Seaside Dreams (Love in Bloom: Seaside Summers, Book One) Contemporary Romance by Melissa Foster

what they have to say, you shouldn’t even consider dating them, because girls love to talk. He says you have to smell good, too, or girls won’t like you.”
    “Really? There are videos on that stuff?” Caden made another mental note to look up this MasterDater dude.
    “Heck yeah. There are videos on anything and everything on YouTube.”
    “Wait. Does he go over sex stuff, too?” Caden had had the talk with Evan when Evan was twelve. He’d come home from school one day talking about a boy who made out with a girl in the bathroom, and that spurred weeks of detailed conversations about sex and love and the importance of respecting women. Caden had expected to feel funny talking to Evan about those things, but Evan was a very practical kid, and he didn’t blush or act embarrassed. He wanted to understand it all, and it made for easy, open lines of communication.
    “Nothing that you haven’t already told me about. He talks more about not pushing girls into stuff than the actual activity, if you know what I mean.”
    Activity? That’s a great word . He was impressed with Evan’s attitude and pleased to hear that he was researching the more respectful parts of dating than the sexual side. He also wasn’t naive, and he knew that Evan could be cushioning the truth.
    “Anyway, are you going out with her tonight?” Evan asked.
    He’d hoped he’d avoided the question altogether. “Yeah, but it’s not a date.”
    “Why not?”
    Caden pushed to his feet and headed for the door. “I need to shower, and you need to get cleaned up, too. Remember to put on a clean shirt.”
    “Yeah, yeah. I know. But you can’t avoid the question. Why isn’t it a date?”
    He couldn’t explain something he didn’t understand himself.
    “It’s complicated,” he said before heading to his room.

    Chapter Seven
    BELLA HEARD CADEN’S truck roll onto the crushed-shell driveway in front of her cottage. Her stomach did a little flip.
    “Oh my God. He’s early.” Bella turned away from Jenna and Amy and took a quick look in the mirror. She didn’t usually wear pink in public, and when she bought the pale-pink, strapless, crushed-cotton minidress on a whim one summer, she’d thought she’d wear it around the quad when she and the girls were hanging out. She had yet to wear it, even around the quad, but when they were searching for just the right outfit, this one spoke to her.
    “Better that he comes early now than later,” Amy said with a devilish grin.
    Jenna laughed. “Did our Ames really just say that?”
    “There won’t be any coming later,” Bella said with a serious voice, though she wasn’t as confident as she sounded. He’d made her feel damn good— twice —and the idea of bringing him pleasure in return made her icy nerves turn white-hot.
    “Yeah, right.” Jenna patted Bella’s butt.
    Amy peered out of the bedroom window. “He’s gonna knock on the door,” she whispered. “Hi, Caden!” Amy waved out the window.
    “Oh, hey, Amy.” Caden’s deep, sexy voice settled in Bella’s ears like a tease.
    “Come on in.” Amy turned around with a wide smile. “Not-date time.” She pretended to clap her hands.
    “You guys are sure I look okay?”
    “Hold on.” Jenna disappeared into the bathroom and came out with Shalimar perfume. She spritzed it on Bella’s neck, then bent and shot it up her skirt.
    “Really, Jen?”
    “Hey, just in case.” Jenna dragged her out of the bedroom.
    Caden met them in the living room, looking devastatingly handsome in a pair of jeans, a gray button-down shirt, and a pair of leather sandals. He held a brown bag in one hand and a bouquet of pink roses in the other.
    He dragged his eyes down Bella’s body. “Wow. You get more beautiful every time I see you.”
    “Thanks. I just threw this old thing on,” Jenna said, twisting from side to side.
    Bella held his stare, ignoring Jenna’s joke. It was hard not to ignore everything else when his eyes said, I want to kiss you