Tryst (Take It Off #8)(17)
Author: Cambria Hebert

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 myself 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 set 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.

I tested out the width of the wood by wrapping my arms around it. My hands didn’t meet so it was fairly large. I backed up a few steps and took a running leap at it. The plan was to jump on it and, using my arms and legs, wrap myself around it and then shimmy up.

Yeah, that didn’t happen. I bounced off like I was a basketball thrown in a lousy shot. With an oomph, I landed on my back in the sand.

I stared up at the blue, cloudless sky. How in the hell did these things happen to me?

Taking a different approach, I wrapped my arms and legs around the pole and then tried to climb it that way.

Can I just say I learned two things:

1. I hated cats.

2. I had no idea how strippers “worked” a pole because it wasn’t easy.

I released the pole and stood staring up at the cat. He gave me a pitiful meow, and I rolled my eyes. “Sure, now you want my pity.”

There was really only one thing to do. Call the fire department. Maybe they would send out some hot, muscle-bound guy with a ladder that I could ogle as he saved the day.

“Ha!” I told the cat. “Who has the last laugh now?”

I turned away, toward my house to get my cell phone. I heard the sound of a slamming door, but I didn’t bother to turn and look.

“What the hell is going on out here!” roared a vaguely familiar voice.

I stopped in the sand.

It couldn’t be…

“Who the hell are you?” he roared.

I spun on my heel.

Blond hair flopped into his eyes, unshaven jaw, chiseled cheekbones, hulking shape…

It was the guy from last night.

I could only pray he didn’t recognize me.

“My cat is stuck.” I pointed up at Salty. “I was just going to call the fire department.”

“You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?” He crossed his arms over his very broad chest. His very naked, smooth chest.

Holy suntanned muscles.

So much for him not remembering me. “It’s not my fault he raced up that pole like some circus act.”

“He was no doubt trying to get away from you,” he muttered, staring up at Salty. Then he looked back at me. “That’s your cat?” he asked, his voice filled with doubt.

“It’s my Aunt Ruth’s cat.” I clarified. He didn’t need to know she wasn’t my aunt. “I’m housesitting for her.”

“You’re living next door?” He said it like it was the most annoying thing in the world.

“I’m just visiting.”

“Yeah?” He sauntered over toward me. The wind off the water blew around us, ruffling the blond hair around his head, and I couldn’t help but notice the way the muscles in his very well-defined chest shifted as he moved.

Instead of staring at his rock-hard body, I looked at his face, taking in the features I wasn’t able to see last night.

His eyes were blue. Like a deep ocean blue. His skin was tan, the kind of tan one only got from living at the beach, and judging from the lightness of his eyebrows, he was a natural blond. He looked like he was born and raised in the sand. His skin was smooth and his biceps were round and solid.

He drew closer, towering over me like he was some giant and I was his dinner. Those beautiful blue eyes were narrowed and from this distance, I could see they were slightly bloodshot.

Maybe he was an alcoholic. But weren’t alcoholics friendly?