Page 14 of Connected By Souls

“Yeah, Miss Sylvia should be living it up right now. Hopefully, Emma will convince her to let some of her duties go so she’s not there all the time.”

“Emma? That’s her name? Yes…yes, that feels right.”

“What feels right?” I furrow my brow getting confused.

“Oh, it’s nothing, honey. Dad and I are going to relax on the beach for a bit, and I told Luna I would drop her off at her friend's house for the afternoon, so I have to let you go, but I’ll see you at dinner tonight. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom. See you soon.” I pressendon the phone. Why do I get the feeling my mom knows way more than she lets on? I swear she has some psychic ability when it comes to her kids.

I sit at my desk overlooking the water, before focusing on my laptop. I’m determined to get a couple of chapters done before tonight. I have self-published my books, preferring to make my own schedule and have the freedom of setting my deadlines. I like to be in charge of what I put out to the public. I hired Bella as my social media marketer. She takes care of promoting my books online, making sure I’m on all the platforms. She does a great job of keeping in contact with my readers and doing the trendy reels with book blurbs that all the girls go crazy about. We’ve gained quite a following, which has only increased my sales, so I make sure to hold myself accountable and not have my readers wait too long between books. Trying my best to push all my thoughts out of my mind, I let my memories flow as my fingers fly across the keyboard.

ChapterEight

Emma

Thoughts of Noahshowering invade my mind all morning as I get ready to leave for the hardware store. Nobody should have a body that perfect. Images of water sliding down his perfect abs and disappearing in the waistband of his shorts fill my head. Resisting him is going to be harder than I thought. My body is betraying me and wanting him with an intensity I’ve never felt before. I finish putting on my mascara and apply my lip gloss before turning off the light and heading into town.

I pull into the hardware store and go inside, grabbing a cart. I look at my list and head to the faucet section. With my cart full of faucets and light fixtures, I study all the paint samples in my hand. I tend to love neutral colors on the wall and then add color through decor. It makes it so much easier when I get bored and want to change things around. I just switch up the color on the pillows rather than the wall paint.

Trying to decide between white snow or white sand, I hear a voice over my shoulder. “I would go with the white sand even though they both look like plain white to me,” he laughs softly in my ear.

I turn my head to see emerald green eyes staring back at me. He’s dressed in a t-shirt and board shorts. His hair is longer, reaching just above his chin. He could be on the cover of a surf magazine forHottest Surfer of the Year. Remembering how hot Noah is, too, I’m beginning to think there’s something in the water down here that grows men like this. “You would be surprised how many shades of whites there are.”

“I can see that.” He looks at the whole book of white paint samples in my hand. “Are you new in town? I haven’t seen you around here before.”

“I just moved here on Friday from Tennessee. I used to vacation here a lot growing up and loved the area. I needed to make a change, so here I am.” I shrug my shoulders and smile at him. Normally, I wouldn’t give up so much information, but I get a good feeling about him. I like his energy.

“Well, that explains why I haven’t seen your beautiful face around town. You know, I’m a very good tour guide if you ever need someone to show you around town.” He grins at me, and two deep dimples appear.

Most girls would probably drop their panties right now at a grin like that, but thoughts of Noah enter my mind. Noah must have affected me more than I thought if I could look at another good-looking guy and feel nothing. My attraction to Noah is definitely not because I haven’t had sex in a while, as I previously thought last night. It’s just Noah, period.

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m good.” I don’t want to lead him on.

He looks a little surprised that I would turn down a sun god. “Well, if you ever change your mind, I own the surf shop in town, and you can find me there.” Those dimples appear again as he grins and winks.

“I don’t think I will, but I’ll keep your shop in mind if I ever need surf apparel.”

“You do that. Have fun painting.” He walks away with a smile on his face.

I watch him disappear around the corner before grabbing the sample and heading to the counter to have my paint mixed, white sand it is.

* * *

Noah was right.Lily’s is the perfect spot to grab my flowers. I get flowers in various shades of color to give it a wildflower feel. I find the cutest moon wind chime to hang on my back deck. I’ve always loved the fairy-like sound. The planters I pick are gorgeous and vary in size, and I even find a couple of potted palms that will be perfect in the corner, giving it a tropical feel.

Once I get home, I haul everything inside and put the flowers on the back deck for me to plant after lunch. I’m looking forward to putting my hands in the soil and bringing the planters to life.

Humming to myself, I get out the chicken I made last night and prepare a salad to go with it. I cut up a cucumber as my phone rings, not paying attention to who’s calling. I slide to answer it, putting it on speaker. “Hello?” I continue cutting up the veggies.

“Hello, Emma.” Tyler’s smooth voice fills the room.

Dropping my knife on the counter at the surprise of hearing his voice, I try and gather my thoughts. Why in hell is he calling me? I haven’t spoken to him since the day I packed up my things and left. “Why are you calling me Ty?” I grab my knife again and roughly take my anger out on the poor cucumber.

“I know you’re mad, and you have every right to be. What I did was stupid, and I messed up. I was just so scared that you’d never be happy again and that I wouldn’t get you back to the way you were. All I can think about is you. I miss you so much, baby.” I hear the desperation in his voice. Good. He should realize he fucked up.

“What happened to what’s her name? You guys were so in love, remember?” I’m more curious than really caring about their relationship.

“I broke up with her. She wasn’t you, and I never should have thought that anyone could be better than you. I still love you, Emma. Please tell me we can work this out, that you’ll give me another chance. I promise never to hurt you like that again. I know how fucked up that was, and I’m so sorry.” He pleads with me. “Say you’ll forgive me.”

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