Dragonfly (7 page)

“I think I can hold them up while I swim. Come on,” he said, taking my stuff.

I followed him cautiously toward the water. “Is it true I should just punch the shark in the nose, and he’ll leave me alone?” I tried to joke.

Jack shook his head. “Just swim to the boat. You’ll be fine.”

In a few strokes he was helping me up the short ladder onto the deck. I was soaked, and my straight hairstyle was ruined. But the boat was amazing. Even more amazing was watching Jack with his shirt off loosening the anchor and tightening the sails. His tanned muscles flexed, and I completely forgot about the beauty of our surroundings.

“You do this all the time?” I asked, pulling my wet swimsuit away from my stomach and wishing for my cover-up. Even though I’d spent the summer in a bikini, I wore a one-piece today. I wasn’t quite ready to bare that much skin with him in broad daylight. He didn’t seem to mind.

“As much as I can,” he smiled, sitting beside me. “I really missed it when we were in Sedona last year.”

“What’s in Sedona?”

“My mom’s mom, Gigi. Lucy and I were out there last spring all the way up until school started back.”

“Why?” I was wondering if Rachel’s story had been true.

“Oh, family stuff. I don’t think it’s anything you’d find interesting.” I wanted to tell him everything about him was very interesting to me, but I didn’t. Because just then my phone buzzed.

“It’s probably my mom.”

I smiled as Jack handed it back to me, but he saw the face when I took it. “Julian,” he said.

My eyes went wide. “What?” I said with a nervous little laugh. I could tell Jack didn’t believe my shocked expression. “He never calls me.”

“It’s okay.” He stood and went over to readjust the line. I let Julian’s call go to voicemail.
Oh my god!

“You guys are pretty close,” he said.

“Just since last year. I mean, I tutored him in math.”

“I saw you dancing. You looked— ”

“Julian flirts with everybody,” I cut him off. “Seriously. We’re just friends.”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

Frantically I searched for anything else in the world to talk about. “My grandmother’s dying to meet the boy with the boat.”

“Would she like to come sailing with us?” His smile returned.

“I’m sure she’d love it. Mom, too.”

“Then let’s get them.”

We tied up the boat in the marina and walked down the shore toward Nana’s condo. “I’m glad you wanted to come over today.” I said, hoping to remove any lingering doubt caused by Julian’s call.

Jack smiled. “I like being with you, and Saturdays can be long at our house.”

Hearing those words made
me
smile. He liked being with me. Then I remembered that first night and how he changed when his dad appeared.

Hesitantly, I asked, “You don’t get along with your dad?”

He exhaled, “It’s not that. He’s never really around. I just get tired of the same people and doing the same things all the time. My friends don’t have a lot of imagination.”

“What would you do on a typical, unimaginative Saturday?”

“Sleep ’til noon…”

“Spoiled!” I pretended to be shocked.

He grinned. “Most likely I was out late the night before. But then I’d either go for a run or take the boat out.”

“No girls? I don’t believe it.”

“I’ve taken a few girls out, but they get tired of sailing and want to go shopping or hit the spa or something like that. It’s pretty boring after a while, I guess.”

“I think it sounds great. I’d love to try getting bored with sailing.”

“I can help you with that.”

He seemed to mean it, and I was glad to spend the rest of the day taking Mom and Nana out with us. They were easy to spend time with, and they both seemed to like Jack very much by the end of the afternoon.

The sun was setting when he said it was time for him to go. I walked down the beach with him a little ways. “I had so much fun today,” I said.

“Me, too. I liked your nana. And your mom.”

We walked a little further, and I was wondering if he would bring up our unscheduled date again when he reached over and took my hand. Our fingers laced, and I forgot about everything else. We were holding hands, walking on the beach. In the sunset. The only thing better was the way he kissed me last night.

After a few seconds, he stopped and turned to face me. “You should probably stay here while I walk back to the marina.” His voice was slightly lower, and I nodded. He leaned in a little closer. “I was wondering if I could kiss you goodnight.”

It just got better.

“You have to ask?” I said with a smile.

“I felt like last night, maybe I went too fast?”

I stepped forward, gripping the front of his shirt and tilting my chin up. “I don’t mind fast.”

He smiled and leaned in, covering my mouth with his. Our lips parted, and when his tongue touched mine, heat flooded, heart-stopped, knees weakened… I wasn’t sure how it could be better than last night, but somehow it was. He lifted his head, and I didn’t dare speak. I was afraid I might blurt out something ridiculous like “Do it again.”

“So I’ll call you tomorrow?” he asked.

I nodded. He walked away, but before he got too far down the beach, he turned and did a little wave. I giggled and waved back, watching as he continued on.

Chapter 7

The smile did not leave my face the rest of the weekend. Everything happened in a colorful blur, and when my phone rang Sunday morning, it was Jack. I jumped up and snatched it and then tried to be cool.

“Hello?”

“I know I was supposed to make you sick of sailing, but Sunday’s golf day.” He said. “I’ll be out at Laurel Farms all day with Dad.”

Laurel Farms was one of the nicest golf courses in the county. Or so I’d heard. It was now my least favorite place on the planet.

“Golf day?” I said, my smile disappearing.

“Yeah, Dad likes me to work on my game. Something about all the best deals are made on the golf course.”

“Is that true?”

“I don’t know. He doesn’t really like to talk when we’re golfing. My take is the deals are made after the game. Over scotch and cigars at the clubhouse.”

“Are you included in that part, too?

I heard his exhale. “Sometimes. Off the record, of course.”

“Well, I hope you make it to class tomorrow. Essay’s due, you know.”

“I was thinking about that,” he perked up. “How ’bout I pick you up on my way in?”

“You mean drive me to school?” Smile returning! Still being cool. “Sure, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

I thought about riding to school with Jack Kyser and wondered how that would play out with our fellow classmates. Rachel would be all over me trying to get the inside story, and I was sure Julian would act disappointed. Then I remembered his call, but just as I grabbed my phone, Dad tapped on my door.

“Hey, kiddo. Mom said you had a visitor yesterday. Somebody with a yacht?”

The word
yacht
made me want to giggle more, and I was about to correct him. But I let it go. I was seeing a guy with a yacht. What had happened in a month?

“Yeah, remember the Kysers? I went over to their house to study that night?”

“I remember, and I wanted to talk to you about that.” Dad wasn’t smiling, and I was suddenly feeling less sure of my mom’s approval of Jack. He walked over and sat on my bedside next to me. I could tell he was choosing his words. “Those guys are a bit, well, over your head.”

“I know, Dad, but Jack’s really nice. You’d like him.”

“I’m sure, but I want you to take it easy with this guy. You’re a pretty girl, Anna. You’re smart and a good writer. Your mom and I think you could probably get a scholarship to a bigger college if you wanted to try for something like that.”

“I hadn’t really thought about trying for a scholarship.” I hadn’t thought about much of anything except Jack since school started.

“Just keep your eye on the prize, and don’t let some guy control your future, okay?”

“That’s a good way to look at it.” My eyes flickered down as I considered my dad’s approach versus Mr. Kyser’s. He patted my leg and got up to leave. “Oh, hey, Dad? I meant to ask you. I kind of already said yes, but Jack asked if he could pick me up for school in the morning. That’s okay, isn’t it?”

“I think that’s a great idea. Give me a chance to meet this yacht-boy.”

His sudden enthusiasm made me very concerned. This had disaster written all over it. “Please don’t be embarrassing.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“And no bananas. Please.”

“But you’re my Anna-banana. He needs to be aware of this.”

“Dad.”

“Okay, no bananas. Just remember what I said.”

“Sure.” I picked up my phone again when I saw I had a message. “Julian,” I murmured, pressing the voicemail button.

His voice was casual as always. “Hey, Banana-face, what’s up with the voicemail?” I rolled my eyes as I listened. He’d almost ruined everything. “Just making sure you got home okay. I’m sorry we got separated.” He paused then cleared his throat. “So anyway, see you around.”

I stared at the phone for a second then touched the face, saving the message. I went to my laptop and opened a new document. I could at least get his news feature written before any more time passed.

Chapter 8

Jack was very punctual picking me up for school, and I was almost late after trying ten different uniform combinations hoping for the sexiest. Why my hair had to look the way it did was my own personal burden, but I noticed my clothes were a little looser. Having a hot potential-boyfriend kept my stomach so twisted, my appetite had virtually disappeared. My last snack-out had been my miserable night with
The Notebook.
It was simply impossible to be sad now with Jack in the picture, and I loved the racing butterflies. They made me feel all bubbly and amazing.

I finally settled on the navy skirt option with a light-blue polo and brown flats when I heard him downstairs talking to my dad. I jerked my hair back in a ponytail and ran down hoping to derail any discussion of me as a baby, or bananas, or other embarrassing topics.

“Hey!” I was breathless when I reached the kitchen, and Jack’s smile when he saw me didn’t help.

“You look nice,” he said.

Dad cleared his throat, “So be careful on the roads.”

“Sure, Dad. See you tonight.”

When we drove into the parking lot, I noticed a few heads turn. “How’d Lucy get here?” I asked.

“She has her own car.”

I noticed a bright yellow Cabrio parked in the next space and wondered what it would be like to grow up getting whatever you wanted. Jack helped me out, then he took my book bag and slid his arm across my shoulders. “Maybe we should do this every morning.”

“That’d be great!” My voice sounded squeaky to me, so I cleared my throat. He was just so confident and rich and gorgeous. I imagined everyone as bewildered by this turn of events as me.

“How was golf?” I said.

“The same,” he looked away, and I noticed his jaw tighten. “The course was hot. Dad talked nonstop about my future. But I shot a two under.”

“And you lost me.”

“I’d rather have been teaching you to sail.”

“I can’t wait. How soon can we start lessons?”

“Not this weekend,” he frowned. “We’re headed to New Orleans to visit my brother and let Lucy tour Tulane.”

“Tulane? Your brother?” I stopped and faced him. “Fill me in.”

“William’s working on his MBA at Tulane, and Dad’s talking about enrolling her there.”

“William.” I thought about what my dad said. “So, like, Bill, Jr.?”

“He’s named after my dad, but he’s not really called that.”

“What? Junior or Bill?”

“Neither. But he does like to think they’re exactly alike.”

“He wants to be exactly like your dad?” We started walking again, and I considered Mr. Kyser’s cold eyes and rude remarks.

“Yeah, but he doesn’t really get Dad.” Jack looked down still frowning. “Will’s all power and conquest, and Dad’s not really into that. He just likes a good deal. He’s not ruthless.”

“Is William ruthless?”

“He wants to take over, and he wants me right there with him.”

“What do you think about that?”

“I think I’m happy where I am.” He gave me a squeeze, and we were at English.

I looked up at his bright blue eyes and wondered if he was thinking the same thing as me—kissing on the beach, moonlight, skin against skin…

* * *

Lucy cornered me in civics right off acting annoyed. “You big faker. ‘I do
not
want to date your brother. Please don’t embarrass me.’” She used this high falsetto voice to mock me.

“Sorry. I guess I got swept off my feet.”