Breaking the Rules (16 page)

He pulled up his sunglasses and stared at Hope. “Never. But, we could work something out.”

Scott and Sarah both let out a laugh.

“It wouldn't be a blind date, though, would it? I mean we know each other.” She lay back on her towel.

Scott nodded to Sarah and they walked to the ocean to get some water for their project. Nice. His brother knew the code.

“We certainly do know each other and I still want to find that tattoo.” He lay down beside her and put his aviators back over his eyes, folding his hands behind his head and smiling. “If you show me yours, I'll show you mine.”

“You have one, too?”

“Yep, but you'll just have to wait to see it until we go out on a date.”

She sighed. “You are the biggest flirt, you know that?”

“For some reason, you bring out the best in me, Hope.”

She laughed and brought out her book. They sat in comfortable silence for a while until Tim carried over a few beers. It got loud, as it always did when Tim was around. But the noise of a good time couldn't drown out his mental plans to take Hope on a date in the future. She didn't say no, and he was going to cash in that prize.

Hope sat in silence under the sun as she watched Colin, Jason and the other kids play. With every swing of the Frisbee, she noticed Colin's bulging biceps. She couldn't pull her eyes away from him. For the last hour, she pretended to read a book under the umbrella next to the finished sandcastle. But her eyes lingered on Colin and the fun he had with his son. Every now and then, Sarah struck up a conversation with her, but she couldn't concentrate. Not when Colin continued to jostle around the sand without a shirt on and wearing those sexy aviator sunglasses.

Making herself refocus, she tapped the page of her eBook and scooted her body in the opposite direction. Though it took a few more moments, she finally blocked Colin from her mind and escaped into her book.

The next thing she knew, a blanket dropped on her head. “Hey!” She looked up and Colin stood above her with a smirk on his face.

“Time to get up, sleepyhead.”

Had she dozed off? “What's this for?” She held up the blanket.

Colin reached down and pulled her up by the hand. “Take a walk with me.”

“You, me and a blanket? Sounds interesting.” She looked around. “Where's everybody?”

“Scott, Sarah and the kids left. Sarah didn't want to be rude, but I told her you needed your beauty sleep.”

“How long have I been out?” She shielded her eyes and looked out at the water.

Colin shrugged. “Maybe thirty minutes. Anyway, I thought you might like to see the sunset. There's a nice place down that way with the best view.” He pointed down the beach where fewer people sat.

Hope looked back at the picnic area and saw Kelly with Tim and his brother near the ice chest. “Where's Jason?”

“He's staying the night with his cousins.” He smiled. “So, it's just you and me.”

“And them, right?” She nodded in her friends' direction.

“Just us for now. I'm not watching the sunset with Tim.” He rubbed her shoulder. “Grab a jacket. It'll get chilly.”

She looked down and noticed he held two bottles of beer in one hand.

“For later.” He held out his empty hand. “You coming?”

“Okay. Let me just get my sweater and some shorts from my bag.” She ran off toward her beach bag and looked over her shoulder at Colin. He stared after her, looking absolutely sexier than she ever saw him.

Was this a good idea? Them alone? Watching the sunset? He knew what he was doing. She was sure of it. But she didn't know if she should go through with it. She shrugged on her shorts and eyed Colin standing alone waiting on her. He wore his blue board shorts, those dark sunglasses and his tan peeking behind a white t-shirt. Absolutely delicious. She'd be crazy if she didn't take that walk with him.

Kelly came to her side with a big smile. “Where are you going?”

“Oh, you know. Just a walk.” She pulled her sweatshirt over her head. “With Colin.”

“Good idea,” Kelly said in a bubbly voice.

“It's not like that,” she scolded, but stopped abruptly. Colin continued to wait patiently for her, lifting his shirt to scratch his tight stomach. “Okay. Maybe it is, but I won't ever know unless I go for it, right?”

“Just enjoy yourself, Hope. You haven't in such a long time.” Kelly pushed her toward Colin. “Get out of here.”

Once she stood next to Colin, she let her inhibitions go and decided to do what Kelly said. At least for the next hour.

“Ready?” Colin flashed one of his gorgeous smiles and tempted her with his dimples. “This way.” He nodded his head in the direction of a secluded area of the beach.

They walked for a few minutes. The laughter from the beach disappeared behind them, and Hope could hear Colin's breathing. Feeling anxious, she decided to break the silence. “Have you been planning this all day?”

He smiled at her. “Wish I could say yes, but I haven't. When I saw the sun going down, I remembered the list on your refrigerator. Watch the sunset at the beach.”

“You saw my list?”

“Yeah, when I was getting the glasses from your kitchen the other night.”

Hope narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips a little tighter. Was he spying on her now?

She should have known he could read her mind. “It really wasn't snooping. It's on your fridge, in plain sight.”

Her cheeks warmed. “So, now it's your goal in life to help me with my bucket list?”

“No, but if I can help, why not?”

“Next thing you know, I'll be calling you to take me bungee jumping.”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “So, that's what we're doing next weekend?”

She stopped. “You've done it, haven't you?”

He looked at her. “Actually, I haven't and I think it'd be fun to do it with you.”

She shook her head. “Bungee jumping is
not
on my list.”

“Damn, I really wanted to do it, too.” He laughed, grabbed her hand and walked again. “Are you offended I want to do stuff with you?”

“Of course not. I just wish you weren't so … so … ” She stopped again.

He pulled her to walk beside him. “Come on. Don't think too much. Just have fun.”

“I'm not used to having so much fun.” She huffed.

“You haven't tried any fun with me yet.”

“We did have fun on the boardwalk the other week.”

“Especially all that kissing.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

She laughed. “That was fun. But there's more to it than that.”

With a steady, lower-pitched voice, he answered. “Yeah. It is.”

They walked in silence again until they reached an ideal spot. There were rocks on one side and the ocean on the other. The people from the picnic area in the distance were small moving dots, and Hope and Colin could hear only the waves rushing to the shore.

Colin stopped and held out his hands. “Here we are.” He laid the blanket down on the sand, far enough away from the water so they wouldn't get wet, but close enough that the sand was damp. He laid his legs out in front of him and reached for her hand. “Sit down next to me.”

She sat and stretched her legs next to his. As the sun descended, it lit the clouds with crimson fire as pink, red and orange stretched across the sky. She reached her arms behind her and leaned her head back to see it all. The air had cooled and she could hear the surf — pure relaxation.

Colin twisted the bottles open and handed a beer to her. He took a swig of his. “This is the life. The ocean, a beer and a beautiful lady by my side.” He smiled at her and rested his arms on his knees.

Hope giggled and took a sip. “My third beer today. I don't usually drink this much.”

“Yeah, but it's been throughout the day. You can handle it.” He raised one eyebrow suggestively. “Now, scoot closer. I won't bite … unless you want me to.”

She turned down the right corner of her mouth in a mock frown as she moved closer. “You're too much.”

They sat leg to leg and the warmth of Colin's hard body quickened her pulse. She reminded herself that she knew what she was getting into by coming to a secluded area with him. She wanted to be alone with Colin, to feel him, to kiss him, but she had to take a deep breath, not quite ready.

He bumped his shoulder against hers. “It's just us, Hope. You don't need to worry what others are thinking. Just be you and I'll be me.” He held up his bottle. “To the sunset.”

“To the sunset.” She clinked her beer against his and smiled. They held each other's gaze for a moment before she turned toward the amazing sky.

The orange, yellow and pink colors shone onto the ocean, making it mirror off the water. The colors poured all around them and created peacefulness within her. A dream couldn't be this good.

Perfect.

That's what this was. The sunset, yeah, but Colin, too. That's what she tried to say earlier. Always a gentleman, funny, caring, a good father, a good friend.

Perfect.

She needed to get to know him better. Find some flaw. Then she wouldn't fall for him, which she was afraid already happened. “So, tell me about Beth.”

He cleared his throat and frowned. “I don't usually talk about her.”

“I'm just curious, but you don't have to.”

He sighed. “Well, you know she had a car accident. It was really hard on Jason.”

She fingered her bottle and looked at him. “How about you?”

“Of course it was hard.” He eyed her sideways. “But what no one knows is that a week before the accident, we had discussed divorce.”

She turned toward him. “Really? What happened? I mean, you don't have to tell me, but — ”

He grabbed her hand. “Our relationship wasn't as good as people might have thought. She resented me for working long hours. I won't deny it, because I did. And then we just grew apart. The time I spent home, I spent with Jason and she didn't like that, I guess.”

“Some marriages end up that way, I suppose. But you have to make sacrifices.”

“She didn't like it, although she knew what she was getting into. Her pregnancy was the best surprise we could get. I was entering med school at the time. Talk about the worst timing, but we decided to get married anyway.”

She squeezed his hand.

“Our personal relationship went downhill from there.” He sighed and rubbed her hand with his thumb. “When she died, I met her boyfriend at the hospital.”

Hope jerked. “I don't understand.”

“Yeah. I didn't either. That's where she was headed when the driver ran the red light and crashed into her car. To her boyfriend's house.” He let out a low laugh. “We all thought she took cooking classes three times a week, but she had been seeing this guy for a few months.”

She cupped his cheek. “I don't know what to say.”

Colin shrugged. “It's been two years, so I'm over it now.” He shook his head. “It made things harder at the time, but what can you do? Jason doesn't know, of course.”

“Yeah. I couldn't imagine him understanding.”

“No.” He touched his forehead to hers. “What is it about you that I can talk about anything? No one really knows the truth besides family.”

“I'll take that as a compliment.” She bit her lip.

“Definitely.” He leaned down and kissed her lips briefly. “I like this. It's been far too long since I've felt this.” He placed his hand on his chest.

She liked this, too. In fact, her body ached for more of his touch. Not knowing where this would lead, but knowing it was too good to pass up, she reached for his chest and pulled him in closer by his shirt. “I haven't felt like this in a while, either.” She brushed his lips and pushed her body closer to his.

Colin's arms tightened around her back. He pulled her in close and kissed her mouth, his hot lips demanding a response. His kiss sang through her veins, waking senses that had been asleep for too many months to count. She never thought she'd feel this again.

His lips left hers to nibble at her earlobe and his fast breathing puffed against her ear. A low mumble came from him and he laid back down. “I'm surprised by you, Ms. Robinson.”

She lowered her head and batted her lashes at him. “Well, you go around and say sweet things like that, it does something to a woman.”

His laugh rumbled through her chest. “Sweet? Don't go around saying that out loud.” Still holding each other, he gazed at her. “Now, it's your turn.”

“My turn to what?”

He let go of her and took a sip of beer. “You know. Share your story.” He looked in her eyes.

“I'm only twenty-nine.” She scooted back on her elbows and looked at the last orange streaks on the water.

“Yeah, but you're smart and sexy as hell, something most men look for in a woman.”

She bumped him with her shoulder. “There you go being sweet again.”

He put his bottle down. “Okay. Enough of the sweet calling. You're doing damage to my ego.”

“Sweet is good.” She smiled.

“You're changing the topic.” He reached over and swirled a piece of her hair in his finger. “Of course, you don't have to share if you don't feel comfortable. I get it.”

She looked at him. His eyes showed an understanding and she knew he wouldn't be upset if she didn't tell him. Honestly, she didn't feel comfortable talking about her love life. Yet Colin opened up without hesitation. She owed him.

“I've dated a bit.” She sat up and wiped her hands together to clean the sand off them. “Back in Virginia. But I did have what I guess you'd call a serious relationship when I was in graduate school.”

He sat up and laid his elbow on his knee so that he could face her. “Okay. So, what happened?”

“Vincent was a professor. I was his graduate assistant.” She sighed, embarrassed by the whole story. “One late afternoon I helped him grade papers in his small office. One thing led to another and … Well, you know.”