The taste and feel of her lips were pure perfection. Sweeter than his mom's cinnamon rolls and softer than his pillow where he dreamed about a life with Eden every night.
His sunglasses bumped against hers, so he pulled away and ripped them off, then he reached up for hers and paused. She gave a slight nod, so he lifted them off her face. His gaze went immediately to her mesmerizing brown eyes. Her dark lashes were as thick and as long as ever.
He'd been convinced she had fillers and extensions, but those should be long gone by now. He searched her eyes, trying to determine if she wanted to continue this kiss as much as he did.
He got his answer when she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him toward her.
He cupped her head as he lost himself in her kiss. He could do this forever and still never get enough of Eden DuPont.
A whirring sound had them both jerking back.
Eden's fishing rod bent in the holder. She caught it with an excited squeal. "Ah! Haha, I caught something!"
Rudy had the fleeting thought that Eden had caught a lot more than a fish today, but when she excitedly jumped to her feet and sent the boat lurching from side to side, he didn't have time to think about how tangled he was in her net.
"Calm down. And for Pete's sake, sit down before you tip us over."
"Sorry." She plopped back down onto the bench and jerked back on the fishing pole.
"Easy. Reel it in, nice and slow, like I showed you, so you don’t break the pole."
Eden's excitement continued to grow as she slowly drew the fish closer to the boat. When it was almost there, Rudy stood and turned to grab the net behind him. His shoe caught in his mom's floppy sun hat that was now wedged under Eden's sandal.
His foot refused to move as he lifted it to step over the bench, but he had too much momentum to stop himself. Off balance and out of control, he flailed his arms as the boat rocked.
He fell, cracking his temple against the edge of the boat.
Acute pain pierced his skull, shooting stars through his vision. He was vaguely aware of Eden shrieking as spasms of agony ricocheted through his head.
"Rudy! Are you okay?"
Shadows hovered around the edges of his vision as he struggled to clear his head. He finally managed to upright himself and figure out what he was supposed to be doing. He grabbed the net and much more carefully this time, he slid himself back onto the seat and rotated his body until he faced Eden again.
"Holy smokes! You're bleeding!" She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth.
Rudy registered the warmth trickling down his face as he processed her words. He reached up and touched a finger to his brow. Pain that had settled into a dull throb intensified at his touch. He pulled his hand away to find sticky, bright-red blood on his fingertips.
Eden's arm jerked, and she shrieked again as the fish she'd been reeling in tried to gain his freedom. The line suddenly snapped, and she fell back, rocking the boat and the world with it. Literally.
He closed his eyes waiting for everything to stop rocking and wishing the pain would subside already.
She set her fishing pole aside. "We'd better get you to the hospital."
"It's just a scratch." He waved away her concern. "I'll be fine."
"Seriously, Rudy. You need to go to the hospital." She pulled her phone from the front pocket of her bib overalls and snapped a quick picture. "Here, look at your face."
Blood covered the whole right side of his face and dripped onto his white T-shirt. He wasn't typically squeamish. He'd seen plenty of blood in the five years that he'd been in law enforcement, but he'd never seen that much blood on himself.
His vision blurred, and the boat rocked. Or maybe it was the rest of the world that tilted this time.
"Do you need me to drive the boat back to the dock?" Eden shifted as if she meant to stand up.
"No, sit down." He held out a hand. "I have a first aid kit somewhere."
Feeling more than a little light-headed, he rummaged around the cooler and other paraphernalia, searching for the little red and white box his dad always brought along.
But Dad isn't here today, and neither is the first aid kit.
