Last Heartbeat (19 page)

I smile at him and take a good look at what I will be seeing today at the beach. He is something out of a magazine, even with his scar. I twitch my eyes at him. “Looks like we have a tie. We both must really want to hit the beach soon. Let’s get out of here quick so I can work on reading my book.”

He looks at me like he is hungry and grins. “I think I might have beaten you by a little bit because I had to cross the hall. I will let that slide for a tie for now since I get a treat and seeing you in this cute bathing suit. This one-piece is sexy on you. I was hoping for a bikini. A teensy one.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you and for not wearing a bikini. I don’t like wearing them. I feel more comfortable like this. I don’t own a bikini either.” I give him a smile. I am sad to see that he is disappointed. I have to wear a one-piece suit to cover my ugly scar and it is too long to cover it up with a bikini.

“It’s okay. I think you are perfect in this bathing suit. All your curves are in the right place and keeping them covered up makes me want to see what is under the suit. Mystery is what makes my blood boil. Lets hit the beach before I want to put my hands all over your sexy body. I will grab the beach bag that is in the hall closet that has the towels and lotion in it.”

Phillip kisses my cheek and walks out to the hall. I still need to tell him the truth and the real reason I can’t wear a bikini. Who would want to see my ugly scar? I have learned to appreciate it because of what it means to me. It means a second chance of life, and I am grateful, but most people would look at my like I have a deformity on my body.
Quit feeling sorry for yourself and go have fun with Phillip
, I think to myself. I go out in the hall and Phillip looks up from the bag.

“Looks like everything is still in here and ready to go. Do you want me to grab some bottles of water and snacks to take with us?”

“Yeah, that would be great. Can I put my book in the bag?”

“Sure. We have plenty of room. Here is suntan lotion. You might want to put it on now before you get sand on your body.” He hands me the lotion.

“Thanks. That is a great idea. I will need help with my shoulders and back. Will you help me? I will do yours too.”

“Of course I will help you. Any time I get to touch you, I look forward to it. I will grab the snacks and then rub you down.”

I lotion up while he finishes up putting things in the bag. As I finish with my second leg and start to put it down, he grabs it. “You missed a spot here.” He begins rubbing my calf. I know I didn’t miss that spot, but telling him to stop is out of the question. It felt so good. I might have moaned a little and I blush.

He grins that sexy grin at me. “Does that feel good that I am putting lotion on your leg?”

“It does when you do it. I’ve never had anyone rub my leg with lotion before and I believe you covered it.” He keeps rubbing and smiling. “I think my shoulders need lotion on them.”

He lets go and puts lotion in hands, goes straight to my shoulders, and starts rubbing them. I lean closer to him, and I can’t help myself for enjoying the moment. He keeps on rubbing, and I lean even closer to him so that my butt is right against him. Then I feel how much he likes it too. I move away quickly and he laughs at me.

He pulls me back to him so I am touching his body and whispers in my ear. “You do this to me every time I am around you. Don’t doubt how you make me feel. I want you really bad. I am being a gentleman and will wait on you to be ready. Remember you do this to me. Let’s get out of here before I lose control.” He lets go and moves away from me. I feel at lost and miss him already. What is happening to me? I never have felt this way before around any guy.

I walk over and kiss him on his check. “Come on big boy and show me how you ride those waves.” I walk toward the door and hear him growl. I smile to myself and I don’t turn around because I might not get out the door. I want him as much as he wants me and I better get outside now. I’m still smiling when I get to the elevator. Phillip catches up to me as the doors open.

He pulls me up next to his body and whispers in my ear, “I will show you how I ride the waves. You can see how smooth I can be.” He lets go of me and I giggle. The doors open up on the ride down and Phillip’s neighbor gets on the elevator. Phillip smiles at him. “Good morning, Jack. How are you on this fine day?”

Jack smiles, “Oh I’m doing good. Looks like your doing better than me.” The doors open and out Jack goes, smiling and shaking his head.

I look at Phillip as we get off and he has the biggest grin on his face, “He is right, I am doing better than him.” He grabs me and kisses me in the lobby. Then he takes my hand and out the door to the beach we go.

I put my sunglasses on as soon as the bright sun hits my face. Today at the beach is going to the best ever and I can’t wait, until I see Phillip out over the water riding the waves. I doubt that I will even get to read my book. We stop at the same cabana we used last night when we walked on the beach. “This is our cabana and we can leave our stuff here and go do whatever we want. No one will bother our stuff here.” He lays out our towels on the chair and pulls his shirt off.
Holy Wow
! The sun shining on him and that makes Phillip look like a God. His body is ripped and tanned all over. How in the world am I going to keep my hands off him? What has gotten into me all of the sudden? All I can think of is this sexy guy and his body on mine. Glad I put my sunglasses on or he would know I am staring at him. I am even enjoying the view.

“Well if you don’t want to hit the waves with me, how about I take a chair next to the water so you can be closer to me?”

“Yes that would be great. I would like that.” I walk behind him and fan myself so he doesn’t see how worked up I am.

Phillip puts a chair close to the water and I go claim it. He has his board in his other hand and hits the water as soon as I’m settled. He paddles out and soon he is up riding that board like a pro. He must have been doing this for years because he is really good at surfing. He surfs for a while then comes in, flops his board beside me, and sits on it.

“Wow! The waves are awesome today. Alexia, you should try it just once. I will go out and help hold the board so you can get up on it. How about it, my girl?”

“I don’t think I could do that even if you held the board for me. The only thing I probably could do is lie on my tummy on the board and hope I wouldn’t turn over.” I laugh.

“How about I go out and hold it and you ride on your stomach? That would be fun too. Look at all these other people out riding that way. You should try it once.” He smiles at me, and that makes me feel brave.

“Okay. I will try it once. Don’t laugh if I fall off.”

“I would never laugh at you. You’re going to have a great time. Let’s go. The water is really warm today and that makes it perfect.”

He pulls me up from the chair and puts my chair back where the tide won’t carry it out into the ocean. Phillip lifts the board up and we head out into the water. The water does feel good on my skin, and I like being in the water with Phillip. I hope I don’t make a fool of myself or drown us both.

“Okay this should be far enough for you to ride out a little ways.” He holds the board still as he can and I can get on it.

First, I sit on it, to get the feel of the waves, and they are awesome. I get brave enough to lie down on my stomach, and as soon as I do this, Phillip lets go. I am riding my first wave ever and it feels great. I am almost back on to the shore when another wave hits me and I fly off the board. Phillip must have been right behind me the whole time, because he catches me before I go under the water.

He looks at me with concern on his face. “Are you okay Alexia?” He pulls me close to him.

I start laughing. “Phillip, that was awesome and I loved it! Thanks for catching me before I went under. I think I will give it up though. You look like I scared you to death.”

“You did scare me. I almost didn’t get to you in time. Girl, you’re going to be the death of me. You really want to stop now after your first time and liking it so much?”

“Yes. Once is good for me. Now I can say I rode the waves. I think my spot is on the beach. That wore me out.” I smile and go to my chair. “You go ahead and ride the waves as long as you want, Phillip. I will be here watching.” That really did make me more tired than I put on. Maybe my body isn’t up for such hard physical exercise yet.

“I think I will ride a few more times. Then we will make a sand castle. You up for making a sandcastle with me?”

“Yes, that would be great. Take your time and I will wait here until you get back.”

He comes over and kisses me on my lip. “I will be back soon.”

Then he is back to surfing. How does he do that so long? Once wore me out and I didn’t even stand up. I guess the waves are too rough for my fragile body. I need to work on that so I can keep up with Phillip. He makes it look so easy.

Before long, Phillip comes back in and sits beside me, “Let’s make a sandcastle and make it the way you want too.”

“I told you that I’m not too good at it. We can make one if you want to.”

“I saw some buckets by the cabana. I will go grab them and be right back.” He kisses my cheek and takes his board with him. He is back in a minute and looks like he is excited to get started. “Look what else I found! Some shovels too.”

“You are going to spoil me with this shovel. I would use my hands when I was little. This will make it much easer. Time to get this castle built.”

We start building the sandcastle and before we know it, it has grown into a huge castle. Watching Phillip work and the way he moves his body makes my heart skip a beat. The sun and sand on his body are stunning to look at and his muscles move like a mass of perfection. I think my mind may have gone to the gutter because all I can think of is how wonderful those muscles would work with my body. I think this princess has found her real life Prince Charming. I start collecting some shells to put on the castle to finish it off. Once we’ve covered the castle with the shells, we step back to admire our work.

“Alexia those shells make it perfect. We made a castle for a princess to live in. You, Alexia, are the princess of this castle. I hope you can find your Prince Charming.” He grins at me.

I look up at him and smile. “I might have already found him, Phillip.” I take his hand in mine and we step closer to the castle. “You are my Prince Charming. Would like to share this castle with me?”

“Yes, I will be your Prince Charming. You will have to share my other castle with me too. Move in with me, my beautiful princess.” He stares into my eyes and I can see love in his.

“You make it hard to say no, my prince. I am not going to say no, but yes, I will.”

He pulls me close to his body and kisses me beside our sandcastle. He doesn’t stop kissing me until we hear someone coming up behind us.

“Get a room Phillip.” We look up a see Megan standing right behind us with her arms crossed, smirking at us. “You know Phillip, I could give you a lot more than she can. Looks like your going to mess up and miss your chance with me. I will give you one last chance. If you say no, I won’t give you another.”

Wow. Did she ask Phillip that in front of me right now? This girl has some major problems.

Phillip looks at me and then back to Megan. “I’m sorry Megan. I already have my princess. I don’t need you and I won’t ever ask you to ever be with me. Alexia is my girlfriend and we are going to be together for a long time. Please leave us alone so we can spend the rest of our day together.”

“I see you really don’t know what you’re missing out on. Before you make your mind finally up, I can give you a taste first.” She stands there looking at Phillip and she even licks her lips at him. I really want to punch her face in and right when I make my mind up to do it, Phillip hugs me closer. He must have read my mind and knew what I was going to do.

“Megan, leave now. I don’t want a taste of anything you have. Nor do I want anything else from you. I have already told you no and I would advise you to leave now.” Phillip looks at her like he is getting angry.

“Fine! I will leave and you will regret this.” Megan storms of back toward her house and I am glad.

“I’m sorry for that princess. She messed up our date. I wanted today to be perfect. You know I have never wanted anything from her and I never would.” He kisses me tenderly on my lips and smiles, showing off his cute dimples.

“She hasn’t messed up our date. She can be a bit dramatic. I have heard you each time turning her down and I’m glad you have chosen me over her.”

“Baby there is no comparison between you and her. You are the best thing ever for me and I never want to be without you. Thanks for being mine and saying yes to moving in with me, my princess is going to be in our home every night.” He pulls me close with a gentle but loving hug. “I don’t know about you, but I’m beginning to be starved. Hitting the waves and building our castle has made me hungry. Let’s go in and get food for our tummies.” He smacks his stomach.

“I am getting hungry too. All this hard work has made me famished.”

We get all of our things and head back up to the condo like a normal couple, but I know I’m not a normal girl. This girl has been broken and pieced back together. I have to tell Phillip soon. Maybe I should tell him before I move in with him. I have had such a wonderful day and I would hate to do it today and mess it up. I will wait a little longer and then I hope he will forgive me for not telling him sooner. I will call my mom soon to talk to her about how I feel about Phillip and let her know my plans about moving in with him. This decision makes me scared and happy at the same time. I hope waiting on telling him doesn’t come back to haunt me later on.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Phillip

As soon as I woke up, I could feel that something was off. I haven’t slept that well in a really long time. The car accident did a number on my sleeping habits. Sometimes I would wake up as soon as I would go to sleep or other times I would wake up in a cold sweat. Today is different and I have to figure out why. It comes to me with a whiff that smells just like bacon and my tummy starts to growl. I look over to the pillow and remember that Alexia had slept next to me. That is the reason I had slept well, and I picked up her pillow and smell it.
Yeah
, I know that sounds
creepy.
I wish it could smell her instead. That would have made this morning perfect. I get another whiff of food cooking and my tummy growls again. I get up and go to the bathroom. I hurry to brush my morning breath away so I can see what my woman has cooked me. My woman is already making me grin this morning. I am lucky to have her in my life.