Page 13 of Blame It on the Bikini (Ocean Shores #4)

"You just said it was risky."

"And you just reminded me that there's little reward without risk."

She stared at him for a long minute, not quite sure why he'd made the offer, but she was going to accept before he changed his mind. "Okay. But if we find any gold coins, they're mine. You're already rich."

His smile parted his lips. "I say we split any reward. I'm not going treasure hunting without a stake in the find."

"We're not treasure hunting. I'm going to take photographs."

"Well, I'm going to look for treasure, because I can't imagine a better place to find something unexpected."

"You look way too excited now for someone who just said this was dangerous," she said with a smile.

"I still think it's dangerous, but I have to admit that it also sounds exciting."

She thought so, too, but it wasn't just the idea of exploring the caves that was exciting her— it was spending more time with him.

Saturday morning, Grayson checked his watch as he parked at the end of a dirt road that led to an overgrown hiking trail.

It was six-fifteen in the morning, and the sky was just beginning to lighten with the first hints of dawn.

Lexie had been quiet since they'd left Ocean Shores, and he didn't know if the past twenty minutes of silence was because she was still half asleep, was worrying about going into the caves, or had something to do with him.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked, peering through the windshield at the steep, rocky coastline that dropped precipitously to the beach, the vast ocean waves crashing onto the jagged rocks below with an intimidating force.

"According to the GPS, it is. The water looks like it's high."

"Hard to tell from here. We need to get closer." He gave her a look. "You don't have to do this if you're having second thoughts. I won't judge you."

"I'll judge myself if I back out before even giving it a try."

"Well, you can still change your mind at any point."

"I know," she said with a determined nod. "But for now, I'm going."

"And I'm going with you."

As they got out of the car, she grabbed her camera bag and hung it over one shoulder, with another camera hanging from a strap around her neck. "Two cameras?" he asked in surprise.

"One for digital, one for film. I doubt I'll ever do this again, so I want to cover all my bases."

"I'm curious. Did you take classes in photography or are you self-taught?" he asked as they headed down a dirt path.

"I took several classes because that's what I do when I'm interested in something. I research everything I can about it."

He bit back a smile, thinking that was something else they had in common, although he'd never wanted to know anything about photography. But he had a feeling he was going to learn a lot more about it in the next hour.

They made their way down the trail, which became more treacherous the closer they got to the beach. It was steep in places, with loose rocks and slippery dirt, which was probably slick from the constant spray of the ocean.

Lexie was ahead of him, but he stayed as close as he could as they slipped and slid a few times, reaching out to each other to steady themselves.

When they finally made it to the sand, the ocean was receding, leaving about eight feet of wet, sandy beach between the ocean and a jagged rocky, cliff with narrow openings that led into the caves.

Despite the outgoing tide, the waves still sent water back up the beach a little too close for his comfort, making him wonder what the hell he was doing.

He wasn't an adventurer or an explorer. He was good at boardroom negotiations, at selling, making money, growing a business, and none of that had left time for impulsive adventures like this.

As Lexie glanced back at him, he saw the same uncertainty in her gaze.

"Maybe this is a bad idea," she said.

"It could be," he admitted. "But…"

"But it could be amazing, and we're here, so we should do it, right?" she finished.

Her worried gaze clung to his, and despite his misgivings, he felt a compelling need to help her do what she'd come here to do. "Yes, we should do it."

The grateful smile she gave him warmed his entire soul. "Thank you, Grayson."

"Thank me when this is over."

Lexie glanced at her watch. "The tide should be out for another fifty-five minutes."

"Let's aim to be in and out in forty," he said, "so we have a fifteen-minute buffer. I'll set my alarm and keep us on track. I want you to focus on getting your photographs without worrying about the time."

"I appreciate that." She drew in a deep breath. "Let's go."

"After you."

Lexie jumped onto the sand and led the way toward the largest open crevice.

Before entering, she pulled a beanie from her bag.

It had a light attached to the front. She slipped it over her head, then turned on the beam, flashing it over the rocky walls.

He stayed close to her back as they stepped inside.

The air smelled of salt and seaweed, with an underlying hint of something more mysterious—the scent of dark, hidden places that were never completely dry.

"It's incredible," Lexie breathed, immediately pulling out her camera and adjusting the settings for the low light.

"And a little spooky," he muttered.

"That's true, but that's part of the experience. Look at how the rocks have been shaped and carved by the water that goes in and out." She started snapping photos while he turned on the flashlight on his phone as she moved deeper into the chamber.

"Don't go too far," he said.

"We have time," she said, continuing forward.

He knew they had time, but he felt reluctant to leave the entranceway.

He'd never had a problem with claustrophobia, but he'd never been in a cave before.

As he took a few more steps in her direction, he flashed his light off the walls, pausing when he saw a heart scratched into the rocks. "Look at this," he said.

She came back, snapping her camera at the heart, the initials that appeared to be a J and maybe an A or an E, but he couldn't quite tell.

"I wonder who they were," she said, tracing the initials with her finger. "And how long ago they were here. I wished they'd scratched out a date. It could be an interesting love story."

He smiled as her imagination took flight. "You're already making one up in your head, aren't you? It was probably just a couple of bored teenagers."

"Maybe."

"We'll never know." He checked his watch. "And we have got thirty-five minutes now. Let's keep going."

They moved down a narrow path, which suddenly widened into a chamber, perhaps fifteen feet wide and twenty feet deep.

The floor was a mix of sand and stones, with occasional pools of seawater swirling in deeper depressions.

The light grew brighter, too, and as they looked up, he saw cracks in the rocks where the morning sun was beaming through, adding a different kind of mysterious beauty to the location.

"Oh my God," Lexie whispered, her voice echoing slightly in the enclosed space. "This is amazing. There are so many details to see, all of them created by nature, by the sea."

She was right. In some places, the rock had been worn so smooth it looked like polished marble. In others, it maintained a rough, organic texture that spoke of violent storms and crashing waves.

"Look at this," Lexie said, pointing to a section of wall where the rock had been worn into what looked almost like a spiral staircase, though one meant for giants rather than humans.

The light from above created an almost cathedral-like atmosphere, and Lexie immediately began shooting photo after photo, adjusting her settings, her light, moving around to find the perfect angle, switching between digital and film.

As she lost herself in her passionate quest to find the right shot, the best detail, he checked his watch again.

Another ten minutes had flown by. They had twenty-five minutes to go.

He wanted to shout out the time, but her focus and concentration were on what she'd come to do, and he didn't want to get in the way.

He poked around a side path, wondering if it led into another cave, and saw that it ended with a smaller chamber.

Lexie caught up with him as he pressed forward, passing him by to see what was ahead. This smaller area was cooler and slightly darker, but something shiny caught his gaze, and he swung his light in that direction.

"Lexie," he said. "Look. Is that gold?"

"Seriously? You found a gold coin?"

"I don't think it's a coin." He pointed his light at a gold chain caught in a crevice in the rocky wall.

Lexie moved forward. "It's a necklace," she said, pausing to snap a few more photos before pulling the chain off a sharp, jagged piece of stone. "A locket," she said, holding it up to him. "Maybe it belonged to whoever carved their initials in the rocks."

"Or someone else," he said. "I'm sure many people have explored this cave over the years."

"It looks old." She struggled to open the gold locket, finally managing to flip it open. "There's a picture, but it has faded from the water and the air."

She handed it to him, and he took a look at the picture, not able to make out the features of the woman's face, but the locket still felt like a tangible connection to another time, another person who had been in this cave. "I hope this didn't belong to the person who died here."

Lexie frowned. "That's a morbid thought."

"You're the one who told me the story."

"Yes, but now I don't want to think about that. And I don't want to believe whoever owned this locket died here. I prefer to believe the locket fell off, and she lost it."

"It does look like the clasp is broken," he said, handing it back to her.

She slipped it into her pocket. "We'll take another look when we have better light."

"I'm going to check on the water level. Why don't you come back into the bigger chamber? The light is better there."

"I agree."