Pretending in Paradise by M. Ullrich

Author:M. Ullrich [Ullrich, M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781635554007
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2019-02-24T16:00:00+00:00

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Caroline never had a real piña colada before. She remembered one of the wine coolers she snuck as a high school freshman was piña colada flavored, but that was as close as she had come. She took another sip from the frosty hurricane glass and smiled. Decidedly, she loved real piña coladas. She dangled her feet back and forth in the clear water surrounding her barstool. Emma had swum off nearly thirty minutes ago and Caroline hadn’t turned once to see where she was. This moment was about the sun, Caroline’s self-care, and the sweetness of coconut and pineapple and rum on her tongue.

A mixture of music filled the air around them. Latin vibes changed to pop music and even some hip-hop. Caroline bopped along to the music, and the easy smile of her red lips never faded. The strong sun had made her lazy and relaxed. The feeling of accomplishment was still in her chest. Even after a disastrous evening the night before and a rough morning, today was shaping up to be very good for Caroline.

“Can I get you another?” the young bartender said. His smile was gorgeous, the dimple on his right cheek peeking out from his trimmed beard.

Caroline looked at her half-empty glass and back to his dark eyes. They sparkled. “This is already my second. I should probably slow down.”

“You’re on vacation, right?”

Tricky question. “I suppose I am.”

“Then I suppose you should have another drink. If you’d like.”

She took a deep breath through her nose and tilted her head back. The air smelled of chlorine and fruit. Her head felt pleasantly fuzzy. “Okay,” Caroline said with a nod. She smiled at her bartender.

“What’s your name?”

“Oh, the tab is under my room number.”

“I wasn’t asking for your tab. This one’s on the house. I’m Bruce.” He extended his hand.

“Bruce?” Caroline tilted her head before taking his hand and shaking it. “I’m Caroline. I didn’t know anyone was named Bruce anymore.”

“Did you think we all just disappeared?” Bruce laughed and went about making Caroline’s drink.

Caroline giggled. “No, but you’re so young.” She looked Bruce up and down to decide on a fair age estimate. “What are you? Twenty-two?”

He poured the white, slushy drink from the blender into a fresh hurricane glass and picked up a wedge of pineapple for garnish. He slid the freshly prepared drink to Caroline and tucked a small paper umbrella into it. Bruce pointed to the discarded pineapple rinds beside Caroline’s glass. “You like pineapple?” Caroline nodded. He added an extra wedge to her glass.

Caroline had watched his every move.

“I can’t imagine I’m much younger than you, if at all,” Bruce said. “And I’m not about to ask a lady her age.”

“I’m thirty-six,” Caroline blurted out. She drank up the rest of her second piña colada and moved on to the third. She took a wedge of pineapple from the rim of her glass and pulled it between her lips.

Bruce cleared his throat. “Is this your first trip to Florida?”

“Yes.” Caroline

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