Her big, beautiful brown eyes flashed with enthusiasm and she gripped my hand tighter.
“But if you are scared of breaking the law—”
“Shut up and show me!” she laughed, tugging my arm.
“Okay, Rachel,” I smiled, feeling like the luckiest man in the world. “Come on.”
Chapter Two
Rachel
My heart was soaring as I raced through the shadows of the trees, clutching the strong, callused hand of the dreamy Green Harbor fisherman boy who’d come into my life just when I needed him most.
I’d only been half joking when I told him I was here getting away from the pressures of my life. Coming from a family like mine, a family “of means” (aka a wealthy family), pressure was all there was.
Sure, I had a Mercedes, a huge house with my own wing and a small staff who cooked and cleaned for me, but I also had a father who worked seventy hours a week and when he was home was entertaining business clients in his smoking room and a mother who only seemed to care about how I reflected on the family.
My grades were of the utmost importance. Anything less than an A- and I lost my “privileges,” which meant my car, my money and any help from the staff or any entertainment in the house. Basically I just had to sit in my room and study until the next test.
On top of that, I was expected to show up at every family party and event with a smile on my face, looking like I belonged at the Oscars. No matter what my mood, I had to smile and present myself as the perfect daughter that loved being part of high society.
I dressed how my mom wanted me to dress, dated guys she approved of, and if she had her way, would end up marrying one that she and my father agreed would be a good match for me.
And that meant some rich guy, probably Caleb Norman, who was from a family whose business interests aligned with those of my father. It was no surprise that Titanic was one of my favorite movies, and I couldn’t help but feel like Rose as I ran together with Jay past lobster traps and shadowed trees as the sun set over the sea.
“This way,” he whispered, pulling me towards a long hedge of wild roses. He knelt down and I saw a hidden path leading into a cramped tunnel under the bushes. “You’re gonna have to get that dress dirty, Rachel. That is, if you want to see my secret spot.”
“I may look like I’ve never crawled around in the dirt before, Mr. Cousins,” I retorted as I rolled up my dress and got down on my knees beside him. “But I assure you—I will not break.”
Jay’s beautiful blue eyes flashed as he looked at me with an approval that warmed my heart. He was devastatingly handsome and I was practically swooning from the moment I saw him. There was simply no comparison between him and the prep school boys I was used to.
They all relied on their parents—used their money, connections and influence to get what they wanted, but Jay was an orphan who worked on his own and made his own living and seemed to be thriving.
Jay smiled and got down and began to crawl through the tunnel beneath the hedge. I followed closely after him, not minding the fallen thorns that scraped my knees or the dirt surely ruining the brand new dress my mother had picked out for me to wear tonight at her party.
That would be beyond boring. This was the most alive I’d felt in years, and when we emerged on the other side of the hedge, I couldn’t help but gasp.
“Welcome to my secret spot,” Jay said.
It was magic.
A small, hidden bay lay before us, arms of shale rock wrapping around the gentle, peach-colored waves like strong arms. A tall tree stood on the shore amidst the pines with a bench made from driftwood and logs at the base of its trunk. A thick branch stretched out over the water with a tire swing hanging beneath it, drifting lazily in the wind.
I was suddenly acutely aware of being alone with Jay, as though we were the only ones alive in the world, and even though I’d only just arrived—only just met him—knew that I could have stayed there forever.
“It’s beautiful, Jay…”
“Like you.”
His response shook me and I turned to him in surprise. I hadn’t been expecting that at all. I’d seen the way he was looking at me, of course, and he must have seen the eyes I was giving him, but I’d never met a guy who just spoke so freely.
“I—excuse me?” I replied. I didn’t know what else to say.
“Like you, Rachel,” he said, stepping close to me and taking my hand again. “You’re beautiful. I haven’t been able to take my eyes off you since the moment I saw you sitting on the beach back there.”
I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to him. Our lips met and my entire world turned upside down.
It was only the second kiss of my life—my first being with Timmy Jenkins when I was seven—and my heart rate soared as his strong arm held me close and we embraced beneath the twilight.