Page 77 of Yours to Keep

“Yeah, but we can’t spend all day in bed,” she said cheerfully, sitting up now that she was satisfied I was up, then scooting out of my grip. “Let’s go. I’ve already showered, so I’ll get ready while you shower. I can’t wait to see what this place looks like in the daylight.”

I groaned but hauled my ass out of bed and raced through a shower. Bree was already outside by the time I was done, practically brimming with excitement where she sat on our patio, just quietly watching the ocean.

“This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen,” she declared and took my hand when I offered it to her. “You know, my friend Ellora’s husband flew us to Florida once and I thought that was the most beautiful place in the world. I was wrong.”

I chuckled. “I’m of the opinion that every beach is the most beautiful place in the world. As long as it’s got sand and sea, I’m happy.”

“So you’re not a mountains man then, huh?”

I shrugged. “It depends on the season. In the winter, there are few things better than a snowy cabin in the mountains, but I’ll almost always choose fleeing to warmer climates instead.”

“Agreed,” she said, glancing up at me with yet another smile on her lips. “I’m the same.”

“It’s good to know we’ve got that in common. It’ll make our future trips much easier to plan.”

She pursed her lips at me. “Future trips?”

“Yep. Often.” I squeezed her hand as we reached our table in the breakfast area. “Will you do me a favor and not take any weekend shifts for the next few months?”

Her eyes widened. “Are you serious right now?”

“Yeah.”

She held my gaze for another beat, then nodded. “I’ll see what I can do, but our schedules rotate. Besides, we can’t go away every weekend.”

“No, probably not, but I like this enough to want to try,” I said. “Tell me about this friend of yours. Ellora? Why did her husband fly you to Florida? Was it a girls’ trip or something?”

She shook her head, then told me all about her friend, her friend’s husband, and her mother who’d been ill at the time and had wanted to see the beach one last time. With every word she said, I could hear how much it’d meant to her, how much that patient had meant to her, and as we spent the rest of the morning just talking about the people we loved and our lives, I realized that I genuinely enjoyed getting to know her like this. Away from all the reasons I shouldn’t.

After we finally left breakfast, we ordered cocktails and carried our drinks down to the beach. The sand was hot enough to make her yelp and jog toward the water, but she didn’t hesitate. She set down her cocktail and dropped her cover-up, revealing a deep blue bikini that matched the ocean so perfectly it almost felt intentional, and waded straight in. I stopped walking, not even caring that it felt like my toes were encased in lava.

She turned back when she noticed I hadn’t followed, the sun catching on the droplets sliding down her shoulders. “What?”

“Nothing,” I said, dragging my shirt over my head. “Just appreciating the view.”

Her smile turned slow and wicked. “Oh good. Because I’ve been appreciating mine since you picked me up.”

I shook my head, heading in to join her in the warm water. She moved closer, running her hands lightly across my shoulders.

“You don’t look like someone who spends most of his time in boardrooms,” she said thoughtfully.

“You don’t look like someone who works eighty-hour weeks and argues with surgeons,” I countered.

“That’s because I’m currently on vacation from my work personality.”

“I like it.”

She laughed and splashed me. Immediately, it turned into a short, chaotic water fight that ended with her shrieking when I caught her around the waist and dipped her backward into the surf. When I pulled her back upright, she stayed with me, her hands gripping my shoulders and her eyes searching mine.

“This is…” she started, then stopped talking on a soft sigh.

“Dangerous?” I offered. “Yeah, I know.”

“I was going to say that it’s easy,” she corrected quietly. “Why is it so much easier when we’re not in the city?”

Because we’re good together when we’re not arguing about work. “I think it’s because here, we just get to be ourselves.”

She smiled at me, then started asking about my parents, my upbringing, and my hobbies. We realized we both enjoyed being outdoors, staying active, and reading fantasy novels. There were no awkward silences, no weird pauses, and no arguments as we swam and lay in the sun after.