1
BEAU
Iwas here.
I was finally here, and now…
God, this was overwhelming. There were so many people.
You can do this. You’ve waited so long for this moment. You candothis.
Yeah.
I could do this.
With trembling legs and a pounding heart, I pretended I wasn’t about to hyperventilate and stepped onto the boardwalk. I wished I could hear the wooden boards creak beneath my feet, but getting to hear all the varying sounds of people having the time of their lives wasn’t so bad—and there weretonsof people, every single one of them smiling or laughing or talking loudly.
But best of all, the ocean was right there. The edge of the world was a few short steps in front of me, sparkling beneath the bright June sun. The briny smell, unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, was intense and pervasive, though not unpleasant.
It felt like I’d been dropped in the middle of a different country. Everything here was so bright. Everyone was so happy. It made Kansas seem like a dystopian wasteland.
There were so many people down on the beach that the sand was hardly visible. And?—
Oh.
My gaze snagged on a man casually scrolling his phone on a bench at the edge of the boardwalk.
Oh, wow.
I didn’t know a man could be that beautiful.
His face was utter perfection—dark blue eyes beneath light blond brows with a sensually wicked arch to them, shiny pink hair the color of cotton candy. A straight, narrow nose, cheekbones that were high and slanted. He had a deep cupid’s bow, and wide, rosy lips that were tipped up on one side in a smile.
He was long and lean, just a hint of muscle visible under glowing skin that looked extraordinarily soft. His hair curled over his temples, framing that gorgeous face that was making it very hard to think right now.
My eyes dropped to his long, long legs, stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles. They were so lovely, and when my rude eyes trailed up those leanly muscled thighs to his short pink shorts, I rubbed my palms on my pants. Above that, he was sporting a Hawaiian shirt decorated with little pandas.
He even managed to look sexy and elegant in a Hawaiian shirt.
There were a few tattoos curving over his forearms, and I could make out a pretty pink rose on one.
My face was on fire. Not just because he was so beautiful, but because I was ashamed of staring at him so blatantly.
I couldn’t help it. People didn’t look like that back in Kansas.
Someone bumped into my shoulder, knocking me out ofmy trance. “S-sorry!” I stepped to the side as they hurried past without a word.
When I looked back at the man with pink hair, the deepest cobalt-blue eyes locked onto mine.
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Those eyes trailed a slow path down my entire body, burning their way back up to mine while I combusted.
And then he smiled, a simple curve of his lips that made my heart skip a beat.
I ripped my eyes from his and kept walking, trying to even out my breathing.
“Hey, sugar. You look a little lost.”