Waves of Desire (3 page)

Derek

“Yes!”

Derek raced to drag Archie from the surf, the little tyke giggling and merry as he wiped wet, strawberry blond hair from his eyes. “Again?” he asked as Derek grabbed his mini-board from the roiling surf.

“One more time!” Derek cautioned, just as he had the last twelve times he’d set little Archie back on the board and guided him back out to surf one more wave.

He couldn’t help it. Archie surf so naturally, his little legs ultra-coordinated, his back bent just so, his little arms wobbling but staying steady as he bore down on another wave and rode it right through to the chop. Of course, Derek was there every step of the way, protective of his latest “student” as he’d never been before.

Sure, he’d taught dozens of kids how to surf – hundreds, probably – but never his own. As he grabbed Archie with one hand and the board with the other, they walked slowly along the shoreline.

Dana sat, watching them from beneath a beach umbrella, pale skin glowing from repeated coats of sunscreen. She drank a beer, cold and frosty, from the cooler at her side.

“Way to go, baby,” Dana said as Archie ran into her arms. She winked at Derek saucily before adding, “And you too, Archie.”

“Very funny, Mom!” Archie said, patting her playfully before letting Derek dry him off with a fuzzy new beach towel. Everything was new, it seemed, from Archie’s tot-sized T-shirt and flip-flops and baggies to Dana’s skimpy bikini and the cooler at her side.

He’d surprised them at the Seaside Motel that morning, not wanting to waste his first day with little Archie. He figured she’d have a few things for him to wear but it seemed like Dana had showed up with only the basics: Socks, underwear and lipstick. He’d spent half the morning at Sun ‘N Sand, the local tourist shop, buying beach towels and a cooler, bikinis and board shorts, an umbrella and sunscreen.

It was different with Sage. They were both adults, independent, with their own things and low-key at that. No coolers or fancy beach towels, no umbrellas or thirty dollar sandals. They just surfed, showered and either grabbed a Surfer’s Special at Shuckers Raw Bar or headed back home. Being with Dana and little Archie was like starting from scratch, in more ways than one!

“How’d you do, Booger?” Dana asked, more animated than he’d seen her all day.

“Good, I think,” Archie said, looking to Derek for approval.

Derek tousled his hair and said, “Good? He did great! So good, you deserve a juice box!”

Derek reached into the cooler and grabbed a juice box for Archie and an iced coffee for himself, spotting six empty beer bottles floating in the melting ice. No wonder Dana was in such high spirits.

“Here you go, buddy,” Derek said, sitting Archie down and plopping the straw in the box.

“Thanks!” Archie said, sucking it down greedily as Derek sank into the second fold-up chair across from Dana.

He handed it back, empty and bent in the middle, before lying down in a tangle of beach towels and T-shirts. “I’m just gonna rest my eyes,” he said, before sagging heavily – and instantly – asleep.

“Wow,” Derek marveled, watching his mouth open slackly as little snores trembled from his chubby pink nose. “I’ve never seen anyone go to sleep that fast before.”

“I have,” Dana teased, waving an empty beer bottle around.

“Yeah?” Derek asked, taking the bait.

“You, right after our first time!”

Derek blushed and sipped his coffee. “Shhhh,” he said, nodding toward Archie. “He might hear.”

“He’s out for the next hour or so, trust me,” she insisted. “You tuckered him out.”

“You should have joined us,” he said.

“Why?” she asked. “I needed a break.”

Derek looked up at her, then back to Archie, grateful the little tyke was busy snoozing. “Dana!” he hissed under his breath.

“What?” she said, waving her beer bottle, eyes glazed. “You’re having fun with him now because it’s your first day. Check back with me in four years.”

He shook his head. “That’s not very motherly talk, Dana.”

She sighed and wriggled in her chair, shoulders freeing themselves from the gauzy little beach cover-up he’d bought her just that morning. “I can’t help it, Derek,” she said, full breasts pale and ripe against her maroon and black print bikini top. “I just don’t feel very motherly when I’m around you.”

“Please,” he said, sipping his iced coffee. “It was one time, four years ago. Hardly the affair of the century.”

She made a pouty face, batting her thick eyelashes. “Maybe not to you, D,” she said, using his old nickname softly. “But to me, you were the one who got away.”

“Please,” he scoffed, quietly, so as not to wake little Archie.

“It’s true,” she said, crossing then uncrossing her legs to reveal her thick mound pressing against her skimpy bathing suit bottom. “If you weren’t attached, I’d show you just how much I’ve missed you.”

Derek clucked his tongue and peered back toward the ocean, watching a handful of surfers try to ride the choppy slop. It was early afternoon, the sun still high, a bright, blue cloudless sky overhead, but his mind was elsewhere: Trying to picture Dana as she’d been during their one night together.

He’d been drunk. Or, at least, buzzed, and could remember few details beyond the small butterfly tattoo to the left of her navel – which she still had – and the taste of her warm, wet lips on his own. Other than that, the night was a heady blur, one in a long string of puppy dog crushes, late night hookups and random couplings that marked his last year of high school.

What he
did
know was that Dana was no shrinking violet, and if she’d had any feelings for him back then, she’d kept them close to her vest. After all, he hadn’t been the only one dodging their late-night hookup the next Monday in the halls. She’d wanted nothing to do with him back then, so why show up now?

He supposed none of that really mattered anymore. After all, that was then and this was now. He had Sage, she had Archie, that should be enough for both of them. So why was she sitting there, alluring and sultry and buzzed at two in the afternoon, giving him the major “come hither” vibe?

Archie snuffled and snorted just then, rousing Derek to action. “We should probably get him home, huh?”

“Relax,” she purred, opening the cooler and grabbing two more beers. “You’ve only seen the sweet Archie so far. Wake him from a nap? And you won’t like what you see.”

He nodded, accepting the beer as she leaned forward, showing him the goods. They lingered there, leaning half-over in their chairs, longer than they should have. The ocean crashed, little Archie snoozed and the big beach umbrella made them feel all alone.

She looked good, damn good, and a far sight better than when she’d shown up on his porch last night. Whether it was a good night’s sleep, the new bikini or just his wanderlust, Derek saw not the girl in front of him but the prime piece he’d plucked almost five years earlier.

He sat back, sipping his first beer of the day and giving in to the moment. Sage was busy at the store, and would be until it closed that night. He didn’t have a new surf camp until next week, leaving his days free to get to know Dana again. And, of course, his son.

The word still felt new on his tongue. New and strange and unfamiliar and yet, peering down at the sleeping tot, Derek had to smile. He couldn’t find a single similarity between himself and little Archie, but then… who knows what the tyke would look like at seven? Or ten? Or twenty? They’d probably be the spitting image of each other by then.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Dana said, still leaning forward as Derek peered back at her. She seemed sweaty and ripe all of a sudden, as if her internal engine was overheating.

He leaned back, as if to stay so close might ignite his own inner desire, and sipped his beer to cool down. “Nothing,” he said, nodding toward Archie. “Just… I’m still trying to get used to all this, I guess.”

“This baby,” she teased doing her leg-crossing thing again, “or this baby mama?”

He had to snort, feeling like a teenager again and, sometimes, wishing it were so. Not that his life was exactly “complicated” now, but few times are as stress-free as high school. And his was even less so. Surf every morning, a few classes a day, party all night… lather, rinse, repeat. Then again, he wondered how different his life might have been if Dana had told him about little Archie all those years ago.

“I still wish you had told me,” he said, their eyes meeting in the sultry shade beneath the umbrella.

“Will you get off it?” she sighed, wriggling to get more comfortable in her chair. “I didn’t tell you, Derek, because somewhere in the back of my mind I thought, some day, we might get back together.”

“Together?” he snorted. “We were hardly an item.”

“I know, and I regret that now.”

“Now?” He literally hooted, slapping a knee. “You sure didn’t care much back then.”

She wriggled in her chair, showing more leg, more flat belly, more ripe breasts. “You weren’t… you… then, Derek. Just another surf rat I hooked up with under the bleachers.”

“And now?” he teased.

“Now you’re someone I wouldn’t mind hooking up with again.”

He growled, only half-playfully. “You know that’s not gonna happen, Dana.”

“Why not?” she purred before sucking down another long sip of beer. “Don’t you want to do it right this time?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She chuckled. “No, I mean… it was fine, sure, but, don’t you want to try it lying down? On a bed? Candlelight and roses and smooth jazz and such?”

“Dana,” he groaned. “Life is different now. That can’t… that won’t… happen.”

“Why not, baby?” she cooed, and he could imagine her in bed, naked and dewy, damp and fragrant, eager to do anything to get him back. “Your old lady would never know.”

“Oh my god,” he groaned, literally palming his face. “You did not just call Sage my ‘old lady’.”

“I did,” she chuckled, “because she’s your lady and she’s old.”

“She’s not old, Jesus,” he huffed. “We’re only ten years apart.”

But saying it out loud only made it worse, Dana’s face crumpling in disbelief. “That many?” she gasped. “I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

“It’s
not
bad, Dana,” Derek said, and just then little Archie snuffled, sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“What’s not bad?” she mumbled, looking pink and rosy from sunburn.

“You’re right on time, little man,” Derek said, patting his little tummy. “Now we can head home and make you some lunch!”

Sage

“There she is!”

Sage waved and came out from behind the counter as Rhoda walked in, looking casual as ever in a powder blue sundress and tan sandals, her dirty blond hair piled overhead. She grabbed a stack of romance novels she’d been hoarding for the last few days, ever since Rhoda saved her butt big time by letting Dana stay at the Seaside Motel.

“Don’t give me anything yet,” Rhoda warned, looking tired and wan despite the blue sky and raging sunlight right outside. “I didn’t come bearing good news.”

“What… what do you mean?” Sage asked, crestfallen.

“Look, I tried to keep her as long as I could,” Rhoda began.

“Oh no,” Sage said, leaning against the nearest hardcover display table. “Don’t tell me.”

“I’m sorry, Sage, I had to let Dana go last night.”

“Shoot,” Sage said, the disappointment welling up in her. “Shoot, shoot, shoot! What happened?”

“I had a few customers complain about loose change and bills going missing,” Rhoda said, face stern. “Nothing major, and they couldn’t be sure, but that’s just the beginning. When I went to confront her, Dana was drunk. We’re talking, belligerent, two fist pumps away from passing out. When she did, I took little Archie and had him sleep with me…”

“Oh no,” Sage said, shaking her head as her heart pounded with fright. “It’s worse than I thought. Where… where are they now?”

“She’s better now,” Rhoda said. “I gave them until tomorrow to clear out their stuff, but… I thought you should know so you could find somewhere else for them to stay. I know the Seagull Inn has vacancies, and Randy Scott, the manager there, is a little more… indulgent… than I am.”

Sage clenched her jaw and shook her head. “Nope,” she said, resolutely. “Not gonna happen. I’m not going to call in anymore markers for Derek’s baby mama.”

She bit her tongue the minute the words left her mouth, watching Rhoda’s face spasm as she literally gasped. “You mean… Archie… is Derek’s?”

“Why do you think I’m fiddling with that little tramp anyway?” Sage huffed, almost relieved now that the cat was out of the bag and she could tell someone other than, well… Derek.

“Well, I didn’t want to say, but…”

They drifted to the café counter, Sage making iced coffees for them both, topping Rhoda’s with whipped cream, nutmeg and cinnamon the way she liked. While Rhoda sipped, she drew out two toffee scones and slid them between them.

“Did you know?” Rhoda asked, licking whip cream off her lip. “About Dana, I mean?”

“She showed up on our doorstep the night I called you,” Sage sighed. “I would have never involved you, I just… I panicked.”

“You know I’d let her stay on if I could, Sage, but… stealing from people’s rooms? Even in small amounts, that opens me up to huge liability issues.”

Sage waved a hand. “Don’t even go there,” she said. “I feel horrible.”
Rhoda finished her coffee and scone, standing from the counter and winking. “Don’t,” she said. “I run a hotel. It happens.”

“Yeah, well…” Sage bagged up a stack of books and forced them on her as they walked to the door. “I owe you big time, Rhoda.”

“No, you don’t Sage. Derek owes you big time.”

Sage chuckled. “I won’t argue with you there.”

“Speaking of the devil,” Rhoda said, hustling the other way as Derek approached, looking radiant in khaki cargo pants and a simple blue tank top. He had a red cap on, faded, and white sunglasses.

“Hey,” he said, clueless, as she dragged him inside.

“Don’t ‘hey’ me,” she huffed, smelling the sea and fresh air on his skin as they drifted to the café counter.

“What now?” he groaned, as if it was her fault all this was happening.

“That was Rhoda who just left here.”

He took off his sunglasses. “And?”

“The manager of the Seaside Motel?” she reminded him. “Dana got fired from her housekeeping job, which she had for all of three days, and she’s kicking her out tomorrow.”

“What for?” Derek asked, again, as if it was all Rhoda’s fault.

“She was stealing from people’s rooms, Derek. And when Rhoda went to confront her, she was drunk. So… yeah, do you blame her?”

He sighed, slumping into a seat at the counter. She relented, feeling his pain, and poured him an iced coffee as well. “No, I don’t,” he groaned, nibbling at the scone Sage never got around to eating. “I was just hoping we wouldn’t have to cross this bridge so soon.”

“Which bridge?”

“You know,” Derek sighed, looking at her with that golden, youthful glow of his. “The one where you decide to quit asking your friends in Seaside for favors and decide she needs to stay with one of us.”

She chuckled, leaning across the counter from him. “Well, do you blame me?”

“No, I just… so what? Now they have to stay with me?”

“They’re
your
family,” she said, slapping him playfully on the forearm.

“That I just met,” he insisted. “But you’re right. I suppose they should stay in our place.”

“Oh no,” she chuckled, wagging a finger and leaning back from him. “There’s no more ‘our’ place, buddy boy!”

“What do you mean?” he huffed. “They obviously can’t stay in your place unsupervised.”

“I didn’t say they could, or would,” Sage said. “I’m moving back upstairs for awhile and, frankly, I don’t think it’s safe for Archie to be with her mother, so… I think he should stay with me for awhile.”

Derek frowned. “You think he’ll go for that?”

Sage wondered herself, but not for long. After all, she’d only just thought of the idea. “I’ll go out tonight and get some kid-friendly DVDs and PJs and teddy bears so cute, he won’t be able to resist.”

His hand slid atop hers, warm and full of intent. “Want some company?”

“I’d love it,” she confessed, “but you’re going to need to make your place safe for Dana, remember?”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s clearly an addict, Derek,” she said. “You need to go through your place. Get rid of the wine, the booze, the beer, any little miniature bottles, whatever might have alcohol in it.” When he looked confused, even paralyzed, she squeezed his forearm. “You need to help her, honey. She’s the mother of your son.”

He sighed, nodding as he stood. “Fine,” he said. “But… what about us?”

She winked. “Us will have to wait until we get Dana in a place where she can take care of little Archie on her own.”

“When will that be?”

They lingered in the doorway, the sun warm on their skin. “As long as it takes, babe. That’s what families do.”

He winked. “They’re my family,” he insisted. “You don’t have to go through all this.”

“I do if I care about you,” she said. “And I do, so… go do your homework, I’ll go do mine and let’s both get a good night’s sleep tonight. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a very busy day!”