Tidal (12 page)

“Your full name is Brittany Willow

Avery?” she asked, lifting her eyebrow

slightly as she read my first name.

“Yes.”

“And your birthday is July 15, 1993?”

“Uh huh,” I said.

“Are you still living at the same

address as the other day?” I shook my

head, only murmuring a “yes” after she

glanced up at me impatiently.

“Are you actively employed?” she

questioned. I knew these were standard

questions—I mean, I’d heard them dozens

of times—but that didn’t stop me from

gritting my teeth. Officer Stewart lifted her

gaze up as I was rolling my eyes. “Is there

a problem with your employment, Miss

Avery?” she asked, emphasizing each and

every word.

“No, I’m . . . working,” I said, but I

couldn’t hold back the exasperation in my

voice. Suddenly, I felt defensive—like I

had to prove myself to this woman I didn’t

even know because of the way she was

staring at me.

Officer Stewart tilted backward in her

rolling chair, so far that it touched the two

filing cabinets behind her. She linked her

fingertips together, rubbing them back and

forth and picking me apart with her blue-

green eyes. I just knew that a question that

would make me feel like shit was coming,

and I braced myself for it.

Sure enough, a moment later, she said,

“My case notes say that you’re not

scheduled to begin shooting your film

until”—She took her eyes off mine long

enough to squint at the laptop screen

—“July first.”

“That’s right.”

“So why are you here so early?”

Glancing at the clock as if it would

help this meeting go by faster, I clenched

my hands together between my knees.

“Because I’m training with a surf

instructor for my role.” I flicked the tip of

my tongue nervously across my top lip and

dropped my gaze to my lap. “I play, ah, a

surfer.”

Saying it aloud sounded like such a

fucking joke.

“Original,” Stewart murmured.

Bringing her chair back to the ground, she

typed something into her computer, her

fingers making a rapid click, click, click

noise that annoyed me. I imagined what

she was typing, but then I stopped myself.

I shouldn’t care. I’d be done with

probation soon enough and I’d never have

to see Officer Stewart again. “Who are

you training with? Lots of good ones in

Honolulu.” She never looked up or

stopped jabbing at the keys.

“Cooper Taylor at Blue Flame

Academy,” I said. Stewart’s shoulders

stiffened and her fingers clenched. A

second later, she regained her composure.

What the hell was that about?

“You’re filming the remake of the”—

She coughed—“Hilary Norton movie,

right?”

I was pretty sure she already knew

that, but I nodded anyway. “Yes, I’m her

—I mean, I’m playing the character she

played.”

“Ironic,” she said, and tilted her head

to the side. I flushed. It didn’t take a

genius to figure out she was comparing me

to Hilary Norton. The woman who’d

originally played my part had been a

class-A junkie. I was almost certain that

eventually, the gossip columns would

point out that similarity, and I was already

dreading the day. “And you’re working

with Cooper. He’s a good one, that’s for

sure,” she added, a tight smile clawing at

the corners of her mouth.

And though I knew it was bitchy and

childish and probably even sluttish, I half-

grinned and said, “Definitely. Cooper’s

the best.” There wasn’t anything

suggestive to my voice but Stewart must

have taken it that way because she looked

up and gave me what could pass for either

a nod or a twitch. Before I could stop

myself, I asked, “Do you take surf lessons

with him?”

Grabbing a Styrofoam coffee cup off

the corner of her desk, she downed a long

gulp and shook her head. “He and my kid

sister dated for a few years. They’re still .

. .
friends
.”

I didn’t like the bright red spots that

pranced in front of my vision any more

than the way she cleared her throat before

saying friends. Pressing my lips flat, I sat

back, wanting this meeting to end as

quickly as possible. Stewart had known

exactly what to say to get to me, and I felt

like an idiot for trying to one up her. Now

the only thing I’d think about during my

lesson with Cooper was whether or not he

was sleeping with my probation officer’s

sister.

At least that would keep my mind

away from the money in my account and

what disasters I could blow it on.

The meeting with Stewart lasted

another few minutes, and then she set up

our next appointment—in a month on, no

surprise, my birthday. As she walked me

toward the front of the building, she turned

to me and said, “I called Dave to verify

your community service hours this

morning and he said you haven’t checked

in yet.”

When I didn’t reply, instead feigning

interest in a tattooed guy slurping down

water at the fountain outside of the

bathroom and sweating profusely, Stewart

handed me a business card with an

address scribbled on the back.

“I’ve set you up an appointment with

him, today at noon.” She shrugged and

gave me a little smile. “Just so you can

meet him.”

“I’ve got a surf lesson,” I said

automatically, and her polite smile

faltered a bit.

“I’m sure Cooper will understand.

He’s the best, after all.”

Right. The best. With her fucking

sister.

But when I gulped in the taste of fresh

air a few minutes later, not sparing the

probation office another glance as I rushed

to the Kia, I didn’t know what Cooper

would think. Yesterday during our lesson,

he’d been quiet, focused only on work.

There had been no flirting, very little

touching, and I’d found myself confused

and wanting both.

Today, the moment I stepped into the

front of his shop and he gave me a

dizzying smile from behind the counter

where he was going through a surfboard

catalogue with a couple around my parents

age, I realized I would leave just as

frustrated as I’d been yesterday.

“Give me a few,” he mouthed,

gesturing his head to the back of the house.

I nodded. I walked out to the deck, where

I began stripping down to my suit.

I was unbuckling my high, wedged

Steve Madden sandals when I heard him

come outside. I didn’t immediately

acknowledge him, but I could feel the heat

from his gaze running from my ankles, and

up my bare legs. When I felt it skim past

my breasts, I lifted my chin. If he was

ashamed at being caught watching me, he

didn’t show it. Instead, I was the one who

blushed all over as I folded my sundress

into neat creases and sat it on the deck

bench.

“I’m impressed, Wills. You’re on time

and I didn’t even have to ca—”

I cut him off. “I’ve got to leave early

today.”

I expected a smart-ass “would-you-

leave-shooting-with-Dickson-early”

response, but he slid down on the bench

next to me, draping his arm around the

wooden handrail, and looked into my

eyes. “You’re alright, aren’t you?” There

was a genuine concern in his voice that

caught me off guard. Nodding, I tucked a

loose strand of hair behind my ear,

suddenly conscious of his scent—coconut

and sunblock.

My voice was husky when I said, “I

had my first probation meeting this

morning with Officer Stewart.” I paused

to let her name sink in for him, but his

expression didn’t change and his body

stayed relaxed. “I’ve got to go meet my

community service boss this afternoon.”

He nodded his head slowly and started

to drag his shirt over his head. “What

time?”

“Noon.”

He half-laughed, half-groaned,

shrugging his shirt back down. I gave him

a blank look and he said, “Then why did

you have your bodyguard drop you off?

It’s 10:45 now.”

Honestly? Because I hadn’t paid the

slightest bit of attention to the time. I’d

been too rattled by the meeting with

Stewart and the money in my account. I

reached for my bag where I’d slid it under

the bench. “I’ll call Miller and—”

Cooper’s hand closed around my

wrist. A shiver raced through me and my

fingers tightened. I took one breath—and

two more just to be sure of myself—then I

met his gaze full on. The way his blue

eyes alternated between confusion and

want and astonishment made me want to

melt into him.

Made me breathless all over again.

His lips parted. “Don’t.”

“Why?” I whispered in a voice that

was too heavy and pleading for my own

good.

“I’ll take you.”

Our lips were inches from connecting.

I glanced away and tried to focus on the

vacationers lounged out in beach chairs

several feet from his deck, but even then

the sound of their radio became fuzzy, the

sight of their Corona bottles clinking

together became a haze. The only thing

that was vivid was Cooper’s face when he

tucked his finger under my chin and

compelled my gaze back to his,

whispering my name in that accent.

“You’ve got work,” I said, but my

words were more for myself. He had a

rule about clients. I was his client and at

the end of the summer, my movie would

be shot and I’d have to leave. I
couldn’t

want him like this if I didn’t want to have

my heart ripped out when that time came.

Holding my chin steady, he traced his

other hand from my wrist up to my elbow,

and from there to my shoulder. He bent

forward, dipping his head a little, so that I

could feel his breath hot against my

throat.

“I’m my own boss, Willow.” One of

his fingertips brushed over my lips, and—

I couldn’t help it—I flicked my tongue out

over the rough skin. His grip on my

shoulder tightened and he cursed against

the delicate skin at my collarbone.

“I can call Miller.”

“I’m taking you.” His voice was more

determined than before.

“What the hell makes you think I want

you to take me anywhere?”

He drew away from me and my chest

deflated. I struggled to keep the

uninterested look on my face as he linked

his hands behind his head. I was anything

but bored and by the way he was grinning,

he knew that too. “Because of the way

you’re looking at me right now.”

“And how is that?”

“Like if Eric and Paige hadn’t come

back just before I walked out here, I’d

have your legs wrapped around my waist

in five minutes.”

“Your confidence makes me want to

blow chunks all over you.”

He dropped his hands from behind his

head. “Get dressed before—”

“Before what?” I challenged.

He pulled me down onto the deck

floor with him, like he didn’t care whether

or not anyone could see us or that we

were out in the open or that he’d known

me for all of a week. And while his lips

and tongue probed mine, my brain

screamed at me, begging me to remember

that it
had
only been a week.

Shoving his chest hard with the palm

of my hands, I stumbled backwards and to

my feet. Turning my back to him, I

grabbed my clothes from the bench and

angrily began yanking them back on. My

breath came out in ragged little gasps and

I was trembling. I was mad at him for

making me want more and with myself for

being stupid enough to let him affect me.

When I was calm enough to face him,

he was still on the floor of the deck and

his eyes were gleaming.

“Why are you laughing?” I snapped,

plopping down in a patio chair to shove

my feet into my sandals.

He stood, staring down at me like he

wanted nothing more than to tear my

clothes off. “Because you didn’t puke on

me and because you’re going to break

your neck cleaning gum from park benches

in those shoes.”

I rose to my feet and smoothed down

my sundress. His breath hitched as I shook

my long, dark hair out before knotting it at

the top of my head. “Ready?”

“You’re not going to argue with me?”

he asked and I glared at him, evoking a

grin that made me want to run my lips

across the dimple in his left cheek. “God,

I love when you come undone, Wills.”

Chapter Eight

Cooper was wrong about me having to

clean gum off park benches—the card that

Stewart had given me took us to a

homeless shelter for women and children

—but he sure as hell was right about the