Page 24 of Cocky Cruiser

We were grouped with other cruise passengers who had booked the same excursion as us and given color-coded wristbands. Once we made it to the dock, we met with the tour guide for our excursion.

As we followed the tour guide to the shuttle, I took in the scenery. The Bay of Islands was very picturesque, with crystalline waters ranging from rich blue to bright turquoise. The landscape was lush and green, made up of rocky beaches and hilly countryside.

“This place is so quaint and charming,” Adele commented on the shuttle. “My parents brought me here as a little girl, but I don’t remember it.”

“How could you forget something as beautiful as this?” I teased.

She playfully rolled her eyes. “I guess my adolescent mind didn’t appreciate the beauty at that time.”

The first part of our excursion was a ecotour of the one hundred and forty-four different islands that made up the Bay of Islands. The guide told us about the history of the region, founded about seven hundred years before by the Maori. This Polynesian tribe had settled and multiplied throughout the bay and on several of its many islands.

I was a huge history and geography buff, so I was enthralled as the guide spoke. “The Bay of Islands was the first area in New Zealand to be settled by Europeans. It also has the second bluest sky in the world according to a study done in 2006.”

The tour was about an hour, and we ended at a small beach with turquoise waters where we had a quick picnic lunch before gearing up for our paddleboarding lesson.

The paddleboard was similar to a surfboard but wider and longer. The guide paired us with a board based on our size and then demonstrated how to get on.

“It is best to get on your board in shallow water. Get on your knees in the middle of the board to maintain balance.”

I helped Adele get on first before getting on my board. We floated in the water for a few minutes for everyone to get used to being on the board. Then we paddled out into deeper water.

“Once you’re comfortable, go ahead and stand. Secure your oar in front of you on the board, then slowly stand, bringing your feet where your knees were.”

The guide made it seem simple enough, but it was definitely harder than it looked. Adele squealed as she started wobbling in her attempt to stand.

I couldn’t help but laugh. She was so goddamn adorable.

She knelt back down and splashed me. “Let’s see you try it then.”

Blocking my face, I chuckled. “Okay, okay. Stop splashing me.”

She stopped, then raised her eyebrows expectantly, waiting for me to stand. “Well, go ahead.”

It wasn’t that I was afraid of falling in the water or hurting myself; I just didn’t want to make a fool of myself in front of Adele. Normally, I didn’t care what people thought, but Adele’s opinion mattered to me for some odd reason.

I mimicked the instructor’s actions and carefully started to stand, inching my feet up to where my knees had been. I could see Adele watching me out of the corner of my eye, and our conversation about making fools of ourselves together flashed in my mind.

So I did what any guy trying to impress a girl would do-I purposely fell, adding some flailing in for good measure.

I could hear Adele gasp right before I plunged into the water. Popping back up, I wiped the water from my face and looked up at her.

“Are you okay?” she asked with a laugh.

Her smile was more than worth my pride. “Yeah, I’m good. Told you I would make a fool of myself.”

She chuckled. “Well, you were right about that.”

I’d been slowly wading toward her. I could almost touch the bottom of the ocean where we were, so it wasn’t too deep. When I was close enough to enact my plan, I teased, “Didn’t we agree that we would make fools of ourselves together?”

Her brows furrowed at me, and as she started to protest, I grabbed her and pulled her into the water with me. After a few seconds, we broke the surface, and Adele proceeded to splash me. “What the hell, Cohen?”

I couldn’t contain my laughter as I shielded myself. When she finally stopped, she crossed her arms and frowned at me. “Why did you do that for?”

I smirked. “So I could do this.”

Grabbing her, I pulled her to me and kissed her.

She didn’t reciprocate at first, most likely caught off guard, but after a couple of seconds, she melted into me, wrapping her legs around my waist and deepening the kiss. She tasted like the ocean, and I knew that I would remember that moment every time I went to the beach.

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