“It’s coconut-banana with an orange glaze.”
“Yum,” she says, putting it on her plate. “I’ve never really taken it slow before. Damian seems like he’s a gentleman.”
“I take it he didn’t jump your bones last night?”
“It’s not just that but, like, he held the door open for me when we went outside. He has great posture. And last night, there was this big moth and he kinda protected me from it. He just has this presence—like, he makes me feel safe.” She smiles. “He even walked me to my door last night. We kissed,” she says slowly touching her lips. “It was . . .”
Damian sneaks up behind her, kisses her cheek, and finishes her sentence. “The best kiss of her life.”
She smiles and playfully slaps his arm. “I wasn't going to say that.”
Damian grabs her, tickles her sides, and pulls her into a chair with him. She squirms around, laughing and screaming, but then Damian stops her screaming with his lips.
They kiss.
And kiss.
And keep kissing.
“Uh, I’m gonna go take Aiden some breakfast,” I say, even though I’m ignored.
Die by the wave.
6:40am
I set Aiden’s food on the nightstand and then gently perch on the edge of the bed.
He’s still lying on his stomach and I can’t help but admire his muscular back, the adorable way his buff arm is curled under his head, and the sexy scruff trailing across his cheek.
I reach out and run my hand through his soft hair.
He opens his eyes slowly and sits up. “Mhmm. I was just having the best dream.”
“I’m sorry I woke you, then.”
He quickly pulls me into his chest and kisses the top of my head. “Don’t be. This is even better than the dream.”
“I was going to let you sleep in, but Damian wants to surf. Have you ever surfed before?”
“No, I never have.”
“Well, then either I can teach you, you can watch, or you can eat and go back to sleep. I brought you a smoothie and a couple homemade granola bars. When we’re done surfing, Inga is making Damian’s favorite breakfast.”
“What’s the favorite breakfast?” he asks, while taking a drink of his raspberry-coconut smoothie.
“Homemade cinnamon waffles drizzled with her amazing pecan caramel sauce and spicy fried potatoes. The combination of the spicy and sweet is to die for.”
“That sounds really good.”
I snuggle closer to him and close my eyes. “Aiden, I’m sorry about yesterday. My emotions were kinda all over the place.”
“It’s okay. Mine were too.” He rubs his palm down my arm. “I was afraid you’d kick me off the plane, then I was so happy you didn’t, then I was pissed when I thought Damian was your ex. Then, after you put your board away, you seemed really distant. But what you said about being afraid you’d never lay on my shoulder again made it all worth it. I went to sleep feeling quite content.”
I laugh. “Sounds to me like your feelings were feeling complicated.”
“Exactly,” he says with a laugh as he rolls on top of me and kisses me with lips that taste of raspberry.
After a thorough kiss, he leans his elbow above my head. “We were supposed to talk on the plane.”
“Do you still want to?”
“That all depends,” he says, his fingers making a lazy trail down the side of my neck. “In forty years are you going to dredge it back up?”
“If I do, I won’t be mad about it anymore.” I picture myself watching Aiden forty years from now, dressed in jeans and dusty cowboy boots, his dark blond hair starting to gray at the temples, those bright green eyes still speaking to my soul as he wanders onto our front porch, our grandchildren in tow, their hands and mouths full of dark red grapes they just picked from the vineyard.
“Promise?” he says, those green eyes asking way more about what the promise implies.
I can think of a million reasons why I won’t even know Aiden forty years from now, but I can’t make myself say anything but, “I promise.”
“So let’s focus on the positive.”
“Right,” I agree, willing myself to let go and live in the now. At least for the next seventy-some hours. “It’s Thanksgiving day. We’re together in paradise, and we have a busy day.”
“A busy day? I thought we were supposed to be relaxing.”
“We will be, but there’s a lot to do here. Surf. Eat. Lie in the sun. Eat more.”
“You forgot something important,” he says as he curls his hand into my robe and draws me in closer. “This is soft.”
“What’d I forget?”
“Kissing.”
Then he kisses me until I can't think straight.
Eventually, I force myself to say, “We’re supposed to be out surfing. You need to go get your suit on.”
He reluctantly nods, but then gives me another electrifying kiss.
The kind of kiss that infuses me with so much more than love potion.
It infuses me with hope.
Aiden follows me to the storage shed so I can outfit him with a board.