Page 96 of Mistaken Identity
And waited.
I pulled my phone out and clicked the camera app, then zoomed in on him.
His hair was slicked back, his beard was absolutely wild, and his light-green eyes were so damn happy.
We’d been in paradise for a day, and it was like the weight of life literally slid right off of Audric’s shoulders.
Here, in Oahu, he could be himself.
Here, he could sink back into his skin and be who he was always meant to be.
A droplet of water slid down the plane of his chest, starting at his hairline and dribbling all the way down into the waistband of his shorts.
His Chubbies shorts that I’d made him buy that were black with hundreds of colorful jellyfish all over.
They fit him like a glove and were short, leaving nothing to the imagination.
His thigh muscles twitched as he moved with a wave that rocked him from side to side.
Something caught my eye in the distance, and I grinned like a lunatic when I saw a pair of dolphins jump up just beyond where Audric was resting on his surfboard.
He turned his head, and the smile that lit his face was perfect for the photo that I took of him.
His eyes traveled along the waves as the dolphins jumped and did acrobatics in front of him.
He was so immersed in what they were doing that he almost missed the monster wave coming his way.
His head turned just in time to see it, and I watched as a different joy lit his face.
I got that picture, too.
He leaned forward on his board, belly pressed to the length, and he started paddling with his arms.
I switched to video and started recording, watching him through the camera of my phone so I could get a better view.
His board dipped down into the wave, and suddenly he was up, riding the wave like he was born to do it.
His abs flexed as he twisted and turned with the wave, and the muscles on his arms tensed as he ducked low to go under the curl of the wave.
Eventually, I could no longer see him.
Shortly after that, the tip of his board went straight up in the air, and I knew that he’d fallen.
I stopped recording on my phone, used to his routine now, and placed it in my lap as I watched for him to come back up.
He surfaced and then did that sexy man hair flip thing to get his wet hair out of his face.
It was then that I realized how lucky I was to have him.
Logically, I knew that the man was special. But I hadn’t let myself feel how special until this very moment.
Instead of turning around and paddling back out, though, he paddled in until he was able to walk.
I watched him come the whole way, taking in his sun-bronzed skin and his ripped abs.
The man was deceptive.
One wouldn’t think a plumber in Dallas with his loose t-shirts and baggy jeans had all this to offer.
