Page 66 of California Waves

She ran in, jumped on her own board, and swam as though there were a medal at stake. As she overtook Jay, she saw his eyes widen in surprise. She reached the break ahead of him, which pleased her immensely. Then she sat on her board, waiting for the next set of waves.

He set up not too far from her. While they bobbed atop the water, he gazed toward the row of expensive houses on the beach and said, “One of those has my name on it.”

She rolled her eyes. He was so annoying. “Not one of them is even for sale.”

“Erin, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that if you want something badly enough, you can usually get it.”

And then he gazed at her with an intensity that made her breath catch. There was one thing she knew for sure. Jay was single-minded and didn’t stop until he got what he wanted, whether it was the best deal for one of his clients or a woman he’d set his sights on.

For an awful moment, Erin wondered if he was setting his sights on her. If so, he was going to be very disappointed.

But the moment passed as a set of waves headed toward them and caught Jay’s attention. “Come on, short stuff,” Jay yelled to her, popping up on his board. “Race you to shore.”

As she jumped up on her own board and felt the wave lift her, she began to dance. Obviously, her momentary impression had been wrong. A man who called her short stuff and challenged her to surfing races didn’t have romance in mind. Which was excellent news, as she couldn’t imagine a worse match for any reasonable woman than Jay Malone.

Then she and the wave picked up speed, and she forgot all about Jay as she gazed ahead at Carmel-by-the-Sea, her home and, in her opinion, the best place in the world.

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