Page 13 of Fighting Fate
“Another beach?” He glanced down at her with a grin. “I’ve even got a handkerchief in my pocket to offer you this time, if you feel like having another crying jag.”
“Ho, ho.” She nudged his arm lightly with her shoulder. “I refuse to cry another tear over a man who, as you said, doesn’t recognise how awesome I am.”
“That’s the spirit,” Adam encouraged.
“Because damn it, I deserve a man who sees me,” Rosie warmed to her theme. “I deserve to be admired and treasured.”
“You definitely do.” They’d reached the edge of the sand and Rosie paused to take her shoes off; Adam let go of her hand to do the same, stuffing his socks into them, before they walked down across the still-warm sand towards the edge of the sea, quiet now with soft wavelets just lapping at the sand.
“The water’s still warm!” Adam discovered as he got his toes wet. Rosie chuckled, hanging back.
“Well, yes. The sea temperature doesn’t really change day to night here, since it’s so shallow. I’d stay out of it, though. It’s stinger season.”
Adam sighed a little wistfully, but he left the water and came back to where Rosie was just sitting down on the sand, sitting down next to her before surprising her by suddenly flopping down on his back and resting his head on his hands.
“Stars are bright tonight,” he observed. “I’m loving seeing the stars again. There was way too much light pollution in LA.”
“I don’t remember when I last just lay back and looked at the stars,” Rosie said, suddenly finding that quite sad.
“Here. Put your head on my shoulder so you don’t get sand in your hair.” Adam put his hand on her arm lightly, and without even thinking about it, she shifted to lie at a slight angle to him and lay back, resting her head on his thickly muscled shoulder.
“Wow,” she whispered, awestruck. Even though they were just a short walk from lit buildings, Hamilton Island didn’t have enough light pollution to really affect the stars. The sky looked like an upturned bowl of midnight blue speckled thickly with bright white.
“Amazing, huh?” Adam’s voice rumbled through his chest, a deep vibration through her ear, and she was suddenly very aware of him as a man, of a warm, slightly spicy scent enveloping her as she lay on him.
Honestly not quite sure what to do with her sudden awareness, Rosie just lay quietly and gazed at the stars, listening to the music coming from the yacht club and Adam’s steady breathing, until her phone beeped in her purse.
“What’s that?” Adam asked as she sat up to fish it out.
“Time to head back to catch the boat, or we’ll be sleeping on this beach tonight.” Tucking her phone away, she pushed herself up to her feet and dusted at her sandy legs, sighing as the fine sand clung to her. “Ugh, the sand on these beaches is beautiful, but so sticky!”
“Like powdered sugar,” Adam agreed, getting up with a grace remarkable in such a big man. He didn’t seem too worried about it, though, just wiping his hands on his pants and giving them and his shirt a light shake. “Don’t think I’ll bother putting my shoes back on, though. I don’t like sand in my socks.”
Rosie didn’t put hers back on either, just carrying them in one hand, and as they walked back up the beach, Adam’s strong fingers curled around hers again.
This time, she turned her hand and threaded her fingers with his. He glanced down at her once, a smile curving the edges of his lips upwards, before looking forward again.
Despite the height difference between them - he towered a clear foot above her, maybe even a little more - he moderated his pace to walk comfortably beside her.
The pavement scraped Rosie’s feet as they crossed back over from the sand, but she ignored the slight discomfort. She spent plenty of time padding about barefoot anyway, all her off-duty hours. She had tough feet, and she guessed Adam’s were probably a lot tougher. Don’t MMA fighters fight barefoot?
“Is that the boat?” Adam asked, and she looked up and nodded before seeing the large crowd of people on the dock and saying;
“Oh, crap.”
“Is there a problem?”
“No, I just forgot there was a charter flight due in tonight. About a hundred guests are due to go over and check into the resort.”
“Will there be room for us on board?” Adam queried.
“Yeah.” Rosie wrinkled her nose regretfully. “Unfortunately there will also be several of my colleagues.”
“Ah. Do you need to pretend you don’t know me? That deckhand kid did see us together earlier…”
“Yeah, but he’s too scared of me to gossip.” Rosie flashed him a quick grin. “It might be best if we board separately.”
“Got it. You go first, then. I’ll come along in a minute.”