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“I’ll check on them,” Barron growled across the channel. He was Breezy’s older brother, and when he wasn’t tending the beach, he was a cop. Though, I was pretty sure the cop thing never went away, whether on duty or not.
I checked in on a few more people and helped a mom with getting floaties on her young preschooler while she wrangled her other kid who was about the same age. Thankfully, her husband came lumbering over with their cooler and umbrella just as the kids were ready to run into the surf.
I grabbed on to the older child as he started to take off and plunked him down on the blanket.
“You wait for your mom or dad,” I said sternly and pointed to the emblem on my white T-shirt. “Lifeguard rules. Understand?”
“Okay,” he sing-songed and took an exaggerated huff. “They jus’ takes forever.”
“I know, kiddo. But you’ve got to be safe.”
Standing from where I’d knelt to help, I scooped up the flotation device I carried with me then turned to retrace my path back to the stand. I took one step and froze.
So much for Sizzle Beach having no magic. There, on the edge of the water, a loose caftan blowing around her as the waves ebbed around her bare feet was the most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen, the sun hitting her and turning her hair to fifty shades of fiery gold. And I was finished. Down for the count.
Allah, please let her be single, because she ismine.
Chapter Four
~ Sariah ~
I loved it here.
Deep in thought, I walked along the ocean’s edge, enjoying the way the water tickled my ankles and the sand gave way beneath my feet. I was far enough ashore that it wasn’t dangerous. It was…lovely.
I could get used to it. Absently, I wondered if Sizzle Beach had a library and if they needed a librarian. Surely, the former was true. It seemed unlikely that there wouldn’t be a branch of the library system here. I’d love to spend my days there, molding little minds, then come to the beach in the evenings and let the ocean lull away my worries.
Of course, ogling a lifeguard or two wouldn’t be so bad.
“Hello.”
I looked up at the deep male voice, startled that a guy had fallen into step right beside me and I hadn’t noticed. Dark unruly curls teased over his brow, but didn’t quite reach his equally dark eyes, the irises almost as ebony as his pupils. I blinked as my gaze trailed over the white tee stretched over his pecs, the red swim trunks and the oblong floaty in his hand.
A lifeguard. As if conjured by my thoughts. And he looked pretty similar to who I’d seen earlier, but I couldn’t be sure.
“I…did I do something wrong?”
“Not yet,” he replied, and I noticed that he seemed to have the slightest bit of an accent. “Say you’ll have dinner with me in two hours and everything will be fine.”
He was asking me out? Me? I stared at him, dumbfounded for a moment, before my senses returned, and I grinned. My brow lifted. “And if I don’t?”
“I’m afraid then I’ll need to take down your vital information—name, phone number, where you’re staying.”
“Huh,” I chuckled. “Something tells me you’d want that information anyway.”
Maybe, it was being outside my normal surroundings, visiting a place where no one knew me, but suddenly, I felt more confident than I usually did. Of course, it could be the way he looked at me as if he wanted to eat me up.
My belly fluttered like crazy at his stare that revealed he liked me just as I was. This wasn’t a joke. He really wanted to have dinner with me.
“I’m Sariah,” I told him. We stood still, facing each other while the waves kept sweeping around my feet, dragging away the sand. I tottered slightly, and he grasped my arms, guiding me farther onto the shore.
“Tarek,” he told me, making me think I was right. He wasn’t from around here.
“You saved me,” I teased.
He tipped his head and touched two fingers to his brow in a salute. “My pleasure,habibi.Dinner? Please say yes, before I must get back to work.”
I bit my lip, studying him. Yes? Wasn’t I hoping for more adventure in my life? Plus it would be a distraction from the nerves of meeting my family tomorrow. They didn’t know I was here, yet. The first they’d see me was at brunch tomorrow—one of a week’s worth of events.
