Why not? She’s attractive—if you’re into that.”

  “I just know she’s not.” Julia wished she didn’t have to keep a secret from Kate. She hated not telling her the truth.

  Kate pursed her lips and glanced again at the bartender. She seemed to be turning some question over in her head. After a while she eyed the beach path Mo had taken.

  “Maybe we should go after her…something’s bothering her and I don’t want to spend my whole trip waiting for her to tell me.”

  Julia considered talking Kate out of her plan. If Mo wasn’t ready to talk, they’d only get in a fight if Kate tried to push her. But Kate had already stood up and was stepping into her flip-flops.

  “You coming?”

  “I think I’ll go back to the condo to read for a while. If you find me passed out, wake me up for dinner.”

  Kate waved over her shoulder, clearly distracted now thinking about Mo. Julia moved from her seat at the water’s edge to the lounge chair Mo had pulled over. A nap by the pool sounded nearly as good as another chapter of the mystery she was reading—and from here she could still spy on Reed.

  She adjusted the umbrella’s sunshade and picked Reed out near the volleyball net. The details Mo had gathered on Reed Baxter weren’t enough to throw off her interest. In fact, she admitted, Reed had the potential to turn into an obsession. The safe plan was to simply imagine seducing her rather than to actually interact. In her fantasies, she couldn’t disappoint anyone. She settled back on the lounge chair and closed her eyes.

  Julia awoke with a start. She wiped her lips and sat up. She’d been drooling and the very real possibility that she’d also been snoring was enough to convince her to move her nap to the condo.

  Unfortunately, the only way back to the condo was through the gate by the kids’ pool. To get there, she either had to swim from the lagoon to the main pool and then cut through the bar, which was less appealing now that she was dry, or take the path that passed over a bridge between the pools and then cross in front of the volleyball net. To make matters worse, she’d left her towel and wraparound on a lounge chair by the gate.

  Reed was still playing volleyball, and there was no easy way to avoid walking past her. But she had no reason to think that Reed would look in her direction anyway and she knew she shouldn’t worry about covering up at a place like this. Still, she couldn’t help wishing for something to tie around her waist.

  Resolutely, she stood up. The sun and the short snooze had made her legs rubbery but waiting longer wouldn’t improve that. She started down the path and only slowed when she reached the bridge.

  From here, she had a perfect angle on the volleyball game. Reed had her back to her and the temptation to watch was hard to resist. The volleyball popped back and forth over the net a few times before Reed jumped to spike it. When the other team missed, a woman on Reed’s team cheered and the guy on her left high-fived her.

  Julia sighed. Sports had never been her thing. Dating sporty dykes wasn’t her thing either. Not because she didn’t appreciate athletic bodies, however. But if Reed was into sports, chances were she liked women who were in as good of shape as she was. Well, she didn’t need someone like Reed anyway.

  She turned from the game and headed down the bridge. On the last step, her left ankle rolled under as her right leg shot out in front of her. There was time to stretch for the railing, but she was several inches away and missed, striking a sharp slab of lava rock instead. By the time her slow-motion fall had ended, she was sitting in a puddle directly in front of the kiddie pool.

  “Mom!” Bryn’s voice was undeniable. “That woman from the plane fell!”

  Julia saw a blur of pink life jackets and yellow sand buckets. Of all the places to land…She closed her eyes, willing her body to magically disappear. When she opened her eyes a second later, she was still in the middle of the pathway and the kids were getting closer.

  She took a quick assessment of the damage. A good scrape on the palm of her left hand and another on her knee. Her hip was a dull throb, the pain in her left ankle was sharp, and her backside was soaked. Somehow she’d slipped on a wet spot. Too soon, Reed was standing over her with a look of concern on her face.

  “I’m fine,” she said, before Reed could ask.

  “Okay.” Reed squatted next to her. “But you look a little pale and you’re bleeding.”

  “It’s nothing. It looks worse than it is.”

  Julia didn’t resist as Reed gently took her hand and examined the palm, but her heart immediately leapt to her throat. The fall was nothing. It was embarrassment that was going to finish her off. And did Reed’s touch have to send shivers through her body on top of everything?

  Reed glanced from Julia’s hand to her scraped knee and then down the length of her outstretched leg and back up again. Just then Julia spotted the blush on Reed’s cheeks.

  Suddenly she didn’t care that she’d left her towel on the lounge chair and happened to be sitting on her butt after a graceless fall. She also didn’t care that she was twenty pounds over her weight-loss goal. Not when her curves could make a butch blush.

  Reed smelled like coconut sunscreen and tangy sweat. The scent was perfect and Julia wanted to lean in closer. Good God, her hormones were throwing her for a loop.

  “Mom, is she okay? Did she break her leg? Do you have to call an ambulance?” Bryn hollered. At Reed’s bidding, the twins had gone back to the kiddie pool, but they were hovering at the edge and clearly hoping for permission to return.

  “Pipe down, Bryn. She’s going to be fine.” Reed glanced back at Julia. “Sorry about that. They love ambulances.”

  “Maybe next time I’ll try to break my neck.” Julia bent her knee, ignoring the stinging sensation when she tried to stand. As soon as she placed weight on her left leg, pain shot up from the ankle.

  Reed caught her, one hand slipping around her waist. “Easy does it.” She helped Julia over to the nearest lounge chair. “You don’t need to try for that ambulance ride.”

  “Well, paramedics are pretty sexy,” Julia said, amazed that she could joke at the moment. Reed’s grin made it worth the effort. Her ankle throbbed when she shifted her weight and tears sprang to her eyes. She wiped them away instantly and then gritted her teeth as she reached down to touch the sore spot. Definitely worse than she’d thought. “I think I twisted my ankle. I did this once before at band camp. Don’t laugh.”

  “You went to band camp? That’s cool.”

  “Band camp was not cool, but I loved it. I tripped when we were practicing our marching drills…only flute player to face plant.” She sighed. “Look, I hate to ask but do you think you could wrap my ankle?”

  “I could…” Reed hesitated, eyeing Julia’s ankle. “But you might want to get an X-ray. You hit the ground hard and there might be a break. There’s an urgent care in downtown Kona that we can get you to.”

  “I don’t want to go to urgent care and end up in a cast. If I could just get some ibuprofen and an Ace Bandage…” Tomorrow Kate had signed all three of them up for parasailing and then surfing lessons the day after. This was not how she wanted to start the vacation. The tears threatened again and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep them at bay.

  “Even if you did break a bone in your foot, they won’t cast it. You’d get to wear one of those cool strappy boots that you can take off to swim.”

  “Cool?” This was getting worse by the minute. She glanced at her feet, picturing a big clunky boot paired with a flip-flop. “I’m not wearing a boot.”

  “As long as you don’t wear it with socks, your friends will think it’s a fashion statement,” Reed said, her tone completely serious. “I mean, I’m not really a fashion person, but I heard somewhere that you should never wear sandals with socks and I think the same rule applies here.”

  Julia felt the blush come up her neck. Reed met her gaze, a smile at the edge of her lips. Clearly she’d overheard Kate’s comment abo
ut sandals with socks. Kate did have a loud voice but…what if she’d also heard everything else they’d said on the plane? “Listen, I don’t know how much you overheard in the plane—”

  “Don’t worry, I thought it was funny. I only brought it up because you looked like you were about to cry. I figured it’d be a good distraction.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  Reed chuckled. “If you really want to talk about it, we can. Maybe over a drink…”

  Julia wished the pain shooting up her leg wasn’t distracting her. Had Reed seriously asked her to have a drink now? Before she came up with a response, Reed was hollering for her kids to get out of the water.

  “They’ll probably have a first aid kit in the gym. If you stay here with the kids, I can go run and ask.”

  “Uh, sure,” Julia said, watching as Carly and Bryn sloshed out of the kiddie pool and scampered over. She had no time to rehash everything that had been said during the flight, but she already knew Reed had heard too much.

  “Guys, I need you to stay with Julia. Keep her entertained while I find a first aid kit.” She glanced at Julia. “I’ll be quick.”

  Bryn stepped close to examine Julia’s bloodied knee. “Too bad you didn’t fall into the water. You’re gonna need one of those big bandages like Mom put on my elbow when I fell off the porch swing.”

  Reed was gone before Julia could argue with the plan. As Bryn started firing off questions, Carly reached for Julia’s hand, fortunately not the injured one, and clasped it gently. Julia wasn’t sure if she was mad at her friends for deserting her—though they couldn’t have predicted that she’d dive bomb the path—or glad that they’d missed this show. Mo would laugh her ass off if she saw Julia surrounded by kids and unable to get away.

  Without a watch or her phone, it felt like ages before she spotted Reed at the gates to the pool. “You survived,” Reed congratulated.

  “Mom, it’s only a scraped knee,” Bryn said. “People don’t die of that.”

  “Her hand hurts too,” Carly added.

  “And the ankle,” Reed said. “But I meant that she survived you two.”