I didn’t bother applying makeup, just a bit of gloss.
Before I left my room I grabbed my sunglasses and stuck them on top of my head.
Ezra’s bedroom door was open, but I didn’t see him inside so I figured he’d already joined the others downstairs.
Everyone was seated at the dining room table and a smorgasbord of breakfast food was sitting on the table. An empty seat was left between Arden and Ezra.
Ezra looked up when I entered the room, his dark eyes raking over my body. They flared with hunger and he sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. His eyes rose to meet mine and he winked.
I sat down and Arden smiled. “Morning.”
“Morning.” I reached for a biscuit and put it on the plate that was already waiting for me.
“They all made breakfast,” she hissed like it was some kind of secret, “the guys.”
“We have many talents.” Hayes quipped, having heard her. “Did you know Mathias can rap?”
Mathias rolled his eyes. “I can do a lot of wicked things with my tongue.”
Emma snorted and Remy nudged his arm with her elbow in a silent gesture to tell him to shut up. She also threw in a glare for good measure.
“Sweetie, do you want another biscuit?” Hayes asked.
At his words we all turned to look at him and saw that he was talking to three-year-old Mia. Her hair was a vibrant red like her mother’s and she looked up at Hayes with wide blue eyes.
She nodded her head and he grabbed one for her.
Arden watched the two in awe.
“She doesn’t normally like strangers,” she whispered.
“Everybody likes me,” Hayes scoffed, flashing a wide smile, “I’m irresistible.”
“I’m beginning to think so,” she agreed.
Beneath the table Ezra’s handed landed on my thigh and he gave it a soft squeeze. I closed my eyes and my lips parted on a breath. He quickly let go before anyone could notice and my body instantly ached for his touch.
Once breakfast was done we all cleaned up and then piled in the SUVs to head over to a different beach.
There, we met with a guy that went over instructions and what to do in case of an emergency—mainly if a shark happened to swim by. It wasn’t likely to happen, but they still had to warn us.
I bounced with excitement, eager to dip my toes into the blue-green water and see the creatures that lived inside.
“I’m going to stay behind with Mia,” Arden said, holding her daughter’s hand and moving back a few steps.
Hayes paused what he was doing and frowned. “Come on, Arden, you don’t want to miss out on this. I’ll stay with her.”
“No, no,” she waved him away when he started forward, “I don’t want to be a bother. We’re fine here.”
He shook his head adamantly. “Go,” he said firmly. “Mia loves me,” he grinned, bending down to the little girl’s level. “We’ll go hunt for seashells while you snorkel.”
Arden seemed to be contemplating his words. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” He reached a hand out to Mia. She put her much smaller one on top and her pale pink nail polish sparkled in the sunlight. A little yellow hat was perched on her head to block the sun from her eyes and she was dressed in a cute bathing suit with little ruffles on her butt. She was such a cute kid.
“Okay.” Arden agreed, watching as Hayes swept Mia up into his arms. He tickled her stomach and she giggled happily. I’d never seen this side of Hayes before and it made me smile. He really was maturing and I was beginning to think what he told me on our date about settling down wasn’t a lie.
Arden had brought a beach bag with her and she rifled through it. She pulled out a small bucket and handed it to Hayes.
“For the seashells.” She smiled at him, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Thanks for doing this.”
“It’s not a problem. Mia and I will have lots of fun. Won’t we?” He addressed the little girl. She nodded eagerly.
Arden stepped away slowly, still a little reluctant to leave her daughter behind.
I put the goggles on that covered my eyes and nose and turned to Ezra. “How do I look?” My voice sounded thick and funny since it had a nosepiece.
“Adorable.” He grinned and kissed me quickly.
I froze and so did he. We both turned to see if anyone saw.
Luckily everyone was busy putting their own masks on and didn’t notice.
We both let out an audible sigh of relief.
That had been a close one.
My heart still pounded in my chest and I eyed them all warily in case one of them was pretending not to have seen.
“Relax,” Ezra whispered, his lips near my ear.
I didn’t know how he expected me to do that with him standing so close.
We followed the others to the water’s edge and I giggled when it tickled my toes. It was warm and the sand squished between my toes, which were painted a pretty pale purple.
I walked out into the water until it hit my hips. I fixed the mouthpiece between my lips and then dove slightly into the water, making sure to leave the snorkel sticking out so I could breathe.
Beside me Ezra did the same. Arden was close by with the others a little farther out.
Beneath me tiny bright colored fish swam around. They were gorgeous and seemed unafraid of us. One tickled my arm as it swam by.
I swam farther and saw a crab scuttling over a small rock.
The coral was gorgeous and in a rainbow of colors.
I’d never seen anything so beautiful before and I was flooded with inspiration for designs.
Seeing all of this beauty made me realize I’d been missing out on so much that life has to offer. I’d been stuck in my hometown for so long that I forgot that magic was all around us.
A piece of aqua colored coral—or maybe it was some kind of weird grass—swayed from the ocean current.
A finger tapped against my elbow and I jolted.
I turned to look and saw Arden. Her red hair billowed around her like a flame. She pointed to my right and I glanced that way.
It was a turtle and it swam right up to us, completely unafraid of us like the other fish had been. I itched to reach out and touch its shell, but the man we met with on the beach warned us to not touch any of the animals. After all, they were wild and this was their home.
I don’t know how long we swam around, but eventually we all emerged from the water with wrinkly fingers and toes.
Instead of returning to the beach house and hanging out there, we set up on this beach.
Hayes met us with Mia—the bucket now full of seashells. Mia was grinning from ear to ear and clinging onto him. I’d say the little girl had a crush.
Arden went over to join him, smacking a loud kiss on Mia’s cheek. Mia giggled merrily and reached for her mom.
I headed over to my bag and pulled out my towel, using it to dry my body before sitting down.
I grabbed my tanning oil and started rubbing it on my body.
Arden put her towel down beside mine and sat with Mia between her legs. Mia immediately toddled off of the towel and into the sand. She picked up a handful of sand and threw it at her mom’s legs. Arden merely shook off the sand.
“It’s unfair that you can get a nice pretty tan and I’m going to end up looking like a lobster and I’ll probably gain a hundred more freckles.” She nodded at my already natural olive-toned skin. She tugged her hair back into a ponytail and then began slathering herself in sunscreen before grabbing Mia and putting some on her too.
“Hey, I might get a tan but I’d kill for your hair.”
“I guess we all want what we can’t have,” she quipped.
Hayes strolled over to us and squatted down so that he was at our level. “I thought Ms. Mia might want to dip her toes in the ocean, if that’s okay?” He addressed Arden.
“Sure, if she wants to.”
Hayes turned to Mia. “Want to be a mermaid?”
The little girl nodded her head enthusiastically and I wondered if she actually knew what he said. I wasn’t around kids enough to know what they understood at what age.
Hayes picked up Mia and lifted her onto his shoulders. She grabbed the longer strands of hair on top of his head and tugged. “Horsie!” She cried.