Page 73 of Sunshine with You
Me
Beach tomorrow?
Ashlie
It’s March. It’s freezing…
Me
LMAO, we’re not going swimming.
Ashlie
Then what are we doing?
Me
You’ll see
We pullup to the beach a little before sunset. Ashlie still doesn’t know what I’ve planned, and my body buzzes with anticipation. Having a surprise picnic while snuggled up on the sand should be enough to rival her date yesterday. Reaching for my hand, she starts toward the beach, eyebrows knitting from my abrupt halt at the trunk. She snorts behind me as soon as I pop open the back and pull out the picnic supplies.
Despite her shaking head, the smile on her face as she grabs the blankets conveys her amusement. She loops her arm around mine while we walk down the sandy path. “You’re trying to top the pier,” she says.
Small coastal sunflowers dot the trail around us, and I pause again, dropping the basket at my feet. I stoop to pick a flower and swipe my hand over her cheek, brushing back her curls to tuck it in her hair. Her sharp inhale makes me chuckle. “Is it working?” I smirk, already knowing it is. As much as she tries to hide it, she’s eating this up.
“Jury’s still out.”
“Let me talk to that jury.” I pull her into me and swipe a finger under her chin. But instead of the kiss she’s expecting, I stare into her eyes. Those warm honey irises dance with mine, and I trail my thumb across her bottom lip, holding her there. Her face flushes, as if the heat in my gaze is tangible. She draws a shaky breath, the desire in her eyes morphing into longing. It’s only then that I dive into those soft lips, and she melts like putty in my hands, exactly how I wanted.
I love that I know this about her. The ways to turn her on, weaken her knees.Make her mine…hopefully…eventually. She’s still hesitant about us, but I get a little more reassurance during moments like this. I pull away, just to leave her craving for it. Her eyes remain shut as she swoons. “How about now?” I whisper, fully enjoying the view as I watch her regain her composure.
“G-guilty,” she stammers breathlessly.
I chuckle at the flustered beauty in front of me, pick up the basket in one hand, and wrap my fingers around hers with the other. “Come on, your honor,” I tease, leading her to the beach.
With one blanket spread underneath us and the other folded over Ashlie’s lap, we casually graze the charcuterie style picnic. The flicker of flameless tea light candles dances rhythmically in front of us as the sun creeps across the sky. Gilded sunrays bathe the golden strands in her hair, illuminating her warm amber skin.
My jaw slackens, and I momentarily forget the sun, the waves, and the beach. I’m speechless, seeing her in this light. Enraptured. Captivated. Existence begins and ends with her, and my determination to win her over multiplies tenfold.
“I think that’s one of my former students over there.” Her voice breaks me out of my self-induced haze, my jaw snapping shut as I jump to attention. She nods at two elementary aged kids lobbing a football back and forth across the sand. Their parents lounge in the background. “Funny kid. He was missing his top front teeth and liked to tell the class he lost them in a bar fight.”
“Do first graders even know what a bar is?”
“Oh, he made sure to tell them that too: a cafeteria where grown-ups go to get sad and throw up.”
“Wise beyond his years.” I chuckle. “When I have kids, I just know everything they say will be out of pocket.” Ashlie’s eyes bug out of her head like I admitted to kicking puppies for fun. “What?”
“You don’t like kids,” she says.
“That’s not true.”
“You complain about them all the time. I’m pretty sure you describe every child you see as bratty and annoying.”
“That’s other people’s kids.” I smirk, leaning back on my hands. “I’ll like my own.”
“That’s not how that works. You don’t suddenly like kids once you have them. You either like them or you don’t.”
“You wanna bet?”
