Page 47 of On The Beach

"The parents are gonna love this."

They were. My parents were whacked, and they'd get a kick out of me getting my freak on with a beach bum.

"My therapist would probably say I'm drawn to him because he's so different from me—and he is—but really, he's nothing like the men I used to date," I tried to explain. "I…I'm not the Boston Belle. I'm having fun, Anna. I mean…I got arrested!"

"What the who?"

I told her about the arrest and how Mick and I spent a romantic night in a jail cell.

"So, he held you all night?"

"It was sweet."

"In a jail cell?"

"Yes."

"Christ!"

"I know," I agreed that this was absurd. "He's really insightful about me.And…the sex is…I mean, Anna, I've never had sex like this before. It's raunchy, it's dirty, it's fun…it's all the things Ineverassociated with sex."

"I've been married forever, and I think sex is a freaking chore."

"Not whenthisguy is going down on you."

Anna chuckled. "So, he got you with hisBig Dick Energy?"

"Eww! Never say thateveragain. But there's truth in that. I mean, the last guy I dated was Dustin."

"Who is a world-class economist," Anna supplied. "And terribly boring."

"Mick is…well?—"

"Let me guess." Her tone turned dry and amused. "Tan, charming, occasionally wears a shirt? Looks like Matthew McConaughey fromMagic Mike."

"Oh my God! Yes! He does.Exactly."

"You sure you're not just in lust?"

I leaned against the wall and smiled dreamily. "I know myself. It's the way he makes me feel. I've never—God, this sounds stupid—I've never felt like this before."

My heart fluttered as I thought back to the past few nights. It had been amazing, yeah—better than I'd ever thought possible. But it wasn't just the sex. There was an ease with Mick, something solid beneath his roguish smile and ridiculous jokes, and it was pulling me in so deeply that I didn't know if I'd come back out.

"Oh, Belle," Anna sighed, but her voice had softened a little. "Listen. Maybe he's swept you off your feet. But people often come back from their beach getaways with vacation flings and STDs! He's a distraction. A well-built, good-in-bed distraction. But he's not real life."

I bit my lip, knowing her skepticism came from a good place, but it didn't make it sting any less. "Speaking of which, I should get an STD test when I get home."

Anna groaned. "Belle!"

"But what if he is real life, Anna? Just a different one than I planned for?"

There was a pause, and I could practically hear her giving that trademark Anna sigh. "I know you, Belle. You've always been practical and focused; a bit too much if you ask me.You're not the fall-in-love-in-a-week type. Maybe this feels different because you're on vacation, away from work and deadlines."

"I know," I said, frustrated that she wasn't getting it. "But it's more than that. When I'm with him, it feels like I'm actually living. I've never had this kind of fun, never felt this free before. And when I'm around him, it's like he sees me. Not the version of me that's ticking boxes and managing projects, but me."

Anna was quiet for a moment, and I thought maybe I'd broken through her wall of practical detachment. "Belle, listen to me. You've never been in love before. So how do you know this is it? But at the end of the day, have fun. All I ask is for you to be careful."

"Careful of what?" I asked, feeling a pang of defensiveness. "Careful of falling in love? Isn't that what everyone's supposed to be looking for?"

---