Summer on Lovers' Island (Jewell Cove 3)

After a while Josh took Lizzie’s hand. He didn’t want to leave. The afternoon had been too perfect. “We should probably go before we miss the tide.” He was reluctant to say the words.

“Mmm,” she replied. Despite their earlier swim, he could still smell the floral scent of her shampoo as she shifted her head.

He hadn’t brought her here with any expectation. If he had, he would have made sure to have brought a condom. But Lizzie was full of surprises. She was all business in the office, all professionalism and efficiency. He was starting to see that away from work she had an adventurous side … a side he couldn’t help but respond to. Like he had this afternoon. All it took was one kiss, one touch of her wet, warm body next to his.…

She’d been, quite simply, incredible. He still couldn’t believe he’d suggested a secret affair. That was so not his style. He’d never had a casual-sex kind of relationship in his life.

He tugged her to her feet, wishing the afternoon didn’t have to end. Together they packed up the picnic basket, and he shook off the sand stuck to the blanket before folding it and putting it in the pack. It was almost like the afternoon had never happened.

Except he could still taste her.

They made their way back to the dock, and he marveled at how easy it was to be with her. He didn’t feel the need to make pointless conversation, and the silence wasn’t awkward, either. They could just be. He didn’t feel the need to pretend or be upbeat. He stopped short, though, when he saw how far the tide had gone out. He’d tied up close to the top of the dock, which meant that right now his boat was sitting in about two inches of water and resting on wet sand.

“Oops,” Lizzie said, and he saw her raise an eyebrow.

“Looks like we’re going to have to wait,” he said, feeling completely stupid. He’d misjudged either the tide or the time or perhaps a bit of both. “I’m sorry, Lizzie. It was a dumb mistake on my part. I feel like an idiot.”

When she turned around, he was surprised to see a twinkle in her eye. “You know what this means, right?”

He lifted a shoulder. He had no idea what she was getting at.

“It means we can search for treasure.”

He grinned. “You didn’t actually believe all that claptrap, did you?”

“Why not?” She let her tote slide to her feet. “Did you make it up?”

“Of course not. But it’s all legend. The boys and I used to come out here all the time and we never found anything. It was just kids being kids.”

“So? That doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“You know, I’m starting to realize you’re very different away from the office.”

Her smile widened. “That’s the nicest thing you could have said to me. I think I forgot how to have fun over the last few months. Today kind of reminded me.”

If what had happened on the beach was her idea of fun … he was happy to help. Anytime. Because the truth was he hadn’t been that close to a woman since Erin had died. In fact, the months leading up to her death hadn’t been great for their marriage, either. He’d wanted a baby. Erin had seemed … distant. Before her last deployment, he’d learned why.

He’d found the birth control pills.

But he didn’t want to think of that today. Not now, when it felt like he and Lizzie were the only two people in the world. He went to the boat and put the cooler and pack inside. “Come on, then. We can leave our stuff here. Let’s walk. Who knows, maybe we’ll find something.”

“Great!”

She looked almost girlish as she put her tote in the boat and turned around to face him. She’d put her damp, tangled hair in a messy sort of topknot with only an elastic—how did women get so talented at things like that anyway? Her eyes were bright and impish, her smile easy.

She was absolutely stunning.

“Come on. Let’s head to the other side of the island. If someone was going to hide something, I’m guessing it would be there. Way more nooks and crannies rather than sandy beaches.”

He held out his hand.

She took it.

It felt strange and pleasant and a little adolescent to climb the dirt path hand in hand. He led the way, away from the sand and marsh grass up over a hill, where scrubby brush dotted the landscape along with knobby, uneven rocks. Farther along they encountered evergreens and lusher grass, but that was short-lived. The island was small, a rocky dot in an otherwise endless sea. They stopped at the crest of a hill and looked out. “What do you think?” he asked.

She let go of his hand, took a deep breath, and turned in a circle. “You can’t see land anywhere. How can that be, when we could see it from the top of Blackberry Hill?”

“It’s not as far as it seems.” He pointed. “Look. Right there, see that darker line? That’s the coastline. The haze today is hiding it a little, but on a perfectly clear day you can see it better.”