“Help yourselves,” I said to Immy and Hayes. “There is a bunch of fruit and some sandwiches.”
“Thanks,” they replied together, and Immy passed him a bottle of water. Watching the veins in his neck move along with his Adam’s apple made my heart flutter. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. My husband was a fine looking man. He worked out, was muscular and handsome. I was used to women checking him out. I must be mad at Mark or something. That was all this was. I was angry he hadn’t contacted me about staying in LA the extra days. I brushed it off.
Lily and Lewis were used to sleeping at the beach because Immy and I loved spending time here. We grew up in the same neighborhood, and we would meet at the beach while Matt surfed, and we would watch him and hang out. After we graduated from UCLA, we both came back to Florida. Immy attended grad school here and became a pharmacist. I married Mark and started to work. Originally my plan had been to become a veterinarian like my dad, since I loved animals and was always in awe that he took care of pets for a living. The only quality time I spent with my dad growing up was when I begged him to take me to work with him. When my parents divorced my senior year, I stopped going to his animal hospital because he was dating his assistant who he had cheated on Mom with, and I didn’t want to spend time with a woman who I blamed for ripping my family apart. Instead I spent time volunteering at the animal shelter. It was just as fulfilling, and I didn’t have to deal with my cheating father.
Slipping off my cut-offs and tank top, I went straight for the water. After spending a full day in the lab, a swim relieved my stress. Immy was newly pregnant and preferred to stay in the shade and read since her energy was low and morning sickness was kicking her ass early this time. I, on the other hand, needed my daily fix of salt water.
“Wait a sec.” She stopped me.
“Yeah.”
“What’s going on with Mark?” she whispered. I checked and Hayes was lying on a towel in the sand, sunbathing.
“What do you mean?” I asked, knowing it was stupid to try and deflect her inquisition. “You expected him two days ago. Where was he? Why didn’t he call?” She was still whispering, thankfully. I didn’t want her hot cousin to hear my problems.
“He said he stayed an extra couple of days in LA. He seems really upset and tired. I didn’t want to press him,” I explained. Immy nodded, accepting my answer. I knew she was being polite. It was more than weird that Mark didn’t want Lily and me around after being away for three weeks. His absence felt like eons to me, but he clearly didn’t feel the same. That coupled with no sex for six months made me feel like crap. I hadn’t confided in Immy about the no sex, it felt too intimate, personal, and I was embarrassed. I shook my head. I came here to relax not dig deep into my problems.
“Is it okay if I take a quick swim?” I asked Immy. She knew how much I liked to swim laps against the tide.
“Go, I’ve got the kiddies.” She waved me off.
The cool ocean water was welcome against my heated skin. I walked in slowly, looking out for jelly fish. It was green flag at the beach today, which meant everything was pretty calm with minimal sea creatures, so I went in deeper and dunked my head. My eyes had been closed underwater, and when I came up for air I saw Hayes swimming in front of me, a bright smile on his face. I tried not to look at his broad chest, wide shoulders, or water rivulets on his skin. I tried keeping my gaze focused on his eyes and the way his wet caramel ringlets were slicked back off his face, showing me his strong jaw, his imperfect nose, and full lips. I wanted to look away, but my gaze lingered as I took in every inch of him. I was grateful my own body was immersed in water. I was fit, but I did have a few stretch marks along my hips that I wouldn’t mind remaining hidden.
“You swim like a fish,” he said.
“I love the ocean.” I beamed. “I’ve been swimming in it all my life.” I brushed my wet hair off my face and kept my body underwater.
“Must have been nice. We didn’t have any beaches where I grew up.”
“England. Right?”
“Yes, in Brightside, it’s part of Sheffield. We have lots of hills and rivers but no ocean,” he explained.
“I’ve always wanted to go, I mean to London at least.”
He squinted against the sun, his blue eyes translucent in the water. “Why didn’t you? Travel I mean,” he asked.
My lips pursed. “Hmm, I don’t really know. I married young and started working. There was no time for travel.” I swirled my hands in the water as waves slowly lapped up and down my body. And when I was younger my parents traveled but left Matt and me at home.
“I didn’t do much traveling as a lad either. I went to Belize for Royal Navy training.” His lips turned down when he said the word Navy. “I’m glad I got the chance to go through South America as a tourist; it was pretty amazing.”
“Immy said you deployed to Afghanistan?” I asked then thought better of it. There had been horror stories from American soldiers who had been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Yes,” he said and that was it. I understood not to ask any more questions on the matter.
“Tell me about your adventures. I like to hear about trips since I don’t get to take them.” I smiled, hoping to pull him from any bad thoughts he may have from my stupid questions.
He gave me a strange look then chuckled. “All right. I get it. You want to live vicariously through me.”
“Ha, yes, something like that.” I giggled; Hayes was charming.
“I just got back from Brazil, Costa Rica, and Chile. Brazil has the most magnificent beaches. I learned how to surf and wind surf there,” he said, and his eyes gleamed.
“I love surfing. The waves must have been good there.”
“I didn’t have a whole lot to compare to, but it was quite brilliant.” He smiled and a wet curl fell on his face. “You surf?” His brows bunched together.
“I love surfing. My older brother was an international competitive surfer to my parents’ dismay. He took me out to the beach all the time and taught me what he knew.” My gut twisted at the memory of my brother.
“Does he not compete anymore?” Hayes asked, and I swallowed hard.
My teeth dug into my lower lip so hard I tasted blood. “He passed away.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pried.” He held a hand up to his chest and looked truly remorseful.
“It’s fine.” I waved him off. “He died a decade ago,” I said, my words bitter on my tongue. My brother had been everything to me. My parents were self-involved workaholics. Matt was like my best friend and parent, wrapped into one, since he was five years older.
“That doesn’t change how much it hurts though, does it?” He squinted. “My mum died four years ago. Just before I enlisted,” he said, and my stomach sank.
“Hayes, I’m so sorry,” I gasped.
“Yes, well, I know the feeling,” he said. I wanted to tell him he didn’t because we are pretty sure my brother took his own life.
“I’m sorry.” I shook my head, my good mood from earlier sinking with each wave that rolled by.
“Let me tell you about Costa Rica. I can’t be responsible for the frown on your face.” He grinned.
“Sure.” His optimism and charisma got under my skin, and I smiled.
“I toured the rainforest. Saw some monkeys and these ridiculously huge spiders,” he said, and I cringed. “You don’t like tarantulas?” He raised both brows.
“Don’t mock me. Arachnophobia is a real thing,” I mock whined.
He laughed. “Don’t I know it. Mum would scream at the sight of a spider. I had to kill them in fear of her melting down,” he said, and I wondered if he didn’t have a father.
“That’s like me, only in Florida big black cockroaches seem to be the culprits. They scare the bejesus out of me,” I said, and Hayes threw his head back laughing.
“And the ocean? You aren’t frightened to be in here? I heard there are vicious sharks in Florida,” he said, turning to l
ook around him, his gorgeous blue eyes round.
“You have to be careful for sure, but I grew up in the water. I love the ocean. Thankfully I haven’t come face to face with a shark.”
“Bloody hell. Bite your tongue, woman,” he said with all seriousness, looking around him a little frantically.
I couldn’t help but laugh. The sound of my own laughter seemed foreign. When did that happen?
“How were you surfing in Brazil? If you’re scared of the water, I don’t get it,” I asked, playing with him.
“The beaches in Brazil were amazing, a surfer’s dream. It was such a rush. I forgot about sea creatures.” He chortled.
“Like the Loch Ness monster,” I said jokingly.
“Exactly, Natalia.” He grinned, and the way his eyes drank me in and the lilt of his tongue when he said my name, made me feel things I should not be feeling.
“I used to surf a lot with my brother before he died, and Immy and I spent our weekends surfing when we were at UCLA.” It was the only time I didn’t spend with Mark, but I wasn’t going to give up on the one thing that made me feel close to my brother.
I turned my head to check on Lily and saw Immy waving at us on the beach. Shoot! Had we been talking so long that Lily woke up from her nap?
“Sorry, I better get out. Lily’s awake.”
“Sure.” He nodded.
I waded my way back to shore, and when the water became shallow I walked on my hands not wanting to stand upright and have him see my body. I wasn’t always self-conscious. I kept in shape by swimming and riding my bike some evenings, but I began to question the way I looked since my husband lost interest in me sexually.
When I got back to the blanket I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me then picked Lily up. She placed her head on my shoulder. It sometimes took her a little time to truly wake up when she had a good nap.
“I see you and Hayes hit it off.” Immy waggled her brows.
“He’s nice. He has some interesting stories,” I said.
“Yeah.” She frowned. “He’s an open book. He’s had a tough go of things these last few years.”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” I replied but didn’t want to pry.
“He’s a nice kid,” she answered, and her answer startled me. I hadn’t thought of him as a kid a moment ago.
“He’s leaving for New York soon. He’s working on his psychology degree at NYU. Wants to help people, first met him when I went with Shay to London the summer we finished undergrad,” she said.
I remembered that summer. Shay and Immy toured England and Ireland. I was so jealous. Mark and I had gotten engaged, and he was working full time in his family’s sandwich bar. He didn’t have money to take the trip, and back then I couldn’t imagine being away from him for a whole month. How things had changed.
“That’s impressive.”
Immy nodded. “Shay’s grandparents are footing the bill. His mom never went to college. They’re really adamant about Hayes getting a proper education. His grandfather fought in World War II. He was proud of him for enlisting. His grandfather is an Oxford alumni, and he was hoping he’d go there, but Hayes wanted New York,” Immy explained.
I wondered why he wouldn’t want to go back home.
Immy and I were lucky enough to have our parents foot the bill for college. My father had always wanted my brother to become a veterinarian like himself, but Matt was never into animals. He preferred surfing. I was a disappointment to Dad too, since I came home from UCLA with Mark and said we were getting married. My parents wanted me to finish veterinary school first and then marry Mark. I had been ridiculously in love, and all I could think about was marrying him and having his babies. I assumed everything else would work itself out. Love was blind. It had been my first real life lesson.
Acknowledgments
Thank you, first and foremost, my reader! Your love and support mean the world to me. Your time is valuable and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for choosing to spend your time with my words.
Thank you to my wonderful editing team. Lauren Clarke you made this a better book with your attention to detail. Renita McKinney thank you for your attention to detail and for being the last eyes on this novel.
Thank you to Sarah Hansen for another amazing cover. Thank you to Veronica Adams for being such an amazing publicist. And thank you to my agent Stephanie Delamater Phillips for always being there and being a rockstar. Thank you to A.M. Madden for taking time out of her busy schedule to read the last draft.
To all the bloggers I can’t thank you enough for all that you do. You guys are true rockstars and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
To my family thank you for your continued love and support. Love you all so much.
About the Author
As far back as R.C. Stephens can remember she was a sucker for a good romance. Of course there had to be a prince charming even if he ultimately was a dark knight and there had to be a happy ending. She watched the movie Dirty Dancing way too many times growing up and Jean Claude Van Damme movies too. Go figure! After years of saying she would write a book one day, she finally put pen to paper. Now R.C. is just finishing up her eleventh novel and can't seem to stop the stories running through her mind.
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