They fell silent again, lying together and enjoying the beach.It was comfortable and companionable and felt special, to get this time to just be with each other without anything having to happen except time passing.
It was Charma’s stomach growling very loudly that interrupted the moment.
Eyes wide, Darcy turned to look at Charma who had the same look on his face, and they both burst out laughing.
“Sounds like I need to take you home and feed you.”
“It does sound that way, doesn’t it?”Charma shook his head.“I guess it’s been longer than I thought since we’ve had breakfast.”
“Yeah.Hey, if you’re hungry, like you are now, and don’t have access to food, can you shift into your chameleon so you don’t need to eat so much?”
“I can, but the minute I shift back, I’m going to be hungry again.Besides, do you know what chameleons eat?”
Darcy thought about it, but he honestly didn’t know.“Are they vegetarian?”And wouldn’t that be weird, because he knew Charma ate meat.
“Nope, not even close.”
“Oh, then I guess I don’t know.”
“Crickets.Spiders.Roaches.Meal worms.Worms, Darcy.Chameleons eat worms.Which, if you’re not a shifting chameleon I’m sure is perfectly wonderful.But a shifting chameleon?We are aware of what we’re eating, and worms and spiders and other bugs are not so appealing.I mean, if I have to, I’ll eat them, but I really don’t want the memory of how they feel in my mouth when I shift back to my human self.So I would much rather be a little hungry than to shift and eat whatever bugs I come across.”
Darcy almost asked what meal worms tasted like but changed his mind.Honestly, he didn’t need to know.
He stood and held a hand out to help Charma up.Then he grabbed the towel and shook the sand off before Charma put his clothes in the middle of it again and tied it back up to carry everything home.
He glanced at his watch.“Damn, no wonder your stomach was protesting—it’s almost three.Did you want to have burgers when we get home, and then if we’re hungry later on, we can snack?”
“That sounds good.You know that’s one of my favorite things about not living at the compound.When I’m hungry, I eat.If I just want junk food for supper, there’s no one to tell me I can’t do that.If I want to have dessert first, I totally can without anyone being scandalized.”
“Do people really get scandalized if you eat dessert first?”
“My mom does.She has very firm ideas about food.She will always try to feed you, butpropermeals, and sweets definitely come after the non-sweets.And junk food has no place in her kitchen.”
“I would miss junk food.”
“Yeah, me too.I had a stash in my bedside table drawer from the time I was about six.”
“Six!”
“Yeah.Granny used to sneak me candies and chocolates and I’d stash them in my drawer and eat them slowly.”
“I love that!We should have a snack cupboard.Keep it stocked with our favorites.”
“That would be fun.”
Darcy pointed to an ice cream stand at the edge of the beach.“You want to start with dessert today?”
Charma bounced and nodded.“I do!My treat.”
Darcy wasn’t going to say no to that.
ChapterSix
Charma sighed as a picture of his mom appeared on his phone, letting him know who the incoming call was from.His finger hovered over the decline button, but he’d been doing that for two days now, and he knew she was going to just keep calling.It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to her, but the last week with Darcy had been so wonderful and fun and happy making and he hadn’t wanted anything to ruin that.Not that she would do it on purpose, but he didn’t want another lecture about continuing the family line and him needing to get someone pregnant.
He stared at it a moment longer, then finally hit the green button and put the phone on speaker.
“Hi, Mom.”
