Surrender (Seaside Pictures #4) - Rachel Van Dyken Page 0,18

a lot for just one campout,” I teased.

“Just one campout?” he repeated. “What if I want more than one?”

“We may just have to have more than one with all this stuff.” I laughed.

“Exactly.” He winked, sending my stomach flutter into overdrive. “I think we can actually keep the car parked here, so why don’t you hand me some of those bags, and pick a spot on the beach.”

I turned toward the huge shoreline that was Seaside, Oregon, with its crystal white sand and blue ocean. It was absolutely gorgeous outside, not raining, which was a miracle, and there were only a few campfires dotted around the two-mile coast.

Giddiness built up inside as I kicked off my flat sandals, tucked them in my tote, and started hiking through the deep, still-warm sand.

Typically, Amelia and her friends stayed closer to where the beach house was, so I decided to walk in the opposite direction, away from the huge swing set in front of the aquarium and near one of the larger of the bluffs.

I stopped on the other side since I knew the wind picked up later. This would, at least, offer us some protection when it did.

“Ah, she picks the best spot on the beach. I’m impressed.” Drew’s deep voice sounded behind me as he set everything on the sand and then went to work digging through one of the first bags, only to come back with a can of wine. “Shhh.” His smile was dangerous. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

I laughed and held out my hands to catch it. “Really? Wine in a can?”

“It’s totally a thing now. Trust me, I know all the cool trends. I’m famous like that.” He tossed it to me. “And it’s a red since someone doesn’t like white.”

I caught it midair. “What about you?”

“Me? Oh, I have some impromptu date prepping to do, so let me make you a spot where you can watch me work. Oh and—” He held up another finger, dug around, and then tossed me a historical romance novel and two fashion magazines.

I almost died laughing. “Seriously?”

“—just in case you get bored watching me.”

“You’ve thought of everything,” I said softly, not admitting that watching him was anything but boring, more like consuming to the point of stalking.

“I try,” he said with his back to me. “Give me around ten minutes, and I’ll have things ready to go. Don’t forget you have to help with the campfire hole.”

“How could I? When I’m looking so forward to digging.”

“Yeah, I have a lot of experience with digging myself into holes,” he said, more to himself. But then he snapped out of it and winked. “You good? Need anything else? Oh, final thing, I swear.” He pulled out a patchwork quilt that looked older than dirt and brought it over to me, wrapping it around my body tight.

It might look old, but it smelled like a mixture of fresh detergent and Drew.

I was tempted to steal it later.

Maybe sleep in it naked or just ask to be buried in it.

“I like this blanket.” I hugged it tighter around my body.

Drew’s eyes flashed with an emotion so deep that I almost apologized. “Yeah, my grandma actually made it for me when I went off to my first tour.”

My heart melted. Did he have to be so easy to like? “That had to be the best gift you were ever given.”

His face softened as his voice cracked out. “It was.”

“Are you two close?”

A sad smile was his response. “She died later that year. Cancer.”

“Oh, Drew.” My hand moved to his cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, well…” With a half-shrug, he pulled away and dusted the sand off his jeans. “…I try to think about the fact that she never got to see me go down all the dark roads she warned me about, so her death was a blessing. She would have done more than make me dig holes in the back yard. She would have been… disappointed.”

“You don’t know that,” I whispered. “And we all make mistakes.”

He winced. “Yeah… but some of us… don’t exactly recover from them.” He turned around. “All right, no more sad talk. I have a tent to build.”

“Ever build a tent?” I went with his change of subject.

“Of course, I was a Boy Scout!” he said defensively.

I eyed him up and down with amusement. “I can’t see it.”

“Watch and learn, baby girl, watch and learn.”

My heart pumped way too fast at the cute nickname, damn it. Why was it so