AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They had progressed unto the beach when Sonya spotted a game of beach volleyball in progress. Excitement sparkled from within as she turned to the group. “Who’s interested in a game?”
Tristan shaded his eyes with his hand and eyed the game already in progress. “Count me out. I think I’ll just enjoy watching the waves.”
Audrey tilted her chin and looked upon their boss with adoring eyes. “Me too.”
Disappointed, she turned to Maura with expectancy but was only rewarded with a shake of her head. “Patrick doesn’t enjoy the game. I think we’ll stroll further along the beach.”
“I’ll play.” Daniel’s quiet voice surprised her.
Stunned, she looked at him in wonder. Daniel plays sports? That was something she would never have guessed. She would have thought his interests lay more in board games. “Really?”
He offered her a grin. “Don’t look surprised. I’m quite physically fit.”
“I know that,” she rebutted. “We jog every Saturday morning. I just thought you would be more interested in a game of chess.”
Shrugging, he started toward the volleyball net. “I enjoy that as well. Sometime we should have a match.”
Amazed, she watched as he walked away. Ironically, the thought of playing chess with Daniel had an unusual appeal.
She shook this sudden thought aside and chased after him, catching up just as he greeted the two teams and inquired if there was room for two more players. They were invited to join and discovered the group was a bunch of college undergraduates. Sonya was pleased to observe how the young and boisterous group took to Daniel immediately. He got along with them well and appeared to be having a good time. Sonya supposed it had to do with their educational affinity. They were able to sniff out their own kind.
That wasn’t to say she wasn’t having a good time herself. She got along well with the group and knew she had attracted the eye of more than one boy, to the disapproval of their female friends. However, Sonya didn’t pay much attention to any of this. Instead, she relished in the joy she and Daniel shared. They laughed and played and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. For the first time in a long time, Sonya felt as natural as she did when she was a little girl.
With a prolonged glance at Daniel as he stood with legs apart and his hands resting on his bent knees waiting expectantly for the receiving ball, she thought the same of him. She couldn’t recall a time she had ever seen him like this. His face was aglow of the physical exertion.
All at once he stood up and spun around to look stra
ight at her. She smiled instantly. He had no smile in return. Rather, he looked somewhat panicked, then suddenly lunged for her, throwing himself against her chest and knocking her to the sandy ground. The wind was whacked out of her and all she could do was stare up at the blue sky.
Then slowly realization crept through and she registered the feel of his hot body lying across her own. A warm and wonderful sensation coursed along her nerves.
He raised his head and looked down at her. “You all right?”
She gave a vague nod and stared up into his eyes. Under the peak of the mid-afternoon sun, they were that spectacular shade of grey almost silver.
He produced a sudden grin and reached up to dust some sand from her hair. “You weren’t paying attention. The ball was headed straight for your pretty face.”
Sonya blinked. Then again. She had received many compliments from hundreds of men over the years. They had become so common, they eventually began to have little to no effect on her. Yet Daniel’s small insignificant little remark had her insides glowing as if she were an adolescent teen receiving her first compliment.
It wasn’t even that big of a compliment. Pretty. Not beautiful or gorgeous or even breathtaking. Yet it left its stamp of approval on her heart.
With disappointment, she felt him push away and get to his feet before he reached for her hands and helped her up. “Ready?”
She nodded, unable to drag her eyes off him.
He frowned. “You sure you’re all right?”
Somehow she managed a smile along with another simple nod, then watched as he looked satisfied and returned to his corner of the court.
Sonya couldn’t figure it out. Something was happening and she didn’t know what it was. Daniel, without warning, now stood beneath a whole new light. She could only fathom it arose from seeing him in a new environment. But this thought only made her frown. The only other environment she saw Daniel was at their apartment, and that was for a reason, she reminded herself.
She and Daniel were two entirely different people whose worlds should never collide. As she had once said, they were like mud and oil. So in complete opposites it was surprising they could carry on a conversation in the least. As she dragged her eyes away from him and attempted to concentrate on the game, she couldn’t ignore the tiny voice that begged to differ otherwise.
As the remainder of the day wore on, Sonya found herself enjoying herself with such sincerity that it frankly startled her. Since most of that fun she attributed to Daniel. He seemed to be in agreement with everything she did and they enjoyed each other’s company until gradually they began to drift away from the other two couples.
She laughed when he bought her a huge pink cotton candy on a paper cone, and even harder when they strolled along the promenade eating the sticky treat together. She hadn’t had the sweet gooey stuff since she was a kid.
That feeling of being ten returned. So much so that when she saw a go-cart track at the end of one boulevard, she jumped with excitement and pleaded with him to join her. It didn’t take much persuasion. He agreed easily and together they chased each other around the man-made tracks lined with tires until the attendant scooted them off.
