Page 68 of Finding New Dreams

“Flynn?” I whisper-called.

I squeaked when he materialized next to me.

“Boo,” he said, flashing a grin. “Were you worried I was one of your squirrel nemeses, back for revenge?”

I laughed. “No. I left a peace offering of artisanal almonds in that spot a week later so I wouldn’t have bad squirrel karma.”

He chuckled, shifting a large duffel bag from one shoulder to the other. “That’s good because we’ll be in their territory. And I don’t think it’d go too well if we had any intruders.”

My breath caught, but before I could ask, he glided ahead of me down the beach.

The sand, damp from the mist and a rainy day, squished under my sandals as I followed him. It was quiet except for the gentle lapping of the river along the bank. Even the usual chatter of birds was muffled in the shifting darkness. A lone owl hoot made me smile.

Flynn halted. “Here will work perfectly.”

My heart shot up into my mouth, and my eyes darted around the area.

It was a fairly secluded section of beach, away from the usual fishing and boating spots. Across the river was all dense brush and trees, so we wouldn’t have any Wisconsin peepers.

Flynn hefted the bag to the ground and opened it. He pulled out a bulky blanket and handed it to me.

I had to wave it a few times to shake it out before spreading it over the sand. By then, Flynn had dug out a few more things: a short easel, a medium-sized canvas, some paints and brushes, and a lunch bag.

“No light?” I asked, trying my utmost to sound casual.

He nodded toward the sky with a grin. “The moon should be bright enough. This stretch of beach glows under a full one. Lucky you asked me when you did.”

“And if it hadn’t been a full moon?”

He looked back at me, his eyes shadowed so I couldn’t see the emotion in them. “Then I would’ve built you a fire.”

I stepped closer to him. “That would’ve raised our chances of getting caught.”

He grinned. “I’m sure Wyatt would go easy on us.”

“And the rest of the town? Chloe?”

His smile faded. “I’m not worried about being seen with you, Rose. Are you?”

I searched my thoughts and turned up zero shame. “No, I’m not. I don’t think anyone is against us so much as just being concerned about our happiness.”

He slowly, hesitantly, lifted his hand and stroked his thumb over my cheek. I froze, my heart thrilling at the purposeful touch.

“Why do you always want to believe the best of people?” he asked.

“Because I choose to. Because most of the time, people do have a best side. I saw a lot of their worst sides growing up, so it’s not as naïve a choice as some might believe. Rather, I want to live my life with the joy of acknowledging people’s goodness while deflecting their flaws. Those flaws weren’t my doing, and I can’t force their undoing.”

His warm hand slid down to cup my jaw, angling it so our gazes aligned. “You are a surprising woman, Rose Rafferty. And you truly know and love being yourself. It’s one of the sexiest things about you.”

“Thank you,” I said breathlessly. My gaze kept dropping to his mouth. “I’m…I’m glad.” What was I saying? My mind tripped over his last sentence again and again.

He cleared his throat. “Shall we?”

“What? Oh! Yeah, of course.”

Cheeks flaming, I stepped out of his grip. He had meant getting on with teaching, right? I felt jumbled-up and confused, not sure of how to act or what was coming. Usually, my dates were in controlled environments where I could quickly figure out whether or not we were compatible.

But was this even a date? I didn’t know. Everything was so different with Flynn. Which was fun and exciting yet also terrifying.

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