The Arrangement Anthology (69 page)

Sean drives down to Ocean Parkway to Jones Beach, where we spend a good chunk of the afternoon. It’s as close to my wish as I can get. Laying with my back in the sand, I watch the waves pound into the shore. It looks different than it did before Hurricane Sandy. The place has a different vibe, like underneath the new layers of sand and dune grass, it’s still devastated—or maybe it’s me who feels that way. Every day feels like a balancing act between trying to keep my feet in reality and pretending away my troubles. Too much reality all at once is a bad thing and I’ve already had too many bad things to last a lifetime.

I shivered a few moments ago and Sean got up without saying a word.
I watched his broad back in that tight black tee shirt, and those jeans that hugs his hips perfectly, as he walked over to the store and disappeared inside. A moment later he returned with an oversized blanket and steaming cups of something good.

I sit
with my arms wrapped around my ankles and let him drape the blanket over my shoulders.

He asks,
“Hot chocolate or coffee?”

“Ooh, cocoa please.” S
ean hands it to me and sits down so we’re hip to hip. I’ve taken off my boots, but Sean is still wearing his. I bump his shoulder gently. “There should be a NO BOOTS ON THE BEACH sign.”

Sean glances down at his shoes after taking a sip of his coffee. “I’m glad there’s not.”

“Why would you possibly say something so hideous?” I smirk at him over the top of my cup and try to take a sip. The steam travels up my lip and warms my nose.

Sean looks at his boots and then over at me.
“I didn’t want to tell you this, Avery, but—I hate the feeling of the sand between my toes.”

My eyes go wide and I spew the cocoa in my mouth
, coughing. “No! You can’t mean that!” I think back to the other times we were at the beach and he never said anything. I’m questioning everything based on this statement, like it’s a pivotal point in our relationship, when Sean starts laughing.

When I turn to face him, he says, “I’m kidding. I’m just too lazy to take off my boots.”

Narrowing my eyes, I give him an evil look, before glancing back at my hot cocoa. I really, really want to keep it, but there’s no way I can resist. Placing the cup down in the sand, I stand and brush myself off, like he offended me. “We can’t be friends anymore, Mr. Ferro. I don’t joke about the beach.”

Sean can tell that I’m not serious
, but he doesn’t react, which works fine for me when I turn and lunge at his boots. Grabbing hold of one, I wrap my arms around and pull. Sean flips backwards and makes a surprised sound as I yank harder. Well, fuck. They’re stuck. He’s wearing real biker boots so they’re stiff as hell and they won’t slip over his ankle.

There’
s an expression that I’ve heard but never really understood until that second: If you’ve got a tiger by the tail, don’t let go. Catching a glimpse of Sean’s eyes, I see what level of screwed I am, and it’s well into orange or DEFCON 1, depending on how you look at it. DEFCON sounds more badass than colors. I like to say it out loud when no one’s around. The government probably tapped my phone and assigned me my own agent because I say DEFCON way too much. If I ever get a dog, guess what his name will be? DEFCON the badass Dog!

Okay, back to the present where I’m tugging Sean’s leg, literally. I could let go and expect mild
retribution, or I can keep tugging and drag his butt into the surf. A wicked smile slips across my face as I pull his ankle fast and hard. Sean just managed to sit up when I start to run with his leg in my hands. He yelps and falls back into the sand again as I drag him as quickly as I can toward the water.

My problem is
follow through. I have plenty of determination, so that’s not what stops me. It’s that I get too excited. Giggles take hold of me when I see his face. Sean realizes what I’m doing and looks like a cartoon character, which is so wrong on him, that I can’t stop laughing.

Sean’s lips twist into a smile a second later, “You’re dead,
Stanz.”

“Yeah, well, you’ll have to
manage to get up first, Ferro.” Digging my heels into the sand, I tug faster. The sand is damp and cold under my feet. We’re nearly there. Sean digs his fingers into the beach, like that’ll stop me.

“If you get me wet—”

I laugh and spurt out, “Psh. Like I’m ever dry around you?” A wild grin crosses my face as my cheeks burn.

Sean blinks at me and stops struggling. “You did not just say that.”

Ha! A sexy diversion! Just what I needed. I keep tugging and can feel the cold water under the sand now. The waves are crashing right behind me. My plan is to pull him into a wave and then run like hell in the other direction. Good plan, right?

“I think I did,” I giggle.
The damn giggles tickle me so much that my body is shaking.

Sean stares at me
, not realizing that the next wave will crash into us. The beach is damp and it’s getting harder to pull him. Just a little bit more. I strain, but the sand has collected around his perfect butt, so now I have to pull him over a hill.

Sean flinches, like he just realized he’s going to get soaked. His blue eyes go wide when he sees the massive wave coming. Close enough. Dropping his foot, I try to take off and run the other way back toward dry land, but Sean manages to whirl around and grab my ankle. I fall face
first into the sand and Sean’s hands grab my ankles, then my calves, and finally my hips. He rolls me over so that I’m on top of him.

Just as the wave is about to wash over us, he grins like a little boy, and says, “I should have taken off my boots, huh?”

The beach has two types of water, and it’s based on the season. You can have the pleasure of swimming in damn cold water, or in the wintery wonder that’s called holy-fuck-are-you-insane iceberg cold water. You can tell which one it is by the expletives coming from people’s mouths when they wade in. We didn’t get that chance, but it was the latter. Squared. With a penguin on top. Holy fuck.

The wave washes over us, swallowing Sean and I whole. He doesn’t release me, but I can feel the ocean pulling us back as the wave
recedes. Sand rushes by my hands as I try to pull away. Somehow, Sean manages to sit up and hold me in his arms. Seaweed is tangled in my hair and touching my face, and my underpants are mostly sand at this point.

I’m shivering and
yelling, but Sean just laughs. “You’re such an ass!” I beat my fists into his chest and try to get up. Another wave is about to break. Sean’s fingers are locked around my waist.

When I look up at him, his eyes glitter with
mischief, and he shakes his head. “And it’s a lovely ass too, or so I hear.” He grins at me. “Get ready for round two.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would.” His arms lock around my waist as icy cold water crashes into my back. Screaming, I hold onto him and cling.

When the water rushes back into the ocean I start laughing again. My hair is dripping ice cubes down my back. I shiver and look at him. Sean rarely looks this happy. It’s like every worry, every pain he’s ever had
, was washed away. It makes me want to stay here with him, which is complete crazy talk because it’s freezing. “I think there are icicles in my panties.”

“Don’t talk about your panties unless you want me to rip them off.”

I giggle way too much. After I manage to put on a straight face, I lower my voice and speak seriously. “Mr. Ferro.”

“Miss
Stanz.” His eyes lock on mine, but the corners of his mouth twitch like he’s repressing a grin.

“When did we get so formal?”

“We didn’t,” he says casually. “You only call me by my proper name when you’re aroused.”

My face scrunches as my jaw drops. I’m ready to contest it,
to deny his accusation to the death, but a wave hits my back and I shriek as I fall into him. I had no idea my voice could hit that note, or that Sean could laugh so much. His warm hands hold me in place on his lap as the sand around us washes back into the ocean with the wave. His hips are half buried.

My shirt is frozen and stuck to my body. When I breathe it feel
s like I’m trying to suck in snow cones, but I gasp because Sean takes my breath away. He always has. My eyes drift to his mouth, to those perfect lips and that beautiful smile. For a second, it feels real. I’m not his hooker. I’m not his friend. I’m not his lover, but I want to be. I want to be anything and everything, so I lean in before he stops smiling and press my mouth to his. The heat, the warmth of his lips, stands in strong contrast to the cold water. When I feel his smile fade, I pull back and watch his eyes. I don’t know what I’m looking for, but it feels like I should find it there.

However, his gaze is lower. At first I think he’s looking at my chest. He could get a puncture wound, my nipples are so hard. Why does it feel like I crossed a line?
Disappointment floods through me until I realize he’s looking at the ring around my neck. It’s under my shirt, plastered to my chest. Another wave washes over us, but Sean manages to pull the ring out before the water rushes away.

“You’re still wearing it?” He sounds shocked
and blinks a few times like the piece of jewelry will disappear if he looks away.

I shrug, like it doesn’t mean anything. “Just around you.”

“You’re always around me.” Sean looks up slowly, his face expressionless.

“Then, I’ll wear it for a while,” I laugh uneasily
and press my finger to his nose like he’s a little kid. “Can’t have you forgetting what you missed out on.”

“No, we wouldn’t want that.”
His eyes shift down and he looks side to side, scanning the beach. I don’t know what he means, if he’s teasing me or if he’s being serious.

Either way, I don’t want to ruin whatever just happened. After everything that’s gone down, I needed this so badly and Sean seemed to know. I push off his lap and hold out my hand for him. My clothes stick to my body and I shiver as the wind hits me. It leaves very little to the imagination when
clothing looks like skin.

Sean takes my hand and manages to get up before the next wave crashes. He pulls me against him and whispers in my ear, “We should do something to get warm.”

I press my lips together, still smiling so hard that my face hurts. “Ah, my call girl services don’t start until seven.”

“No, my dear,” Sean
leans in and whispers in my ear. “I’m afraid you misunderstood. I’ll be servicing you.”

Giggling, I snap my fingers.
“Sweatpants and hot cocoa?” He nods and rubs his hands up my back, pulling me against him. “Hot soup and fresh bread? Oooh! Lobster Soup?” I nearly have an orgasm thinking about it. I’m so cold and the thought alone of anything that warm is stimulating me in all the right ways. Mmmm. Soup.

Sean gives me a crooked smirk, revealing that dimple again. “Anything you want. Anything at all.” He winks and I
chortle.

“I might want more than soup.”
Maybe. Taking off my clothes sounds like suckage at the moment, but I think being naked must be better. I’m an Avery-sicle complete with chattering teeth.

Sean laughs and holds me tight. He lifts my feet off the ground,
spinning me in a circle. When he puts me down, he presses his forehead to mine and says, “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Sean buys a truck load of JONES BEACH crap from the vendor since neither of us brought a change of clothes, and soon we’re walking down the new boardwalk, hand in hand.

“Where are we going? I was promised soup, Ferro. Don’t screw with me. I’m still frozen.”

Sean makes a noise in the back of his throat that sounds an awful lot like humming before he glances over at me. “In good time, short one.”

“Short one? Are
you Yoda now? Sensei? Or what? Besides, I prefer vertically challenged…and a cup of soup.” I stomp my flip flops and fold my arms over my chest.

Sean
stops and smiles at me, snaking his fingers under the hem of my huge ass sweatshirt as he looks down at me. “You are such a baby when you’re hungry.”

My bottom lip juts out and I’m whining, “I am not,” before I can stop myself. A million excuses fill my head, but I
realize that I don’t need to say any of them. Sean’s not complaining. In fact, he seems to like it.

Huh, turns out my mom was wrong. Whining isn’t unattractive. I wish she was here to have that discussion. My thoughts drift a little more before I look up at him again.
It’s unreal how many different thoughts can fly through my mind at once. I’m not a logical person. My mind is a vortex, always swirling like a twister, ripping apart everything I’m seeing and hearing and trying to make sense of it. Like the man standing in front of me. This is a softer version of Sean. I’ve seen this edition a few times and I know he won’t stay like this for long. It’s something about this place, or that he’s intentionally unguarded right now. Or maybe it’s because he got wet and I fed him after midnight. I have no idea what made him act like this today, but I wish I saw more of this side of him. Sean seems to keep it locked away, like this side of his personality doesn’t exist. Maybe that’s what he wants people to think, because this part of him is clearly vulnerable. Even I can see that.

He slips his hand under my shirt and says, “What if I told you that I had dinner all arranged, but I forgot the soup?”

The corners of my mouth tip down as I consider his statement. “No soup?”

“I seriously doubt it. As it is, I gave the chef a
coronary telling him to make dinner so fast. I almost suggested hamburgers, but I think he would have fired me.” Sean kisses my cheek and then takes my hand, pulling me toward one of the closed buildings. I assume that we’ll walk under the portico and out to the parking lot on the other side, but he stops and pulls the door open for me.

“Are we looting a state park gift shop?
” I joke, and look over my shoulder at him. “Ooh! Dibs on the park passes! I’m going to cover myself in Empire Passport stickers!” There’s a huge smile on my face. I probably look like a deranged circus clown.

“What are you talking about?”

“The parking pass thingie that sticks on the car window so you get into the park for free. You don’t get out much, do you?”

Sean
holds the door as I stand there, looking up at him. “I seriously wonder about you. It’s like there’s an old lady and a toddler fighting for control of your brain.”

I flick his nose and laugh. “The old lady won tonight, sonny. She’s a little
crotchety since she’s learned that she’s not getting any soup!”

Smiling, he says,
“Go inside, lunatic.”

“Make me, Mr. Ferro.” I say it light
ly, teasingly. I don’t think Sean will do anything. He never does, so when he leans in close, his face a breath from mine, and makes a purring sound in the back of his throat, my jaw drops. As soon as he stops, I want to hear it again. I can’t remember why we’re standing in a doorway or what we were talking about. That sound is rarer than that dimple, which has been begging to be licked all day. Do you know how hard it is NOT to lick Sean Ferro? Add that dimple and I’m lost. But the deep, husky sound that came from Sean, from my Sean—oh my God—kill me now. I could die happy.

“Aroused again, Miss
Stanz?”

Pressing my lips together, I stop gaping and punch his side. “Jerk.”

He laughs. “Translation: hells yeah.” I look over my shoulder as we walk over the threshold, and wonder if I know him at all. Since I keep wondering that, I assume that I don’t. When you know a person, they stop surprising you, don’t they? If he does anything else I might die of shock. Ooops. Spoke too soon.

My feet suddenly stop as my
mouth falls open. “What did you do?” The little shop has been cleared out so that there’s only a single dining table, complete with drippy candles, and two chairs. White twinkle lights surround the room, hidden in pale flowy fabric that mimics the waves. The sound and scent of the ocean fills my head, but the fireplace next to the table warms the room. The scents of fall, sea water, and crackling wood mix together.

“I
thought you might need a nice night.” Sean sounds uncertain, like he isn’t sure if I like it.

Turning slowly, I look up at him. “You did this for me?” He nods. “When?”
Other than the altercation with Naked Guy, Sean has been with me all day. I can’t imagine when he had time to arrange it.

Looking at me through those thick, dark lashes, he says,
“When we first got here. You ran into the ladies room, and I called my mother’s chef and had him come out along with a few of her designers to make the room a little better. I just had to keep you from freezing to death before now. I didn’t plan on going for a swim.”

“You should have taken off your boots.” I grin at him.

Sean steps toward me, his eyes darkening, and that sexy smile on his lips. He brushes the back of his hand along my cheek before whispering in my ear. “I’m glad I didn’t.” I shiver, but it has nothing to do with being cold.