Caitlin by Jade Parker Page A

tropical island would be better.”
    “Have you ever been to an island?” Michael asked.
    I shook my head. “Nope. This is the closest I’ve ever come.”
    “Me, too. Maybe someday …”
    I wondered if he was hinting that maybe someday we’d go to an island together. Yeah, right. And Jasmine would spoon-feed us ice cream.
    Trent blew his whistle. “Okay!”
    Everyone screamed, yelled, and started running for the pool.
    “I gotta get back to work,” I told Michael.
    “Maybe I’ll see you when you take a break later.”
    “What about Jasmine?”
    “What about her?”
    “I thought you were ice-cream buddies.”
    “Not really.”
    Did I want to take a break with him? Was I treading in dangerous water?
    “Morgan!”
    I spun around. Trent jerked his thumb toward the pool.
    “I was just on my way.”
    I hurried past him, feeling so stupid. Model employee had suddenly turned into Miss Get-in-trouble-whenever-she-can.
    Still, I was actually thinking about taking a break with Michael. What would it hurt?
    *  *  *
    Tanner came to relieve me when it was time for my break. He gave me the smile that caused a dimple to form in his cheeks on either side of his mouth. When I’d first met him, I’d thought it was the cutest. I’d wondered if he had the dimples when he kissed. I’d been anxious to find out. But we’d never kissed. Now I couldn’t have cared less about his dimples.
    “So how are the plans for the Fourth coming along?” he asked as I stepped down from the platform.
    “We’re not allowed to talk about them. They’re very hush-hush.”
    “Really?”
    “Would I say it if it wasn’t true?” I wiggled my fingers at him and walked toward the deck.
    Michael met me there.
    “Break?” he asked.
    “Break.”
    He grinned. He didn’t have Tanner’s adorable dimples, but his smile seemed more sincere. “How about the food court? I need my afternoon smoothie energizer,” he said.
    While I found us a table, he got us each a tropical smoothie.
    “Thanks,” I said, before taking a sip on mine. “So how’s the light show coming along?”
    “Pretty good.”
    “Whitney said you were going to set some things up tomorrow night.”
    “No big deal. Dad just needs to get the lay of the land, so to speak. I don’t really want to talk shop.”
    “What do you want to talk about then?”
    “I don’t know. Tell me about Caitlin.”
    I laughed. “You make it sound like she’s someone who isn’t sitting right here.”
    “You’re avoiding the topic.”
    I shrugged, sipped some smoothie. “Not a lot to say, really.”
    “You have a boyfriend?”
    Okay, he apparently didn’t have a problem diving into deep water. “Nope.”
    “Someone you like?”
    “I like a lot of people.”
    “Seriously.” His voice was a little stern, but I didn’t want to play seriously.
    “Seriously. I like Robyn and Whitney —”
    “A guy. Are you interested in a guy? Like that lifeguard that watches you all the time?”
    I almost choked on my smoothie. “What lifeguard?”
    “I heard someone call him Tanner.”
    I scoffed. “We are so over.”
    “So he was your boyfriend?”
    I was flattered that he thought I had a boyfriend, that he thought other guys were interested.
    “No. Tanner and I hung around together for a while, but it wasn’t anything.” I was impressed by my ability to make it sound as though it had never been anything. Maybe I was really over him. I leaned forward, tired of talking about me. “So how did your dad get into lights?”
    “Okay, that wasn’t a very subtle change in topics.”
    “I just don’t want to talk about me. I’m feeling boring these days.”
    He grinned. “You’re not boring. As a matter of fact, there’s usually excitement when you’re around.”
    “Yeah, right. So much excitement that people are calling me whistle-blower and not in a flattering way.”
    “Ouch!”
    “Exactly. So your dad?”
    Michael shrugged. “He used to be in a band —”
    “What? You mean