He pulled into a parking lot near a beach he used to frequent as a young boy, smiling at the food truck. It wasn’t the same one, but it still sold ice-creams.
They ordered double scoops and then stepped down onto the white sand. Both of them took their shoes off, swinging them as they walked.
“I can’t remember feeling so relaxed.”
“As kids, we used to spend hours playing here. At nights building fires, telling stories, getting up to mischief.” Fletcher shot her a cheeky smile. “I had my first kiss, just over there.” He pointed to a bank with some trees.
“You want to reenact it?” she teased, tugging on his hand.
Fletcher swallowed the last of his cone and licked his fingers. Then he pulled her against him.
“No. I want a new memory with you.”
Her teasing smiled faded as their eyes locked. The intensity between them was deepening and he knew he should stop, but no part of him wanted to.
Not for a second.
“Fletch.”
“Liv,” he said, quietly, deeply. His fingers brushed her red locks over her forehead, and he lowered his lips gently onto hers. Softly they moved, opening, gently swirling their tongues in a familiar and sugary embrace. When they should have separated, they didn’t. Her body sinking into his further and his arms tightening around her.
Their passionate kiss continued as the sun beamed down over them. The world simply disappeared.
All he could feel was warmth and Olivia.
She pulled back first, blinking.
“Damn you, Dufort.” She stared at his chest.
Fletcher didn’t need to ask what was wrong. He could feel it too. Right in his chest. A deep growing feeling that was both new and familiar.
He put his arm around her, kissed her forehead and then walked back up the beach.
Fletcher drove her around, showing her all his favorite childhood spots. Then they returned to the house.
He put the fairy lights on, and she did this little thing where her hand flew to her chest and then made all the noises to tell him she loved it.
It was selfish of him, but before he had to take her back to Manhattan, he wanted to have this moment with her. He poured them a drink and grabbed a throw blanket, leading her out onto the porch swing as the sun began to set.
She snuggled into his arms, and they sat silently watching the sky turn a mix of pinks he had no idea nature was capable of.
“I should be taking photos of this to show Sammy,” she said.
“Sometimes even moms need private memories of their own,” he said, and she turned her face to his so he could kiss her gently.
“I hate to say this, but you keep upping your romance game, so your reputation is completely destroyed. I may have to blackmail you myself to keep this secret.”
He grinned out into the night air, wondering how freaked out she’d be if he told her he’d never done anything like this in his life.
A lot, he imagined.
He’d never brought a woman here. Never even considered it.
Yet here he was with this beautiful woman.
Nothing had ever felt so right as it did now, holding Olivia in his arms. He was beginning to wonder if it wasn’t time to start fighting for her.
Because in this moment, he never wanted to let her go.