Break Away (8 page)

It was a busy night at the restaurant and before I knew it, my shift was over. I’d barely even looked up in five straight hours and was downright exhausted. All I wanted to do was take a shower and climb into bed. Unfortunately, the only waitress I felt comfortable enough to ask for a ride home was Melanie, and since she was staying late to work behind the bar, it looked like I would be walking.

I could have asked one of the other waitresses, but I’d barely been working there a week, and I didn’t want to make a bad impression or put anyone out. I needed to take care of myself. It was bad enough that I had agreed to let Dex fix my car for me. I didn’t need any more favors. Besides, it wasn’t that long of a walk and it was a beautiful night.

I was on my way out the door when the hostess called out to me, stopping me in my tracks.

“Wait up, Olivia! Dex came by earlier to drop these off for you,” she said, pressing my car keys into the palm of my hand. “You were really busy so he didn’t want to bother you, but he asked me to make sure you got them.”

“He did?” I said skeptically, examining the keys. “Um, thanks.”

“No problem, see you later!” she said, returning to her post at the hostess stand.

I didn’t fully understand why Dex had come all the way down here to bring me my keys until I walked outside and spotted my car in the parking lot. He couldn’t have fixed it already… could he?

Climbing into the driver’s seat, I pushed the key into the ignition and turned it cautiously. Sure enough, the engine hummed to life, sounding better than I’d ever heard it. I slumped back in disbelief. Dex had not only brought my car back from the dead, but he’d also gone to the trouble of bringing it here for me so that I would be able to get home. I couldn’t believe it.

There was a piece of paper folded in half and propped up on the dashboard with my name was scribbled across the front in messy handwriting. When I opened it and read the note inside, I couldn’t help but smile.

Are we friends yet? - D

Apparently, Dex
was
capable of being a nice guy. Maybe we could be friends after all. Just because I’d sworn off men didn’t mean I couldn’t be friends with one… even one as dangerously sexy as Dex Porter. It was possible for men and women to be friends without it turning into more, and Dex seemed like the type of guy who kept his friends and his “hookups” separate. Besides, I was in no position to be turning down friends of any kind.

I got the distinct feeling that there was more to him than met the eye. One minute he was this rude, arrogant player, and the next he was a sweet, devoted uncle who played tea party with his niece and went out of his way to help me. He was a total enigma. I was curious to find out which side of him was the real Dex and which was just an act.

The next morning was my first day of work at the aquarium and I was full of nervous energy. I’d never done anything like this before and was terrified that I would do something wrong or mess up. Part of me hoped that my job would be limited to basic tasks like cleaning the tanks and mopping the floors. It might be boring but at least it was something that I knew how to handle.

It was barely six o’clock when I walked through the doors of the rescue center, but I was met with a flurry of activity. There were half a dozen people crowded around one of the examination tables, and I wondered what all the excitement was about. One of them had on a shirt with the logo for the Department of Natural Resources, and I remembered Frank telling me that they were the ones who rescued the turtles and brought them in for treatment. Liz, the director of the program, saw me cowering in the doorway and ushered me over.

“Good morning, Olivia!” she said enthusiastically. “It looks like your first day is going to be an exciting one.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, peering around the crowd of people to try and catch a glimpse of what all the fuss was about.

“The rescue team just brought in a Loggerhead turtle that some fishermen found floating near Myrtle Beach. They arrived with her about thirty minutes ago, so we are going to have to do a full examination and assessment so we can figure out how to treat her. I hope you’re ready to get to work!”

“Absolutely,” I said, doing my best to keep my nerves under wrap. “I, uh… don’t have much experience with this kind of thing, but if you tell me what you need me to do, I promise I’ll do my best and try not to mess anything up.”

“Don’t worry,” Liz smiled. “There’s really no experience necessary for what you’ll be doing. You’re just going to be on hand to assist the vet, so as long as you follow their instructions, I promise you’ll be just fine.” She handed me a blue polo shirt with the rescue program logo on it. “Now go put this on, grab some rubber gloves, and then, we’ll go meet this turtle.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a whole lot better about what I was there to do. Wearing the staff uniform, I looked every bit the part of someone who knew what they were doing, and I was excited to get started.

The turtle they brought was a small female. She was covered in barnacles and lesions, and according to the vet, had a very low heart rate. I watched intently as they hooked her up to an IV that would administer fluids of antibiotics, vitamins and other medications and drew a small amount of blood for testing. They showed me how to clean and treat the wounds, which I did carefully and methodically until every lesion had been taken care of.

The turtle looked so sad and helpless on the metal table, tubes coming out of her from every direction. My heart ached for the poor thing and I wanted to do more to help. “What happens now?” I asked Liz.

“Now we wait until the tests come back,” she explained. “We should have the results by later today, and once we know what’s wrong with her, then we have a better idea of how to treat her.”

“Are you sure there isn’t anything else we can do?”

“You did a terrific job today.” She gave my arm a reassuring squeeze. “The only thing left to do is give her a name. Will you pick one out for her?”

I thought about it for a couple of minutes and smiled. “How about Myrtle?”

“Myrtle the Turtle,” Liz laughed. “I love it! I have a feeling you’re going to fit right in.”

I came home from the aquarium around noon, already sweating through my new shirt from the heat, and saw Amy loading up her car while Sadie ran around in her swim suit, complete with bright yellow water wings.

“Hey!” Amy greeted me. “I was hoping you’d be back before we left. We’re heading to the beach. Want to join us?”

“I’d love to!” I was done with work for the day and a relaxing afternoon on the beach sounded absolutely perfect. I was eager to spend time with Amy and Sadie, too. I’d been so busy that I’d barely seen them for more than a few minutes here and there. “I’ll go change. Just give me ten minutes.”

I hurried inside and began digging through my clothes to try and find a bathing suit. I finally found one and when I held it up to look at it, I wondered if maybe the beach was a bad idea.

The bathing suit, like the rest of the clothes I’d brought with me, was from when I was a teenager and there wasn’t much to it. It was a red string bikini, and though I wouldn’t have hesitated to wear it when I was eighteen, it wasn’t exactly something that I would have picked out now.

Throwing it on, I examined myself in the mirror. It wasn’t exactly modest, and my cleavage was most definitely on display, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was only going to be us girls anyway, and I’m sure they didn’t care what I was wearing. Shrugging, I threw my denim shorts and a tee shirt on over it and met them outside.

Nate and I navigated our way through the groups of people on the beach until we caught site of Amy’s colorful beach umbrella. I was surprised to see a third towel laid out next to theirs and I wondered who else was with them. My question was answered when Olivia stepped out of the ocean, and I practically choked on my own goddamn tongue.

She was dripping wet from swimming and her skimpy red bikini displayed every soft curve and flawless inch of her body. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from her. It seemed like she was moving in slow motion. Naturally, I’d thought about what she looked like naked—I’m a guy, after all—but seeing her now, she put my imagination to shame. She was fucking perfect.

Friends
, I reminded myself.
Just friends.

Amy waved to us, and when Olivia finally looked our way, I could see the surprised look on her face. She definitely hadn’t been expecting us.

“Olivia, this is Nate,” Amy said, making introductions. “Nate, this is my new neighbor, Olivia. She just moved into town.”

“Nice to meet you,” Olivia said. “Thanks for letting me crash your beach day.”

“The more the merrier!” Nate said, dropping our huge cooler into the sand. “We brought enough food and beer for a small army, so I hope you’re hungry.”

Nate and Amy started unpacking the food, leaving Olivia and me standing there awkwardly.

“Hey,” she said with a tentative smile. “Thank you so much for helping me with my car… you totally went out of your way for me, and I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime. That’s what friends do. Wait… we are friends now, right? Or do I have to hang around and wait for another mechanical emergency?”

“That won’t be necessary,” she laughed, and I loved the way it sounded when it was directed at me. “I think you’ve done more than enough to earn the ‘friend’ title.”

As I was struggling to stay focused on her face and not at her amazing tits propped up in that sexy bikini, I noticed her eyes scanning over my shirtless torso. She bit her bottom lip, and my skin burned under her intense scrutiny. She was totally checking me out.

I could tell she was attracted to me. I wondered why she was so determined to keep her distance. Her eyes shifted up and met mine, her cheeks blushing pink when I caught her staring. She was cute when she was embarrassed. I decided that the gentlemanly thing to do would be to let her know I was checking her out, too. It was only fair.

“Nice suit,” I grinned, keeping my tone as even as possible.

“It was all I had!” Her blush deepened and she crossed her arms in an attempt to cover herself, which only pushed her breasts up even more for my viewing pleasure. “I wasn’t expecting such a crowd, and I didn’t have time to stop and buy a new one…”