Read, Write, Love at Seaside(16)

Leanna leaned closer to her. “Let’s not revisit that little tangent of yours. I like the rock, too, but I thought you were cutting back on your rock collection.”

“I am,” Jenna said.

Mm-hm. And I’m not thinking about Kurt.

“Uh-oh. I forgot the wine. Be right back.” Jenna hurried off the porch.

“Okay, enough rock talk. Tell me about the dirty chapter.” Amy handed out the plates and lit citronella candles as they sat around the table. “I want all the dirty details.”

Jenna ran back onto the deck with two bottles of wine.

Bella went into Leanna’s cottage and came out with plastic wineglasses. She filled them each a glass and passed them out, then sat down with a loud sigh.

“To a dirty chapter.” Bella held up her glass and clinked it to the others’.

Leanna shook her head. “You guys are awful. There is no dirty chapter.”

“But you want there to be. You have that look in your eyes.” Jenna tossed a piece of hamburger to Pepper.

“Maybe. Maybe not. He’s all…” Hot and bothered when I’m near him. “Neat and meticulous and totally focused on his work. I think those interviews were right. He probably doesn’t ever leave his computer.”

“Neat and meticulous. I love that.” Jenna was so OCD she wanted to put the letters OCD in alphabetic order. Every photograph in her house was lined up perfectly, and her clothing was organized by color, as were her seventeen pairs of cheap, rubber flip-flops.

“Yeah, you’d love him. His whole house is pristine and white with wood trim, just like yours.”

“There is nothing wrong with a neat man, unless he doesn’t like to get down and dirty.” Bella raised her eyebrows.

“Oh yeah, I hear ya.” Amy lifted her glass and took a drink.

Leanna’s heart warmed. She loved her friends. During the summers when they were growing up, they’d chased boys, shared details, and tested all of their parents’ patience. She trusted them explicitly and knew that they’d always have her back, just as she’d have theirs. “I went to see him today.”

The women leaned in closer.

“And there isn’t much to tell. He said I should stay while he wrote, and I did. I played with Pepper on the beach, and then…” Almost kissed him. She got warm just thinking about him.

“Then?” Bella pushed.

“Then he said he had to write.” She shrugged. “So I left.”

“He kicked you out? You? You’re so cute and fun, and sexy, and…” Jenna shook her head. “If he kicked you out, I wouldn’t have a chance.”

Leanna took a bite of her burger, mulling over why he told her to leave.

“Lea, I think we’re missing something. No man just kicks out a beautiful woman. Were you giving off a weird vibe?” Amy asked.

“Maybe he’s gay.” Bella shrugged.

“He’s not gay, and I wasn’t giving off a weird vibe. I’m just me, you know. I went in the water, and when I came back onto the deck things were…different.” Hotter.

They finished their wine, and Amy refilled the glasses. “Were you wearing your pink bikini?”

“Yeah, like that would scare off any man.” Bella laughed.

“Charcoal gray.”

Bella and Amy exchanged another look.

“You did not.” Bella smacked the table, threw her head back, and laughed.

“Leanna, really?” Amy shook her head.

She looked between them. “What?”

“Leanna, that bathing suit makes you look like a Victoria’s Secret model,” Jenna explained.

“Oh, it does not.” Leanna shook her head. She wasn’t a woman who looked good in a one-piece bathing suit. Her waist wasn’t exactly small, but it was small enough to make her hips look quite round, and her full breasts needed the lift and support of a good bra. A bikini definitely suited her curves, but she felt very far from anything remotely similar to a Victoria’s Secret model.

“It’s so small,” Jenna continued. “And let’s face it; you’re not Amy’s size. None of us are.”

“Hey!” Amy crossed her arms.

“Sorry, honey, but Leanna has boobs and hips. You have itsy-bitsy anthills, but you’re gorgeous and you know it.” Jenna winked at her. “You probably stole the breath right from his lungs.”

“And shot it right between his legs.” Bella did a little shimmy with her shoulders.

“Ha!” Jenna laughed.

“Uh, yeah. Maybe.” Definitely. “But even so, he’s a guy who knows just what he wants in life and he has it. I’m…me.”

Amy came around behind Leanna and hugged her. “Aw, Lea. We love you, and any man would be crazy not to feel the same way.”