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She looked over toward the sea, the sky above it catching the light from the sunrise. The view from the boats was probably even better than this, the gentle rocking of the sea underneath. As much as she liked her view, she wanted to stand on the bow of a ship with a cup of coffee, soaking it all in.
That was it—her brooding main character had to be a fisherman. But what would make this mysterious man change?
She flipped open a new page and scribbled down a few notes, pausing with the end of the pen on her lips. The sound of the ocean cleared her head and gave her an answer—love. He’d see a beautiful siren while he was out on the water, standing on the bow of a ship with his coffee. And the siren, seeing something special in the fisherman, doesn’t kill him as her kind usually would.
She wrote down more ideas as fast as her hand could manage. It was as if she had stopped writing the characters days ago, not years. They came to life as the sun rose and the world woke up. Monica appeared with a cup of coffee for her, but left Alissa to her writing.
Alissa’s phone alarm went off, pulling her out of her flow. She shook out her right hand with a smile. It had been years since she’d written anything long-hand and she couldn’t wait to start writing on a computer.
She pulled her phone from the pocket of her sweatpants and shot a text to Caitlin.
ALISSA:I think I’m going to be here for a while.
* * *
Dane ran his hands through his hair, then fixed it as he looked at Alissa’s office door. She had been deep in focus all morning, bright optimism in her eyes as she typed. That optimism hadn’t faded at all in the entire time she had been working there.
She had closed her door at some point. Maybe she had caught onto him glancing her way more than he wanted to admit. He couldn’t help it. Something about her was magnetic. Her optimism was part of it. Even his grumpy self couldn’t help but be drawn to it, though he was mostly curious about how she could maintain that energy for so long.
And she was beautiful, and grew more beautiful the longer he was around her. It was safe to think that, but nothing more. She rarely ever wore makeup, but without it, he could see the dusting of freckles across her nose. Her big, wire-rimmed glasses framed her large brown eyes, emphasizing that glow she exhibited all the time.
He ran his hands through his hair again and tried to focus on what was actually important.
Her work continued to be great, but still, he hesitated about her next assignment. He had planned to write an article on the upcoming Cutback Surfing Competition himself since it was a big deal. It happened every year despite the chill in the air and always had a great turnout, at least according to Michael.
If Dane gave her the assignment, Alissa would write a promotional article to get the word out about the event, then a bigger article after she attended. It would require more reporting and research than usual to dig into the history of the event. Whenever he fell into research rabbit holes, hours of his time disappeared into thin air. The more he thought about it—or rather, the more he looked at his ever-growing to do list—the more he was inclined to give Alissa the article.
He got up and walked into the main room of the office.
“Where’s Alissa?” Dane asked Josie. “Is she in her office?”
“She went out to lunch.” Josie checked the time. “She should be back by now. I’m not sure though.”
Dane grumbled. She had the right to go to lunch, of course, but he needed her. He knocked on her door, pausing before opening it. She was gone. Dane let out a heavy breath, studying her office. Even though she hadn’t permanently moved all her things to town, she had made herself at home in her office.
There was a fuzzy cardigan across the back of her chair and a few small knickknacks that she had picked up from souvenir shops nearby. It even smelled like her, like summer fruit.
He was about to leave, but the document on her computer screen caught his eye. It wasn’t related to the paper, based on the format. It looked like a novel, so he skimmed it. Or rather, he intended to skim it. It drew him in even though he rarely read anything with romance.
The front door to the office opened and Alissa’s warm, happy voice floated in. Dane zipped out of her office. Luckily she didn’t catch him snooping.
“Hey, Dane!” Alissa said, hanging up her coat next to the door.
“Hello. I have an assignment for you when you’re settled in.”
“I’m ready right now!” Alissa brightened.
“Let’s go to my office.”
He let Alissa walk into the office first and came in after her, sitting on his side of the desk. She clicked the end of her pen a few times, sitting on the edge of her seat.
“I’d like you to write two articles about the Cutback Surfing Competition—one article to promote the event, then the other to give a summary of it afterward, so you’ll have to go,” Dane said. “It’s not this Saturday, but the next one.”
“A surfing competition?” Alissa scribbled down some notes. “That sounds amazing. What do you want the article to be like?”
“I’ll need you to do some research on the history of the event. It goes back much further than you might think. And capture the energy of the event. Make it appealing to the people of the area, like you do with everything else. It brings in a lot of tourism dollars, especially for this time of year.”
“Got it.” Alissa clicked her pen again and smiled up at him. “I can’t wait.”
