Page 16 of Beginnings By the Sea

With that thought in mind, I walked inside and threw my purse onto the kitchen counter.

“You think?” I wondered.

Everleigh laughed. “Oh, I know. Just don’t overthink things when it comes time for you-know-what. You need to enjoy those butterflies and live in the moment.”

“Live in the moment,” I repeated, the words just above a whisper. I could feel the excitement of the anticipation bubbling in my chest. “I can do that,” I said in all confidence.

That was going to be my new motto: Live in the moment.

8

NYLA

ONE MONTH LATER

It was Tuesday night, but Cohen wasn’t able to come to the traditional dinner at The Beachcomber like he’d done for the past three weeks. Things have gotten a little hot and steamy with us, but I hadn’t fully been intimate with him yet. I knew he was ready to take that step, but I wanted a little more time. Was I close to giving in? Yes.

My stomach was stuffed from all the food, so I decided to take a stroll up and down Main Street. I loved looking in the shop windows at all the goodies inside. There were clothing boutiques, jewelry stores, art galleries, and many more shops. I could walk for hours through downtown and never get bored.

My phone started to ring, so I pulled it out of my back pocket and smiled when Cohen’s name appeared on the screen.

“Hey, you,” I answered, slowing my pace as I weaved around groups of people walking along the sidewalk.

“Hey. What did I miss tonight? Was Seth talking crap about me not being there for surfing tomorrow?”

I couldn’t contain my laugh. “Of course,” I replied in all honesty. “He thinks you scheduled your New York trip on purpose so you wouldn’t have to surf. But don’t worry, this week’s bet is getting pushed to next week. So, since we’re not surfing, I made dinner plans with Autumn for tomorrow. Now if you have to leave again, it will look suspicious.”

Cohen chuckled. “I’ll be there next week, I promise.”

Cohen wasn’t as good a surfer as Seth, but he was adamant about not giving up. Seth had already earned close to a thousand dollars in the last month from their bets.

“What are you doing right now?” I asked.

He sighed. “Just got done at the office. I worked late tonight. I’m headed to the restaurant to meet some colleagues for dinner. I wanted to give you a call beforehand. Will you be up a little later tonight? I want to call you back when there’s more time to talk.”

“I’ll be awake,” I promised. “I’ll talk to you then.”

We said our goodbyes and I slid my phone into my purse, continuing my stroll past the shops to the park at the waterfront. Benches and swings were placed all along the water’s edge, and it was the perfect night to enjoy the cool weather.

When I found an open swing, I sat and breathed in the salty sea air. For the past month, I’d spent a couple of hours every evening with Cohen. We took walks on the beach, went out to dinner many times, and I even joined him for some of his surfing lessons with Freddy on top of the weekly ones with Jensen and the guys. Just the other day when I got home from work, a shiny new surfboard was waiting on my front porch.

Cohen wanted me to join him in New York, but I told him I couldn’t close the practice for that. In all reality, I could, but I wasn’t ready for our relationship to go public. The paparazzi were already looking for him, and I was shocked they hadn’t found him these past few weeks. I had no doubt they’d found him in New York, though. Despite myself, I resisted looking him up online to see if any new photos had emerged—maybe it would be better if they stayed focused on him up north rather than coming down here to Oak Island. That was one of the things that held me back from fully committing to Cohen. I didn’t know if I’d ever be ready for my life to be publicized like his.

In my eyes, it could only lead to one thing . . . problems.

Ten minutes passed by, and then thirty. It was getting late, so I headed back to the restaurant parking lot to my Jeep. The downtown crowds had died down since it was closing time for a lot of the shops.

When I finally reached the parking lot, I was about to get in my Jeep when I heard a group of guys exit The Beachcomber. With my hand on the handle, I froze as I recognized all three men’s voices.

I knew them.

I knew them well even though it had been almost three years since I’d seen them. However, there was only one of those voices that I’d longed to hear. I tried to breathe, but no air would go into my lungs. I turned around to see if my mind was playing tricks on me again.

The second I turned, the world stopped.

I was right.

I wasn’t imagining it this time. It was Miles and his two best friends, Noah and Luke. Still frozen, I couldn’t take my eyes off Miles. My heart fluttered like it always did when he was near, and I had that undeniable urge to close the distance between us. It took all my strength not to move my feet and go to him to see if he was real.

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