Page 24 of Beauty and the Beard

Before he sits back down, I stand as he offers me my mug back.

“Would you… do you want to see the stars?”

He blinks in surprise and tilts his head back.

“I’d love to. Now?”

“Is that okay?”

“I, uh, yeah. Let me get a sweater or something.”

While he’s getting what he needs, I swipe the blanket off the couch and meet him at the door.

“Do I need shoes?”

Smiling bigger than I have in years, I shake my head and pull off my socks.

“No.” I reach for his hand as he laughs. “I promise you’ll love this.”

He smiles back. “Okay. I trust you.”

And we disappear down to the beach.

Chapter 7

Sasha

Leaf tugs me behind him as we giggle, walking through the sand. Balancing coffee mugs of wine and not caring one bit if my silk pants fray, I make a note to never forget how carefree this moment is.

“I feel like a kid sneaking out after curfew.” I laugh.

He slows down with a chuckle. “You’re the only cabin out here until tomorrow. I don’t know why I’m whispering.”

My toes dig into the beach sand I had been expecting to be more rock than sand, but it’s just as nice as any tropical beach I’ve been to. Although I could be distracted by the large, warm hand holding mine and not noticing much of anything else.

We stop short of the lake’s edge and Leaf points to the sky with his free hand, careful to not slosh his wine too much.

“There’s no better time to star gaze than on a clear night over a lake. If you love stars, you’ll love this.”

Tilting my head back, I survey the sky. The stars shine brighter than any diamond in the coal-black night. It feels like the night sky is a piece of dark paper pulled tight and the stars shiningthrough are lights from another world. We’re just two tiny specks in a terrarium.

“It’s beautiful out here.”

He releases my hand and shakes out the blanket he had slung over his arm.

“If you lay down, you won’t hurt your neck.”

He lies down and pats the blanket next to him and holds out his hand. Smiling and bubbling with excitement, I lie down beside him. Shoulders brushing together, we stare up at the sky.

Leaf points out constellations and I listen to the low rumble of his words and sneak glances at his lips. Deciding to focus on the sky rather than the enchanting man next to me, my mind wanders.

His shoulder nudges mine, and the edge of his hand gently caresses mine on the blanket between us.

“Hey, are you okay? You got really quiet. I’m sorry if I got all boring with my astronomy stuff.”

“Sorry, I was thinking. You’re not boring. Not even a little.”

We stare up at the sky and I carefully find his hand between us and lay mine on top of his. He turns his hand so his large fingers wrap around my smaller ones. It’s a small gesture in the grand scheme of things, but my hand in his grounds me here.

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