The Summer Girlfriend (Heart Beach, #1)(76)

As Noelle and Amara read the book’s description together, strolling slowly down the sidewalk, Noelle realized that her friendship with Amara was something else that she’d miss once summer ended. Would it be possible for them to remain friends beyond August when she was no longer Jeremiah’s fake girlfriend?

“Oh God, look at your boyfriend,” Amara said, laughing. “What’s he up to now?”

In the distance, Noelle saw Jeremiah pedaling toward them on a beach cruiser. He steered another bike alongside him. She’d seen both bikes in the Smiths’ garage before.

Jeremiah grinned as he pedaled closer. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Noelle.

“Madam,” he said when he reached them, “your chariot awaits.”

Noelle laughed. “My chariot to where, exactly?”

“To the marina,” he said. “Robin wanted to take the twins to the mall, but her car is blocked by Mom’s car in the driveway. She and Percy are on a conference call and Robin didn’t want to bother them, so I told her she could take my car. That means we’re biking to the boat.”

“You’d better go soon before it starts to rain,” Amara said, looking up at the sky. She reached for Noelle’s books. “I can take these to the house for you.”

“Thanks,” Noelle said, hugging Amara. “I’ll see you when we get back.”

Noelle climbed onto the spare bike, and Jeremiah smiled at her. “Ready?” he asked.

With Jeremiah, she had a feeling that she could be ready for anything.

She smiled back at him. “Ready.”





Chapter Twenty-Three




They rode to the marina and parked their bikes at the dock. Noelle followed behind Jeremiah as they walked past rows of boats on either side of them. They stopped at a small, white bowrider boat with a black accent lining. Unlike Jeremiah’s car, his boat looked older. There was a wind cover above the steering wheel and a seating area in the back of the boat that was just large enough to fit a small group. Jeremiah stepped onto the boat and turned around, offering his hand to pull Noelle on as well.

“Welcome aboard the Caesar,” he said. “I’ll be your personal pirate today.”

Noelle giggled as the boat shifted under their weight. Jeremiah untied the boat from the dock and pulled the rope up. Noelle followed him to the steering wheel and watched as he put the boat in gear and coasted through the marina and out into the ocean.

“Wait, did you name your boat after your mom’s cat?” Noelle asked.

“Yeah.” He glanced over his shoulder at her and grinned. “That wasn’t the boat’s original name, though. It was called Serenity. You remember Mr. Drake from Hang High Parasailing?” Noelle nodded. “I bought this boat off his brother when I was sixteen after I got my boat license. He put me on a payment plan because my mom and Pop said I didn’t need a boat of my own at that age, but that if I wanted one, I’d have to pay for it myself. So, I saved up during the summers when I worked at Marty’s, and I saved the money my parents and Pop gave me on my birthdays. I put it all toward paying off the boat. Then on my twenty-first birthday I was able to access my trust fund, and I paid off what was left. I renamed the boat Caesar, and that’s been the name ever since.”

Him mentioning his trust fund reminded Noelle that money was certainly the biggest difference between them. And it reminded her that his money and their fake relationship went hand in hand, and it reinforced her theory that a real relationship between them probably wouldn’t work.

But they’d already decided to be friends so there was no point in thinking about that now. Not when she wanted to enjoy their last couple of weekends together.

“I didn’t know you worked at Marty’s,” she said.

“I can make a funnel cake with my eyes closed.”

He reached down and laced his fingers through hers and led her toward the seating area.

“Sit tight,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

Noelle curled up in the corner of the boat and looked out at the water. She inhaled the salty air. A few other boats were cruising through the ocean or idling in place as people fished. The storm clouds had darkened over the past half hour, but it still hadn’t rained. Jeremiah returned to sit beside Noelle, and he wasn’t empty-handed. He placed an assorted box of Smith’s Sweets cookies and a water bottle in her lap.

“For you, my lady,” he said, bowing.

“Thank you!” Noelle laughed, delighted, as she opened the box. “Where did you get this?”

“While you were practicing with Harper and Ash this morning, I came here to make sure that everything was okay with the boat. I brought some stuff with me that I thought we might want.”

Noelle smiled at his thoughtfulness as she opened the box.

“As you can see, I haven’t turned into a cookie yet,” she said.

“Give it a few more days.” He winked as he took the box from her and grabbed a few cookies himself.

It started to drizzle then, but it was a light mist that didn’t yet suggest the threat of harder rain.

“Hold on.” Jeremiah hopped up and rummaged around near the steering wheel. He came back, holding two old hoodies, and he handed one to Noelle. It was dark brown and faded from years of wear and wash. Heart Beach was written across the front in white letters. His hoodie was the same but navy blue. “I usually leave these here on the boat just in case.”