Page 4 of Paradise (Alphas Forever 4)

“You’ve got a great laugh,” he tells me.

I wave his words away and slide my own sunglasses on to hide the embarrassment on my face. I remind myself that he’s a player. At least, according to my brother, he is.

“You know, Brandon’s told me all about you,” I say. “I’m not some tourist chick that you can take back to your boat for the night.”

“I never thought you would be,” Ryan says.

When I look over, he’s taken off his sunglasses and is studying me, his face pensive and his eyes intense as they catch mine.

My stomach flutters and I have to look away.

I avert my gaze to the pool. The young mom and toddler are still splashing away. I smile when the little boy gets a face full of water and his mom quickly kisses away his tears before they even start.

Ryan, apparently, has followed my gaze. “Do you like kids?” he asks.

“I do,” I say. “I’m actually going to be teaching this fall. Second grade.”

“That’s awesome,” says Ryan. “I love kids. I wouldn’t mind having a house full of them. Someday, I mean.”

I can feel his eyes on me as he says it. My body suddenly feels heavy, hot, and liquid all at once, like lava is running through my veins.

“Yeah, I want that too,” I say. Damn it. Now things feel awkward. I search for a change of subject. “So…how’d you become a charter boat captain?”

Ryan nods. He relaxes into his chair and tells me about getting out of the Navy and knowing that he wanted to do something that would keep him near the ocean forever. After that, our conversation just kinda flows. We talk about all kinds of stuff—even our senior proms and first kisses and how neither one of us really likes chocolate all that much.

And then it’s dark. The little boy and his mom are gone, the breeze has turned cooler, and the lights in the pool click on, turning the water shimmering aqua. Yet neither of us moves. We stay in our chairs and talk until the sickled moon traces its way across the dark sky and the lights in the pool click off again.

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