Page 19 of Summer Ride

She was just locking up when she heard a noise behind her and jumped.

“Easy,” Carter said calmly as he laid a hand on her shoulder. “I thought we could grab some dinner and enjoy it by the pool, then take a dip to cool off.”

The thought of relaxing in a pool thrilled her. Just what she needed to loosen up those sore muscles.

“That sounds amazing. How about we enjoy dinner and the sunset at the beach first?” She wrapped her arms around him, then she lifted on her toes and kissed him.

“Sounds like a perfect end to a rather dauting day.”

She wanted to tell him how much she appreciated everything he’d done for her in the past week. How, even though he’d allowed her to move back in with him, he hadn’t pressured her to return to their physical relationship.

At night when they lay in bed, he held onto her, but only to keep her nightmares at bay.

Now she was finding it difficult to hold the feelings she had for him—the attraction, the love she felt—inside.

Six long months had gone by since the last time they’d been together. More than anything, she wanted what all of her friends had. A chance at a normal life.

Marriage. Families. Love. Her very own happy ever after.

She took Carter’s hand, and they walked the pathways to the dining room and grabbed a couple of boxed dinners before heading to the beach.

By the time they made it to the sand, the sun had already set and the beach was empty and quiet. They sat under the strings of fairy lights that hung in several clusters of palm trees.

The soft white sand almost glowed from the light of the stars and moon overhead.

The normally clear emerald green waters looked dark and ominous.

All of the guests were enjoying their dinners in the main dining hall or out by the pool deck or patio. She could hear the laughter and music behind them as they sat under the lights and ate at one of the picnic tables.

The conversation was light even though her heart was heavy. She wanted to tell him everything. To share her entire life, the dark details and all.

Wasn’t it about damned time that she had something good?

“What caused you to have that look in your eyes when I picked you up?” he asked her when they were halfway through their meal.

She immediately wanted to deny that anything was wrong, but he gave her a look that told her he wasn’t going to tolerate any lies.

“I was just thinking about taking a trip somewhere for a while,” she said, telling him the truth. The fact was, since uprooting her life was off the table, a vacation was the next best option.

“Oh?” He smiled. “Where would you go?”

She’d been thinking about that too.

“We. Where would we go, you mean.” She leaned into his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her, and she let out a sigh. This felt so right.

“Okay, where would we go?” he asked her with a chuckle.

“Well, I can’t afford to go too far. You?”

He was quiet for a moment. “I have some airline miles we could use.”

Then she thought about the actual logistics of taking a faraway vacation with Carter. Her work schedule was packed, and she knew that his was just as full.

Usually she spent her two weeks’ vacation, lounging on the beach or just sleeping in. Once she and Carter had spent a full week off work together and had headed up and down the coast every day to explore the area. Since he’d grown up around there, he’d shown her some of the local sites.

But her vacation days weren’t refilled just yet. She possibly had three days saved up at this point.

“What about going back to Damion’s family’s place down the coast for an extended weekend?” she suggested. “I have a couple days saved up.”