Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 101254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101254 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
The server returns with Betsy’s food and keeps eyeing her. “I have a break in a few minutes,” he says. “Would you like to take a stroll on the beach?”
Betsy bites her lower lip and looks at me.
I wave my hand. “Please, Betsy, go if you want to. I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
“If you’re sure you don’t mind.” She hops out of her lounge chair and smiles at the server. “How long is your break?”
“Only fifteen minutes. But it’s a chance for us to talk a little.” He holds out his hand. “My name is Manfred.”
“Betsy,” Betsy says with a smile. “Be back in a bit, Tess.”
Betsy kicks off her flip-flops and takes the arm that Manfred offers her. And boy, is Manfred good-looking.
I have to smile to myself.
I’m actually looking at men as a pleasure for my eyes rather than something that can harm me.
Again I think about Ben and the fact that he wanted to kiss me.
As much as I wanted that kiss in that moment, I agree. It probably wasn’t the right time.
Ben and I hardly know each other.
Which doesn’t explain why my heart is beating like a snare drum when he walks toward me.
He looks luscious. His hair is damp, so he clearly just got out of the shower. He’s wearing a flashy Hawaiian print shirt in green, gold, and blue, plus board shorts that match the blue on the shirt. His skin is lighter than mine, but he’s got a good tan going and he looks fabulous.
He helps himself to Betsy’s vacant chair, but he doesn’t lounge. He sets his feet on the ground, facing me.
“You are just the person I was looking for,” he says.
I cock my head and hold back a smile. “I am?”
“Absolutely. I have something you’re going to love.”
“I was having breakfast with Betsy.” I glance down to the beach where she and Manfred are walking hand in hand. “She’ll be back any minute. She went on a short walk with one of the servers.”
“Yes, I see them over there. She looks a little smitten with him.”
“Smitten?” I can’t help a chuckle.
“Taken?” He laughs. “Horny?”
I shake my head. “He only has fifteen minutes for his break, so Betsy will be back soon.”
“All right. We’ll wait until Betsy gets back, and then you’ll come with me.”
“What did you have in mind?” I ask.
I’m almost hoping he’ll say he wants to kiss me.
But he says something entirely unexpected.
“A cold plunge.”
I pause, blink a few times. “What? You mean like in the ocean?”
He laughs. “No. The ocean water is certainly colder than the air, but I’m talking about a real cold plunge. In ice water. Water that’s been chilled to fifty-five degrees.”
I shrug. “Fifty-five isn’t bad. It’s like an early fall day in Boston. I can go out in jeans and a hoodie.”
“But you’re forgetting that water is colder than air.”
“How does that make any kind of sense?”
“I could explain it to you, if I actually knew.” He laughs again.
“Well, thanks for the offer, but no way am I getting into a tub full of fifty-five-degree water.”
“Even after the hike up the Falls yesterday? Remember how invigorating it was?”
“Uh…it wasn’t fifty-five degrees.”
He gently takes my hand. “I think you’ll like it, Tessa.”
“I’ll like freezing my ass off?” My teeth chatter at the thought even as the warmth of Ben’s fingers makes me feel a jolt of pleasure. “I don’t think so.”
“Tessa”—his voice gets serious—“trust me on this.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m totally serious. Braden and I had one yesterday morning. We do it regularly.”
“Does Skye do it with him?”
“Not that I know of, but Braden and I have been doing it for years. It’s stimulating. But also, whether you can believe it or not, it’s really relaxing.”
“How in the hell is freezing your butt off relaxing?”
“First of all, you don’t stay in that long,” he says.
“How long do you stay in?”
“My record, as of yesterday morning, is eleven minutes.”
I drop my jaw. “Are you kidding me? Eleven minutes submerged in cold water? You’re nuts.”
“Not all the way submerged, just up to your neck. Obviously you keep your head out so you can breathe.”
I raise my hands in mock relief. “Oh, you’re not going to make me put on an oxygen mask? Thank God.”
“Trust me.” He meets my gaze. “You will like this.”
I sit up in my lounge chair and face him. “Look. I enjoyed the Falls. You were right about that, but somehow I don’t think you’re right on this one.”
“You may not like it while you’re doing it, but once you’re done? I guarantee you’ll love it.”
“Not for eleven minutes.”
“Of course not. For your first time, you’ll only do three minutes.”
“I’m not sure I can even take three minutes. How about three seconds?”
He smiles at me, and his hand twitches a bit. Does he want to touch me again? I honestly want him to. I can still feel his lips on my cheek from last night.