Chapter 26 #3
“We’ve got time,” he responded. “You need your rest. Brunch and the beach tomorrow,” he said quietly in the darkness. I nodded, suddenly overcome by the exhaustion of the day’s travels. I felt his kiss on my forehead as my exhaustion seeped in.
I fell asleep to the rise and fall of his chest.
I tried not to be self-conscious when I slipped into a red bikini the next morning and pulled a coverup over my head.
We were heading downstairs for a morning swim, then we’d be having brunch and I’d get to meet Val, his neighbor.
I was more nervous than I’d admit to meet his closest friend in California.
I tried to rehearse some of the calming mantras I’d learned from Cheryl.
“Ready, beautiful?” He asked me as he slipped on sandals.
Echo was dodging around Cade’s ankles, clearly excited to join us on the beach.
Beneath Cade’s board shorts I caught the flash of a large tattoo on his calf, but I didn’t have time to properly stare at it.
I realized that every other time we’d been together he’d worn jeans or sweats, so the infamous tattoo was still a complete mystery to me.
We climbed down the steps and headed back to the shoreline. I was distracted from tattoo thoughts when he stopped in the sand and stripped his shirt off, exposing his gloriously tanned abs. Standing in just his board shorts, the waves crashing against his ankles, he looked so at home here.
I laid out a towel and plopped down on it. Then suddenly, from my angle, I could see it clearly—he had a large sunflower sketched in black ink, wrapped around his muscled calf.
A sunflower.
My favorite flower.
That had to be about me, right?
When had he gotten it?
I thought back. He’d mentioned a tattoo in one of his earliest letters. That meant he’d had it a long time, probably since before the reunion. Had he held out hope for me all that time? Emotion once again clogged my throat and caused my heart to beat wildly.
He caught me staring at it.
“Yes,” he replied simply, reading my mind, and he looked back out across the water. “Val did it. That’s how we met.”
I suddenly needed to be near him, so I stripped off my coverup and bounded over to the water.
“Hot damn, B,” he said as I approached. I tried not to fidget under his gaze, all the soft parts of me on full display.
“Oh yeah?” I said, doing my best to hide my self-consciousness.
This stretch of beach was practically deserted, but I still felt a bit out of place showing off this much skin for him.
“It’s a bit more revealing than our lifeguard swimsuits.
” I laughed, remembering that summer job we’d had together in high school. “Same color, though.”
“You’re a dream come true,” he insisted. “I thought nothing could top seeing you in those little volleyball shorts senior year, but it seems I was very wrong.”
He looked me up and down appreciatively, and I blushed under his gaze. I still wasn’t fully accustomed to his attention, and hearing that he’d admired my body all the way back to high school made my stomach flip.
He grabbed my hand and we walked out into the surf, allowing the waves to gently slosh around our knees. He seemed so relaxed, so at peace.
“Did you miss it?” I looked out into the ocean.
“Kind of . . .” He trailed off, seeming lost in thought.
“Did you ever date Val?” I blurted without thinking.
He gave me his lopsided grin. “Val? No. It was never like that with us. In fact, I think she has a new girlfriend she’s bringing to brunch.”
“Oh.” I looked down at my feet, embarrassed.
“Hey.” He tilted my chin up to look at him, waiting to continue until I met his eyes.
“When I moved here and started as a firefighter—it was hard leaving Vermont. Leaving you. I—had a lot of flings.” He looked slightly embarrassed to be revealing all this.
“So much so that my firehouse nickname . . . is Casanova.” He grimaced.
“But I’m done with all that. You’re what I want, and no one else could possibly turn my head.
Especially not when I’m checking out your ass in this red bikini,” he finished, twirling me in front of him.
I looked away shyly, but I grinned at his praise of my figure.
My thoughts were disrupted by Echo barking at the seagulls, chasing them up and down the shoreline playfully.
Cade rested his hands on my hips, toying with the bikini strings.
“Seriously though, B—I see the war going on in your head. I wish you could see what I see. You are drop-dead gorgeous. I can’t keep my eyes off you. Or my hands.”
His hands slipped down to cup my butt. I pushed his chest playfully, turning my head to make sure no one was around.
His hands came back to my hips and he pulled me up to my tiptoes, catching my lips in a searing kiss.
I lost myself to the kiss, the rushing sounds of the waves lapping against our legs.
“There’s not a piece of you I don’t want to run my hands and tongue all over,” he continued, his voice husky with need. “Now I’m wishing we hadn’t made plans to go out to eat.” His forehead met mine.
“Come on, Casanova,” I teased as I dragged him along the beach back towards his apartment. “Let’s not leave your friends waiting.”