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Charlene had gotten a kick out of Ethan calling her to make sure she knew he was held up not because he was still having a good time at his retirement party but because he had some real trouble.

She appreciated it, but she also was certain he could get there on time, despite the problems he was dealing with for now.

She finished making a tuna salad and sat down on the patio to eat it at the table where she had a view of the bay.

The deck was a little bigger than at her grandfather s cottage, but it had the same pretty views of the water, the seagulls, the waves striking the rocky shoreline.

Steps led down to a private beach like at his place, which made it just as special.

Trees along the cliff provided a woodland setting.

It was a hotter June day than usual at seventy-eight degrees, but a breeze swept off the water and made it feel cooler.

Normally it would have been only a high of seventy and a low of fifty, perfect for running as wolves tonight.

She loved this place. She hoped Ethan would want to go for a run later with her tonight.

The sun would set around nine so she figured they would have dinner, and he could return home and then meet up with her later.

She assumed he would want to get settled into his own place.

She finished her lunch and put her empty dish in the dishwasher. After that, she checked the tidal schedule to ensure that she didn t get caught when the tide came in and made sure she had a good two hours to explore.

She wore jeans and a pair of waterproof hiking boots suitable for rock climbing and her windbreaker, tucking a bottle of water and a first aid kit in a backpack and her cell phone into her windbreaker pocket.

Then she locked up her place and left her deck to take a walk down to the beach.

At first, the beach was sandy, but she wanted to make her way to a hidden cove—a small, sheltered bay that tourists couldn t see from the cliffs and most locals didn t know about.

It was tucked away between rocky structures that formed a jagged semicircle.

That was part of the reason she had bought the house.

Little tidal pools were filled with sea life, looking like tiny sea aquariums. She knew never to turn her back on the ocean because sneaky waves and the undertow could be a real danger.

Then she got a call on her phone and fumbled to pull it out of her windbreaker pocket, nearly dropping it in the tidal pool, She saw it was Ethan on the caller ID and chuckled.

She guessed he really needed a friend in Oyster Bay.

Hey, I wanted to call you to tell you that I m on my way again.

Good. I hate it when I get a nail in my tire, but three tires at once? That s awful.

The wolf pack members are great. They helped me take care of it.

That s great.

Is that the ocean I hear in the background?

She took a deep breath of the sea air. Yes, I m just taking a walk to check out some of the tidal pools.

I can t wait to do that too. Just watch out for rogue waves.

Right. We could do this sometime, and I thought we could take a run as wolves later tonight after dinner, if you would like. She thought it would be even more fun to do with another wolf.

Yeah, that would be great. I would love to do that. I ll let you go. You need to be careful on those rocks. The seaweed and plant life can be slippery, and you could fall and break a leg.

Thanks, I ll see you later. She was being careful to step on only bare rocks and not on top of any of the plant life that was exposed when the tide went out.

Other areas were covered in mussels and barnacles that were now closed up.

In the water she saw fish, a crab, a green anemone, and even colorful sea slugs.

She was taking pictures of all of them, planning to eventually frame them and put them on her home s walls and in her rental units.

She had been out there for quite a while and was cautiously making her way across the craggy rocks to another tide pool.

She saw some pretty coral there and snapped some more shots.

She was searching for more tidal pools when she saw a wave coming in and braced herself.

It splashed across her boots, and she realized the tide was coming in.

It was time to get herself back to the beach and up to her place.

Except for the waves and the intermittent cry of a seagull, it was really quiet out here, no people anywhere. It was just lovely.

Time just flew while she was out there, and it wouldn t be long before Ethan arrived for dinner. She was really looking forward to it, more so than she thought she would. Despite the reason they had met, knowing a fellow red wolf was welcome.

She headed up to her home and unlocked the door and got another call from Ethan. Hey, did you get more nails in your tires?

He chuckled.

She liked a guy who could see humor in a sore subject.

I ll be there on time. I m nearly there.

Oh, you re early.

I promise I didn t speed too much.

She laughed. Where are we going to eat?

The Seabreeze Restaurant, he said.

She found it on her computer. That was a really nice restaurant.

She would wear a skirt. Okay, I ll be ready.

That sounds great. As soon as they finished talking on the phone, she hurried to go through her clothes and finally picked out a breezy boho skirt and a long-sleeved peasant blouse.

She quickly pulled off her hiking boots and stripped down to her bra and panties, then dressed in the skirt, blouse, and a pair of high-heeled sandals.

Oh, and she needed to brush her hair and redo her makeup.

She was all ready when her doorbell rang. She hurried to get it, but when she opened the door, she didn t see Ethan as she had expected, but a man delivering a vase of a dozen red roses. From Ethan? What a sweet gesture.

She thanked the deliveryman and signed for the flowers, then took them into her house and set them on her dining room table. She read the card and it said, From a secret admirer.

She frowned. She would have thought Ethan would just sign his name to it. A few minutes later, her doorbell rang again, and this time, she was delighted to see it was Ethan. And he was carrying a vase of two dozen red roses.

Wow, he said. Just the way he looked at her and what he said made her feel like a million bucks, and she loved it.

She hadn t dated since she moved to Portland after the tumultuous relationship she d left behind in Destin. Noah had never looked at her like Ethan did, not in the eight months she had dated him. Never had he brought her flowers. So this was welcome.

Ethan was dressed in a long-sleeved, button-down collared shirt, nice trousers, and dress shoes and looked divine. He handed her the vase of roses and smiled.

She smiled back. Thank you so much. Then she carried the vase into the house and set the flowers on the table next to the others. They were beautiful.

He glanced at the other flowers and frowned. It looks like someone else beat me to it.

Yeah, my secret admirer. I had hoped that they were from you.

He looked over the card from her secret admirer like a police officer would who was on the job.

I have no idea who it could be from. I don t know anyone in the area. She was glad she had dressed up for dinner since Ethan had.

He led her out to his car and got the door for her.

You know, she said, I wouldn t have eaten without you if you had been delayed later than the specified time.

His expression lit up. Seriously?

Yeah, but only because I felt sorry for you for the nails in your tires and that you were so worried you wouldn t make it in time for dinner.

He chuckled. I had no idea. I really figured you would stick to your guns.

She sighed. Well, you re trying so hard to make it up to me for raiding my rental house. I give you an A for the effort.

Thanks. He got into the driver s seat and headed for the restaurant. Do you want me to look into who your secret admirer is?

She smiled. Sure. If a guy wants to pursue me, I want to know who it is. Otherwise, it s creepy.

Yeah, that was my thought too, especially since you re not from here and don t know anyone yet.

But now that you are retired, can you investigate something like that?

I still have friends on the force, so yeah. Adam or Tori would check into it for me in a heartbeat.

Oh, great. So I haven t looked to see where your home is located.

About a mile from yours. I could actually take a run to get here.

She smiled. You didn t raid the rental home I was staying at in a unique way to meet me, did you?

He laughed. Yeah, that was it. I wish I d been that clever.

She smiled. She was glad he was going to look into the person who had delivered the flowers anonymously.

She didn t need a stalker bothering her when she was starting over here, and she was relieved she had a wolf who could help her if she had any real trouble with someone.

It was disconcerting that she had this new, weird mystery.

She had just wanted to enjoy her time with Ethan.

When they arrived at the seafood restaurant, it had other dishes too—steaks, burgers, and even pizza.

They walked in, and she was so surprised that Ethan had been thoughtful enough to make a reservation for them, which she so appreciated.

Noah was a wing-it guy and never made reservations.

If a place was too crowded, they just left and ate somewhere else.

He would never wait in a long line for anything, and he would never plan a date in a way that really showed he cared.

The place was packed, so it was good that Ethan had made a reservation, or they could have been stuck waiting for dinner like a whole line of people were doing, sitting on benches outside. At least the weather was nice, the breeze from the Pacific Ocean cooling things down further.

The restaurant had miniature trees covered in fairy lights in various locations to give it a festive outdoors appearance.

The walls were covered in whitewashed wooden panels, above blond wooden floors.

All the booths and chairs were covered in aqua-blue vinyl and sea-glass walls between booths gave patrons more privacy.

Large pictures of sea creatures from octopuses to sharks and sea turtles hung on the walls.

She loved the color scheme and the decorations.

They ended up with a front-row seat overlooking the ocean, which would be divine for a view of the sunset on the water while they ate their dinner. This couldn t have been more romantic.

The server brought them a bottle of champagne and a couple of glasses, and Charlene s jaw dropped. For a moment, she was afraid it was from her secret admirer, but Ethan nodded to the wine steward, and he poured their champagne for them.

When the steward left their table, Ethan reached his golden bubbling glass of champagne out to Charlene s, and they clinked them in a toast. To new and much better beginnings, he said.

I second that. She drank some of her champagne.

Wow, when he wasn t trying to take down bad guys, Ethan was truly chivalrous. She was glad she could see him in a whole different light, and she was truly glad he was no longer working as a DEA special agent.