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dark circles. Now, his eyes were crystal clear and sparkling brown. “You seem well rested.”
    Justin tilted his head. “You noticed?”
    She nodded. “Sleeping pills?”
    He sat down on the blanket and tucked his long legs beneath him. “Busy summer. I always rest better after a rescue.” He held out a bottle of sunscreen. “Do you mind?” As soon as she took it from him, he slipped off his shirt.
    She’d seen him bare-chested more times than she could count, but she’d been so in love with Ty she’d never paid attention to his attributes. Turned out, he had plenty. His shoulder muscles curved in smooth ridges under his golden skin, and his chest tapered to a trim, flat stomach, cut with washboard abs. His swimming trunks hung low on his hips.
    As she stared at his perfection, a tingly feeling traveled down her spine, then lodged in her stomach. Attraction? The prickling sensation turned into a brick that sat heavy in her gut. She hadn’t taken notice of a handsome man in so long, she’d forgotten how it made her feel.
    Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. No tingles allowed.
    She kneeled behind him, squirted a large dollop of sunscreen on her hand, and rubbed the lotion onto his smooth skin. Reminding herself that he was Justin, Ty’s best friend, she squashed her lustful thoughts. But the reminder didn’t stop her from noticing every hard muscle as her fingers glided across his back.
    Trying to distract herself from the tingles that refused to go away, she allowed her palm to linger on the sea serpent tattoo wrapped around his bicep. In the black scales of the reptile, she spotted hidden profiles of sharks, corals, sea turtles, and even a barracuda. She’d never considered tattoos as artwork, but his was a masterpiece.
    She traced the head of the snake, lingering on the slithering tongue. “Have I ever told you I love this?”
    He turned his head and, suddenly, their faces were inches apart. “No. I would’ve remembered.”
    She felt his dark eyes gazing straight into her, and her heart pounded uncontrollably. She rocked back on her knees to put some distance between them and picked up the pace, quickly covering every inch of his back with lotion. “There. Not even a gamma ray would burn you.”
    “I’ve got a spray in my bag if you want me to douse you.”
    “I already put on my sunscreen at home.” Thank goodness for her foresight. If he so much as touched her right now, she’d turn into a giggling puddle of female hormones. She cleared her throat. “You’re supposed to apply lotion thirty minutes before you go in the sun, you know. It’s more effective that way.”
    “You’re the nurse,” he said.
    She screwed the lid back on the sunscreen and handed it to him. Time to get in the water , she thought as she sat next to him. Reluctantly, she fidgeted with the hem of her white cover-up, twisting the cotton fabric between tense fingers. The scars aren’t visible , she reminded herself. She’d made sure by contorting her body like a Cirque du Soleil performer in front of the dressing room mirror. Even though she had no reason to be self-conscious, her nerves were firing up like bullets without a target, bouncing around in her stomach and wreaking havoc.
    “Ready to get in?” he asked.
    She nodded. Swallowing hard, she grabbed the bottom of her cover-up, lifted it over her head, and tucked it in her beach bag. As she adjusted the straps to make sure everything remained covered, she looked up to see Justin’s gaze resting on her chest. After a second of staring, his brow furrowed.
    Mandy cringed, wanting to wrap her arms around her breasts. “Is there a problem?”
    Justin’s widened eyes darted to her face, then to the crashing waves pounding the beach. “Wow. I’m being rude.” He blushed bright red. “I just… I didn’t…”
    She knew exactly what he meant. After her surgery, she’d caught most of her friends staring at her missing breast, even though she wore a falsie. A woman without a boob,