Flora took off her shoes and enjoyed the feel of the sand on her feet. Q had warned that in the summer the sand would be blistering hot and she would need to get sandals or potentially burn her feet. She didn’t want to tell him that because she’d never worn shoes before, the bottoms of her feet were thick and hard.
A woman walked past wearing only strips of fabric, and Flora gasped and turned her head. Q squeezed her hand.
“It’s called a bikini.”
“Oh my goodness, it’s hardly any clothes.”
“It does seem that way, but she is wearing appropriate beachwear.”
Flora moved her head and stared after the woman. “It doesn’t feel right inside.”
“It’s okay. You’ll get used to it. One day, you might even decide to wear something like that to the beach.”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t even wear something like that under my clothes. Then again, who am I to talk? The first time you saw me, I was naked.”
“You were desperate and running scared. You had no choice. I’m just glad you stumbled onto my camp. I don’t know what would have happened to you out there with no clothes or supplies.”
“When I saw the bottles of water, I felt like my mouth was on fire and needed putting out. It saved me.”
“Well, I’m glad I could help.”
The wind blew across her skin, and she shivered as thoughts of her community hit.
“Are you cold?” Q asked.
She met his gaze, feeling warmth from the look in his eyes. “No. I was thinking that the men from my community would be looking for me now. They know I ran away. They’ll try to follow my tracks. They won’t be able to unless they stay in the river. When I found you, I was running scared, but at one point, I was calm enough to create false trails out of a small creek.”
“If they do track you to my camp, they won’t be able to track you after that.”
“I don’t know. I hope I never see any of them ever again.”
Q’s arm around her shoulder felt amazing. He was being so nice, so kind, it made her have feelings she’d never experienced. She wanted to stay close to him, but knew he wouldn’t hold her like this forever.
“Are you about ready to head back? It’s almost time for my friends to come over.”
She nodded. “Sure.” Her stomach tightened, and her head swam with fear. Would these women be like the women from the community? Were they coming over to tell her all the things she was doing wrong? She wanted to do things correctly, but the world she was in now was so different from what she’d been usedto. Even the number of people living here shocked her. Their clothes, the things they did, and the way they talked to each other shocked her. She saw a man and woman kissing. Seeing something so intimate had been odd, but no one seemed worried or upset.
When she’d decided to run, this wasn’t what she’d been running to. She’d honestly not thought beyond getting free. She’d assumed she could survive on her own, but if she’d run into any other person, she had no idea what would have happened. It all could have gone wrong if she hadn’t met Q.
9
Qwould be lying to say he wasn’t nervous about how the women would react to Flora. She wasn’t dumb or slow, but she had no clue about anything in the real world. The world she’d grown up in was incredibly different from this. He hoped she wouldn’t be too afraid or shocked by the women and what they told her.
First to arrive was Ellis and Trip. Q could tell Flora felt very nervous around Trip. He wondered if having the men here would be a problem for her. When Rider showed up with Andie, he knew he’d made a mistake having the men come in, too.
He moved to the door and opened it, hoping the guys wouldn’t have any problems staying outside for a while. “Rider and Trip, would you step out here with me?”
“Sure,” Rider said and followed him out along with Trip.
Zip was coming up the sidewalk with Talia and paused beside them. “Hey.”
“So Flora is overwhelmed having the guys inside. I’m sorry, I didn’t think it through.”
“We can hang out in the backyard,” Trip suggested.
“Yeah, I have some beer in the cooler, and we can chill,” Rider said.
“Are you sure that’s okay?” Q asked.
