Read Online Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews - Free Book Online Page A

lapped at her as surely as the warm waves. Damn Willa for backing out on them! Dorie had budgeted this vacation down to the last nickel, counting on splitting expenses four ways. And now? Her budget was blown to hell. She had just barely enough money to pay for her share of the rent, let alone kick in her share for groceries. And then there was Stephen. It was all just too sad, too awful. He would have loved this place. The thought came to her unbidden, as did the unexpected wave, washing over her face. She stood up, sputtering and choking, the saltwater burning hereyes and throat.
    She was running back to her chair when she spotted him—a man, standing on the second-floor deck of the garage right beside their house.
    The other girls were opening beers when she got back. She opted for an icy bottle of water instead, and as she was toweling off, she glanced up and saw the man again. He hadn’t moved.
    “Hey,” she said, running a comb through her tangled hair. “Who’s that guy?”
    “What guy?” Julia said, not bothering to look around. She twisted the cap from her beer and took a long drink. “Probably one of your old boyfriends.”
    “Wrong,” Dorie said. “I’ve never dated anybody from North Carolina. I had a boyfriend who went to Wake Forest, but that doesn’t count because he was from Charleston.”
    “Where is this guy?” Ellis asked, standing up.
    “Right there.” Dorie pointed towards the garage apartment. “He’s totally been staring at us for the past ten minutes.”
    Ellis put on her sunglasses and looked.
    “It’s him!” she exclaimed.
    Now Julia was looking too. “Him who?”
    “That’s the guy,” Ellis exclaimed. “Remember? I told you, he was standing right there, peeing off that porch, yesterday morning when I got here.”
    “Gross,” Dorie said.
    “He doesn’t look gross to me,” Julia said. “He looks kind of, um, yummy to me. He’s all tan and ripped. My God, look at those pecs!”
    “Julia!” Ellis and Dorie exclaimed in unison.
    “Excuse me,” Julia said. “Can I help it if I’ve had my fill of looking at flabby white Englishmen in the past few years? Have you two ever seen European men at the beach? They all wear those nasty little Speedos with their schlongs waving around.”
    “Banana hammocks,” Dorie said, giggling. “Disgusting. Booker doesn’t wear one, does he?”
    “Booker?” Julia said with a derisive snort. “Hah! Booker hates the beach. He always says if he wants to get sun poisoning or skin cancer, he’ll do it someplace with air-conditioning and decent cable reception.”
    “Stephen loves the beach,” Dorie said wistfully. “He’ll drive out to Tybee in the middle of the winter, just so he can walk barefoot in the sand.”
    “It’s just too bad he couldn’t come after all,” Julia said sympathetically. “Have you talked to him since we got here?”
    Dorie’s eyes filled with tears. “No.…”
    Ellis shot Julia a warning look. Julia shrugged.
    “Oh look,” Julia said, turning back towards the dunes. “The guy! He sees us looking at him.” She gave him a coquettish wave. “And he doesn’t even care. Oh my God. He’s waving back. Who the hell is he?”
    “That’s what I intend to find out,” Ellis said.

 
    8
    Ellis marched herself right up the stairway over the dune, stopping only to slide her feet into a pair of flip-flops she’d left at the edge of the steps.
    “Hey!” she called, standing at the covered deck at the top of the dunes, her hands at her hips. “Hey, you!”
    “Who, me?” Ty called, leaning down over the porch railing. He could just barely see a bit of her nipples from this vantage point.
    “Yes, you,” Ellis retorted. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
    “Just taking in the scenery,” Ty said innocently. “How about yourself?”
    “My friends and I were relaxing on the beach,” Ellis said. “Until we became aware that we were being spied on by some pervert.”
    “What makes you