Page 67 of Taste of Surrender

“Of course, but also Jesse wanted to meet the guy I was going out with. Didn’t want to risk him trying to get a look at who I was with.”

Malachi sped up, and I laughed. A couple of miles later, he merged onto the 101.

“We’re not going to your place?” I asked, not remembering getting on the freeway the night before.

He laced his fingers with mine. “I know we can’t do the official date thing, but we could go to the beach and hang out.”

“You don’t think anyone will recognize you?”

“We should be okay a little south of here. Plus, I brought a hat and sunglasses.” He pointed to the ones on his face.

“Should I call you Superman?” I teased. “Or better yet, Clark Kent.”

“Nah. I like it when you scream my name.” He smirked and my dick twitched.

An hour later, Malachi exited the freeway and followed the signs to the beach. “I thought we could watch the sunset and then have dinner at a Hawaiian restaurant that’s supposed to be pretty good.”

“Sounds great to me.”

After finding a parking spot, we climbed out of the car, and Malachi grabbed a blanket from the backseat and put his hat on his head.

“Shit. Where did Malachi Danvers go?” I looked around playfully.

He laughed. “Whatever.”

As we made our way down to the water, I wanted to reach out and hold his hand, but I knew we were already taking a risk by being out in public. It was best if we didn’t do anything too obvious to show we were a couple.

It didn’t take long for us to find a place away from the other groups of people. Even though it was the beginning of summer, it was a bit chilly with the wind blowing, so it wasn’t as crowded as I thought it would be. We spread out the blanket and took a seat just as the sun started to descend.

“Wow, this is gorgeous.”

“It is,” Malachi agreed. “I think the beach might be my favorite part about living here.”

“Do you miss Boston at all?”

He looked at me. “I miss my family, but this feels like home too.”

Glancing around to make sure no one was watching us, I placed my hand over his and squeezed. “It seems like all of your dreams have come true.”

“They have now.”

My heart raced at the thought of what those words meant. “I wish I could kiss you,” I breathed.

“I don’t think anyone would notice,” he said before capturing my lips.

Although it ended sooner than I would have liked, I couldn’t think of a more romantic place to kiss him than the beach with the waves crashing and the sun setting in the distance.

We continued to watch the sun disappear below the horizon, enjoying the moment together. Once it was dark, Malachi folded up the blanket, and we began walking back to his car.

“Do you think you would ever want to live here?” he asked, catching me off guard.

“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

“What are your plans after the tour is over?”

I shrugged. “I was going to go back home, but …”

“But what?” We stopped next to his Mercedes.