Page 73 of Beachside Kisses With My Enemy

Grinning up at me, she folds her arms around her body. That’s when I notice that she’s got goosebumps all down her skin. The setting sun and the breeze off the ocean feel amazing to me, but Lucy’s clearly cold.

“Geez, Sunshine. Come sit by the fire I built you.” I pop open a red camping chair and set it near the fire—though not too close. “Here. I have a sweatshirt too if you need one.”

“Thank you, kind sir.” Yet instead of sitting down, she just steps closer to me. Glances up with those big, innocent eyes—ones rimmed with mischief. “But I was kind of hoping you’d warm me up instead.”

If ever a guy needed an invitation, this is it. But while I’ve been dying to kiss Lucy all day, I also don’t want her to think that’s all I’m interested in. I’m on a date with her because I like her. Because I can see a possible future with her. Not just because she’s beautiful.

She’s more.

Still, I also don’t want to friend zone her. I?—

“Flake,” she says, a teasing lilt to her voice. “You’re overthinking this. Just hold me for a minute, okay?”

She’s right. I’m overthinking, just like I always do. Not everything has to be planned or precisely calculated. “Come here.”

Then I pull her into my arms, and she fits so well. Together we stand there, watching the sun disappear behind the horizon. Darkness descends around us, but the fire keeps us warm and brings light to our world. The trees down the shoreline are tall, dark spires in the sky. The ocean ebbs and flows, delivering a calming hush to my heart and mind.

Or maybe that’s just Lucy. Even though I can’t see a clear path forward between us, being in her presence makes everything clear. She teaches me how to just be. How to stay still and stop striving so hard. To be content in the little moments.

That’s no small feat.

“I could stay like this forever,” she murmurs.

I nuzzle my nose into her hair, breathe in the hints of vanilla somehow still clinging to her despite our earlier dip in the water. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“How did you find this place, anyway?” She burrows deeper into my arms, and I rest my chin on her head.

I blink, trying to remember the first time I was ever here. “I was in high school, I know that. Got into a fight with Dad over something. I think I said I didn’t want to try out for football, and he thought I’d be throwing away an opportunity for a scholarship.” I sigh at the memory. “Everything was an opportunity to him.”

“An opportunity for what?”

“To get out of Hallmark Beach.”

She stiffens in my arms. “Oh.”

Keeping hold of her, I pull slightly away so I can see her. So she can see me, even if it’s dark out. I like to think that doesn’t stop her from seeing what’s in my eyes. “Lucy…” How can I make her understand? “Did I ever tell you about the time when I was eleven and my dad took me to New York City?”

Shaking her head, she eyes the chair I set up for her. “Come tell me.”

When she plops into the chair, I pull another out of its case and set it up right beside hers. I also dig in my bag and grab out one of my Bruins-blue UCLA sweatshirts. I hand it to her, and she eagerly dons it. The sight of her drowning in my clothing…I almost can’t handle the way it makes my chest ache in all the best ways.

The fire pops and crackles, encouraging me just like she does as she turns in her seat and reaches for my hands. “What happened in New York?”

Please let me communicate this well. I swallow hard, grit in my throat. “We went there to visit my dad’s old college roommate, Steve. He and my dad were best buds. Steve was actually the one who originally suggested they vacation in Hallmark Beach after graduating from Stanford with their MBAs.”

“And that’s when your parents met.”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“And then what?”

“Well,” I rub the back of my neck. “My dad fell head over heels for my mom, but she told him flat out that she’d never move from Hallmark Beach. That it was her home, where all of her friends—like your Aunt Bea—were, and that as much as she loved him, she couldn’t see herself surviving life in New York, where he was headed at the end of the summer. See, he and Steve both had job offers there at a huge investment firm.”

“And he gave it up for her.”

“He did.” I look away, into the flames. Each one sparks, grows, and gives way for the next. A circle of life, in a way. “And I always thought he was okay with that. But when I was eleven and we took that trip—and we saw the lavish life that Steve led…I mean, Lucy, he had a butler, was the CEO at the firm where he’d started, had all this mad respect from the people who worked for him, box seats at the theater, the fanciest cars. And I just saw it in my dad’s eyes.”

“What did you see, Blake?” Her hand tugs at mine, and I turn my attention back to her face. Her eyebrows knit together, like she’s trying to piece together the puzzle.

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