His Forever Family by Sarah M. Anderson

Author:Sarah M. Anderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2015-01-08T16:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

Liberty paused at the top of the stairs, her hand on the railing that led down to the beach. She just stood there for a moment, her eyes fixed on some point way out in the ocean.

“Beautiful,” she murmured, turning a strange smile in Marcus’s direction.

“Yes,” he agreed, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her into a light hug. They needed to get going. They’d delayed arriving for the Beach Blanket Bingo party as long as they could. They were quickly becoming unfashionably late and that would create its own set of problems.

But he didn’t want to ruin this moment. Liberty was framed by the bright blue sky and the deep blue ocean. The salty breeze whispered softly through the sands on the private beach on Catalina Island, blowing the strands of her hair around her neck. He wanted to bury his face against her and let those hairs play over his skin.

No, he didn’t blame her for not hurrying down to the beach.

He looked down to where the party was in full swing. Even though it was only three in the afternoon and the sun wouldn’t set for hours, the tiki torches burned bright and the bonfire was already going. Easily a hundred people were lounging in the sand, getting drinks from one of the two bars that had been set up on opposite sides of the beach, or sitting around the bonfire. From this safe distance, it looked like fun. But he knew better.

He gritted his teeth and said, “Are you ready?”

She turned a quick smile to him, but he didn’t miss the glimmer of fear in her eyes. “There’s no going back, is there?”

“We’ll go down, make the bare minimum of polite greetings, and then we’ll hit the water, okay?” He pointed to where a cabana had been set up close to the water. “See all the boards? I’ll get you a paddle board and we’ll be out on the waves in fifteen minutes—twenty, tops. And most people aren’t out in the water. It’ll be just us.”

She took a deep breath. “I’m going to hold you to that,” she said, tugging her cover-up down over her bottom before she started down the steps.

“You look great,” he told her again. He’d been telling her that ever since they’d gotten on the plane early this morning because she’d been extremely nervous. She’d tried to hide it, but he’d seen right through her confident smiles and stiff shoulders.

She’d spent the plane ride with her hands glued to the armrest. She hadn’t said much of anything when they’d landed in Los Angeles to refuel and she’d said even less when they’d taken off to fly to Catalina Island, where Lillibeth’s wedding was being held on the private lands owned by the Wrigley family. Liberty had turned an unnatural shade of green when they’d landed on the tiny airstrip carved into the top of the highest point on Catalina four hours ago. He’d never seen a single person drink so much ginger ale at one time in his life.

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