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I love the sound of the waves as they crash on the sandy beach. The ocean is unbelievably blue and clear. The sailboat seems so far away, swaying in the vast ocean. I feel as if I’ve never really been alive in the last twenty-five years.
“You thought of everything,” I tell him as I admire the layout. There are a variety of finely cut tiny sandwiches, a salad, and some grapes. “It’s perfect.”
“You’re perfect,” Ace says and grins sheepishly. “I have a confession to make though.”
My heart pounds hard against my chest. His words are a reminder that I do need to make a decision. We can’t keep going this way. My dishonesty is sitting like a slab of cement in my chest. Sometimes in the dead of the night, this secret wakes me up in a cold sweat. What if Ace finds out from another person? His brother could tell him. Declan has reluctantly abided by my wishes but how long can he go on for without telling Ace? They’re family and his loyalty is to his brother, not me.
“I asked Park to organize the picnic basket for me. It’s from a restaurant in the marina,” Ace says, an adorable sheepish grin on his face.
“Well, you had the foresight to ask for it,” I tell him. “I never want this day to end. It’s better than dancing,” I say with a laugh. “And I love dancing.”
“What’s to stop us from dancing?” he says. “I have a nice playlist on my phone.”
I laugh. “That will do.”
Ace uncorks the bottle of wine and pours each of us a glass. He hands one to me and when our fingers brush, warm sweet attraction hums through me. I’d want nothing more than to lie on the blanket and have Ace make love to me with the blue skies as our ceiling.
My body aches for Ace and when we’re together, naked, it feels as if I’ve known him all my life. But looking at him now, his gaze trained out to sea, it hits me how little I really know him. You ought to be able to guess what another person is thinking. A person that you’re close to. But I can’t for the life of me imagine what he’s thinking about.
“You’ve been staring at me for the longest time,” Ace says without turning his head. “Are you thinking this is a terrible idea?”
I laugh. “Not at all. Actually, I was trying to guess what is on your mind.”
He turns to me. His expression is solemn. “I’m thinking about work. I’ve never wanted anything as badly as I wanted to be a firefighter. I’m just glad I made it happen.”
I try to think about my job as a bartender with the same passion and I fail miserably. If money was not a factor, I wouldn’t shed a tear over losing my job. It’s fine as far as jobs go, but I don’t feel strongly about it as Ace feels about his.
“You’ve done well,” I tell him. “From what I’ve been reading, it’s very difficult to make the transition from soldier to civilian life.”
Ace smiles as he contemplates me. “Do you read about everything?”
My face grows heated. It’s something I taught myself a long time ago. The library and later bookshops were my go-to places for information. Growing up with a mom who expected you to raise yourself meant that I had to get information from somewhere.
Books turned out to be a good source of information.
“Pretty much,” I tell Ace and finish off my wine.
Ace flips through his phone and after a moment, sweet sounds of jazz fill the air. Mingled with the lap of the waves and the whistle of the wind, it makes for a perfect atmosphere. He stands and then helps me up. We move away from the blanket to the sand.
He takes me in his arms and pulls me close. He spins me around and my laughter rings out. Back in his arms, I wrap my hands around his neck. Ace smells so good, so manly. His hands are firm around my waist drawing our bodies so close, I can feel the evidence of his arousal.
“I’ve never danced barefoot,” I say.
“And I’ve never danced on a beach,” Ace says, pulling back to look at me.
“That too,” I say with a laugh that dies in my throat as his eyes dip to my cleavage before returning to my face.
He caresses the right side of my face before bringing his mouth down to mine. I press my chest to his. My nipples feel as if they’re on fire. His hands roam over my back as we kiss hungrily. Our feet are barely moving to the music, but who cares.
Ace breaks the kiss and lowers his head to my neck. I wait for the feel of his lips on my skin. It doesn’t come. What I hear is him inhaling, breathing in deeply.
