The Guy Next Door - By Lori Foster, S Donovan, V Dahl Page 0,76
Tuesday with the boys at Bahia Honda State Park beach, Jesse took Gail to art galleries and out to lunch. They returned to Gail’s cottage for a nap, a swim and a roll on the king-size bed. Jesse continued to surprise her with how generous and patient he was as a lover and how he managed to combine excitement with tenderness.
That was the first time that Gail worried she was getting too attached.
Gail spent Wednesday with the girls, joining them for an all-day water sports adventure on a catamaran. She invited Jesse but he declined, saying he had some work to catch up on and that they’d hook up for dinner. She missed him. She admitted that the idea of missing someone she’d just met was silly, but it felt strange to be in Key West without him. Gail started to think about how difficult it was going to be when she had to leave.
That was the second time she worried about getting too attached.
Gail had a blast with Holly and Hannah, parasailing, snorkeling, jet skiing and kayaking. Watching the girls ineptly race their kayaks had her doubled over in laughter. At lunch, Holly asked her mom if everything was going okay with the hottie captain. Gail put down her sandwich.
“It’s going just fine,” she said, smiling. “I’m having a lot of fun.”
When Hannah excused herself to go to the boat’s ladies’ room, Gail knew this conversation was pre-planned.
“Is everything going well with Luis and Nestor?” Gail asked.
Holly shrugged. “They’re cool. I mean, it’s not like anything serious will happen between any of us, but it’s nice to get the inside treatment here, you know? They know all the best places and can get us in free everywhere and everything.”
Gail smiled at her. “It’s the same with Jesse.”
Holly didn’t say anything for moment and tapped a fingernail on the side of her water bottle. Eventually she looked up, and Gail could see she was upset.
“Holly, is something wrong?” She reached for her daughter’s forearm, now brown as a berry and covered in a sun-whitened fuzz. “Has something happened?”
Holly gave her a smirk. “I don’t know. You tell me.”
Gail nodded, patting Holly’s arm until her daughter yanked it away. “So you’re angry that I’m spending so much time with Jesse?”
“No. Not angry.” Holly scowled at her, the wind tossing around her daughter’s soft blond hair. “Just concerned that you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Gail bit her bottom lip to stop from laughing. “I see.”
“You’re not very experienced, Mom, and you’ve been out with Jesse at all hours, doing God only knows what, and I just don’t want you to do something you’ll regret.”
Gail smiled at her daughter. She was touched that Holly saw her as needing guidance when it came to men. “What are you worried might happen, honey?”
Holly made that clicking sound of disbelief with her tongue. “Hello? I’m worried that you’re going to get totally sprung over this guy that you hardly know, Mom!”
Gail didn’t want to sound tragically unhip, but she had no choice. “Sprung?” she asked.
Holly shook her head in disbelief. “You know, crushing on him, falling in lust with him, when it’ll never amount to anything. Seriously, Mom, rule number one is you never, ever fall in love with a guy you meet on spring break—it’ll only bring you pain.”
Gail took a big gulp of her water, stalling. She couldn’t deny that Holly had a point, but the fact still remained that Gail was the thirty-six-year-old woman in this conversation, and Holly was the child.
“I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself just fine,” she said eventually. “Jesse and I are adults and we know what we’re doing, and that’s enjoying each other’s company.”
“What-evs!”
Suddenly, Gail understood what the conversation was really about. She smiled at her tenderhearted daughter. It had been just the two of them for so long that Holly must feel a little possessive of Gail.
“Do you want me to spend more time with you, honey? Do you feel like I’ve abandoned you or something?”
Holly’s mouth dropped open. “Uh, not hardly, Mom.”
Gail had begun to frown in consternation when the lightbulb suddenly went off in her head. This time, she was certain she’d gotten to the bottom of things. “Am I embarrassing you, Holl? Is that it?”
“Duh!” Holly said, smacking her palms on the table. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Think about it, Mom—it’s my spring break, but it’s my mother who’s letting herself go totally wild with some