Page 87 of Accidental Blind Date

I run towards the water and call out to him when his head pops up on the other side of the swell.

“Dax!” I whisper yell, then realize there’s no way he can hear me, so I actually yell. “Daxton! What are you doing?”

“I forgot to wear swim trunks!” he shouts back and I look around. Everyone on the beach, which is all of like ten people, are way out of earshot, speckled down the line of sand like thumbtacks on a map.

“And you couldn’t wear your shorts?”

“We aren’t in America! Nude beaches are quite popular in other countries. I read it online.”

“Yeah, I think that’s France.”

“Join me?”

I look around again. Like I’m fully expecting a family of four complete with beach blankets and a picnic basket and an umbrella to have just shown up right behind me.

“I’ll get in the water, but I’m not skinny dipping with you.”

“Come on! When in Rome!”

“We aren’t in Rome. We’re on a public beach.”

“Vacant of people. Also, you’re fucking beautiful, and no one is going to see anything anyways.”

“I’m a bad swimmer,” I argue. I am basically just looking for any excuse I can come up with at this point.

“You don’t have to be a good swimmer. The waves aren’t crashing. And the water is so salty here you just float. See?” Dax rolls onto his back and sure enough, without even moving his arms or legs, his body is just bobbing in the water. It is also funny how calm the waves are, just like he said. They don’t crash at all, they just roll.

This is beyond anything I’ve ever done. And yet…I’ve never been a shy girl. At least I wasn’t before Shane. And that very thought is enough to have me pulling the ties in my suit loose. I yank the whole thing off and hurry into the water before any of the far-off witnesses can see me. The water is surprisingly warm and yet refreshing. It feels utterly amazing after a long day of walking and shopping.

“What did I tell you?” he asks after I reach him. I was lying about the swimming part too. I’m a decent swimmer. But he was right about the salt. You hardly have to tread water at all to stay afloat.

“This is crazy,” I say.

“But you love it,” he says.

“Of course I love it. I’m skinny dipping in Costa Rica with a sexy man, what’s not to love?”

Dax grins and treads over to me, planting a kiss on my lips. Making out while treading in the ocean isn’t exactly easy but we do our best and with some success too. Though I will say, it does make staying afloat a little more difficult.

We decide to swim back, one so we don’t drown, and two so we make our dinner reservation at the seafood place. As we laugh and splash our way out of the water, suddenly I freeze.

“What is it?” he asks but then his head turns too. A group of people, most likely headed into town for the nightlife are headed down the beach. “Shit.”

“Dax!” I shriek. “What do we do?”

They’re getting closer and closer and even though it’s dusk and hard to see well, we are very much naked.

Dax looks at me. Then our clothes. Then at the people. Then grabs my hand. “Run!”

And so, we run. We run up through the sand, right in front of the people and grab our clothes. Then we bolt through the trees, stopping inside the cove.

“I don’t think they saw us, do you?” he pants. But I just stare at him and swat him with my dress, making him laugh.

“They saw us.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” he laughs harder. And before long, I am laughing too. And as we slip our clothes back on and make our way back onto the path that leads to the resorts, I wrap my hands around his arm and lean into him as we walk.

This man, this man who I thought would just be a one-night stand, only to find out he was actually my new boss, a boss that I couldn’t stand, is growing on me. Everything about him is so different, so much more charming, and warm and real than I’d ever imagined. As we walk, I realize that there’s nowhere I’d rather be. Not only that but there’s no one I’d rather be with. And as much as that scared me before, it doesn’t anymore.