do. I mean, they are hot in a way that makes even happily married women turn to stare. His tattoos only add to his sex appeal, and I can’t help but feel the warmth swirl in my stomach, knowing he is mine.
I never want to let him go. And I don’t want to dwell on the future, only focus on the now.
*** *** ***
The wind has died down but there is still a slight chill in the air as we stroll along the beach near the water lapping up onto shore.
It’s beautiful here. Peaceful.
Wyatt has not only managed to distract me from the disaster of my life but filled my heart with such love and joy. It has been one of the best days of my life. And as the evening draws on, sadness slowly sweeps in. I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here with Wyatt and enjoy what the seaside has given us.
We have done everything. We have eaten, stuffed our faces with candy floss, and enjoyed the arcades and the small fair they had at the end of the pier.
“You are deep in your thoughts again,” he murmurs, bumping his shoulder against mine.
I chuckle, shaking the thoughts from my mind. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want this to end and I know we have to get back soon.”
“It’s not over yet,” he informs me, giving me a wink.
“It’s not?”
He shakes his head. “No. See those?” he asks, pointing over the waves slapping up and over some rocks.
“Yes.”
“We are going to find you a crab.”
I grin, kicking sand up with my feet as I bounce to a stop in front of him. “Really?”
“Really.”
I grab his hand, laughing as I pull him over to the rocks. He doesn’t argue, letting me drag him over. I stop before the water, dropping my bag and shoes into the sand before bending down and rolling up my jeans.
He chuckles, doing the same before following me into the cold, frigid water. We don’t have to go far before we reach the rocks.
His hands wrap around my midriff. “Be careful on the rocks. They’re slippery.”
I nod, a shiver running through me at his touch.
“Oh my God,” I breathe, my gaze on a starfish stuck to the side of the rock. The water is shallow in the narrow pool and I gaze at it, pulling my phone out to snap a photo.
Wyatt leans around me, kneeling on a rock, not caring that he’s getting wet. He reaches over, gently pulling the starfish away from the rock.
“Here,” he murmurs, holding it out.
“No,” I whisper, clutching my phone to my chest. “It’s too beautiful.”
Quick as lightning, he snatches the phone from my hand, keeping it there as he turns my hand around, my palm up. He transfers the starfish over to my hand and I suck in a breath, my hands shaking as I hold it up, amazed by the whites and browns that cover it.
I look up through my lashes at Wyatt, smiling, but it drops when I notice he’s holding my phone up, clicking on the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“Snapping a photo. I’m sending that one to my phone,” he murmurs, typing rapidly over the screen.
I place the beautiful starfish back where Wyatt pulled it from and squeal when a crab crawls out from under my rock.
I was wrong. I didn’t badly need to see a crab or hold a crab. Or be near a crab.
Its claws pinch at the end, looking sharp enough to slice through skin.
Laughing, Wyatt takes in my expression then looks down at the crab. “It’s a crab.”
I stand, stepping back when he reaches into the shallow pool. “Don’t you dare.”
He lifts it up, his thumb under the belly and his fingers over the back, holding it up. I squeal, stepping back into the sea.
“No, no, no,” I squeal, laughter spilling out of me when he follows.
Water splashes up his legs when he jumps from the rock. I walk rapidly backwards, keeping my attention on not only Wyatt, but the crab, whose claws are opening and closing.
“Come on, say hello to my little friend.” He holds the crab close to his face, pouting. “You don’t want to upset Sebastian.”
I laugh at ‘The Little Mermaid’ reference but still, I shake my head, moving faster. “Keep Seb away from me.”
“He just wants a kiss,” he teases, taking another step towards me.
I dodge right as he goes left, laughter spilling out of me when he chases me into the water. I move