Free Peachy Keen by Kate Roth Page B

random guest appearances in my dreams, but he wasn’t the person I was worried about popping up in my mind today.
    I shook my head but kept a smile. “I’m here alone. And I’m doing some beach excursion all day tomorrow.”
    “That’s cool. Well, you should really consider finding a class where you live. You were great,” Jolene said as she dragged a towel across her cleavage and over her taut abdomen.
    A prodigy of the stripper workout. And single. At a fucking couples resort. That’s me. I told her I had fun and thanked her for the class and the compliment before heading back to my room with a little more sway to my hips than before.
    ***
    I’d only meant to take a catnap then find dinner and get ready for my rendezvous with Nate, but I passed the fuck out on top of the covers still in my dance clothes. When I woke up it was nearing dark so I hopped in the shower and started the beautification process from top to bottom. I mechanically picked out my matching pink bra and panties. Slipping into a purple cotton dress and heels, I figured I’d have time for a quick drink at the bar to calm me before heading to Nate’s room.
    Strolling through the courtyard, my thoughts began to race. Fear bubbled up inside me, my nerves rattled by the impending date. My feet slowed and I took a detour toward the pool, where a longue chair inexplicably called my name. I sank into the chair and looked up at the deep blue sky, speckled with bright white stars, and took a deep breath. When the air left my lungs, I felt lighter. 
    I knew without a doubt I wasn’t going to Nate’s room. I was on vacation, for Christ’s sake. He wasn’t worth the stomachache I was working up over him. Though I surprised myself by choosing stargazing over sex, I tried not to think about it—any of it—and my body relaxed more with every sighing breath I took.
    I named off the ones I recognized—Little Dipper, Big Dipper—before remembering a memorization trick from my high school astronomy class to one of the less obvious finds. Arc to Arcturus! Thanks, Mr. Phelps. I felt myself smile absently when I found Cassiopeia in the heavens. I suddenly felt connected to her perpetual instability—feeling a little turned upside down myself tonight. My eyes continued to scan the sky as I let my arms rest across my stomach. A familiar face popped into view. Fate pointed and cackled once again.
    His lips split to reveal his boyish grin and my heart sank. The scorching fire his smile lit within me terrified me. My muscles loosened more at the sight of him. My breath came even easier and a smile shone from my eyes before it spread on my face. No stomachache with this one, only butterflies.
    Harrison was upside down, his head cocked to one side. “You okay?” he asked.
    Was I okay? No. Oh no, I was not okay. I was in big trouble. I saw the line I’d already unknowingly crossed and something misfired in my brain. The wires of my mind tangled and sparked and suddenly that forbidden line was covered in alluring checkered flags.
    “Peachy,” I replied, my voice the reluctant starter pistol for the race.
     

9.
    The Moneymaker
    Harrison
    Something struck me as funny about a girl named Georgia saying peachy . I’d been watching her for a few minutes. The way her hair blew in the breeze, the way her feet took each step delicately and determinedly enchanted me. This time three nights ago I was taking in the way her eyes smiled before her mouth did when she found something truly amusing. I’d wrestled with how to respond to her proposal for only one reason that night. Not because I hadn’t had sex in a few weeks and was worried about being rusty or off my game. Not because I’d come to the resort looking for solitude and relaxation only. It wasn’t even due to the picture Evan had always painted for me about the kind of women that came here alone. Danielle had broken that mold.
    I wanted to know her name.
    While the thought of anonymous sex for the very first