Breathless (152 page)

“But it’ll make me laugh,” he said as he grinned at me.

“Sure, it will. What do I need to do, and when do you want to do this? I need time to get a board and stuff.”

“Don’t worry about the board. You can use my old one that I learned on.

As for when, I’m free tomorrow morning until two if you want to start then.”

Wow.
That was a lot sooner than I’d expected. I wasn’t one to turn down a challenge though. “Sounds like a plan to me. What time do you want to start? And where should I meet you on the beach?” I asked.

“Let’s meet at eight. There won’t be a ton of people around, so you won’t have to worry about embarrassing yourself. The beach I surf at is only a few minutes from here.”

“Great, I can’t wait. Should I bring anything with me?” I asked.

“Nope, just yourself.” He gave me a devious smile. “And a bikini.”

I felt my cheeks heat, but I refused to look away from him. He was testing me, and I wasn’t about to lose this one.

“I think I can handle that.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

We talked about nothing in particular as we finished our food. While we didn’t get into anything personal, I felt like I could relate to Jesse a little bit better. The guy was smart, really smart. I could tell just by the way he talked. While he came off as easygoing and even a little wild, I didn’t think he was as bad as he seemed. Still, underneath the shaggy hair and tattoos, he was a force to be reckoned with. There was just something about him. Maybe it was the way he carried himself as if to say, “Don’t mess with me.”

When we were both done, Jesse pulled out his wallet and set a few bills on the table to cover our dinner. I grabbed my purse and followed him out to the parking lot. I stayed a few feet behind him, admiring his ass as he walked.

I couldn’t help it. I was only human.

The ride back to the school was quiet. As he pulled in next to my car, he turned to me.

“Well, this was fun. Thanks for inviting me,” I said.

“You’re welcome. I know it wasn’t five-star dining, but I like this place.” “Screw five stars. I have to wear a dress when we go to places like that.”

He laughed. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you in a dress sometime, preferably something short.”

I wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not, so I just smiled as I opened my door.

“Don’t forget. Eight o’clock sharp, or I’ll paddle out without you.”

I saluted him. “Yes, sir.”

He waved as I started my car, and pulled away. I watched him in my rearview mirror until I was out of the parking lot. I was going to have a lot of fun figuring Jesse out.

***

I groaned as I pulled my car into our garage. My mother’s car was inside, which meant she was home.
Why me?
I thought she’d told me that she would be gone until tomorrow, but I’d apparently heard her wrong. I’d had such a good day, and I didn’t want to deal with her tonight. She’d just ruin my mood.

I slipped out of my car and walked to the door that led inside the house. Maybe, just maybe, if I were quiet enough, she wouldn’t know that I’d made it home. I crept through the house and went up the stairs to my room. Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, I heard my mother’s bedroom door open.

“Emma, I see you made it home.”

Damn it.
“Hi, Mom.”

“How was your day?” she asked.

What’s up with that?
She never asked about my day. “Um, fine. Why?” “Can’t I ask how my daughter’s day was?” she huffed.

“Well, yeah, I guess. You just normally don’t.”

There was no use sugarcoating it. We both knew that she didn’t give a damn about how my day went unless it pertained to her. “Emma! That was very rude of you!” “Sorry,” I grumbled.

“I’m sure you are,” she said sarcastically. “I was talking to Todd’s mom today. She said the two of you went out last night. How did that go?”

And there it was. She didn’t give a damn about my day. She was simply fishing for information about Todd. His parents were one of the highly influential people who she chased after. The two of us together would be like a wet dream to her.

“It was nice,” I said.

“Just nice?”

It took every ounce of self-control I had not to run to my room and lock the door. I did not want to talk about Todd with my mother. Now that she knew we’d been out together, she’d never let it go.

“What do you want me to say, Mom? We went out. It was nice.”

“I thought you had a crush on that boy. Why aren’t you more excited over the fact that you two went on a date?”

“It wasn’t a date. We just went out for a little bit. He didn’t ask to go out again, so don’t get your hopes up for a repeat performance.”

“I might not be a teenager anymore, but the last time I checked, a date consisted of two people going out. I’d consider last night a date.”

Then, you’ll be glad to know I went on another date tonight with someone you wouldn’t approve of.
I would have loved to say it
to
her, but I knew better. She’d lock me up and never let me leave the house again. She couldn’t have her princess going out with the poor boy. She’d freak over the fact that I went to the other side of town, let alone with Jesse.

“I don’t consider it a date.”

“Well, I think Todd did. That’s how his mom took it anyway.”

“I have no idea. Maybe you should go ask them if it was or not,” I replied, unable to keep the sarcasm from my voice.

“Don’t use that tone with me, Emma. I raised you to be polite.”

“No, the never-ending flow of nannies raised me to be polite.”

Before she could reply, I turned, walked into my room, and slammed the door behind me. I knew I was being a snotty bitch, but I couldn’t help it. My mom had no interest in being an actual mother. She simply wanted to use me to help her get in good with the high class folks of Santa Monica.
Well, she could take that notion and shove it right up her ass.
I had no intention of being her puppet.

Six-Emma

I was up and dressed before seven the next morning. I’d spent most of the night tossing and turning. I was too excited at the prospect of spending the morning with Jesse. There was a good chance that I would embarrass myself before the day was over, but I didn’t care. I was going to spend time alone with Jesse. I’d take my chances with embarrassing myself.

I’d finally decided to throw caution to the wind and see where things ended up between the two of us. I wasn’t even sure if he was interested in me or not, yet I was willing to take a chance that my mother would find out that I was spending time with him. That said a lot about my self-preservation skills…or rather, the lack of them.

I slipped quietly from my room and went down the stairs to the door leading to the garage. Hopefully, my mother was still sleeping and wouldn’t catch me to see where I was going. I had every intention of lying if she asked, but I was a horrible liar. I didn’t want to tell on myself before I even made it out of the house. If I were going to get locked in my room for eternity, I wanted to at least commit the crime.

Luck was with me as I slipped into the garage and walked to my car. I cringed when I started my car and clicked the button to raise the garage door, but my mother never appeared. I held my breath until I turned the corner, and my house disappeared from view. I’d done it. I did a small happy dance as I drove through town. I was proud of myself for escaping and making it this far. I wasn’t too concerned about anyone seeing me on the beach with Jesse. No one who would rat me out to my mom would be on Jesse’s side of town. At least, I hoped not.

I followed the directions Jesse had texted to me the night before as I approached his side of town. Just like he’d said, the part of the beach that he surfed at was only a few minutes away from the restaurant we’d been at last night.

The lot was almost empty when I pulled in. I didn’t see Jesse’s Jeep anywhere, so I turned off my car and waited with the windows down. Even this early in the morning, the temperature was already starting to rise. I grabbed a hair tie out of my console and pulled my hair up into a messy ponytail, fighting the pieces already matted to my neck with sweat. I couldn’t wait to get in the water and cool off.

I glanced up as a car pulled in beside me. I couldn’t hide the smile that broke out across my face when I saw Jesse sitting in the driver’s seat of his Jeep. He was out of the car and opening the back before I even realized that he’d moved. I quickly got out of my car and walked back to where he was unloading two boards. He didn’t mess around.

“Hi,” I said nervously.

“Hey. Can you grab that duffel bag and carry it down to the beach for me? I’ll get the boards.”

“Sure,” I said as I picked up the bag from the back of his car.

I followed him down to the beach. We stopped halfway, and Jesse put both boards down in the sand and took the duffel bag from me.

“Where do we start?” I asked. I had no idea what surfing entailed, but I was anxious to find out.

“First things first. I’m going to show you the basics—how to wax your board, how to put the leg leash on, and things like that. I also borrowed Andy’s sister’s wet suit for you to use today. You two look like you’re about the same size.” He unzipped the duffel bag and pulled out what looked like a bar of soap and a leg rope.

“Are we taking a shower or something?” I joked as I stared at the soap.

“Huh? Oh, no.” He laughed. “This is board wax, not soap.” “And now I feel like an idiot,” I groaned.

“Nah, it’s cool. You’ve never been around this stuff, so it’s understandable that you didn’t know.”

He was trying to make me feel better, and I was fine with that. I hated looking like an idiot.

“Anyway, what do we do first?” I asked.

“I waxed both boards last night, but I’m still going to show you how to do it. You need to keep your board waxed, or you’ll slide right off. When you wax it, it makes little bumps that give you traction.” I nodded to show that I was listening.

“There are two different types of wax. The first is the base coat that you put on every few months. I’m not going to show you that because I already got both boards ready. The board I brought for you is called a longboard. It’s the easiest thing for you to learn on. I always wax the entire surface of a longboard with the base wax. After I do that, we move on to the top coat.

You have to add that wax a lot because it is softer and rubs off easily.”

He motioned me forward and held out the wax for me to take. I gripped it tightly as I looked at the board.

“Top coat—got it. So, how do I wax it?”

“With the base coat, you need to put a lot of pressure into it but not so much with the top coat. I always go from one end to the other until you cover it all. Try it.” He stepped back to give me room to start waxing.

I ran the wax across the board, unsure of whether or not I was doing it right. “Is this okay?”

“Put just a little more pressure into it, not much though.”

I did as he’d said, and I smiled when he nodded in approval. “I think I’ve got it.”

“You do.” He took the wax from my hand and threw it on top of the duffel bag. “Just remember, you’ll need to do it every few trips in because it wears off.”

“Great. What’s next?”

“Next is the leg leash. It’s easy to do once you do it a few times. Watch me do mine first, and then I’ll help you do yours.”

I paid close attention to how he tied his, and then I started working on my own. He had to help me once or twice, but I soon figured it out. I felt a sense of pride when I finished.

“Yay! I did it!”

He laughed, and I couldn’t help but stare at his dimple. Dear God, I wanted to lean forward and lick it. Forcing myself to look away before I did something stupid, I focused my attention on the board between us.

“What’s next?”

“Normally, we’d get in our wet suits and head out, but I want to teach you the basics before we get in the water.”

“Okay…” I had no idea how he planned to teach me to surf without water, but I wasn’t about to make myself look stupid by asking. I looked out at the water longingly. It was too hot to be this close without going in. “Do you care if I swim for a minute? The sun is about to fry me.”

“Sure, go ahead.” He watched me closely with an amused look on his face.

“I’ll be right back,” I said as I stood and shimmied out of my shorts. My shirt went next, and I threw them in the sand beside him. I ran out to the water, and I sighed in relief as I dove in. It felt cool on my overheated skin, and I loved it. I swam just a few feet out and dove under again before stepping back out of the water.

“Feel better?” Jesse asked as I approached him.

“Yes, much. It’s too hot out here.”

“You won’t even notice it once we get out there. Let’s get started, so you don’t have a heatstroke.”

His eyes traveled down my body slowly, and I tried not to fidget or cross my arms over my chest. His mouth said nothing, but his eyes told me everything that I needed to know. There was a heat within them that made me burn inside. I normally felt comfortable in a bikini, but with the way he was staring at me, I felt naked.

“You’re so sweet,” I said sarcastically, trying to relieve the tension in the air.

“I try. Okay, I’m going to show you where to lie on the board first. It’s important to position yourself right, or you’ll mess up when you try to stand. If you’re too close to the front, the nose will dip under, and if you’re too far back, the wave will go right under you. Go ahead and get down on the board.”

I crawled on top of the board, feeling like an idiot. “Am I doing it right?”

“You’re a little too far back. Scoot up a bit.”

I scooted up until he stopped me by placing his hand on my bare back. I jumped a little at the contact, but I said nothing. My skin tingled where he was touching me, and I focused on remembering how to breathe.

“Okay, that’s good. Try to remember where you are, so you can stay there once we go out into the water. Next, we need to cover paddling out. It sounds easy, but there are tricks that will help you. When you’re paddling out, you need to position yourself so that the nose is about an inch out of the water. When we are out there, you need to walk your board until you’re about waist deep and then mount it.”