“I’m sorry to hear that. How many siblings do you have?” she asked.
“I’m the oldest of thirteen. I have eight brothers and four sisters.”
“Wow. That’s a really big family.”
“To be fair, only a few of us are my mom’s. My dad, well, he had a few wives and several children with each consecutive wife. It’s just the way it was. I don’t condone his lifestyle. I’ve just accepted it.”
“I get it.” She did. Even though her parents were still together, many of her friend’s parents were divorced, and she saw firsthand how it affected them.
“What about you? What’s Emmy’s life like?”
“I’m a pretty boring person. I’m an only child. My parents are still together. Up until a couple of months ago, I was engaged. Now, I just need to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life.”
“That makes sense. What kind of work do you do?”
“I’m a writer,” she said with a good bit of hesitancy. No matter what, people always made fun of her job. She always heardI always wanted to write a book. Or something equally as stupid. Her personal favorite wasyeah, but that’s not really a job.That’s just a hobby.
Very few people took her career choice seriously. It used to bother her, but not anymore. She usually just walked away from the naysayers. They weren’t worth the time or stress. It took her years, but she finally realized that some people were stupid, and it wasn’t her job to educate them. She was a writer, not a fucking teacher.
“Oh, yeah. What do you write?” he asked.
“Books.” She left it at that, waiting to see what his response was.
“Wow. That’s fabulous. Good for you. I always admire people who have the ability to do that. I can’t imagine that it’s easy to be that creative on a regular basis.”
How about that? She was shocked by his response. “Yeah, it’s not.” Time to really test him on the subject. “I write romance books, and I haven’t been able to write a single sentence since I broke things off with my ex.”
“I can see how that might mess with your creativity. It would be hard to write romance when you’re going through one hell of a breakup.”
“Exactly.” Color her surprised again by his response. He never once made fun of the fact that she was a romance writer or a writer in general. His answers were truly refreshing.
“I think your job is really cool, though,” he said.
“Me too. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I love it. Well, I did when the words used to flow so easily. Hopefully, this trip will help me to break through this block that I seem to have.”
“Believe in yourself. It will come back to you. I’m sure of it.”
His words were sweet and encouraging. If only she had more people like him in her life. People that believed in her and her abilities.
“Thanks. I sure hope so.” She paddled around a bit more before pausing to look up at the moon. “We should probably head back soon since you’re making us get up so early tomorrow. I don’t want to spend the whole day miserable because I didn’t get enough sleep,” she said with a yawn.
“I suppose you’re right. Five a.m. does come awfully early.”
Just as they were swimming closer to shore, a large wave crashed into them, knocking Emmy off her feet and pulling her under. She rolled several times in the waves. Just as a rush of panic set in, she felt a pair of arms around her, pulling her out of the current.
“I’ve gotcha, babe,” Kingston said, scooping her up out of the water and carrying her to the beach.
“Thanks,” she said as she coughed. “I really wasn’t expecting to get hit with a wave like that.”
She shuttered to think what would have happened if Kingston hadn’t been standing right there. It wasn’t that Emmy was a bad swimmer, she wasn’t, but the rip current that caught hold of her was no joke. She was fighting with all of her strength to break free, but she still couldn’t do it. It was almost as if something or someone had a hold of her leg. It was the strangest, creepiest thing. Surely, she had been imagining it, right? After all, there was no way someone could have been there, waiting to attack her in the water.
“It’s my fault. I should have warned you that we do get a few wicked waves here and there. I should have prepared you for the possibility. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. I’ve been in the ocean before and know how waves work. I should have been more careful,” she said, grabbing her dress and tossing it over her wet undergarments.
She tried like hell to keep her eyes on the ground when Kingston grabbed his clothes and threw them on. Geesh, the man looked like pure sex. The way each of his muscles rippled with each move he made had heat pooling in her core. It had been months since she had been a man, and her body was reminding her of that very fact.
Kingston’s nostrils flared as he yanked his T-shirt down over his chest. His golden eyes met hers and seemed to glow for an instant before flashing back to normal. She had to have been seeing things, right? No one’s eyes did that. Unless …