Page 9 of Beauty and the Beach

Chapter Five

The next day, Ana was hoping to get in her practice and be out of the fish tail by the time Makoa showed up. But he was early. An hour early. That was both sweet and unfortunate. She didn’t want him to see her struggle to get out of the fin. It was not very sexy and she wanted to make a good impression. Makoa was the first non-creep to ask her out and she thought about him all day yesterday.

“Aloha!” he called, paddling out on a gigantic yellow surfboard.

Ana had to laugh. Set up on the board were two lidded mugs and a tray of sushi. She didn’t think she’d ever had sushi for breakfast while floating in the ocean, but she was willing to try it. They pretty much had the beach to themselves. The life guards were far away and there were only a few other people in the water at this hour, but Ana made sure she was as far away from them as possible.

“This is so cool,” she said, hanging on to the end of the board so she didn't have to struggle to stay afloat

“I hope you like it. It’s ice tea and guava juice.” He handed her a mug.

She took a deep swallow. “It’s perfect, thanks.”

“I didn’t know what you liked so I got a whole bunch of things. I figured I couldn’t go wrong with California rolls, because that’s where you’re from. And they're stuffed with Alaskan king crab. That’s where your family is, right?”

“I’m so touched that you remembered,” she said and tried one. “Delicious.”

“My favorite is ahi poke.” He opened up a Tupperware container and handed her a pair of chopsticks.

She tried her best, but she was never any good with them. However, Makoa was patient and showed her how to hold her fingers. Even though he had large hands, he was surprisingly graceful and gentle. By the time everything was devoured, Ana felt like she could be halfway competent with the chopsticks.

“Let me put my board back and we can go for a swim.”

Before she could say anything, he paddled into a wave. She admired how he rode it back to the beach without even dumping the dishes.

“I wish I could ride a surfboard like that,” Ana said, when he came back.

Makoa tread water next to her. “You need legs,” he said apologetically.

She laughed.

“Let’s see if we can see some turtles.” He took her hand and then dove underwater.

Luckily, she had time to get a deep breath.

The water was crystal clear and as they made their way through the water, Ana was glad for all her breath training. She was beginning to think Makoa was half fish with how long they stayed down. Just as she was about to kick up to the surface, he pulled her up with him.

“Wow, you can stay down there a long time,” she marveled.

“I’ve been spear fishing since I was a little boy. Sometimes, you have to be patient and wait underwater.” With another deep breath, he dove again.