Page 28 of The Roadie
They had a free day in Miami, and the sunshine brought out the California boy in Brett. Somehow, he talked Kira into learning how to surf. She stood at the shoreline, dressed in a navy-blue wetsuit and holding a surfboard twice her size, wondering if she finally lost her mind. She was a city girl. She didn’t go to the beach. Even when she visited Angel, Tommy and Jessi’s beachfront home in Long Island, she didn’t go in the water. But Brett knew how to bring out her adventurous side. “How do you get me to agree to these things? What if there are sharks out there?”
“There are.” Brett grinned. “And fish. And a bunch of other things lurking beneath the ocean we don’t know about.”
She shoved his mammoth chest playfully, but it was like hitting a brick wall. The guy stood rock solid, and the strength under her hand made her momentarily forget that she was about to enter an ocean full of potential maneaters. Her gaze settled on his chest and the way his wetsuit hugged every muscle. The clingy dark material showed off the curved arc of his pecs and rounded shoulders. His biceps pulled at the skintight neoprene and flexed with each movement of his arms.
He turned toward the ocean, and her gaze traveled over his broad upper back, down to his tapered waist and stopped at his butt. She bit her lower lip and sucked in a breath. This man had the body of a god, chiseled to perfection, and it sent her hormones spiraling. She noticed a group of girls also admiring him as they walked by.Sorry, ladies. He’s mine. For now, anyway.The last thought made her heart sink a little, but she pushed it from her mind. The plan was to enjoy their time together and not think about what would happen when the tour was over. And that’s exactly what she was doing – living in the moment and reveling in the here and now.
“Look,” he said, still facing the ocean. “There’s other people out there. You have nothing to worry about. Chances are, if there’s a shark or killer whale, it’ll bite one of them first.”
Her heart lurched, but a burst of laughter flew from her mouth anyway. “Killer whale? Now there are orcas out there?”
He turned back to her, a crooked smile on his lips. “You never know.”
Great. She tied her hair in a ponytail, picked up her board and started toward the water before she changed her mind.
“Where are you going?” Brett called to her.
“I thought we were surfing.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “I have to give you some instructions first. You can’t just go out there without knowing what to do.”
She hadn’t expected to surf in the literal sense. She thought she’d just paddle out and float face down on the board. She stood with her ankles in the water and turned away from Brett to look into the horizon. Other than a handful of people, the beach was secluded. But those in the water were only floating with their chests on small surfboards. No one was actively surfing.
“Get back here, you daredevil, so I can give you a couple of lessons.”
She trudged through the sand with the heavy board and returned to Brett’s side, ready for instruction.
He took the two surfboards and placed them parallel on the sand. “Watch me, carefully, but don’t do anything yet. Just watch.” He demonstrated by lying flat on the surfboard and then sprung to a standing position.
She was about to do the same when he stopped her.
“Let me explain first,” he said, still standing with his feet firmly planted on the board.
She folded her arms and tapped her foot, gazing up at the sky while he rambled on. She suddenly realized that it was quiet and that he stopped talking.
“You got it?” he asked. “Do you need me to demonstrate how to pop up again, or are you ready to try it?”
She tried not to roll her eyes. “Yes. I think I can handle it. I don’t need step-by-step instructions on how to stand. I’ve been doing it since I was two.”
“Let me see you try it, smarty-pants.” He lay face down on the board with his toes perched perfectly and his hands flat on the face of the surfboard.
She thought she mimicked his posture perfectly, but he corrected her form.
“Look at my hands,” he said.
“I’m looking.” She was looking all right. His posture had his perfectly round butt on display, and it was hard for her to concentrate on anything else. He noticed and stopped speaking to smile at her.
Embarrassed, she pressed her nose into the board and tried not to laugh.
“Pay attention. This is serious.”
“I am.” She tried to hide her smile, but her grin was completely on display, and she let out a small laugh before she repositioned herself on the board to replicate his posture. “How’s this?”
He pressed his hand on her lower back to straighten her body, and the pressure sent a tingle over her limbs. She swallowed and blew a stray lock of hair off her forehead, suddenly overheated. She glanced at his face, which was full of concentration as he studied her position on the board, unaware of the effect he had on her. He caught her gaze and stopped speaking. Too hypnotized by the way the sun reflected off his amber eyes and his thick dark beard, she wasn’t even aware that he had been giving her instructions.
With their eyes locked together, he slipped his hand around her waist and lie parallel in the sand next to her. She turned to her side and rolled off the surfboard, so she could press her body against his, and he kissed her.
“Is this part of my lesson?” she asked, breathlessly.
