Once the sand was rinsed away and I felt refreshed, I climbed out and dried, slipping into a short, white cotton dress. It showed off my newly tanned limbs from spending so much time in the sun. I forwent a bra because I was afraid the straps would hurt my burn.
After combing a bit of mousse into my hair, I left it to air dry. The shorter length was so much easier and I hadn’t realized my hair had natural body to it. All this time, I kept it too long, constantly blowing it out, fighting against the frizz, when really, if I’d left it alone, I might have realized the strands would dry into effortless waves.
Maybe the rest of my life was like that. Maybe I spent too long trying too hard, forcing things to be a certain way and never quite achieving happiness. Maybe if I’d taken a step back, I would have realized if my life was supposed to be that way, it wouldn’t have been such a fight. It wouldn’t have been so hard.
My stomach growled and I went into the kitchen and pulled a small packet of preformed hamburgers out of the fridge. I didn’t cook much, but a grilled burger out on the deck sounded pretty darn good.
I laid the meat on the counter and went outside and uncovered a small grill that was stuffed back in the very corner of the deck. Judging from the looks of it, Aunt Ruth hardly ever used it. Thankfully, there was a gauge on the side of the propane tank signaling there was more than enough propane for grilling.
After setting aside the grill cover, I opened the tank and checked under the hood. The racks were blackened from use and the interior was small and slightly grimy.
The heat would loosen up the worst of the grime and then I could scrape it down before adding the burgers. I turned on the pilot light and closed the lid. Then I struck the igniter button and turned on all the valves, keeping them on high to blast the inside with sanitizing flames.
While that was burning, I rummaged in the kitchen until I found her grill brush. Back at the tank, I opened the lid only to frown. The thing never lit! “Stupid grill,” I muttered, leaning down to make sure I did have the tank open and there was enough fuel.
Yes and yes. So I hit the igniter button again, listening to it catch. No flames. I smelled the propane, but for some reason it wasn’t lighting. After a few more failed attempts, I growled and stomped into the kitchen to get the lighter I saw in a drawer. It was the kind with the long black nose. I remember as a kid we had an old grill and my dad would use his lighter and stick it up from the underside to light the flame.
Couldn’t be that hard.
I left the grill lid open and bent under, looking for the little area to stick the lighter. When I found it, I turned on the gas and stuck it up inside. I stood to see if it was working when a great whoosh and blast of heat exploded right in front of me.
“Ahh!” I yelled and stumbled back as a huge burst of flames shot up from inside the grill. They raged with a ferocity I couldn’t understand as I sat there on my butt on the floor of the deck, looking up at the growing yellow and red blaze.
I jumped to my feet and reached for the lid to close it and smother the flames. Only, the fire was much too high for me to reach the lid. I stood there in growing horror as the fire took on a life of its own. If I didn’t do something fast, I was going to reduce poor Aunt Ruth’s beach house to ash!
I tossed aside the lighter and ran into the house to look under the sink for a fire extinguisher. Of course there wasn’t one. So I spent precious moments searching and coming up empty. In a last-ditch effort, I grabbed a box of baking powder and a couple bottles of water and prayed it would be enough.
The heat from the fire was intense and the sunburn on my skin felt tight as my body grew hot. The wind from the water was only feeding the flames, and I watched in horror as the grill’s cover lying just below somehow caught and started to burn.
I opened a bottle of the water and dumped it on the cover. The flames extinguished a little, but it wasn’t nearly enough to stop them completely.
I heard a shout behind me, but I was too busy freaking out to look. I ripped open the box of baking powder and started flinging it everywhere. It fell around me like heavy snow.
Some of the flames began to lessen and my forehead broke out in a grimy sweat.
A flash of movement from the other side of the flames caught my eye, and then the sound of a fire extinguisher depressing its foam-like material filled my ears. I watched as the white foamy spray smothered the insistent flames and coated everything around me and the grill.
When the fire was out, I breathed a sigh of relief and looked up.
Gavin was standing there in nothing but a pair of those tight boxer briefs, wielding the red can like he was some kind of badass.
“Are you trying to burn down the house!” he roared.
I threw up my hands. I so didn’t need this right now. “Yes, that’s exactly what I was trying to do!” I spat.
“What the hell were you doing?” he said, dropping the can at his feet. “What kind of idiot turns all the burners to high and then lights a grill?”
“Don’t you talk to me like that!” I clutched the baking soda box and remaining bottle of water.
He stalked around the mess and grabbed at the bottle and box. “This is the best you could do?” he cracked. “Honey, you are a danger to yourself and this entire beach!”
His words hurt me. Made me feel stupid. “I didn’t ask you to come running over here!” I roared, drawing myself up to my full height. “I can take care of myself!”
Gavin dumped the bottle and box onto the deck and grabbed me, yanking me roughly into his arms. His mouth descended immediately and something in the back of my head shouted, Yes! The kiss was rough and demanding. My hands rushed over his body, trying to take in everything it could feel. I gripped at his arms, hanging on for dear life, refusing to break the kiss.
Gavin reached around and palmed my butt, lifting me so my legs wrapped around his waist. I growled in the back of my throat when I felt the evidence of his arousal against my core. Without breaking the kiss, he stepped around the mess and carried me into the house.
As soon as the sliders were shut behind us, he slammed me up against the wall, using his body to pin me there as he reached down and lifted the hem of my dress. Both my hands were clutched in his hair, holding him tightly as my mouth explored his.
His skin was cool from being inside with the air-conditioning, and it felt like a breath of fresh air against my overheated frame. Once my dress was around my waist, he shoved his boxers down and thrust into me in one hard movement.
I cried out as he speared me with his unyielding rod. Goose bumps erupted over my entire body as he lifted me at the waist, moving me up and down along his shaft.