Page 71 of On The Beach

He looked at my tits, and I wanted to smack himandfuck him both at the same time.

"Like I said, she's stubborn," my mother, who was clinically diagnosed as a Type-A perfectionist, said, eyeing me with a hint of pride, "Practically immovable once she's set on something. Like one of those double helix DNA strands, all twisted up and impossible to unwind."

Mick laughed, nodding knowingly. "Ah, so once she's got a plan, it's coded into her DNA."

My mom smirked, giving a satisfied nod. "Exactly. She's got her own genetic blueprint for being impossible."

"Can we change the topic and discuss pretty much anything else but me?" I wanted to sound sophisticated, but it came out like a whine, my tone reverting to my teenage days.

"Maybe determined would be a better word?" Mick winked, and I felt my patience thinning by the second.

Before I could respond, my cousin Lauren, who was nineteen and still in that "glamorous rebellion" phase, practically swooped in from across the room. "So, Mick, you're really a scientist who works on islands? Do you like, dive and stuff?"

"Oh, I dive, all right," Mick replied smoothly. "But mostly to catch dinner."

Lauren laughed, twirling her hair around her finger. "That's so cool. I'm thinking of studying marine biology, actually. I mean, all those exotic beaches...."

"Oh, Lauren, I could teach you a thing or two about beaches," he teased.

Flirting with a nineteen-year-old, Mick? Seriously?

Lauren tittered, absolutely enamored, and I rolled my eyes. This was going to be a long night.

My Aunt Sarah and Uncle Philip, Lauren's parents and genetically related to my father, exchanged glances, clearly entertained by Mick's antics. "Lauren, dear, let the poor man breathe," Uncle Philip said, though he didn't sound remotely serious.

Mick shrugged, smiling as if he didn't mind at all. "No worries, Philip. I'm more than happy to answer any questions about beach life, genetics…oranything else."

"So, what brought you back to Cambridge? Must be something serious to leave island life behind," my father wanted to know.

I stiffened, bracing myself for whatever clever answer Mick was about to concoct.

He looked right at me, eyes warm and full of sincerity that made my stomach flip. "Something…or rather, someone, convinced me it was worth the trip."

"Ooohh!" Lauren squealed, and my parents exchanged delighted glances while my aunt and uncle chuckled from their corner of the room. I felt my face burn as every set of eyes turned toward me.

My mother beamed, clearly delighted. "Well, Belle, you didn't tell us he was such a charmer!"

I managed a strained smile, willing myself not to explode. "What can I say, Mama? He's abarrelof…charm."

"Very unexpected from the way you described him," my father commented.

"Inevertold you about him," I protested.

"True, Anna did," Daddy conceded.

Mick looked at me with that maddening grin of his, eyes twinkling with mischief. "What can I say? Life's full of surprises."

I sighed, resigning myself to an evening of watching my family fall completely under his spell. At this rate, they'd be suggesting wedding venues by dessert.

CHAPTER 25

bottomed out bliss

MICK

After dinner, while everyone else lingered over coffee and the buzz of post-meal conversation filled Belle's parents' house, I watched my quarry slip down the hallway. I waited a few moments before I followed, navigating past the family photos and childhood mementos that lined the walls. When I found her, she was in a room bathed in soft light from a small lamp on the dresser.

Her childhood bedroom.

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