Tryst (7 page)

The sound of his voice caused chills to race over my scalp. You know, the kind you get when
you get a really good massage? Yeah, that kind. The good kind.

I nodded.

“I’d tell ya to stay out of trouble, but I really doubt that’s going to happen.”

I scowled as he released my wrist and walked away. Immediately
, I covered the area with my other hand, trying to trap in the warmth he left behind, if only for a few moments. The skin around the area tingled… I liked it.

He drove away. He didn’t look back. I was glad.

Talie

I was learning all kind of life lessons lately:

1. You don’t always know someone like you think you do.

2.
Getting fired from a job you hate still sucks.

3.
Just because you tell your car not to break down doesn’t mean it will listen.

4.
Blake is a butthead.

And most recently
:

5.
I was not destined to become a cat lady.

Salty hated me. And not in the way of there was
a stranger in the house and he needed to get used to it. In the way of
you better sleep with one eye open because he will claw you to death if you don’t
kind of way.

From the minute I let myself into Aunt Ruth’s beach house
, he did nothing but hiss, yowl, and stare at me from within doorways with some kind of death ray glare.

I offered him cat treats, cheese
, and even a can of tuna. He was having none of it. The one time he let me get close enough to put a treat under his nose, he took a swipe with his claws and made me bleed. I was left with one conclusion.

Salty = a furry demon.

Even though the cat may or may not have been the spawn of Satan himself, the view from the windows was more than worth the danger. The house was small, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, the rest of the house being made up of an eat-in kitchen with a wooden table and a living room with tons of windows. Every room in the house had a view of the ocean (except for one of the bathrooms).

The windows spanned the length of the back of the house, offering panoramic views of the surf meeting the sand. Beyond the windows
, the house sported a large, weathered wooden deck filled with lounge chairs for taking in the view. Stretching off the deck was a set of wooden stairs and a wooden path that led directly onto the sand. Between the house and the beach was a sand dune littered with seashells, tall grasses, and piles of sand.

Though small, the house was
nice, with wicker furniture and soft linen cushions, light-painted walls, and a brightly patterned round ottoman as the coffee table. There was a small TV against the wall, sitting on a rustic-looking console table and photographs of the beach hanging on the walls. The kitchen was open to the living space and it offered white-painted cabinets, granite countertops the color of sand, and clean white appliances.

When Rand the tow truck driver dropped me off last night
, I trudged into the house with my bags and dropped them by the front door. After standing on the deck outside, staring up at the starlit sky, I tried to make friends with Salty. That didn’t go as planned, so I found the guest bedroom and collapsed on the bed.

The next thing I knew
, the sun was rising up above the ocean and making the blue waves glimmer like diamonds in a glass case. The second I sat up in bed, I noticed the scowling from the bedroom door.

“What are you looking at?” I asked the white cat.

He swished his tail and sauntered away after giving me an angry hiss.

Still wearing the shorts and
T-shirt I wore driving in last night, I padded out to the kitchen to get the demon cat some food. Maybe once he realized I was here to take care of him, he would get some manners.

I poured some kitty chow into his bowl and s
et it on the floor. Then I gave him fresh water and set it beside the food and called out to him. “Here kitty, kitty, kitty!”

Seconds later
, he sauntered across the tile. “Your breakfast is served,” I told him.

He reared back and swiped at me, scratching my leg. “Ow!” I yelled. “Bad kitty!”

He ignored me. I picked up my cell and punched in Claire’s number.

“What?” she growled sleepily into the phone.

“Why aren’t you up for work?”

“I’m off today.”

“This cat is a demon. It hates me.”

“Salty?” she asked.

“Please tell me there is only one cat in this house.”

She yawned loudly. “Just one. Salty
hates everyone but Aunt Ruth.”

“And you didn’t think that would be good to mention?”

“He’s a little cat. How much trouble could he possibly be?”

“I’m bleeding
, Claire,” I said, deadpan.

“Get a
Band-Aid.” She yawned again.

“My car broke down on the side of the road last night.”

“Oh my God! Are you okay?”

“I didn’t wreck it,” I said. “I had to have it towed.”

“Ruth’s car is there, isn’t it? My dad drove her up here.”

“Yeah
, it’s in the driveway.”

“Keys should be in the kitchen
. You can use her car when you need to,” Claire replied.

“Thanks. I don’t plan on going anywhere except out for groceries.”

“Call me if the cat kills you.”

“If it kills me
, I won’t be able to use the phone,” I said, exasperated.

She laughed and then the line went dead.

The cat was still eating, and I made a wide arc around him, then went toward the windows and looked out at the gorgeous, sun-drenched view. Man, the beach was stunning. There was this instant feeling of peace that washed over me every time I looked out over the vast blue sea at the rolling waves and surf.

The sun had just risen, and the space where the sky met the water was a deep shade of blush. Not quite pink, but not quite peach either. It was one of those colors you only saw when a new day was dawning. It filled me with a sense of hope. A sense of renewal. Life as I knew it might be ending
, but something else was being born.

I sighed and with the slight movement
, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the glass. Oh my word, I was frightening! No wonder the cat was so mean to me. I probably scared him silly walking around looking like this.

It was as if a flock of angry birds
had turned my hair into a nest. When I said I didn’t care what I looked like and how many tangles I got, I meant it, but this… this was just uncalled for. A girl had to have her standards.

I abandoned the view (regrettably) and went into the bathroom. My little duffle with all my shower supplies was sitting on the floor
, and I rummaged through it to pull out my brush and detangling spray. I set it on the counter and looked in the mirror.

Oh
, it was really bad.

The only thing that would fix the mess I had going on was a hot shower and half a bottle of conditioner. After I found a towel in the linen closet and pulled out the rest of my needed items
, I climbed under the spray and got to work.

It felt good to wash away the travel
. The stinging cuts on my legs from rolling down the hill smarted under the spray, and it reminded me of last night.

More specifically, the man who stopped to help me.

Even in the dark, I knew he was attractive. Too bad his good looks (well, what I could see of him anyway) were ruined every time he opened his mouth. I felt bad for whoever had to put up with him on a daily basis.

But even his foul behavior couldn’t completely erase the memory of the sound of his voice and the way he rolled that lollipop around in his mouth. And the soft feel of his hands against my leg…

In one swift movement, I turned the water onto cold and blasted myself with frigid spray. Fantasizing about some man I literally met on the side of the road wasn’t going to happen. Men were off-limits to me. Period.

As if to punctuate my declaration
further, I shut off the spray and began to dry off. The whole time I worked on my hair, I thought about the view I was missing. I laid down the comb with a frustrated sigh. My eyes noticed something on the counter.

A pair of scissors.

I glanced up at the wet blond hair hanging limply over my shoulders. I was tired of feeling heavy. I was tired of wearing my hair the way other people wanted me to wear it. I was going to be like the sun. I was going to embrace the new day.

I pulled my hair back into a low ponytail at the base of my neck and slid the band down a couple inches.

And then I chopped it off.

When I pulled my hand away
, about six inches of hair bound together with a black tie came with it. I tossed it in the nearby trashcan and looked up. My hair hung above my shoulders now, some of the newly cut ends flipping outward. I ran my fingers through it with a smile. I felt lighter already.

Feeling empowered
, I combed the front down over my face and cut in very long bangs. In fact, they were so long, I didn’t know if they even were bangs or just a long layer. I wasn’t a hair stylist. In fact, I was pretty sure I’d lost my ever-loving mind, but I didn’t care.

After I was done
, I cleaned up the hair that had fallen in the sink and then worked a little mousse through the strands. I applied a layer of sunblock before standing back to study my handiwork. Not bad. It appeared even because I used the hair tie as a guide. The real test would be once it was dry.

I was
n’t about to blow-dry it. I wanted to get outside and enjoy the colors in the sky before the sun rose so high it was only blue.

In the kitchen
, I rummaged for coffee, only to find there wasn’t any. What kind of human being had no coffee? A trip to the store would be a must later today. There was a little OJ in the fridge so I settled for that and carried it toward the back door.

On the way
, Salty stared at me hatefully. I guess my fresh appearance didn’t make me any more likable.

As soon as I opened the sliding door
, fresh sea air greeted me and I took a deep breath. I stepped out, my bare foot meeting the textured wood of the deck. Before I could fully step outside, Salty (aka Demon) shot out the door between my legs with an angry growl.

I stumbled and almost fell over from the stupid animal but caught m
yself just in time. As I straightened, the stupid cat leapt off the deck railing and into the sand dune.

Did I mention people were not allowed on the
dunes? They weren’t. It was actually a law here, and if caught, you would be fined heavily.

“Salty!” I yelled. “Get back here!”

Aunt Ruth was more than happy to let me stay at her place while she recovered from surgery with Claire’s parents. She even refused to take rent money. The only thing she asked was that I feed Salty and take care of him. Her indoor cat. I hadn’t even been here a full day and already he was running off outside where he wasn’t supposed to be.

Hey, Aunt Ruth, thanks for letting me borrow your beach house. You know that cat you love so much? I lost him.

Yeah, that was
not
a conversation I wanted to have.

I s
et down the glass and leaned over the railing. Salty was sitting calmly below, looking up at me with a haughty expression. Almost as if he were mocking me.

“Don’t think I won’t come down there!” I bellowed.

He just sat there.

“No tuna for you!” I threatened.

Nothing.

“Fine!” I shouted and began climbing over the railing. I felt a splinter ram its way into my palm and I bit my lip, thinking of all the ways I was going to make this demon suffer for this. Once I was on the outside of the deck
, I looked down.

Whoa.

That was a lot bigger jump than I realized.

“Stupid cat!” I snapped.

Salty hissed and ran off.

“Wait!” I yelled and squeezed my eyes shut
before jumping off. I landed on my feet, immediately falling onto my butt. The sand here was cold because it was mostly shaded. Salty was close by, and I reached out to grab him.

He avoided my grasp and took off running
, this time toward the beach. Was he insane? Cats didn’t like the beach. Did they?

I scrambled up and went chasing after him, yelling his name the entire way. Right next door to Ruth’s house was another house right on the beach. The distance between the homes wasn’t very far,
and in between them where the dune gave way to the beach was a very tall wooden pole with a light on the top.

It was this light pole that Salty decided to climb.

I scurried over the dune and skidded to a stop beneath the light post. The good news was Salty had enough sense not to climb to the top. The bad news was he was high enough that I couldn’t reach him.

“You’re evil!” I hissed at him.

He hissed back.

“Come down here, right now!” I demanded, looking around for some sort of stick or something I might be able to poke him down with.

He didn’t listen and there were no sticks lying around. I was going to have to go up there and get him. The large, brown pole was literally a cylinder shape of wood sticking up out of the ground. There was no ladder on the side, nothing for me to use as foot holds.