Again (40 page)

“Cool.”
 
His white teeth flashed under his entirely too-enticing lips.
 
Relief seemed to wash over his face. “Would tonight be too soon?”

She was amazed.
 
It never occurred to her that maybe he was just as nervous as she was.
 

“Not at all.
 
It’d really like that.”

He nodded and grinned.
 
He bent down to grab his board and said, “I’m going to get a few sets in, okay?”

“Oh, sure.
 
Please, don’t let me keep you.”

He reached out and gently wrapped his hand around hers, grazing her knuckles with soft strokes of his thumb.
 

Everything but Shawn seemed muted as he touched her, his eyes locking with hers.
 

He lifted her hand and brushed his lips across the top of her fingers.
 
“I’ll pick you up at 6 o’clock then.”
   

All she could do was nod.
 
He did things to her heart she couldn’t explain, filled her head with notions she couldn’t ignore.
 
She watched in silence as he tucked his board under his arm and jogged down to the water and into the oncoming waves.
 

Eryn slowly turned and walked back down the beach, a smile lingering on her lips.
 
Looking around for something to photograph, she watched as a crab scuttled towards the safety of the water.
 
Down at the water’s edge a baby in droopy, soggy diapers crouched down with a fistful of sand, and a black Labrador paddled in the foamy surf.
 
So many choices lay before her.
 
Her choices.
  
She closed her eyes and listened to the drumming of her heart.
 

With another glance at Shawn, she smiled.
 
There would be plenty of time to talk and discover everything about him.
 
But for now, this was it, she realized.
 

She was home.