Closer and closer he was getting. Soon, he was going to have to admit to her that he loved her. She’d be ready with tears and oral sex when he did.
Chapter Forty-Three
Two hours later Houston and Josie were stepping back onto the beach and he was trying to unstick the words from the back of his throat.
I love you.
It wasn’t that hard to say. It wouldn’t hurt. She wouldn’t laugh. The sky wouldn’t split open and a tidal wave wouldn’t crash over his head.
But he still couldn’t seem to get his mouth to open and form the words.
Houston didn’t expect his family to still be at the beach since he had left them there at noon and it was six o’clock already. Having spent the day having sex, sleeping, and eating an early dinner, time had slipped by. But now there would be no distractions on the beach. Just him, Josie, and the ocean. They could even hang around for a sunset.
Maybe by then his tongue would have dislodged from the roof of his mouth.
“You got that board okay?” she asked for the third time.
Houston knew it was Josie’s way of saying she was worried about him surfing again, without actuallycoming right out and saying it. He appreciated her concern, but he was glad she wasn’t listing all the reasons why he shouldn’t go in the water.
Because he didn’t really care if his hand was still numb and he really should put it back in the splint. He was free today, of the sutures, of the splint, and he wanted back in the water. The cool, murky blue water, where he could float and feel the surf roll over him, a soothing wet massage.
Josie should share that with him. It felt right.
“I got it.” He adjusted his board in his left hand, enjoying the familiar feel of it, and slowed down his gait to wait for Josie, who was breathing hard as she tried to keep up with him.
The beach was almost empty. His condo community was small—a number of the residents were seniors—and the beach was private. He wouldn’t normally go there to surf, would head to the Inlet where the waves were. But this was just to get back on the board. For fun. And because he’d forgotten what normal was anymore.
At the edge of the water, where the sand was damp beneath his feet and the cry of the seagulls mournful, he stopped and rested his board in the sand. “I love the ocean.”
I love you.
The words stayed in his head.
He stared out towards the horizon, watching the sun radiate off the surface of the water, and caressed Josie’s hand. “It’s so powerful and majestic. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
“Me, either. It’s so beautiful, so warm, like the sun will never stop shining.” She took a few steps forward and let the water rush over her bare toes, then laughed. “Of course, I guess the sun never will stop shining. It’s going to rise every day, east to west. I just meant when it looks like this, it’s hard to imagine that it’s ever raining or cloudy or cold.”
Houston liked listening to her talk. Josie seemed to think out loud, like a perpetual stream of consciousness, and he enjoyed standing back and listening.
Josie suddenly jumped back away from the surf, the smile falling off her face, expression wary. “Isn’t this the time of day when sharks feed? And come in close to the shore? Is this where it happened?”
It honestly hadn’t occurred to Houston to be afraid to get back in the water, even though he knew firsthand what happened when man interfered with the shark and their natural instincts. He figured odds were in his favor that he wouldn’t be the victim of a freak attack twice in one lifetime. The ocean was a part of his life he wasn’t willing to give up.
“No, it was at the Inlet, where the surfing is better.”
He sank down onto the sand and patted the spot next to him. When she started to bend at the knees to sit beside him, he pulled her so that she ended up in his lap. Josie kicked off her dirty little sneakers and he debated wiggling his T-shirt off her himself or standing back and enjoying the show as she peeled it off.
Her arms wrapped around him, and there was fear on her face. “Are you sure you should go out there? What if it’s still hanging around? Sharks have a huge range they swim in.”
He wanted to laugh, but didn’t dare. “It wasn’t stalking me, Josie. I was out in his turf. I probably looked like a seal, and it was feeding time. He took one bite and let go. The shark was just a juvenile bull instead of full-grown, so it was probably the mistake of an inexperienced hunter.”
Josie leaned her head on his shoulder and shuddered. “Hunter. Yuck.”
He didn’t answer, just pulled her in closer to him until she was nestled against his chest, her hair tickling his chin.
A warm breeze danced around them, sending a fine spray of water over them. It popped into his head that Josie’s time at Acadia Inlet was limited, and that when she was finished with reconstructive orthopedics, she would probably move on to another hospital. He had never given any thought to the possibility of her leaving the area, not since they had become involved. Theidea of her moving out of his reach, where he couldn’t see her, hit him hard.
Hoping he sounded casual, knowing he probably sounded obvious as hell, he asked, “So, how long will you be at Acadia Inlet? Will you stay in the area?”