Oh. My. Those abs. Seriously. She had to stop herself from gasping. They made men well in Texas. Very well.
After he’d gone into the ocean, she took off her top and shorts and adjusted her bikini, eager to cool her too-heated body. The water was actually warm. Still, it was wet and it felt good to ease the tension from her body. She followed Matt out to a sandbar.
“This is my favorite place to watch the sunset,” he said. She could see why. The water was shimmering, as if topped with sparkling diamonds.
“Are those starfish?” she asked.
“Yes. Last winter there was a cold spell and a lot of them washed up on the beach. Volunteers helped get them back out to sea. Marine biologists say their efforts helped save more than half the local population.”
“I’ve always been fascinated by starfish and seahorses,” she said, and she bent down to get a better look.
He cleared his throat. “We have those, as well, though you probably have to snorkel in one of the coves to see them. We also have a great aquarium in town.”
“Cool. I’ll have to check it out.” It felt a bit strange, hanging out with this man she didn’t know, yet she was more relaxed than she’d been in months. Maybe it was the water, or the pure exhaustion of the day.
Then, from the corner of her eye, she spotted something. She reached out to touch Matt’s arm. “Fin,” she said quietly as she backed away and tried to step off the sandbar for the shore.
He took her hand tightly. “Not what you think,” he whispered into her ear. “Watch.” Suddenly, a dolphin leaped through the air, splashing them on the way down.
Chelly let out a strangled laugh. “That totally scared me.” The dolphin leaped again and then there was another one. It was almost as if they were playing a game.
He laughed, too. “They come around this time to play and eat. You do have to watch for sharks, though, but that’s usually later in the summer. We have bull and tiger sharks that can sometimes be aggressive. But the dolphins are here pretty much year round, unless the water cools too much and then they swim south to Mexico.”
Sharks were on her list of things she never wanted to meet, but she trusted Matt to keep her safe. As the sun set, shivers traveled up her arms. He must have noticed because he glanced down to where he held her hand and let go. “You ready to eat?”
“Sure.”
Back on the beach he got a couple of towels from where the blanket had been stored on his bike and he handed her one. They ate their burgers and fries as the sun went down.
But it was far from dark. The moon was a bright globe in the night sky.
“This has been one of the best days I’ve had in a while,” she murmured. “Sitting here, watching the waves, I can almost forget all the crazy.”
“It’s the best place to just be. Sometimes I have trouble with that,” he said. “Sitting and being still. I prefer to stay busy. But this is the one spot where it’s easy for me to catch my breath.”
She had a feeling there was more to that story. What military men and women went through tore at her heart. But, like her, they didn’t appreciate pity, either.
“I have that same problem. Always on the go. I always have too many irons in the fire, but I kind of like it that way. However, I could do without the recent drama.”
Shoot. That just slipped out.
He leaned back on his arms and glanced over at her. “If it helps, you can talk about it. I’d assumed you’re on the run from something or someone.”
She grinned. “So you think I might be a criminal, but you’re hanging out with me, anyway?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You’re a really good salesperson, so I’m not complaining. Hey, the fact is you made me thousands of dollars today and gave me every cent. You refused the cash even though you deserved it for all the hard work you did.”
She took a deep breath. “I’m not on the run from any criminal activities. And I’m not a con man or—con person—or...whatever—” She gave an unladylike snort. “Sorry. That’s just funny to me. The sales thing, well, that’s a passion for old stuff, really. I mentioned it’s my thing.”
“You drove all night from Nashville, why the rush?”
I had to get the heck out of Dodge.
When she didn’t answer right away, he said, “You don’t have to tell me.”
“My ex,” she said. Why not say it? This guy had been nothing but kind to her, and she’d probably never see him again. “We broke up a while ago, but he didn’t seem to get the memo. When he threw a tantrum at the diner where I was working, I realized it probably wasn’t safe for me to be there.”
Matt quickly sat up. “Did he hurt you?” He very nearly growled the words.
“No. He scared me...bad. Frightened me, actually. I wanted nothing to do with him after that. And when I wouldn’t accept his apology... It’s complicated.”
“What happened?”
“He came to the diner again, caused a big scene in front of everyone. I’d been full-time there so a lot of the customers knew me. It was creepy, embarrassing. I took off and never looked back.”
She shifted to her side. Her story sounded like an episode from one of those crime shows on TV. How had her life slipped so far out of control? “That was the second time it had happened, and my boss said if it happened a third time, he was calling the cops. I couldn’t blame him. I was thinking the same thing.”
“I hate jerks who harass women. They should be locked up.”
Yup. She really liked this guy.
“It’s okay, Marine. I told you, I got out of that situation.”
“True. Please, finish your story.”
“We’d only been dating a few months and he seemed really great and attentive. But when he drank, I wasn’t so sure about his emotional stability. And that guy, I wanted nothing to do with him. That’s why I booked it. It was just easier. And Nashville was so not the right place for me. I mean, it’s a great town and all, just not my style.”
He’d probably think she was a runner and he wouldn’t be wrong. She hated confrontation, and when things got too tough she did have a habit of walking away. Her parents would be the first to sing hallelujah to that. She’d never stuck with anything for very long and as such was a constant disappointment to them.
But then, they weren’t exactly aces in her book, either. She hadn’t run so much as been pushed out of their house.
“You shouldn’t have had to leave town. Your home. That guy should be taught a lesson.” Matt sounded like he might want to teach that lesson. Did Matt have a violent streak? So far, all indications were he was about as kind as they came.
He was taking her side in all this, that’s it, which was what friends did. And she could definitely use one of those right now.
“I’ll be honest, it wasn’t much of a home. I’d only been there for a year. I’ve been traveling a lot. Roots haven’t been important to me for a long time. That’s why I was working at the diner. Easiest job to find in that area.”
He shook his head. “Wow. That still stinks. I’m sorry.”
She laughed. It was kind of absurd—the last year. It was like the universe was trying to show her something and she wasn’t seeing it. “I’ve developed a few trust issues, it’s true.”
“Who wouldn’t?”
Chelly tried not to hold on to anger