Wild Child

He laughed. “Hey, did I say it wasn’t?” He shook his head. “Go ahead and answer it. Maybe it’s your roommate again.”

She should be so lucky. She checked the caller ID. “No, it’s my uncle.”

“Then you’d better answer it.”

“Yeah, guess I’d better.” She flipped open the phone as she moved a few steps away.

“Sara, why haven’t you called the title company?” With those words, Uncle Spence made her magical mood vanish.

The title company! She groaned. “I’m sorry. I got busy and it slipped my mind. I’ll call in the morning.”

“You need to call now. Granger’s been asking me about the closing.” She pictured him standing in the clubhouse, sweat pouring down his red face, working himself into a lather over his imagined failure to make a good impression on his top client. “We’re having dinner later and I’d like to be able to tell him something specific,” he said.

“Just tell Mr. Granger that everything’s on schedule and he doesn’t need to worry.”

“Do you have that flow chart you made up that shows the closing process and everything that happens?”

“Ye-es.” She glanced at Drew. He was leaning on his board, looking out at the ocean. She hoped he wasn’t getting impatient.

“I’ll give you a number to fax it to,” Spence said. “I’ll give it to Granger at dinner. He’s wild for any kind of chart or graph.”

“I don’t have a fax machine right here.”

“Then e-mail it to the office. I’ll have Tabitha print it out and fax it.”

Drew glanced over at her. She waved. “Uncle Spence, can’t this wait?” she asked. “I’m really busy with something else right now.”

“How long will it take you to e-mail that chart? And one call to the title company isn’t so much to ask.” He sighed, sounding sad. “I’m really counting on you, Sara. It’s not like you to let me down.”

Every word was like another bucketful of sand being poured over her, burying her in guilt. She swallowed hard. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

She hung up. So much for a carefree afternoon of romance. “Is something wrong?” Drew returned to her side. “You look upset.”

“I’m sorry, I have to go,” she said. She replaced the phone in her bag, avoiding his eyes. “Something’s come up at the office…I’m sorry.”

“You can’t let someone else take care of it?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. I’d better go.”

She could feel his gaze on her, intense and probing, and disappointment dragged at her. He was such a great guy. They could have had fun together…. She shook her head. “It was great meeting you,” she said. Lame words, full of regret for what might have been.

“Yeah. Maybe I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah.” Except she’d be too mortified to go anywhere near him again.

Surfboard tucked under his arm, he strode across the sand. She watched him go, suppressing a sigh. Drew was just too perfect. She’d blown it. Lost her chance. She was doomed to a life chained to her computer.

HALF AN HOUR later, Sara had just finished e-mailing the flow chart to Uncle Spence and was debating opening a bottle of wine for her own private pity party when Ellie ran into the beach house. She skidded to a stop and her smile vanished when she saw Sara hunched over the computer. “Hey, what are you doing still working?” she said. “You promised to put that thing away.”

“I did put it away,” Sara said, shutting the lid to the laptop and turning to her friend. “I even went for a walk on the beach.”

“That’s more like it.” Ellie dropped onto the sofa. “So…did you meet any hot guys?”

Sara felt her face warm. “There was this one surfer….”

“I knew it!” Ellie leaned forward, hands between her knees. “What happened? Did you talk to him? Did he think you were hot? Did you tell him you needed someone to help you relax? Did you suggest going somewhere and having wild monkey sex?”

Sara laughed at the onslaught of questions. Leave it to Ellie to put her in a better mood. “I talked to him,” she said. “His name is Drew, and he runs a local surf shop.”

“Drew.” Ellie tried the name on her tongue. “Mmm. And is Drew dreamy? Or delicious?” She smiled wickedly.

Heat curled through Sara at the memory of Drew’s bronzed muscles and killer smile. “Both. And he was really nice, too.”

“Then what are you doing sitting around here by yourself?”

Gloom engulfed Sara once more. “Everything was going great, then Uncle Spence called.”

“Sara!” Ellie clenched her hands. “Why did you answer the phone?”

“I wasn’t going to,” Sara said. “But Drew told me I should.” She winced at the memory. He had been so considerate. So understanding.

“What did Spence want?” Ellie asked.

“He wanted some information for a client he’s having dinner with tonight.”

“Then he should have gotten it himself,” Ellie said. “You should have told him so.”

Sara nodded. “I know. I tell myself I’m going to stand up to him, but whenever I balk at what he wants, he plays the guilt card.” She shrugged. “It’s easier just to do the work and not have to deal with the guilt.”

Ellie patted Sara’s hand. “I know, hon. Spence depends on you for so much. Too much. And you have a soft heart.”

And a soft head, Sara thought.

“So you came back here to get the information for Uncle Spence,” Ellie said. “You should’ve invited surfer boy back with you.”

Sara raised her head. “I never even thought of that. After Uncle Spence’s call it seemed like the mood had been destroyed.”

“Do you think Drew was angry about what happened?” Ellie asked.

“No. He was really nice about it. I just felt bad.” She’d wanted a hole in the sand to open up and swallow her. What woman in her right mind would forsake a gorgeous guy in favor of more work?

Ellie sat back, her expression thoughtful. “You say he runs a surf shop?”

Sara nodded. “It’s called the Surf Shack. His grandfather owns it.”

Ellie grinned. “That’s perfect.” She snatched the Sin on the Beach flyer from the coffee table. “There’s a surfing competition as part of the festival. You used to surf, right?”

“I hung out with surfers, but I never learned myself.” Back then her focus had been more on the hot guys and the beach-bunny lifestyle than on surfing itself. Now she wished she had taken advantage of the opportunity to learn. “That was a long time ago.”