Page 4 of Free Wind (Lifeguards of Barking Beach #2)

Well, hadn’t thought much about before. But these days, he couldn’t stop noticing people in new ways. Bloody confusing ways.

“Damian Williams. Damo.” He suddenly clocked the surfer as he let go of his big hand. “Hey, you’re one of the clubbies, right? Thought you looked familiar.”

Blake licked his lips, glancing around nervously for some reason Damo couldn’t suss out. “Didn’t think you’d really noticed me.”

“You were looking after that lost kid on the weekend.” He was pretty sure he’d noticed Blake volunteering before that too. Had he been the bloke with the—

He flushed. Right. The bloke with the nice meaty arse.

Blake seemed to want to say something else before finally nodding. Twitching his fingers and spreading his toes in the warm sand, Damo glanced over at the patients. The ginger guy seemed to be pinking up with the oxy.

“He was cooked,” Damo said before taking a deep breath and blowing it out. The patients were back on shore. It hadn’t been pretty, but he’d done his job.

“Must be scary. I haven’t had to do a real rescue yet.”

Damo tried to shrug it off. “Can be. That ginger bloke was as close to drowning as you ever want to be. Glad you were here to help. Did you chuck a sickie?”

“Nah, I’m a garbo. I do an eight-day fortnight, so three days off a week.” Blake cleared his throat and stood straighter, putting on an official voice. “I should say I’m a waste services operator.”

Damo laughed. “Sweet. Gotta love the council jobs.” He gazed out at the water, spotting a head going out in the Croc. He’d be in again soon. “I always knew I’d be a lifeguard, so lucky for me council has the budget. Can’t imagine anything else. Being in an office?” He shuddered dramatically.

“Yep. It’s not glamorous emptying bins, but it pays well, and it’s a steady job since people will always make heaps of garbage. And I’ve got surfing time. I’m really glad I was here.” Blake nodded to the patient who’d panicked hard. “He could have drowned you. You were very kind to him just now.”

Damo shrugged but secretly he was chuffed. Not that he had any reason to want to impress a clubbie he didn’t even know.

He scanned the waves and said, “People will drown their own husbands and wives when they panic. Like I told him, he was off his head. I don’t take it personally.” He hesitated, then whispered, “And I admit, I wasn’t feeling so kind when I was cursing them as I paddled out.”

“You hide it well.”

Blake’s voice was low and steady and…Damo liked hearing it. He tugged on the purple cord he wore around his neck, recently braided by his baby sister, Tabitha, as a lucky talisman to keep him safe on the job. “Say, where do you live?”

Blake blinked and licked his lips. They probably tasted salty… “North Barking.”

“Are you new around here? Thought I knew all the locals.” Blake was definitely Aussie judging by the accent.

“More or less. Moved here from South Australia in July.”

“You’re good in the water for a rookie. Maybe I’ll see you around. I surf when I’m not working.”

“I know.”

The skin on the back of Damo’s neck prickled, which was probably just the saltwater drying in the sun—though his hair brushed the tops of his shoulder blades. The sensation definitely wasn’t a rush from being noticed.

Or from the intense way Blake watched him.

Damo realized he had to say something as he shifted more hot sand through his toes and glued his eyes to the waves. “Cool.”

He could smell coconut tanning oil on the breeze, probably coming from the hot girls in bikinis stretched out nearby on colored towels. He scanned the water, too aware of Blake’s eyes on him, his skin tingling. “Thanks again, mate. I owe ya.”

“No, of course you don’t. I’m glad I helped.”

“I can still shout ya a beer sometime.” He had plenty of friends. Why was he inviting out the new clubbie?

Nothin’ wrong with being friendly!

Blake’s thick eyebrows shot up. “Yeah?” He grinned, his cheeks dimpling.

Damo had to smile back as he shrugged, his shoulders weirdly tense. “Sure.”

“I’ll—” Blake hesitated, then said in a rush, “I’ll be at Rodeo on Friday night in Freo if you’re not doing anything.”

“That new club? I think I heard it was good.”

He didn’t go out in Fremantle much at all these days, so he wasn’t sure why he was pretending to be in the know. He actually wasn’t much for dancing since he sucked at it. Sometimes his mates went to the clubs in Perth to pick up chicks, but Damo preferred pubs or parties.

“Yeah, it’s a fun crowd. Diverse.”

“Cool.”

Wait, was it a gay club? Now that he thought about it, Damo remembered Cody trying to convince his boyfriend Liam to go with absolutely no luck.

“No dramas if you can’t make it.”

Damo was about to say, yeah, nah. He’d be at home Friday night with Tabby anyway. Instead, the words that came out of his mouth as he monitored a few swimmers were, “Maybe I’ll see you there.”

Waaaaaait. What? No, he wouldn’t see anyone at a club! Where had that come from? Was it the power of this bloke’s dimples? Not to mention his nipples…

Before Damo could take it back, Blake said, “Cool. I’ll let you get back to work,” and lifted a hand in a wave before disappearing into the crowd of umbrellas and endless people, at least twenty thousand of them cramming onto the beach.

Returning to the buggy he’d parked on the sand, Damo picked up binoculars to watch the swimmer out the back who was definitely not getting out of the Croc’s grip without help. No point in putting his shirt back on.

He checked on a few other swimmers about to get into trouble and hopped on the megaphone to tell them to come back to shore.

Why had he said that to Blake? No way Damo was going to a dance club on Friday night. He’d be working that day, and it would probably be full on again since the forecast called for sun and heat.

Look, Blake seemed like a good bloke, but Friday night, Damo’d have a feed and a few beers, then hang out with Tabby and hear about the latest year-eight drama from school.

Still…

The idea of not spending the night at home, of actually going out, away from those four walls and everything inside it…

Guilt stabbed. If he went out alone, he’d be leaving Tabby to deal with Dad. She already did more than any kid should have to.

No chance. No, he wasn’t going dancing at a maybe-gay bar with some cute clubbie he just met.

An undeniable thrill crashed the guilt party. Fine, yeah, the clubbie was cute, all right? Blake was cute. More than.

As he tracked the swimmer, Damo thought of how Blake had appeared out of nowhere, shoving away the panicking patient like something out of a movie.

Damo was the one who was supposed to be saving people, but he had to admit it felt amazing to have someone charge to his rescue for a change. Surfers often lent a hand, keeping patients afloat until lifeguards arrived, but this had been a little more…dramatic.

Butterflies flapped in his belly. Sure, it was normal to have that adrenaline rush after a big rescue, but he tingled all over thinking of Blake.

Guilt roared back to remind him that he had responsibilities and he couldn’t just go swanning off to a club. Sure, it wasn’t like he’d never gone out over the years. But things at home hadn’t been like…this.

Thumb on his radio, he said, “Central, I’m gonna be in here.”

Picking up the rescue board, he cleared his mind of everything but getting past the shorey and paddling as hard as he could.