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I opened my mouth to say her name, but it was too late. The doors closed between us, and the elevator started to travel up, taking her away from me. I stood there, feeling like an idiot as I watched the digital readout on the wall climb until it stopped on the fifth floor.

Then, I forced myself to turn and walk out of the resort. Every step I took toward my bungalow was heavy with regret, and I couldn’t help thinking that I’d just blown something that could’ve been great.

Chapter Six: Heather

The sun warmed my face as I relaxed in the sand. The sound of the waves washed over me, and the salty air filled my lungs.

It was beautiful here, a perfect place to relax.

But I was already getting a little bored. I’d been lying on a towel next to my sister for the past twenty minutes, and I knew that Angela and Jess, who was on her other side, would probably be content to keep working on their tans for most of the afternoon. However, I was ready to stretch my legs.

Standing, I threw my pink sundress on over my bikini and brushed sand off my legs.

“I’m going for a walk along the beach,” I said, and Angela waved a hand carelessly in my direction while checking out a surfer walking past.

“Have fun,” she mumbled, lowering her sunglasses to peek at the surfer’s ass.

I chuckled as I strolled over to the shore, letting out a sigh as the cool water lapped over my bare feet, providing relief from the hot sand. There were people all over this part of the beach: kids building sandcastles, families swimming in the ocean, guys with surfboards…

So many people were enjoying their time on the beach, and it was nice to see, but I continued walking until I was away from the crowd. I just wanted a little quiet, something that I learned to value when I was younger and spent a lot of time alone.

What I told Greyson last night about being a nerd in high school was true, but I made light of it with him. Back then, it bothered me that I seemed to be interested in things that drew ridicule from my classmates. Things like science fiction and graphic novels. Being on the debate team and president of the chess club.

It wasn’t that I had no friends, but I certainly wasn’t considered to be popular. Not like my cheerleader twin. I had a few people who I was close to, but I wasn’t the type of person who had a friend in every classroom or a seat at a table full of people at lunch.

At the time, I felt like an outcast. But as I got older, I grew more comfortable in my own skin, more confident. I learned to embrace all parts of my personality, even the things that I used to get teased about.

The beach was less populated as I got farther from the resort, closer to where there were rocky outcroppings in the sand that stretched into the ocean. I paused just before I reached the rocks, staring at tracks in the sand. They were wide, with what looked like marks left behind by flippers. The tracks went up to the dunes, and I suspected that they were made by a sea turtle.

It was a shame that they didn’t come out during the daytime. I would’ve liked to have seen one.

I was just about to turn around to head back toward the resort when the shadow of a man appeared on the sand beside mine. There was no mistaking that large build, and I knew who it was before I even turned to see Greyson standing there.

His gaze was smoldering, and before he even said a word, my mind flashed to the kiss we shared last night. The way he tasted like the beer he’d been drinking and the heat of his muscular body pressed against mine. The erection I could feel against my stomach that sparked a deeper desire than I’d ever felt before.

The clumsy way I’d opened the door for him to come up to my room, only to be disappointed.

I spent the night sexually frustrated, confused, and worst of all, embarrassed. After lying in bed and replaying the evening in my mind for an hour or so, I decided that I must have misread his signals. I thought he accompanied me to the bar and bought me a drink because he was interested in more. I thought he wanted to sleep with me.

But a few heated looks and flirting didn’t necessarily mean that he planned to take me to bed. Even the kiss wasn’t a promise that sex would happen, and I just had to accept that the attraction wasn’t as strong for him.

It was disappointing, but I wasn’t going to beg the guy for a tumble between the sheets. That wasn’t my style.

“Hi,” I said, glad that my sunglasses covered my eyes, so hopefully he wouldn’t be able to see what I was feeling. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

I looked over the water, but I could feel Greyson’s eyes boring into the side of my face.

“Sure,” he said, his voice gruff in the way it was when we met on the shuttle.

I hadn’t thought much about the fact that he was more relaxed during our time together at the bar last night, but now, I saw the difference in him. The lines of his face seemed deeper, and his granite jaw was clenched.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Greyson scrubbed a hand down his face. “Yeah. I just… I didn’t sleep well.”

I glanced around, but no one was near us. “Where’s your ex-wife and daughter?”

“Snorkeling.”