Present Perfect(45)

When his breathing recovered, Brad turned to me and asked, “What can I do?”

My voice was flat. I didn’t look at him when I answered, “Nothing.”

We sat there in silence for several minutes before he spoke again. “I’m sorry you saw that.”

I slowly turned my head to him and asked, “How did you know?”

“Brit likes to brag,” he said sheepishly.

Looking back towards the ocean, I mumbled, “I want to completely forget the last hour ever happened.” Turning to Brad, I whispered, “Help me forget.” He leaned toward me and softly touched my cheek with his hand before brushing my lips lightly with his.

Brad stood up and offered me his hand, helping me to my feet. He kept his arm around my shoulders the entire walk back to the beach house. Once we got to the steps, I hesitated. I didn’t know if Noah was still inside, but I knew I didn’t want to see him.

Brad sensed my apprehension and said, “It’s going to be fine. I’ll make sure he doesn’t come anywhere near you. I promise.” He touched my chin, tilting my head back slightly. His look penetrated through me. “Trust me?” His eyes were filled with sincerity and were smoldering.

Breathlessly I answered, “Yes.”

He tried to lighten the mood and make me smile. “Great. Stay here. I’ll be back in a minute. Then we’ll start Operation Fo Getta Bout It,” he said, doing his best New York accent. He winked at me then jogged up the stairs.

When Brad reappeared, he had a blanket under one arm, a plastic baggie full of lime wedges, a salt shaker, two shot glasses, and a bottle of tequila.

He pushed my elbow with his indicating he wanted me to

take the blanket. “Help a guy out.” I grabbed the blanket from him.

“Follow me,” he said walking past me.

We walked a few yards down the beach. There was enough light spilling over from the house, plus the moon was very bright, so we were able to see what we were doing. We were fairly well hidden from curious onlookers, though.

Turning to me, Brad said, “Please tell me if I’m wrong, but I’m assuming that you’ve never done tequila shots.”

“You assume correctly, sir.” Spreading the blanket out I glanced at all the stuff he was holding. “It looks complicated. There’s a lot of stuff involved.”

“Well, lucky for you, Beautiful, you’re being taught by a master shots-man.” His playfulness brought a slight smile to my face.

We sat facing each other with our legs crossed in front of us. Brad placed all the ingredients for the shots between us. He picked up a lime wedge and held it in his left hand. Looking up at me with his sapphire blue eyes, he licked the back of that hand, wetting it slightly, and then sprinkled a small amount of salt on it. Tilting his chin towards the tequila he said, “Pour some booze in one of those glasses for me.”

Smiling, I did as I was told. He took the glass from me. Looking very serious, he said, “Pay close attention. There will be a quiz afterwards.” I actually giggled. Brad was doing a great job of lifting my mood.

He quickly sucked the lime, then licked the salt, and downed the shot. He shook his head and growled, “Oh baby, that’s tasty,” making me laugh out loud/

Brad watched me intensely as I set up my first ever shot. I had the lime and salt all ready.

He handed me the shot of tequila he had poured. He instructed me, “It’s best to go as quickly as possible and know the sequence. Remember SLS.”

I looked at him confused and asked, “SLS?”

A sly grin appeared. “Suck. Lick. Swallow.” I felt a deep red blush cross my cheeks. Leaning in closer, he said in a low voice, “SLS can also be applied in other situations.” He gave me a devilish look and wink.

Sitting up tall, I squared my shoulders, and repeated SLS in my head. I sucked the lime, licked the salt, and swallowed the shot as quickly as I could. The minute the tequila hit the back of my throat, I began to choke and cough.

Brad crawled over to my side and patted me on the back until I calmed down. While he patted and rubbed my back, he admitted, “Probably should have mentioned that if you’ve never done shots before, the first two are a bitch.”

“Thanks for that bit of info now,” I choked out.

Brad was right. After my second shot, the others went down smooth as silk.





We continued Operation Fo Getta Bout It until our supplies had dwindled down. I had lost track of time. But, I was feeling fantastic, without a care in the world. It didn’t even hurt when I thought of what’s his name. “Wow, the bottle is almost empaty…empatty…empty,” I slurred.

“How do you feel?”

I cocked my head to one side and answered, “Buzzed and breezy.” We both laughed.

“God, you’re adorable and great at shots.”

“I had a good teacher,” I said, looking up at him through my eyelashes.

At this point, liquid courage was flowing steadily through my body and mind. I had never flirted before, so I was completely out of my element. I just hoped Brad wouldn’t laugh in my face.

Leaning into me, he ran his nose up and down mine and whispered, “I’d like to teach you a few more things.”

He moved in closer and started nibbling behind my ear. It tickled and sent chills throughout my body. I giggled. What was happening to me? I pulled away from him a little. The spot behind my ear was on fire.