Page 21 of Kiss Me, Darling

I paused my freak out. “Very good point. And if you get sick of me you can just shove me overboard and drive away.”

She grinned. “Don’t make promises.”

Damn, how I missed this. The fun. The easy. “You up for getting even more lost?”

Her eyes sparkled. “Why not?”

I turned the boat in the direction I thought might be home, going just fast enough to make progress. Lucy’s hair whipped in the wind and I relished the feel of fresh saltwater occasionally splashing onto my face.

No worries. No paparazzi chasing me. Just me and the woman I loved having fun.

“What’s that?” Lucy yelled over the wind and roar of the engine. Then she pointed off to the right of the bow.

The water was lighter. Much lighter. It dawned on me all at once and I yelled back as I throttled down the engine. “Hold on!”

She braced as the boat dropped in speed. Inertia keeping our bodies moving even as the boat beneath us slowed. “What’s going on?”

What was really going on was I shouldn’t be driving a boat. But that was an issue I could deal with later. “Sandbar. Thanks for pointing that out. I got my channel markers mixed up. The good news is that I know where we are now.”

“That is good news! What’s a sandbar?”

Excellent question. I continued to bluff my way through the day. “It’s sand in the shape of a bar? I think it’s when the sand accumulates in a spot because of the current in the water. When the tide is low it almost becomes an island. Want to take a walk?”

“Is it safe?” She peered over the edge of the boat like a shark might leap out of the water at any moment.

“Chris and Olivia love this place. Linc finds sand dollars.”

“What about...fish?”

“I mean, there are sharks and rays and fish, but I’ve never really seen any when we stopped before.”

I pulled up as close as I thought I could and tried to anchor the boat. I didn’t want to get too close to the sand and like, beach the boat. But I wanted us to be close enough to hop over the side of the boat and onto the sand. I gave the anchor a tug and decided it would do. The current moved the rear end of the boat right along the edge of the sand.

I hopped out first and held out my hand. “Come on. I’ve got you.”

“You’re sure about this?”

Nope. Not even a little bit. But what was the worst that could happen? “I’m sure.” What could possibly go wrong in five minutes?

“Okay then.” I watched with appreciation as she shed her coverup. The bright red bikini she had on underneath was her favorite. It had a fifties vibe with a twist in the middle. In a normal summer we’d either be on set together or taking a vacation somewhere warm where I’d have seen this suit many times. Instead this was my first sighting of the year. So I really took my time going over the inches of her skin.

Especially when she leapt from the boat and I used my body to cushion hers. Soft skin and curves. “There you go.”

“The sand is squishy!” She squirmed.

“You’ll get used to it.”

“It’s between my toes! Ugh. I need to move!”

I released her even though I really didn’t want to, and she quickly shuffled to the middle of the expanse of temporary land. The water was dark and brown on either side, but here where we stood it was crystal clear. I could see my feet and the occasional dot of a shell.

I felt around with my toes the way Linc showed me, until I felt a rough circle. “Look at this.” I bent down and carefully picked it up. “This is a sand dollar.”

“I thought they were white.” She leaned closer, eyes squinting in the sun.

“Nope. The pretty white ones in the shop have been cleaned and bleached. Here, hold it.”

I moved it into the open palm of her hand. She wrinkled her nose. “Oh my goodness! It’s tickling me!”

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