Page 52 of The Seal's Promise

His lips hummed along hers. “I always liked it when you called me that in high school.”

“Back when you were my Dalt.”

“I can be your Dalt now too.”

“We’ll see.” She pulled back and stepped out of his arms. “Let me put these in some water and we can go.”

He waited by the door, but she could feel his eyes on her, and when she looked up, he didn’t attempt to hide his desire. She may not know what he was thinking, but if she had to guess it was something similar to her own thoughts.

They were finally alone.

“I’m ready,” she said, grabbing her bag and walking back over to where he stood.

“Great, I made a dinner reservation.”

Brooke stopped in her tracks.

“But we agreed on low-key.”

A cocky grin lit up Dalton’s face. “Don’t worry, it’s super exclusive. You’re going to have to trust me.” He held out his hand to her.

Reaching out to grasp Dalton’s hand, she fought the fear of being discovered and decided to trust him.

Holding Dalton’s hand again after she locked up, she followed him out to his truck. Dalton opened the passenger door and helped her climb up before closing the door for her. He drove them out to his family’s huge estate down a well-traveled dirt drive, but passed the paved windy driveway to his childhood home.

“I didn’t know there were any restaurants out this far,” she said, looking at glimpses of the beach through large portions of undeveloped land.

“Like I said, it’s really exclusive, you basically have to know someone to get in.”

Another mile down a less traveled portion of the dirt road, Dalton pulled up in front of a modern bungalow painted a pale blue and with white shutters. There was an American flag blowing in the wind and a few chairs set up on the covered front steps.

“Wow, this looks like a social media post of quaint Southern beach living,” Brooke said.

“It gets better,” Dalton said, opening his door then grabbing a bag from the back seat and meeting Brooke on the passenger side of the truck. There was a breeze rolling off the beach and she found the stress in her shoulders release.

“What is it about a sunset that is so relaxing?”

The Hart family estate ran along ten miles of beachfront property, with weeping willows and long slender beach grass blowing in the breeze. The green grass of the yard surrounding the bungalow was overgrown, but there was a clearly defined path that led out to the sand.

“My mom used to say that living this close to the beach was what God intended. She’d walk the beach every morning, and always brought home a new shell she would claim was her favorite.”

“Your mom was special. I remember when they died it was like the entire town had a broken heart.”

She reached out and took his hand in hers, and Dalton cleared his throat.

“I need to mow the lawn, and maybe take down that tree,” he said, pointing to an older trunk with no leaves and changing the subject. “But Levi picked a nice piece of land for this house, even though he doesn’t seem to use it. So I’m taking it over for the summer.”

“I think my dad built this house for him.”

Dalton gripped her hand. “Then I’m definitely keeping it.”

“It’s probably better to stay in his place while you’re here than with your gran in your old bedroom, right?” She laughed.

“You mean you don’t want to have to climb that tree again and sneak out of my room if my gran figures out we’re spending time together?”

As she followed him along the beach path, the memory of that night came crashing back.

“I forgot about that day,” she lied as they walked on a short wooden dock where Dalton stopped and turned to face her.

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