AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s not your typical beach,” he told her as they crossed the street and went down a small embankment. “But this is the best place to watch a hurricane, see the boats coming into the harbor, or just be one with the ocean.” They found two large rocks and sat down. “Sometimes, I come out here at night or early in the morning to think.”
“About what?”
Dune shrugged. “Life. The path I’m on. I meet people like you, and it makes me question whether I should’ve gone to college. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. But I do wonder what else I’d be good at.”
“Do you ever think about doing something different?”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “Like I said, I love my job. The company. My crew. Being on the water. The tourists.”
“When I was at school, I’d sit under this one tree and just think about what it would be like to run away. To just disappear.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Caroline shrugged. “For all the faults, I love my life. It’s silly, I know.”
“It’s not silly, Caroline. It’s okay to question things and want something different.”
When the tide moved in, they went back to the Bronco. Dune turned on some music, and they sat there, watching the sun set over the horizon. The sky turned shades of pink, orange, and blue, with streaks of purple.
“Seaport has the most amazing sun rises and sunsets I have ever seen. I don’t see how anyone can be sad when they wake up with the sky greeting them so beautifully every day.”
“It is one of the best parts about Seaport.” Dune put the truck into drive, and they headed back to the cottage. Much like he had when he picked her up, Dune held Caroline’s hand from the truck to her front door. As tempted as she was to ask him in, she wasn’t ready to go there with him yet.
Tonight, differed from before.
Tonight, they were sober.
Clearheaded. Well, as clearheaded as she could be when around the man who made her feel giddy with excitement.
“I had a lovely time. Thank you, Dune.”
“Me too.” He leaned forward to kiss her cheek, but at the last moment, something in her made her turn her head and their lips touched. Tentative at first, but slowly, with each passing moment, their kiss deepened. She could feel her heart beating faster, hear her breathing become shallower, as if his presence overwhelmed her senses.
He pulled away and looked deeply into her eyes. Did she see desire there? Did it match what he saw in hers? Neither of them said anything, but she knew there was something more between them now. Something they could no longer deny.
Dune cupped her cheeks and pulled her to his lips, kissing her again. This time, it was different. Urgent. There was a need there that she couldn’t describe. She felt it in her bones, in the clutch of his hands, in the heavy warmth of the night air. It was a need of want. A need to be desired by someone like Dune. A need to be closer to him in whichever way he’d let her. She wanted it all.
They stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, just looking into each other’s eyes and feeling the electricity that had arisen between them. Finally, he pulled away, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face.
“I think I should go,” he said softly. She didn’t want him to leave, but she nodded, anyway. Dune kissed her forehead, keeping his lips there for a long moment, and then took the stairs two at a time. Caroline stayed on the porch, watching him. Waiting for him to change his mind.
He didn’t.
Dune started his truck and never once looked her way again as he pulled onto the road.
dune
The next morning, Dune woke with the best idea he had ever had. It had come to him in the middle of the night, and he fought to get a few hours of sleep. He needed to talk to his mom. Actually, he needed his mom to help him. If she didn’t, he’d have to do something he rarely did and that would be to take the day off from work.
Dune paced the deck of the boat. Thankfully, he had the keen sense of mind to put on his shoes, otherwise he’d be ass over tea kettle from the amount of morning dew on the surface. He held a cup of coffee and sipped it greedily while his mind plotted out everything that needed to be done to bring his idea to fruition. If he could pull this off, he’d go down as a legend in Seaport for giving the town the one thing they didn’t have.
Finally, it was late enough that he could head over to his parents. He came to a skidding halt in the driveway, shut his truck off but left the keys in the ignition, and bound up the steps. Luckily for him, the door was unlocked, and he went right in and into the kitchen where the smell of bacon greeted him.
