Page 33 of California Waves

For a moment, Mila let herself stare into Hersch’s warm gray eyes. They were filled with lust, as she knew her own must be. She sighed. “I never thought I’d kiss a man with a moustache.”

He grinned down at her. “If I shave it off, can we do it again?”

“I need to kiss you again to make up my mind.”

Hersch placed his big, strong hands in the curves above her hipbones and pulled her back into him. He kissed her so deeply, so passionately, it was like she’d never been kissed before. His moustache was soft and nicer than she could have imagined. So this is what it really feels like, she thought, and yielded to his embrace.

This kiss was even better than the first, slower and more searching, as though he was ready to find ways to bring her pleasure.

At last, they pulled apart, and she said, “You just made my head spin.”

Instead of smiling as she’d hoped, he looked deadly serious. “Mila Davenport, my head has been spinning since the minute I met you.” Then he did smile. “So what’s the verdict on the moustache?”

“Keep it,” she said.

And then suddenly, it hit her. It was as if she’d been in a foggy haze where she’d forgotten she shouldn’t kiss him. And now, all she wanted to do was get out of there and process what had just happened. Except here they were, in wetsuits that they’d have to get out of… and get half naked in the process. She shook her head. How had she gotten herself into this predicament?

Hersch must have been able to sense the change in her and didn’t want to push things, because he said, “Let’s get these wet things off.” He looked down at the wetsuit.

She nodded, and they walked back to their clothes silently, both lost in thought.

She turned her back to him to get dressed, and he did the same. But once he was fully clothed again, she could tell he wanted to talk. “Mila—”

But she shook her head, her damp hair swinging across her face. She couldn’t let him say whatever it was he was about to say, not without her having some time to think first.

“I’m proud of what you accomplished today, Hersch. It’s incredible. Really.” She stopped there, deliberately not mentioning the last ten minutes of the hottest kiss of her life. “I’m so sorry, but I need to be somewhere else in a few minutes.”

She was meeting Erin and Tessa to go dress shopping, and she still had to pack up the van. She wasn’t sorry to have to leave. She had a lot to think about.

He nodded. “Thank you for being there with me on my first steps to getting back my own fearlessness.” He paused. “And I want you to know, those were the two best kisses of my life.”

He turned then to let her go, and it was as if her whole world flipped upside down. He had done what she wanted, but now she couldn’t help but stare at the back of his sexy silhouette as he walked away. It took everything she had not to call him back.

But she resisted.

In times of crisis, she had three ways of working things out in her head. One, talk to her mom. Two, talk to Erin. And three, go surfing. She didn’t feel like talking to anyone. Instead, she felt achingly alone, there on the beach, in the afterburn of those kisses. She knew that what had just happened went far beyond a kiss. And it was blowing up her world in a way that rattled her to the core.

As she packed up the van, returned it, and then went home to change for her shopping trip, Mila was pulsing with need and desire and want. She could still taste Herschel—his lips, the brushy feel of his moustache, which she’d thought she’d hate but had actually kind of liked. She could feel his body against hers, and one very prominent part of his body had made it very clear that he was seriously interested in her.

She changed into a dress that was easy to pull on and off, and heels, so shopping for a dress suitable to wear as Tessa’s bridesmaid would be easy. The three women had great fun checking out the boutiques in town, refusing Tessa’s suggestion that they at least take a peek in the thrift stores. They agreed on a sea shade of turquoise, and then Tessa insisted that Erin and Mila choose different dresses in the same color palette. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re matching dolls,” she explained.

This was great news, as Mila and Erin were different in size, shape, and complexion. Mila found a great dress at her favorite boutique, and a couple of stores later, Erin found a dress cut more to her style in a nearly identical color. They both fell in love with silver heels at the shoe store, and they were done.

It was a laughing group who went out for a drink to celebrate. Then Erin had to go, as she had an event to cover for the Sea Shell. Tessa was meeting Arch, and so Mila found herself alone on a Saturday night. She hadn’t wanted to talk about Hersch with Erin and Tessa, but her mind had been distracted.

Now she walked around her house in a daze. She put away her new purchases and ate some dinner. She lifted some weights and did some squats until her body was pretty much screaming at her. TV couldn’t hold her attention. Same with a book Erin had pressed on her. Finally, she checked her watch. It wasn’t that late. She texted Erin.

You still awake?

The answer came back almost immediately. Just reading a novel. What’s up?

She called her sister and said, “Picture this. Me, looking very fine if I do say so myself, with a gorgeous man who I’ve been eyeing up and down.”

“Herschel Greenfield,” Erin said, as though it was obvious. Her sister saw way too much.

“Right. And I can tell he’s totally into me, and I’m totally into him. We had dinner to celebrate the deal on his house going through.”

“Aha,” Erin said, sounding triumphant. “Not the traditional gift basket, then?”

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