Seaside Nights Part 17

Jenna laughed and turned beet red. "No. Not all Fifty Shades. Besides, Bella has fuzzy handcuffs. What's wrong with scarves?"

"And don't you try to look innocent, Amy." Bella narrowed her eyes. "You told us all about your little hands-behind-your-back escapade with your s.e.xy surfer husband."

"Hey, I never heard about that," Sky said. "Where was I?"

"That was the night you and Sawyer were learning the ins and outs of each other," Jenna said with a loud laugh.

"I thought we told you about Amy's s.e.xy romp," Bella added.

"I think I'd remember Kitten getting tied up," Sky teased.

There was a knock at the door, and they all gasped.

Amy peeked out the bedroom window. "He's here, and ooh la la, he looks yummy."

They stumbled over one another to fit through the bedroom door.

"I feel like I'm in high school." When Sky opened the door, her heart nearly stopped. She was vaguely aware of sounds of appreciation coming from behind her. She'd seen Sawyer wearing jeans, shorts, and completely naked, all of which were enough to make her go a little crazy, but she'd never seen him look like this. His broad shoulders were even more powerful in a black dress shirt tucked neatly into a pair of dark slacks, opened at the top to reveal a smattering of chest hair.

His eyes took a slow drag down her body, making her feel hot and electric at once. He touched her hand as he kissed her. The scent of his cologne embraced her, and when he spoke, it was like she was hearing his voice for the first time, sending her stomach into flurries.

"You look gorgeous," he said with an easy smile. "You ladies look gorgeous, too," he said.

"Thank you," they said in unison.

Sky glanced over her shoulder at the girls and caught sight of the basket sitting on the table. Somehow it didn't seem as pressing now as it had earlier. She didn't want to get into a serious conversation about poems right now. Did it really matter if he was the P-town poet? Not enough to sidetrack what was sure to be a lovely evening.

"They were just leaving," Sky said.

"Right," Bella said, but she made no move to leave. "What's the plan? Can't you clue us in on your secret date?"

Sky shooed them toward the door. "Come on, my married and preggers friends. Stop drooling over my man and prying him for information."

The girls wished them a fun evening and filed out the door in a gaggle of whispers.

"Sorry. I think when we all get together we turn into teenagers."

"I wish I'd known you as a teenager," he said in a voice that could melt b.u.t.ter. "Then we'd have had even more time together."

Chapter Fourteen.

SAWYER PARKED IN front of Undercover, a bar overlooking the beach in Truro. Sky had never been there before. Sawyer helped her from the truck and said, "Okay, sweet summer Sky, it's time for you to get to know another side of Sawyer Ba.s.s."

"Should I be worried?"

"Maybe so," he teased as he held the door open for her. They stepped inside the dimly lit bar. "You don't mind meeting a few of my friends, do you?"

"I would love to, as long as I don't have to watch them fight."

With a hand on her lower back, he led her past booths and tables that were filled to the brim with happy customers. They crossed the crowded dance floor to a booth by the bar.

"Songbird!" a guy with white-blond hair yelled from behind the bar.

"Hey, Colton." Sawyer waved and slid into the booth beside Sky.

"I guess you come here often?" she asked, glancing at the guy behind the bar, who ran a hand through his hair, flashing a number of tattoos on his left arm.

"That's Brock's younger brother," Sawyer said. "He owns the place."

She studied Colton's face a little more closely. His cheeks were chiseled and much narrower than Brock's, and while Brock's eyes had been intense, Colton's were a soft blue, with a gentler look to them.

Sawyer draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her in closer. "I know I should probably wine and dine you to make up for my lack of a more acceptable career, but-"

"Hey." She could tell by the lightness of his tone that he was kidding, but she still felt compelled to clarify. "I didn't mean that your career wasn't acceptable to anyone."

He pressed his lips to hers. "I know. I just want you to get to know all of me, including the people I hang out with."

"All of you?"

"When you think of me, you see a guy who fights in the ring, and there's a lot more to me than that, Sky. There's more to my friends than that, too, and that is what tonight is about."

Colton came around the bar to their table. "Hey, Songbird." He lifted his baby blues to Sky. "Hi. I'm Colton." The year 2012 was inked on the inside of his left forearm, and the sleeve of his T-shirt revealed sharp lines of another tattoo.

"Hi, I'm Sky. I like your ink."

"Thanks, Sky." He looked down at his tattoos. "Everyone's got a story, I guess. It's nice to meet you, too. What can I get y'all?" he asked.

"Sky?" Sawyer asked.

"A sea breeze, please. Thanks."

Sky followed Sawyer's gaze toward the front door as he asked for a beer and was surprised to see his trainer and Brock heading toward them, with two tall blond women in tow.

"Cool. Sibs are here." Colton waved at Brock and the others. "I'll be right back with your drinks."

"You brought your coach? Am I in for a lecture?" She fidgeted with her necklaces nervously. The taller of the two girls wore a white crinkled cotton skirt and a black and green tie-dyed tank top with lace circling the bottom. The other girl had on a pair of cutoffs and a flowing pink and blue blouse that hung off of one tanned shoulder. Her long blond hair hung halfway down her back, and she wore a cute leather headband across her forehead. Like Sky, both women wore a number of bracelets.

"No lectures. I promise. Tonight I brought my friend Roach. He left the coach side of himself at home. And those are Brock's sisters, Harper and Jana." He rose and shook Roach's hand, embraced Brock with a brotherly slap on the back, and then hugged each of the girls before sitting back down beside Sky.

Brock leaned down and hugged Sky. "Nice to see you again, Sky. These are my sisters, Harper and Jana."

Roach moved in for a hug next, barely giving Sky time to catch her breath. "Glad you're here."

"Hi," she said as Roach sat down beside Sawyer.

Harper and Jana sat down across from Sky, and Brock slid into the booth beside them.

"How's our other brother?" Jana asked.

"Doing great." Sawyer leaned closer to Sky and said, "Harper's a screenplay writer, and-"

"And television writer now, too," Harper interrupted, smiling at Sky. "I just got hired to work on a sitcom."

Jana b.u.mped Harper with her shoulder. "Show-off. Hi, Sky. I'm Jana, not a screenplay writer."

"Hi," Sky said, immediately liking the girls' energy. Sawyer reached for her hand.

"Jana's a dancer," Brock said, then added with a proud smile, "and a fighter. The girl packs a mean right hook."

Sky thought they were kidding. Jana was graceful and lithe, not muscled or harsh-looking like Sky pictured female fighters. "Really?"

Harper patted her sister on the back. "She really is. Strange, I know. But when you grow up with brothers like Brock and Colton..." She shrugged.

"Do you fight, too?" Sky asked Harper.

Jana laughed. "Her? No way. She wouldn't hurt a bee if it stung her."

That made Sky a little more comfortable. At least she wasn't the only girl who didn't like fighting. "What kind of fighting do you do, Jana?"

Jana gathered her hair over one shoulder and twirled a lock around her finger. "Brock's been training me to box for the last two years. I haven't won anything big yet, but I will." Determination filled her eyes. "You should come by and watch sometime. Brock could show you a thing or two if Sawyer hasn't already."

"Sky isn't really into fighting." Sawyer squeezed her hand.

"Then she can watch," Jana suggested. "It's fun to watch, too."

"Thanks. I'll think about it." She still couldn't imagine the pretty blonde fighting. "What about dance? What type do you do?"

"Everything from ballet to tap and hip-hop. I perform with all the local theaters."

"I did a ton of theater with local groups in New York when I was in college." Sky smiled at Sawyer. "We should go watch her dance sometime."

"I've been watching Jana dance since she was a kid. Sounds good to me."

They talked a little about Jana's dancing and Harper's script writing, which Brock teased her about, saying she was writing p.o.r.n, because the sitcom she was writing was for cable and apparently very racy.

"I don't even want to hear Harper and p.o.r.n in the same sentence, please," Sawyer said with a grimace.

Harper rolled her eyes.

"Did you put our name up?" Brock asked Sawyer.

"No. We just got here," Sawyer answered.

"Name up?" Sky asked as Brock headed up to the stage.

"You'll see," Sawyer said.

"Ooooh! We're being secretive tonight. I like that," Jana said. "How long have you two been dating?"

"Just a few days," Sky answered, feeling like it had been much longer. "I heard him play the guitar, and the next day he came in for a tattoo."

Harper, who had been busy eyeing a guy across the dance floor, turned serious eyes to Sawyer. "Another tattoo, Sawyer? Is your father doing okay?"

"Yeah, he's doing pretty well."

Worry filled Harper's gaze, and Sky noticed Sawyer shifting his eyes away.

Colton brought their drinks and set a pitcher of beer down on the table.

Roach filled the gla.s.ses and pushed one to Harper and another to Jana and Brock. His dark eyes weren't filled with fire the way they had been in the gym, and his shoulders weren't riding just beneath his ears, as if he held all the world's tension in them. He could have just as easily been a bouncer or a weight lifter as a boxer.

"Surprised to see us tonight?" Roach asked.

"Sort of," Sky admitted. "But it's nice to see you again. And to meet Harper and Jana."

"A toast." Sawyer held up his gla.s.s, his eyes trained on Sky. "To the mystery of the moment."

"G.o.d, Songbird." Roach shook his head. "Don't you ever say anything normal?"

"You're just jealous because everything he says sounds like it's spun from gold." Jana tapped the table in front of Sky. "You're a lucky woman, Sky."

"Yeah," she said in a breathy voice that took her by surprise. "I am."

Sawyer slid his hand to the nape of her neck and pressed his lips to hers.

"Get a room," Roach teased.

"Jealous?" Sawyer growled as he pressed his lips to Sky's again.

Sky loved the way the guys teased each other. It reminded her of the guys at Seaside and made her feel even more comfortable.

Colton walked by the table again on his way to the dance floor, grabbed a microphone from the stage and tapped it, gaining the attention of the customers.

"Welcome to Undercover. We've got a fun night planned for y'all tonight."

"d.a.m.n right you do," Brock hollered.

Jana laughed. "My brother, the shy one."

"For those of you who are new here, welcome to a cappella night. Let's welcome the A Cappella Boys to the stage." Colton fanned a hand across the stage toward the table where Sky was sitting.