Page 8 of Stepping Into Tomorrow

She blinked studying him closely.

Nash stood, flicking the bright light on that aimed towards the back of the thirty-foot boat, making the once black water turn green under its illumination.

He set up the first rod in silence under her perceptive gaze. The satisfying whine of the line releasing was his reward for casting it as far as he could. He picked up the second pole.

“Can I bait it?” she asked.

He stopped short. She wanted to get her hands dirty? Bella didn’t stop surprising him. “If you want.”

She smiled triumphantly, rolling up one of the sleeves on the oversized jacket before dunking her hand in the bait tank. Her pink tongue darted out as she concentrated on catching one of the smaller fish. She pulled her arm out, water splashing onto the deck.

“Got it!” She laughed, and it shot straight through his frigid heart. The joy that lit her face was magnetic, pulling him in until he wanted to make her release that throaty expression of giddiness again and again. He couldn’t be happy, but tonight, he could live vicariously through her.

“Here’s the hook,” he said.

She wrapped her hand around the metal and looped the bait on before rinsing her hand off in the water.

“You’ve done this before,” he noted.

She shrugged with a shy grin. “A time or two. Been a while though.”

“Ready to cast?” he asked.

She glanced around the boat nervously. “Okay, I’ll be honest. I enjoy fishing. I don’t mind touching fish or worms. But I suck at casting. And I usually get the hook stuck in a tree, power lines, or on a piece of the boat. One time I even got it in my dad’s ear.” She winced. “After that, I was forbidden to do my own casting.” She chuckled.

His mouth twitched as he fought the urge to smile. It was the most unnatural feeling. “Sounds like it’s better if you sit this one out, then.”

He cast the line on the other side of the boat and set it into the rod mount.

“Now we wait?” she asked.

He grunted his agreement.

There was no sound out here except for the waves lapping at the boat. The silence was one reason why he loved the sea. It was calming. Bella’s presence didn’t seem to change that.

“If you could have anything in the world, what would you want?” Bella asked.

He turned his attention towards her, the moonlight shining in her eyes. There was something about those whiskey orbs that sucked him in and made him throw his usual caution to the wind.

“A second chance.” To make things right.

She nodded as if understanding, but that was impossible. Still, it loosened some of the pressure in his chest.

“What about you?” he asked.

She chewed on her bottom lip. Nash got the urge to reach out and pluck it from her mouth. He fisted his hands by his sides instead.

“Honestly, I want to figure out who I am, and then . . . find my own happily ever after.”

He didn’t mean for the sound rumbling in his chest to come out, half scoff, half grumble.

She tipped her head to the side studying him, eyes narrowed. “Too cliché for you?”

“It isn’t that.”

She crossed her arms over her chest as if that would somehow protect her from his cynicism. “What is it, then?”

“Nothing. A woman like you? You deserve to find that happiness.”

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