Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
He turned to leave but he paused when he heard her voice. “I’ll take the job. On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You don’t pay me.”
Dune raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure about that?”
Caroline nodded.
He scratched his head and then laughed. “Whatever you say, rich girl. Be here at six a.m.”
She didn’t have a chance to tell him she wasn’t some rich girl because he ran across the road and disappeared into a building. Of course, her appearance screamed otherwise. Not that she could do much about her clothing. She’d show up tomorrow at the ass crack of dawn and show Dune Carter she wasn’t some rich girl here spending her daddy’s money.
dune
The day was long, hot, and no matter how hard he tried, Dune couldn’t get Caroline out of his mind. Everywhere he looked or went, he saw her, even though she physically wasn’t anywhere near him. How had she made a lasting impression on him already? He couldn’t explain it, and he intended to drink her out of his mind.
Except his favorite beer tasted flat and lacked the usual pleasure he got from drinking it. Still, he sat at the bar and sipped the amber liquid as he listened to the people around him. Diego’s was a local hotspot, frequented by locals, or those who considered themselves locals because they owned property in town. Those temporary residents came only for the summer to escape the oppressive heat in Florida and would leave by Labor Day. Some drove, while others brought their million-dollar yachts and clogged up the harbor.
Dune couldn’t be pissed about the anti-snowbirds, though, because they spent money in Seaport, and they undoubtedly had friends who would come to visit them. Plus, they’d always flocked to Blue Lobster Adventures for their entertainment.
Regardless, Diego’s was too rowdy for tourists. Most came in because they heard the myth the local tour guides liked to tell. As legend had it, some pirates built Diego’s and the Sea Shanty in the early 1700s as a place to meet and conduct business. Seaport had its fair share of pirates back in the day, though, and most of the stories told had some truth to them. Diego’s had a tiki feel with a thatched roof, which was utter shit when it rained. Fake tropical plants in every corner and stringed lighting with those paper lanterns over the lights to give the place some ambience. The bar itself, was made out of bamboo, and the menu didn’t have a single drop of rum on it. The whole setup confused Dune, but the oddities of Diego’s was what kept tourists away.
He heard his name and turned to find Speed and Wilson coming his way. Dune downed the rest of his beer and pushed his empty pint glass to the edge of his table. Normally, he sat at the bar and talked to the bartender. Tonight, he was hiding in the back corner.
“Sup?” he asked when his friends sat down opposite him.
“What are you doing back here?” Wilson asked.
Dune shrugged. He really couldn’t pinpoint why he chose the table in the corner other than he was in a weird mood.
“He’s looking for the rich girl,” Speed said as he slapped Wilson’s upper arm and nodded, as if he was onto something.
Dune rolled his eyes and flipped his friends off. “I’m not looking for anyone.”
“Bullshit. Why won’t you tell us what happened after you walked her home last night?” Speed asked. Nothing . . . absolutely nothing got by any of them.
“Nothing happened,” Dune said as he fiddled with a piece of his napkin. “I saw her come out of the Sea Shanty, she stumbled—”
“And Captain Blue Balls came to the rescue!” Wilson joked.
Dune flipped them off again, this time with both middle fingers. “Double fucks to the both of you.”
“Oh, come on, Captain.” Wilson pouted. “Seriously, what happened?”
“Again, nothing. I walked her home, made sure she was safe, and then she told me she would not sleep with me. Called me Buster and suggested I leave. So, I did.”
“Damn, no one turns down Captain Blue Balls.” Wilson held his hand up for Dune to give him a high five, but he refused.
“There wasn’t anything to turn down. All I did was walk her home and make sure she was safe,” he reiterated. “She heard some shit at the Sea Shanty.”
“Probably all true,” Speed added. Wilson and Dune coughed. There was no hiding Dune’s reputation around the island. He was a ladies’ man, and he enjoyed it. Besides, there was always a woman or two who came to Seaport to get over a break-up and what a better way to get over heartache than to hook-up with a local.
“I don’t get it,” Wilson stated. “Why are you being all melancholy?”
“Melancholy?” Dune’s eyebrow rose in question. “Such a big word for you, Wilson.”