Page 30 of A Thistle Beyond Time
“Of course not, Cormac. Chester is a good travelling companion. He never complains and he’s been asleep since we pulled out of the driveway,” she smiled.
His heart nearly melted at the sight of it.
“The question should be, do you mind sitting up front with Dylan? I have to admit that sometimes when he drives I get a bit nauseous,” Jenna continued, and she wrinkled her nose.
Was she trying to drive him to insanity? The way she was looking at him was completely mesmerizing and had him forgetting about the breakneck speed at which they were travelling.
“I be fine, Jenna, lass. Dinnae fash,” Cormac said.
“What beach are we going to, Dylan?” Jenna asked.
Cormac noticed the shift in her demeanor, as she switched her focus to Dylan.
“I thought we’d go to Manresa. If I were doing this with more seasoned surfers, I’d go to Steamer Lane, but I don’t want to kill anyone their first time out.”
“I hope the surf’s good,” Jenna said.
“We’ll know soon enough. We’re just about there,” Dylan said, as he slowed the truck and turned onto another smaller roadway.
Cormac turned back towards the front to watch where they were going, wondering less about the surf and more about whether he could convince Jenna to kiss him again this day.
* * *
It was all Jenna could do to maintain her cool. Cormac had a maddening way of making her feel things she didn’t want to feel. She had to keep reminding herself that he was not for her, but damn it, every time he looked at her with those amazing blue eyes, she almost jumped into his arms. Speaking of which, those arms were so strong and muscular, she kept imagining them wrapped around her, holding her close to that equally muscular chest.
“Stop it, Jenna.”
“Stop what?” Cormac asked, sounding confused.
Had she just said that aloud? She couldn’t recall being this embarrassed in her entire life. Cormac was still eyeing her curiously.
“Oh, it was nothing. I was just talking to myself,” she said.
“Aye. I ken ye were, since ye mentioned yer own name,” he teased.
She laughed a little too loudly at his comment, probably because she was feeling self-conscious at being overheard talking to herself.
“Really. It was nothing for you to worry about.” But it was definitely something for Jenna to worry about. Maybe a dip in the ocean and a surfing lesson would help.
They managed to get all of their stuff down to the beach in one trip, although not without complaint from Dylan.
“Jenna, what on earth did you pack? There are only three of us, you’d think you were planning to feed a pack of hungry wolves,” Dylan teased.
“Sorry. Better to have too much, than not enough,” she pouted.
They found a good spot near the water and set up their chairs, blankets and a small beach tent for Chester, so he could get out of the sun. The temperature was perfect and the sun was reflecting brightly off the deep blue of the ocean making it sparkle as if it was covered in sequins. Waves crashed onto the beach and sea birds roamed the shoreline in search of food, while a light breeze blew just enough to keep the warmth of the sun from becoming uncomfortable. Jenna watched as Dylan prepared his surfboard and put on his wetsuit.
“Hey, aren’t we going to need one of those?” she asked.
“Not unless you’re planning to spend a lot of time in the water,” Dylan said, before he waved and headed for the waves with his surfboard.
Cormac had planted himself on the blanket and was observing everything going on around him, and when Jenna pulled her sundress off, he jumped up so rapidly that she didn’t even have time to react before he was trying to wrap her up in a towel.
“Cormac, what are you doing?” She was irritated by the crazy way he was behaving.
“Jenna, should ye take yer dress off, lass, for the entire world to see?”
“Cormac, look around you. Every woman on this beach is wearing a similar version to what I have on. It’s okay. This isn’t a nudist beach. I promise I’ll keep the bathing suit on.”
