“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She felt her smile spread from one side of her face to the other. She hugged Josh, then Reese, then turned to Stealth, who stepped back from the hug but at least gave her a high-five.
She didn’t hug Mitch, but instead she looked him in the eye. The past twenty-four hours had been so intense between them, she wasn’t sure where they stood. “Thank you. Thank you very much.”
Mitch shrugged. “Glad it’s worked out for you. I told you we’d talk about it this morning.”
Stealth leaned toward Reese. “What’s going on with those two?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“You mean…” Stealth shot a sideways glance toward Reese. “They…”
Reese nodded.
“You know, I can hear you guys,” Liz said.
Stealth leaned back against the wall. “Hell, the entire world must have frozen over while I was gone.”
She heard the banter. Saw the friendship. The men were here to protect her, but at the same time they were a family. One that fought together. One that, sometimes, died together. And, even though she could enjoy the beach today, there was the undercurrent they were still there for her until they were relieved.
“There are a few rules, though,” Mitch said. “Three of us will set up a perimeter.”
Shaking his head, Stealth exhaled loud and to the point. “I knew his gut would throw in a detour.”
Mitch shot him an I’m-still-in-charge stare and exhaled right back at him. “Onewill walk the beach with you.”
Reese grinned then winked in her direction. “So, Short Stuff, who’s going to walk with you? Your choice. Out of all us guys, which one do you want by your side?”
There was no question who she wanted next to her on the beach. No question who she wanted by her for a lot more than a walk. Last night was gone. The words spoken had had time to settle, and this was a new day. “Mitch? Would you like to go for a walk on the beach…with me?”
…
Thirty minutes later, Mitch motioned the other guys into place—Reese and Stealth on opposite ends of the beach, Josh stationed on deck back at the house—as Liz and he dug their toes into the white sand. The warmth felt inviting, and when they walked at the edge of the water, the waves lapping at their ankles settled everything in his life that was wrong. Last night’s clearing of his soul had been exactly what he needed. Maybe what he’d needed for a good long time.
He folded his hand over hers, and she intertwined her fingers with his. She looked cute in her bikini, her hair shiny and soft as it fluttered in the breeze. Darting around him she pulled away and raced farther out in the water, then turned and splashed him.
“I told you yesterday at the pool, that kind of mischief will get you in trouble.” Without thinking, he raised his eyebrows and smiled.
Laughing, she wiggled her hips from side to side as the waves gently rushed against the back of her thighs. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Slowly, she walked toward him, leaning forward, dragging her hand across the water, splashing him again and again and again. Closer and closer and…
She looped her arms around his neck and kissed his chin. “Are the guys specifically watching us?”
“No. They’re watching the perimeter. And if they happen to turn in this direction, they’ll turn away.” That’s what they’d learned to do when protecting people.
As she slid down the front of him, she trailed her kisses to his neck, to his chest, to the edge of his swim trunks. Then, she stepped farther and farther out in the water, leaning backward until she floated face up toward the sky. Suddenly, a rogue wave crashed over her, tumbling her to the bottom. She came up sputtering at the same time Mitch wrapped his arms around her.
From there, they fell into laughter and caresses, tickles, and splashes. He tossed her upward and outward into the waves, but he always made sure to get to her before she splashed down. Neck-deep in the water, she evaded his reach before she settled in front of him, bouncing slightly with the Gulf’s steady ripple.
“Don’t go too far out.” He glanced skyward. Farther out into the Gulf. What had he heard? Seen? A hum? A speck? He searched for any sign of a drone. None. And nobody else on the team had turned in question. Like the guys said, he was just being paranoid.
“I won’t.” She bounced a couple more times, higher and higher out of the water, then she popped beneath the waves. Seconds later, she stood back up, holding her bikini bottom in her fingers. She held them out to him. “Could you hold these for me?”
His core jumped into overdrive as he shucked out of his swim trunks, grabbed her bikini bottoms, and looped both of them up his arm and onto his shoulder. “You’re playing with fire, little nymph. Playing with fire.”
She shrugged along with the pout of her lower lip. “So, maybe you should put the fire out.”
Brushing against his chest, she wrapped her legs around him, and his insides yelled for release. He shouldn’t…he truly, damn well shouldn’t…but his hands seemed to have a mind of their own. He cupped her in his palms, grazing his lips and fingers over her body as he walked farther out into the water. More than his hands had a mind of its own, and he wasn’t going to fight that, either. Arms and legs and body, they came together in the waves, and she gripped her fingernails into his shoulders, deeper and deeper, until she lost all control seconds before him.
After regaining their composure and their clothes, they walked back to the beach. He, watching the gulls fly overhead. She, gathering a few random shells that peeked out of the sand. Finally, they spread out the beach towel they’d brought down and sat, staring out at the Gulf.
