California Waves by Bella Andre

Author:Bella Andre
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
Publisher: Carmel Oak Press
Published: 2024-05-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Mila had hoped that Herschel would turn up at her Saturday afternoon surf lesson, but she wasn’t very surprised when he didn’t.

Her students had already gone home, and she was slow to pack up, each wetsuit feeling heavier than usual. She’d never been like this with any other man, and it was dawning on her that maybe it was because no other man had so quickly meant this much to her.

She was so lost in thought that it took her several moments to realize that someone was calling her name.

When she turned, there was Hersch, a sheepish expression on his face. The relief was almost overwhelming.

“I missed the class, I know,” he said, gesturing toward the beach. “I thought I could do this, but then… Well, I kept finding reasons not to… and I was moving my things over to the new house. And then, well, I had a stern word with myself, and here I am. But I can see it’s too late.”

Mila was so happy to see him that she blurted, “No, we can still do this. We’ll start slow, okay? We’ll just get you into a wetsuit, and you can remember what it feels like to be in the ocean. Then you take the wetsuit off. That’s it.”

It hadn’t escaped her notice that Hersch had been admiring her body in her own wetsuit. She tried to keep her cool and focus on what a big deal this was for him to show up.

“Okay,” he said.

She got him a wetsuit and said, “I’m sorry they’re all wet from the lesson. It’s much harder to get them on.”

Hersch took the suit from her. “I’m used to wetsuits from my Ironman training.”

He began to unbutton his shirt. Hersch was even more buff than she had imagined. His skin was tanned and smooth, the muscles perfectly formed, and he was toned—so, so toned—she almost couldn’t believe it. It was like the man was carved from marble. When he unzipped his jeans to reveal his swim shorts, her breath quickened, and she wasn’t sure she could control herself. She longed to reach out and touch him.

But as she caught his gaze, she saw the fear in his eyes, and she vowed to keep her lust in check and give Hersch the support he needed to get back in the water. Even if it was exquisitely painful not to lean over and lick those muscles.

He pulled on the wetsuit, and she asked, “How does it feel to be back in a wetsuit?”

She could see Hersch was trying to steady his thoughts, and then he nodded. “It’s okay. It doesn’t feel as bad as I thought.” There was a pause, and he added quietly, “Maybe because you’re here with me.”

She let herself beam. “I can’t take the credit. This is all your courage. And it’s a great first step back to the water.” She allowed herself to touch him lightly on the shoulder.

After a tantalizing moment, Hersch said, “I didn’t mention this last night, but in one of your surfing videos, I saw you’d just won a championship, in Australia.

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