look forward to, after all.
Summer vacation had only just begun. Tomorrow, she would lunch with her friends Lisa and Jillian. Then, there was Lisa’s upcoming bachelorette party and wedding. After her friend was married, well, maybe she’d head down to the shore. She could rent a room somewhere in Ocean City or Brigantine. Warm ocean breezes might just help clear her head and soothe her body.
She sighed and pulled her grocery list from her glove compartment.
Milk, frozen pizza, cereal, bananas…
Gah . Shopping while her son was staying with his father was never fun, but today, the thought of pushing around a half-empty cart and then cooking for one was downright unbearable. She crumpled the list and threw it onto the passenger seat. Today was her birthday, damn it. Grocery shopping could wait.
What she could really use was a birthday treat: sweet, home-made ice cream from that little place in Medford and then home for sangria, a racy novel, and a long, uninterrupted session with her ever-ready vibrating friend.
Christina smiled as she eased out of the bank’s parking lot, shrugging off self-pity’s clingy remnants.
Happy Birthday to me.
****
God damn, it was hot .
Bryce Walker stopped at a traffic light. He leaned over his steering wheel and scanned the horizon for any sign of possible relief. Not one single cloud marred the summer-blue sky.
He’d never get used to muggy South Jersey air. Not that he missed Southern California’s pollution, but Jersey weather would kill him, he was sure. A frigid, misty-gray winter gave way to a bright, sweltering summer with no relief in-between.
He drummed his hands on his steering wheel, impatient for the light to change. Haze rose from the asphalt. The prospect of a long, lonesome summer loomed like a stretch of desert highway, without even a mirage of a woman to make things interesting.
Bryce pursed his lips.
He loved his high-school teaching and coaching job, but the long hours had left him little time for dating. With the less demanding schedule of summer break, maybe he could finally get some East coast action.
Though not with one woman who had steamed his fantasies…
Christina Welch, school librarian, had stoked his lust since the day they’d met. In the teacher’s lounge, she had flushed under his gaze and, more than once, he’d caught her eyeing him with barely concealed interest.
He shook his head.
He’d decided not to pursue Christina back in September. He didn’t want to risk his new job. Besides, he had too much respect for single mothers to dally. He couldn’t help, however, that the obviously undersexed librarian stole into his fantasies from time to time. Her flirty little dresses and silk blouses always clung in all the right places. He had lubed and stroked to her imagined naked body more times than he cared to admit.
Bryce flexed his right shoulder and then tensed his muscles to ease the strain. He’d overworked at the gym. His pecs ached. The shower water that had cascaded over his well-worked muscles hadn’t cooled his body. Of course, his car’s broken air conditioner wasn’t helping and nor was thinking about the librarian.
The light turned green. Bryce shifted into first and eased forward with traffic.
He frowned. There was no way to hide from heat...not without air conditioning. His open window wasn’t any help at all. He should have fixed his car AC—not to mention the one in his apartment—when the temperature had been normal.
The turn for his apartment complex came into view but he hesitated. Living in cramped quarters during the school year was one thing. At least then, he had things to plan and do. But he had no reason to go home now. When the year had ended, his efficiency had become way too small, and, if he was honest, too damned lonely.
He drove past the gate. There had to be something else he could do, something cooling…
His eyes settled on a sign ahead―Homemade Ice Cream. He’d never been to the small shop;
Summer vacation had only just begun. Tomorrow, she would lunch with her friends Lisa and Jillian. Then, there was Lisa’s upcoming bachelorette party and wedding. After her friend was married, well, maybe she’d head down to the shore. She could rent a room somewhere in Ocean City or Brigantine. Warm ocean breezes might just help clear her head and soothe her body.
She sighed and pulled her grocery list from her glove compartment.
Milk, frozen pizza, cereal, bananas…
Gah . Shopping while her son was staying with his father was never fun, but today, the thought of pushing around a half-empty cart and then cooking for one was downright unbearable. She crumpled the list and threw it onto the passenger seat. Today was her birthday, damn it. Grocery shopping could wait.
What she could really use was a birthday treat: sweet, home-made ice cream from that little place in Medford and then home for sangria, a racy novel, and a long, uninterrupted session with her ever-ready vibrating friend.
Christina smiled as she eased out of the bank’s parking lot, shrugging off self-pity’s clingy remnants.
Happy Birthday to me.
****
God damn, it was hot .
Bryce Walker stopped at a traffic light. He leaned over his steering wheel and scanned the horizon for any sign of possible relief. Not one single cloud marred the summer-blue sky.
He’d never get used to muggy South Jersey air. Not that he missed Southern California’s pollution, but Jersey weather would kill him, he was sure. A frigid, misty-gray winter gave way to a bright, sweltering summer with no relief in-between.
He drummed his hands on his steering wheel, impatient for the light to change. Haze rose from the asphalt. The prospect of a long, lonesome summer loomed like a stretch of desert highway, without even a mirage of a woman to make things interesting.
Bryce pursed his lips.
He loved his high-school teaching and coaching job, but the long hours had left him little time for dating. With the less demanding schedule of summer break, maybe he could finally get some East coast action.
Though not with one woman who had steamed his fantasies…
Christina Welch, school librarian, had stoked his lust since the day they’d met. In the teacher’s lounge, she had flushed under his gaze and, more than once, he’d caught her eyeing him with barely concealed interest.
He shook his head.
He’d decided not to pursue Christina back in September. He didn’t want to risk his new job. Besides, he had too much respect for single mothers to dally. He couldn’t help, however, that the obviously undersexed librarian stole into his fantasies from time to time. Her flirty little dresses and silk blouses always clung in all the right places. He had lubed and stroked to her imagined naked body more times than he cared to admit.
Bryce flexed his right shoulder and then tensed his muscles to ease the strain. He’d overworked at the gym. His pecs ached. The shower water that had cascaded over his well-worked muscles hadn’t cooled his body. Of course, his car’s broken air conditioner wasn’t helping and nor was thinking about the librarian.
The light turned green. Bryce shifted into first and eased forward with traffic.
He frowned. There was no way to hide from heat...not without air conditioning. His open window wasn’t any help at all. He should have fixed his car AC—not to mention the one in his apartment—when the temperature had been normal.
The turn for his apartment complex came into view but he hesitated. Living in cramped quarters during the school year was one thing. At least then, he had things to plan and do. But he had no reason to go home now. When the year had ended, his efficiency had become way too small, and, if he was honest, too damned lonely.
He drove past the gate. There had to be something else he could do, something cooling…
His eyes settled on a sign ahead―Homemade Ice Cream. He’d never been to the small shop;
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