Our Secret Summer(66)

I answer with a shake of my head. “You can’t be serious. I was just ki—”

“Hand the phone over so I can talk to him.”

His tone is half joking, half not.

“That’d be a little hard considering he’s sitting way over there with his friends. Not to mention, I don’t even know him. I’m with Thalia. Should I hand her the phone?”

It’s not an option considering she’s swimming now, but still. He’s silent on the other end, thinking god only knows what.

“I didn’t realize he was in the photo…” I admit sheepishly.

Still, he’s quiet.

Oh god.

I laugh nervously. “Are all Spanish men this possessive?”

And why does it thrill me to think he might be jealous that I’m spending my morning with someone else?

“No, but it’s in my nature. No use fighting it,” he finally grumbles.

“Good to know. No more teasing you. I promise.”

“I liked the photo,” he admits, his tone smoothing out now that I’ve eased his worry.

My stomach swoops. “If it helps, I’m not wearing the turquoise bikini.”

I think I hear him mumble “Dios” under his breath.

“Do you work tonight?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“And tomorrow?”

“No, but I’m going out with Annika and Simone. They want to take me to a party at Solaría.”

“Of course they do.” He doesn’t sound impressed. “You know that’s owned by my biggest competitor on the island.”

“I promise to hate it,” I quip.

He chuckles, then turns away from his phone to talk to someone in Spanish. I know he has to go.

“Sorry,” he says when he’s done.

“I don’t mind. I know you’re busy. Will you come pick me up tonight or will I walk home with Antonio?”

“I have a work dinner that’s going to run late. I’ve already pushed it off once.” At least he doesn’t sound happy about it. “It’s for a new project.”

A new project. Sheesh.

“Okay. I’ll—”

Someone calls his name, distracting him again.

“I’ll see you later,” I say, letting him get back to his work.

I drop my phone back into my bag with a heavy sigh and fold my legs up against my chest. I’m not sitting there long when out of the corner of my eye, I spot our surfing instructor walking toward me, and I pick my head up off my knees and force a welcoming smile.

He points to the board. “Can I take?”

I nod quickly. “Yes. Thank you. I was going to bring it back in a bit.”

He nods. “No hay problema.”

His lessons wrapped up a little while ago. I watched the parents come and collect their kids. “Did they learn? The kids you were teaching?”

He smiles and seesaws his hand. “So-so. We have many English students. Here for vacations.”

“Ah.” Business must really pick up in the summer.

“You are good,” he says with a shy smile, pointing back out to the surf.

“Oh, thanks. I love it.”

He shakes his head and collects the boards before carting them back to his stand so he can help a waiting customer. When he’s gone, I consider calling Lita. We already spoke yesterday and she claimed she wanted an update about everything, but truly there was only one thing on her mind.

“How are the men?”

“Beautiful.” I sighed.

She laughed. “Yes. When Spanish men are good, they’re good. A weakness for most women. I always thought I would marry one. It’s funny that I fell for your grandfather instead. A soldier in uniform, though… I never stood a chance.”

Anyone who saw a photo of my grandfather in his uniform would understand why Lita fell hard and fast.

“And Cristiano?” she asked. “How is he?”

“Good. Doing his job if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Only his job? Nothing more?”

“What are you asking?”

“Why are you dancing around the question, mi ni?a?”

I knew there was no sense in denying her. She’d wrangle the truth out of me eventually. “If Spanish men are handsome, Cristiano is in a league of his own. I won’t lie and say I haven’t noticed.”

“And do you have a little crush?”

Little?

“Ah,” she said after I failed to answer her. “Not little, then.”

“It’s a summer fling,” I insisted.

“The best kind.”

“My friends think I need to be smart about it. Not get too attached.”

She scoffed. “Nonsense. Do the exact opposite. Jump in with both feet. Flirt with wild abandon. There is nothing as electrifying as young love. If I could go back to the summer I met your grandfather, I would kiss him the first night we met instead of putting it off for as long as I did. I was shy, though, too self-conscious.”

“Hmm. Jumping in with both feet is nice and all, but when everything crashes and burns?”

She sighed, and then her tone became wistful, almost weary. “One day you will be my age and you’ll be glad for those aching memories. They’ll become a measure of life you’ll hold dear. Do you understand, Isabel? What I’m trying to tell you?”