“Come on.” She tugged on his arm. “It’s just over here.”
They followed Chase and Ophelia until the couple slipped between what must have been a space in the rocks. His eyes widened. If you hadn’t known the entrance was there, a person might just miss it. “How fun,” he said, picking up the pace.
The moment they stepped inside, the noise of the ocean calmed, the rocks blocking the sound. The rock wrapped about them, with only a tiny opening, creating an open-ceiling room that had to be twenty feet wide and fifteen deep with a soft sand floor.
“Do you like it?” she asked, pulling on his arm again. “As children it was our favorite place in the world and we’d spend hours here playing pirates or princesses or acting out some Shakespearean play.”
He looked around. “It’s breathtaking.”
Ophelia laughed as she spread out the blanket. “Juliet was most always the princess or the hero of our stories.”
A blush filled Juliet’s cheeks again as her arms dropped to her sides. She was so obviously embarrassed by this trait of hers. “And who was the villain…wait let me guess.” He tapped his chin. “Certainly not Cordelia. She’s too quiet. And not Bianca…too sweet.”
Both sisters stared at him but Juliet raised her brows. “Go on.”
He was getting it right. “Ophelia was likely your director.”
Ophelia gasped, “How did you know?”
He chuckled and Chase rolled his eyes. “My cousin is an uncanny observer.”
Dane gave them a wicked smile. “That means Adrianna was most definitely your villain and her choice of Lord Crestwood as husband makes a great deal more sense.”
The entire group laughed and Juliet stepped up next to him again, looking up at him with a soft smile. It made him want to stroke her cheek with the back of his fingers. “And what do you think of my sister, Juliet?” Ophelia asked, her eyes twinkling.
“I already told her. I think she is a sparkling gem, an emerald, I’d wager.”
“Emerald?” she whispered, her eyes growing a bit glassy.
“Diamonds are too cold. But emeralds…” He stopped before he exposed too much about his desire for her.
* * *
Juliet could barely catch her breath. He thought of her as an emerald? The beauty of the compliment was nearly as good as the kiss had been. “Thank you,” she murmured, turning away. For some reason, looking at him hurt a bit. It made her heart beat faster and her chest ache.
“Shall we hunt for shells before we eat?” Ophelia asked.
Juliet shook her head. “Let’s eat now. The tide is rising quickly.”
They settled into a very pleasant picnic. Juliet tried to remember a more pleasant time. She was having a picnic with a handsome man who’d called her a warm, sparkling gem and he’d kissed her. She wasn’t certain how to tell him that she didn’t need a marriage proposal. That his attention today had filled her with the sort of reassurance she’d been longing for. She needed to know she wasn’t just an annoying nuisance, irritating her sisters, barely tolerated by Dashlane. With Dane, she felt wanted, liked, special.
She gave him a small smile as Chase regaled them with a tale from their childhood. “And there I was, stuck waist-deep in the mud. Dane had to climb in too to pull me out.”
Ophelia laughed. “I can see I’ll have my work cut out for me, keeping you out of trouble.”
Dane chuckled too. “I shall help you, Miss Moorish, and I’ll be glad to share the burden. Now if I could just find a husband for Charlie.”
They all laughed and Juliet looked away, once again overwhelmed by all the feelings swirling inside her. But her gaze cast to the entrance of the cave. “Oh dear,” she murmured. “The tide is in and it’s about to enter our hideaway.”
Ophelia cried, scrambling to her knees. “It never comes this high.”
They quickly rose and began cleaning up all of their belongings. Juliet started for the opening when she stopped. The water blocked most of the beach. “We’re going to have to get wet to make it to the path.”
Without hesitation, Chase swept Ophelia into his arms. “Not on my watch,” he called and swept past them.
Before Juliet could even mouth the question, strong arms lifted her and then Dane pressed her to his chest. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll get you safely to the path.”
Her entire body heated as her bosom and stomach pressed against him. She’d never been next to a man like this. “Oh,” she gasped as his boots splashed into the frothy water. “Your Hessians will be ruined.”