I walked over to the boardwalk and then down to the warm sand. There were more people than I expected out here. I slipped my sunglasses on and then looked for Bethy. I saw her when she stood up and began waving her arms in the air.

Smiling, I headed down to the two bright, colorful beach towels she had laid out. Then I noticed Jace on the other side of Bethy as she sat back down. I looked around her and noticed another towel but it was empty although it had obviously been used.

“Glad you made it.” Bethy beamed up at me. “This towel is yours. Thad’s got that one behind us. He’s out in the water.”

Thad. I could deal with Thad. I’d prefer Grant but Thad would do fine. At least it wasn’t Woods. But then, I doubted he came out here to lay on the beach during work hours.

“Thanks for inviting me,” I told her as I put my bag down and dug out my sunblock. I’d already put one coating on before I left the condo but this sun was intense. I felt the need to put more on now that I was out here.

“Don’t thank me yet. I hadn’t been expecting Thad to join us. You may be wishing you hadn’t come. I’m hoping he leaves you alone.”

I smiled, thinking that Thad rarely left any female alone. Pulling off my cover-up I folded it and put it in my bag. I sank down onto the fluffy pink and yellow towel Bethy had brought for me to lay on.

“I’ve never swam in the ocean before,” I said as I rubbed the lotion into my skin and watched the people out in the water. “I thought it might still be too cold but they seem to be enjoying it.”

Bethy let out a small laugh. “It’s freezing. I won’t go near it until mid-May. But a lot of people like it that way. If you’ve never done it, then go test it out.”

That was something I wanted to do. It was a part of living that I wanted to experience. I also wanted to surf but even with my inexperience I was pretty sure it required a lot more wave power to surf. Those waves weren’t very high.

“Go on out there and try it. Don’t let me stop you,” Bethy urged.

I smiled over at her and stood back up to walk the short distance to the water’s edge.

The first splash of water to cover my feet was shockingly cold. I managed to stifle my squeal and force myself to stand there. My feet slowly sank into the wet sand and after a minute or so the water wasn’t so cold. I eased in further and had to stop again once the water crashed across my calves.

“It’s easier if you just go all in and get the initial shock over with,” the familiar deep voice said from behind me. I guess Woods did make it down to the beach on occasion. I glanced over my shoulder to look at him. I was glad for the safety of my sunglasses.

“Is that so?” I asked.

He was standing on the shore wearing a pair of white board shorts and no shirt. His already dark skin looked even more sun kissed against the white shorts. That was unfair- to every female on this beach. He needed to wear more clothes.

“The only way to do it. You keep easing in and you will never make it out there.”

Why was he talking to me today? He’d acted as if I didn’t exist since the night in the room when he’d told me he was getting engaged. Why now? I looked back out at the water and tried not to think about the way his abs glistened in the sun thanks to tanning oil. He was an engaged man now. Dirty thoughts of him were prohibited.

“You want me to go with you?” he asked and his voice was closer. Jerking my gaze back around I saw him taking several more steps in my direction. What was he doing?

“Probably not a good idea. I’ll do this alone,” I managed to choke out.

“You ever been in the ocean?” he asked as his arm brushed my shoulder. He was too close now.

“No,” I hissed, wishing he’d back away. Far, far away.

I heard Woods’ swift intake of breath and I glanced up at him. His eyes were on my body. Even though he had on dark sunglasses I could feel his heated gaze on me. Not good. Really, not good.

“Damn, baby. Where’s the rest of your swimsuit?”

The rest of my swimsuit? I turned my attention to my body to make sure it was properly covered. What did he mean? I wasn’t missing anything.

“This is my swimsuit,” I replied.

Woods’ head lowered and his mouth was too close to my ear. “That top is barely covering you up,” he whispered.

Annoyed, I glared at him. “If you don’t like it, then don’t look,” I replied and started moving out deeper into the water. Getting distance from him was more important than adjusting to the cool temperature.

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it. I f**king love it. That’s the problem.”

I stopped moving. Why would he say that? Did he not care what he was doing to me?

“You can’t say things like that to me. It’s wrong,” I replied angrily.

Woods moved toward me again and I waited. This was a confrontation he wanted to have. I was going to let him have it.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t. But would you rather I lied? I’ve done a lot of things to you Della but I haven’t lied. I don’t want to lie to you. I could tell you that I don’t care about you or that I don’t want you but that would be a lie. You want the truth? Because the truth is all I can think about is being with you again. I try not to look at you because all I can think about is hauling you off to the first closet I can find and kissing every inch of your body.” He was breathing hard and his jaw was working back and forth.