JAMIE COULD TELL by the look in Jessica’s eyes that she wasn’t paying attention. As the developer of OneClick, the second-largest search engine rivaling Google, he’d been in his fair share of meetings with foggy-eyed people who zoned out when he started with technical talk. But refreshing a screen was hardly technical, which meant that either beautiful Jessica was really a novice and had lived in a cave for the past ten years or she was playing him like a cheap guitar. She sure didn’t look like she’d been living in a cave. She was about the hottest chick he’d seen in forever, sitting beside him in a canary-yellow bikini like it was the most comfortable thing in the world. Maybe she was a fashion model with handlers that did these kinds of things for her.
Her light brown hair brushed her thighs when she leaned forward, and her bright blue eyes, although looking a little lost at the moment, were strikingly sexy. She had a hot bod, with perfect, perky breasts, a trim waist, curvaceous hips, and legs that went on forever, but that didn’t change the fact that she’d tried to avoid admitting that the phone was hers. The last thing Jamie needed this summer was to be played, even by a beautiful woman like Jessica. This was his first summer off in eight years, and he intended to relax and spend time with his grandmother, Vera, who was in her mid-eighties and wasn’t getting any younger. If the right woman came along, and he had the time and interest, he’d enjoy her company, but he had no patience for games.
“Either your phone is new, or you don’t use many apps.”
“No. To be honest, I don’t even text very often. I’ve been kind of out of the swing of things in that arena for a while. And after this I’m not sure that I really want to dive in.”
He handed her the phone. “You can do this on your computer. Some people find that easier.”
She closed her eyes for a beat and cringed. “I get along with my computer even worse than I get along with my phone.”
He still couldn’t decide if she was playing him or not. She sounded sincere, and the look in her beautiful baby blues was as honest as he’d ever seen. He might as well offer to help.
“Then you’ve met just the right guy. I can give you a crash course in computers and phones.”
“I’ve taken up so much of your time already. I would feel guilty taking up any more on a beautiful day like today. But I really appreciate your offer.”
Are you blowing me off?
Jamie rose to his feet. “Okay, well, if you need any help, I’m in the cottage on the end with the deck out front and back. Stop by anytime.” He hesitated, knowing he should leave but wanting to stay and get to know her a little better. If she was playing him, she would’ve taken him up on his offer for sure.
Jessica rose to her feet, grabbed a towel from the back of her chair, and picked up a tote bag from beneath the table. “I’m heading to the pool, so I’ll walk down with you.”
They walked down to the pool together in silence, giving Jamie a chance to notice how nice she smelled. It took all of his focus not to run his eyes down her backside—he was dying to see her butt, but why rush things and make her uncomfortable? She’d walk into the pool and he’d have his chance.
Jessica dug through her tote bag. She placed a slender hand on her hip and sighed. “I forgot my key. Why do they keep the pool locked, anyway?”
He had no idea why, but she looked so curious that he made up a reason. “To keep the derelicts out.”
“Derelicts? Really? My friend suggested that I rent here. He said there was almost no crime on the Cape.”
Jamie wondered who her friend was. “We had some trouble with teenagers two summers ago, but other than that, your friend was right. There are no derelicts lurking about.”
“Oh, thank goodness. I didn’t think my coworker would lead me astray. I guess I’ll go get my key.”
She turned to leave and—holy mackerel—her bikini bottom was a thong. A thin piece of floss between two perfect buttcheeks. How had he missed that?
It was all he could do not to drool. “Nice suit,” he mumbled.
She looked over her shoulder. “Thanks! I saw the Thong Thursday flyer and thought, why not? I bought this suit when we were overseas and wore it there once. I brought it with me, but I never would have had the guts to wear it here, until I saw that you guys had an actual day for one.” She waved and disappeared up the steps to her apartment.
Jamie spun around and scanned the bulletin board where the pool rules were posted. A blue flyer had been tacked front and center: JOIN US FOR THONG THURSDAY!
Thank you, Bella.
Jamie jogged up to Bella’s cottage. The screen door was open.
“Bella?” Bella Abbascia owned the cottage across from the apartment Jessica was renting. She was the resident prankster. Her favorite person to play tricks on was Theresa Ottoline, the Seaside property manager. Theresa oversaw the homeowner association guidelines for the community—including the pool rules, which included a rule that clearly stated, No thongs on women or Speedos on men.
Bella’s fiancé, Caden Grant, walked out of the bedroom in his police officer uniform. “Hey, Jamie. Come on in.”
Jamie stepped inside. “Hi. I wanted to thank your fiancée for Thong Thursday.”
Caden shook his head. “She did it, huh?”
“Heck, yes, she did it, and…” Jamie looked out the window at the big house where Jessica was renting. The house was owned by Theresa. The apartment Jessica rented had a separate entrance on the second floor.
“Did you see the new tenant? Jessica Ayers?” He whistled. “Hotter than Hades.”
“I saw her sitting on her deck the other night when I pulled in, but I haven’t met her. Bella’s over at Amy’s with the girls.”
Evan, Caden’s mini-me teenage son, walked out of his bedroom. Evan was almost seventeen, and this year he’d cropped his chestnut hair short, like his father’s. Over the year he’d grown to six two. His square jaw and cleft chin, also like Caden’s, had lost all but the faintest trace of the boy he’d been two years earlier.
“Dude. You went running without me?” Evan, Caden, and their other buddy, Kurt Remington, whose fiancée, Leanna Bray, owned the cottage behind Bella and Caden, sometimes ran with Jamie in the mornings.
“Sorry, Ev. Vera wanted to get a jump on the day, so I went early.”
“That’s okay.” Evan glanced out the window in the kitchen and looked down by the pool, where Jessica was spreading a towel out on a lounge chair. “I was gonna go for a run, but if it’s Thong Thursday, I think I’ll go for a swim instead, then head over to TGG for the afternoon.” Evan had worked with Jamie for one summer, learning how to program computers, and he’d been working part-time at TGG, The Geeky Guys, ever since.
Jamie set a narrow-eyed stare on Evan.
“What?” Evan laughed.