Page 35 of Seized by Love at Seaside
No. Not even close to okay.“Uh-huh.”
He spread out the blanket and held Lizzie’s hand as they walked along the water’s edge. Everything felt so natural with Blue, so easy. Just thinking about telling him her embarrassing secret made her feel queasy.
“I was thinking.” He played with the ends of her hair. “I was actuallyhopingyou’d reconsider going to Jeremy’s wedding with me. I hate the thought of being apart for the weekend.”
She wanted to say yes so badly she ached, but she knew that once she told him about the webcast, he might not want to see her at all.
“I want to go, but there’s a lot on my plate right now.”
Walking along the shore, the scents of the sea surrounding them, the comfort of their relationship warmed her despite the evening breeze. She wasn’t ready to let this go—to let him go. Would she ever be?
A sense of relief washed over her, and she clung to it like a lifeline, pushing away the gloom of her reason for being there. She would tell him, but not on such a perfect night. Not when he was so happy to see her, or when even just holding his hand made her this happy. She did so much for others. Was it really too much for her to want to take a little more for herself?
BLUE’S MIND WAS running all over the place. He’d been thinking of Lizzie the whole time he was working, and as if she’d read his mind, here she was, making his evening a million times better. He’d felt tension all around her when she’d arrived, but it seemed to fade quickly, and now she was smiling and as relaxed as she usually was. He worried about her. She did so much every day, between the flower shop and making special efforts to drop off the flowers after work so someone, somewhere could enjoy them, or so people wouldn’t be forgotten. Her generosity was just one of the things he adored about her. And adore he did. He wanted to make her life wonderful.
“Thanks for letting me drag you away from work,” she said.
“Sweetheart, you can drag me away from anything, anytime.” He stopped to pick up a conch shell, brushed the sand from it, and held it up to her ear. “What do you hear?”
“You, whispering how much you want to kiss me.”
They both smiled as he sealed his lips over hers, and she melted against him. That was what he’d craved all day, the feel of her giving herself over to him, the way he instantly gave himself over to her. The press of her body, the sweet sigh of surrender, and the way she looked at him like she’d been waiting for him her whole life, made his head spin.
“Mm. This is just what I needed tonight. To be with you.” She pressed a kiss to the center of his chest.
“It’s such a beautiful night, isn’t it? Soon it’ll be too cold not to be by a fire.”
She leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked hand in hand. “Then we should enjoy this while we can.”
Blue imagined taking walks with Lizzie years from now, maybe with a child or two in tow. His chest tightened, as if his heart had actually swelled with the thought.
Lizzie sank down to the sand, pulling him down beside her. It didn’t matter that the sand was cold and damp or the breeze off the water was chilly. Being with Lizzie made everything seem new and somehowbetter.
She began piling sand up in a mound. “I love the beach so much. When I was little I spent most of my free time at the beach, but I never did much else.” Her eyes turned thoughtful. “I wasn’t very rebellious.”
“Well, as a guy, rebellion sort of came with being a teenager. Was there something you never did but you wish you had?” Blue asked.
“Do you want the truth or a safe answer?” She piled more sand on top of a mound.
“With a question like that, I can only imagine what I’m in for. Truth.” He leaned over and kissed her.
“I just wish my parents would have caught me doing bad things so when I did things after I left home, I didn’t feel so guilty or like I had to hide it from them.”
“That’s a pretty big regret. Should I expect you to hit a midlife crisis a little early, like when you turn thirty?”
She laughed. “No, but my parents are so conservative. I think it would have made some things easier for me if my parents hadexpectedme to do questionable things instead of always assuming I’d do the right thing. Maybe I wouldn’t have kept so many secrets if I’d known they would roll their eyes and say,That’s just Lizzie.”
“Secrets? Care to share?”
She patted the sand castle she was building into a peak and sighed. “You know, normal stuff like making out with guys when I was in college or going to parties. If Maddy were older, I could have confided in her, but she was too young.” She shrugged. “So I learned to keep things to myself. It’s not a bad thing, just…alonelything.”
His heart ached for her. He’d always had an open relationship with his family, and with so many siblings, there was always someone to talk to about girls or problems, or anything, really.
“I’m sorry you went through all those years without having someone you felt close enough to talk to about those things.” He moved closer to her. “But I’m here now, and I want to share your secrets. And if you want to be rebellious, I’ll be right there by your side.”
She turned curious eyes to him, her dimples in full adorable force. “You’d do bad stuff with me?”
“I would walk to the ends of the earth with you. I’d lick chocolate off your entire body if you’d like. What other kinds ofbadstuff did you have in mind?”
