Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(11)

“Ditto. What’s the malfunction?”

“My brain, I think. I tried this thing on before, but now it won’t budge. Either I gained ten pounds last night, or I got the wrong suit.”

Sean studied her. “Nah, you’re just a newbie is all. Let an old pro help out. First of all, it’s on backward.”

“What?” She looked down. Rookie mistake. She felt like a tool.

She tried to hastily get out of the suit, but nothing with a wetsuit was fast. She ended up falling back against the wall. She would have then hit the ground if Sean hadn’t grabbed her.

“Marshall, what the…? Here.” He braced her against the wall, his large hands glancing against bare skin, making her small hairs stand on end.

Sean carefully stripped the suit off of her. She was wearing her bathing suit underneath, so she gave a quick check to make sure it was still on. Luckily (or unluckily?) he’d been mindful of it. He got the wet suit situated, turned it around, and started helping her into it. Krista planted a hand firmly on his muscular shoulder to steady as she lifted each leg, letting him work the suit up her body.

She had her head tilted back and her eyes closed, focusing entirely on the feel of Sean’s hands working up her leg when she heard a woman call Sean’s name. Krista went rigid. Sean didn’t seem embarrassed or worried. He answered that he was by the downstairs bathroom, and continued working the suit up Krista’s leg.

Obviously this would look bad. Maybe he was back to his womanizing ways. Worse, maybe his woman was understanding and completely trusting. That would mean they shared intimacy. Maybe ‘single’ meant nothing more than unmarried in Sean’s pea brain.

Krista heard footsteps and braced herself. In walked a beautiful woman in pajamas. For the second time that morning, Krista let her breath out in a whoosh.

“Cassie,” she said, doing a poor job of covering the relief in her voice.

Cassie’s eyes were half open but her smile was radiant. “Krista!” she exclaimed, barreling into Krista with a bear hug.

Krista couldn’t step back because Sean had her legs, so they fell into the wall before Sean grabbed them.

“Cass, cut it out! I’m trying to get this suit on her,” Sean said with frustration.

“How are you?” Cassie asked when they righted themselves. “I was so excited when Sean said you were coming by. Would have been nice if you chose a decent hour, though.”

Krista laughed. “Surfing waits for no one.”

She rolled her eyes. “I thought you hated mornings? Want a cup of coffee?”

“I do and no thanks. Things change. I hit the surf before work if I can. It clears my head. Helps me focus.” Krista left off that it was also her time to remember Sean and her life in San Francisco before she started her lonely life in L.A.

Cassie made a face that said Krista was ridiculous before she settled on the couch with her legs tucked under her and a steaming cup of java in her hands. “What are you doing for the rest of the day?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure if I would get eaten by a shark or sucked out to sea by a rip tide, so I don’t have any plans.”

“Good. We’ll go shopping and then meet back up with Sean for dinner. We can get Jasmine and Kate to come.”

“Cassie, leave her alone. She might have something she needs to do,” Sean said tightly. Krista’s heart sank.

“She just said she was free, Sean,” Cassie replied darkly. “And so are you, so stop squawking. Love that bathing suit, by the way, Krista.”

Sean had the wetsuit to Krista’s waist. He worked it up higher and helped her get her arms in. Finally he turned her around and zipped her up.

“See, all set,” Sean said, strain lancing his voice.

“Great. Cassie, nice to see you again. I expect a big breakfast when I get back!”

Cassie laughed and hugged her coffee. Krista followed Sean to the garage.

“Where’s your board?” he asked, raising the garage door. He had a shiny, new Audi SUV where the Beemer once was.

“New car?”

“Oh, yeah. I make a ton more money now so I gave my car to Cassie and bought this. I splurged a little.” He sounded embarrassed.

“What’s the point of money if you can’t spend it?”

“Saving for a rainy day.”

“This is California, baby. Ain’t no rain in California!”

Krista headed out of the garage.

“L.A. has warped you. Whose wheels are those?” Sean pointed to the Volvo she was driving.

“Company car.”

“Nice company car.”

“I made friends. Well, let me take that back. Marcus made friends and introduced me.”

“Marcus is a hell of a guy.”

“More than you know. He has been my life line out there. Ben, too, but Marcus more so. He is basically my support group. When I want to jump, he talks me down. Ben is the one that catches me when I fall, though, so I guess they have an equal hand with the life-line.”

“I always thought Ben had a crush on you.”

“He does, in an asexual kind of way. Most shy guys do with an outgoing, hot-mess of a woman friend. But he’s seeing someone. I haven’t met her yet—she lives in Santa Barbara—but Ben is totally hung up on her. We’re supposed to do dinner when Tory gives me a break.”