Page 28 of Escape to the Sun

He swam close to her, so he was only inches from her face. “I’m glad you like it.” His voice was soft and when he reached out a finger to trail down her cheek, she didn’t push it away. “Your face is glowing now.” Ash’s smile was tender, and for the life of her, Heather could no longer remember why she’d been avoiding him.

Maybe she did owe it to herself to give herself space and time to come to grips with her new life. But maybe, more than that, she owed it to herself to stop thinking altogether and actually start to experience life. Things exactly like what she was experiencing at that moment. Thanks to Ash.

“I love it. Thank you.” Her lips were so close to his, she was sure he could feel the puffs of air from her words.

His hand cupped her cheek and he closed the gap, touching his lips to hers in a soft, slow kiss.

It was over before it started, and in a flash of blue, he kicked away from her. “Do you see now why I wanted to bring you out here, instead of off the main dock?”

It took Heather a minute to decide whether he was talking about the bioluminescence or the kiss. She’d half expected that he had a hidden agenda by bringing her out by the empty bungalow, but with the taste of him still on her lips, she was positive she didn’t care anymore.

“It makes sense,” she said. “It’s darker out here.”

“And we can swim out to the platform from here if you want.”

She rolled to her back, floating for a moment before she remembered she was naked. In a splash of blue neon, Heather ducked under the water.

“Don’t cover yourself on my account, Heather.” With an easy stroke, Ash swam up next to her. “You’re beautiful and I honestly don’t think I can remember ever seeing a sight as magnificent as your breasts all lit up like that.”

She should have been embarrassed, but there was nothing but honesty in his voice. So with an easy flip, she returned to her back and looked up at the stars. A moment later, with a slight splash, Ash was stretched out on his back as well.

They floated in the quiet for a few minutes, the stars lighting up the sky above, the phosphoresce lighting them from below.

“This truly is the most incredible place. I can’t believe how lucky I am to be…” Heather couldn’t finish her thought. Emotions she’d done her best to shove down threatened to spill over and the last thing she wanted to do was cry. Especially when she wasn’t even truly upset. In fact, she’d never been happier.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded, even though Ash couldn’t see her.

“I am.” For the first time in a long time, she meant it. “I think from the moment I got here, I’ve been okay. I know it’s only been a week, but it feels like a lifetime. Like I was meant to find Casa del Sol and Sherri, and…even you.” Heather knew how that sounded, but she didn’t care because she knew Ash wouldn’t be offended. “Do you think maybe that sometimes the universe sends you exactly what you need, exactly when you need it?” It sounded ridiculous when she heard herself say it, just like it had when she’d heard the same words of advice from Josie, the older, and clearly much wiser, woman in the San Blas Islands. But for the first time, Heather actually believed it.

Ash didn’t say anything but she knew without looking that he was listening because a moment later, his hand found hers in the water. He twined his fingers through hers and squeezed, so she kept talking.

“It wasn’t that long ago that I was totally at a loss with my life. I had nowhere to go, no one to…well, no one who cared about me.” Saying it out loud for the first time hurt less than she thought it would. Probably because it wasn’t true. Joe may have stopped loving her, but there were others who did.

“Heather, that can’t be—”

“It isn’t true.” She cut him off. “But it felt like it. At least for a little while. The point is, now it feels different. Like, I have a place where I belong.” She let the words float on the air in the darkness as a shooting star zipped across the sky.

“Did you see that?”

“I did,” she answered. “Did you make a wish?”

Ash laughed and tugged her closer. “I can’t tell you that. It won’t come true.”

“You kind of just admitted it.” Heather laughed. But the laughter died on her lips when he pulled her close, righting her in the water, so they were face-to-face. Ash’s skin was speckled with neon blue and she was sure hers was the same. “You might as well tell me your wish.” It was bold, especially given the tension between them, but something about the water and the darkness and the man she was with emboldened her.

“I think you already know what I wished for.” His lips curled into a small smile so sexy a simple kiss wouldn’t do it justice.

In an even bolder move, Heather reached out, trailing her fingers, and a streak of blue, down the side of his face. She left her fingers resting on his jaw, ready to take the kiss she was craving, but he beat her to it.

With a slight splash, Ash wrapped his arm around her and pressed her hard against him before his lips crashed to hers. There was nothing tentative about the kiss, and there was definitely nothing tentative about the way her body responded to it.

* * *

He’d half expectedher to swim away and when she didn’t, it took Ash a second to realize it. But only a second before he pulled her closer, her wet skin hot against his, her lips moving against his.

“I don’t believe in wishes,” she said when she came up for air.

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