43
One Month Later
—Celebrity Today
“DID YOU ACTUALLY forget the key, or is this one of those times where you’re lying to see the look on my face?” he asked, cloaked in the darkness outside my childhood home, holding both of our bags as I fished for the key in my purse.
With a lint roller, book, tape, six lip glosses, sunglasses, my wallet, a pair of earrings, and no key, I glanced up at him innocently with a smile. “The first one… I think the key is on my nightstand…”
“Didn’t I ask you three times if the key was in your purse?”
“Yes, but that was while you were shirtless.”
He rolled his eyes, but I didn’t miss the blush on his cheeks. “There’s no chance of you having a key under a pot or something?”
“What? No, why would we do that?”
“I thought that was an American thing!”
“Maybe we can break a window?” I offered.
“Your father would kill me. Maybe I can—”
“Wait! My dad used to leave a key in his boat; it’s possible there’s still one there.”
“You have a house key in a boat but not under a planter?”
“Possibly,” I reminded him. I took the bags off his shoulders and threw them back into his car. The dock was just a two-minute walk down the street, where the quiet, cozy neighborhood funneled into a beach.
“Right down here.” I stepped onto the dock where Dad’s small speedboat rested uncovered still, despite the season being over. The chilly October air and ocean breeze triggered tiny bumps across my arms. The boat bobbed in the water, unfazed by the chill and our house key investigation.
“You stay here, I’ll grab it,” he offered, pulling his sweatshirt off, and pulling it over my head, exposing the muscles in his arms and abdomen as his shirt rose.
“It should be in the white glove compartment,” I directed him as he stepped onto the boat, it wobbling under his weight.
“What if I told you the glove compartment also required a key…” he stated hesitantly.
My heart dropped like a snipped elevator cord. I refused to ruin this weekend.
“It looks like I’m getting on the boat then.
” I stepped off the edge of the dock and jumped over.
Kieran grabbed my hand, stabilizing me as we both rebalanced.
This was a fairly basic speedboat, which meant minimal space for standing.
His figure clung to mine with no room to move.
“All right, I think the key is either taped under the driver’s seat or hidden around the edge of the carpet.
You check the seat, I’ll check the carpet. ”
We both turned in opposite directions to begin looking, but as I leaned forward the boat jutted to the right, making my view of the sea lopsided. “Whoa!” I immediately shot my hand backward to grab on to him, but he was less balanced than I was, toppling to the right and—
I screamed as I fell into the water. The cold split my bones down the center. I rushed to the surface, searching for Kieran. But he was already grabbing my waist and pulling me up faster than I could react.
I gasped for air, opening my eyes. His black hair was slicked back, and his face was spotted with droplets. Even with his skin so tan, he looked pale. He was panicked, searching my face, running his hand around the back of my head.
Then it hit me: I had officially ruined our weekend.
He drove us two and a half hours to squeeze into my childhood bed and be dragged around my town, only for me to forget the house key, haul him to the beach in the middle of the fall, and get him tossed into the ocean.
If things kept going in this direction, we were both going to have hypothermia next.
“I’m so sor—”
“Are you all right? Do you feel okay? Are you hurt?” he pressed.
“Yes, yes, of course.”
“Then why are you crying?” His voice was thick with worry.
“Because I ruined our weekend,” I croaked.
The look of concern on his face shifted. He brushed his thumb under my eye. “Why would you think that?”
“You drove all the way down here, cleared your schedule, and we don’t have the house key, and now we’re soaked, still with no house key.” More tears fell. “I wanted this weekend to be perfect. It’s your birthday.”
“It is perfect because my girlfriend planned a whole weekend for us by the beach and wanted me to see where she grew up and had no problem sitting in the car talking to me for two-plus hours while I took wrong turns.” He gestured to the boat behind me. “Put your hands on the edge.”
He grabbed my hips, hoisting me up on the boat so I was looking down at him, only my feet dangling in the water.
He pressed a kiss to the side of my leg, sending a hot wave up my skin.
His hair curled over his ears, brushing my thighs.
“I love you too much, Luna Aldridge, to care about anything else. I’d swim across oceans to prove it to you.
” He spoke with a cadence that I wanted to wrap myself in.
Something seashells would value and praise enough to protect and hide beneath the sand.
A sound that was tucked into the corners of seaside cliffs.
As precious as the memories vintage watches held on to. He was so beautiful.
“You’re beautiful too, sweetheart.” His boyish smile was unveiled. “But if you wanted to see me soaked, you could’ve just asked,” he teased. It was impossible not to laugh.
I leaned down, my hair falling over my shoulders. “Do you tell the stars about me?” I smiled mischievously.
His eyes brightened. “Such an eavesdropper.” He shook his head before placing his lips just an inch under mine. “Of course I tell the stars about you. And the sun and the moon. I tell them about you every day. It could be snowing, and it’d still feel like a summer of stars with you.”