Page 94 of The Sandbar saga

He was...life, to her.

"The sky is clear." He turned on his blinker and changed direction.

"Mm-hm." She clasped her hands to keep from rubbing the goosebumps off her arms. "Indian summer. It's great for the real estate market."

"You enjoy your job," he said.

"More now than when I started. It's an adrenaline rush when I can find someone their dream home."

"Is that what your house is to you?" He glanced at her while he pulled into the public parking lot near the dune. "Your dream home?"

Her muscles tensed. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about why she'd bought her childhood home.

"It works for us." She opened the door as soon as the car came to a stop.

The roar of the ocean deafened her to his reply—if he'd made one. The wind blew her bangs off her forehead. She tilted her head up and inhaled deeply. The briny sea air filled her nostrils. She licked her lips, almost tasting the salt.

Kicking off her flipflops, she bent over and picked them up, throwing them back in the car. Her toes dug into the warm sand.

"Ready?"

She walked beside him, sneaking looks. He'd taken off his shoes and rolled his jeans.

Her sex throbbed with an aching pleasure. There was something so sensual about him baring his feet. Such a natural thing for a person to do in the sand but for a prestigious man like Race, who seldom let himself enjoy the beach if he wasn't jogging or asking a million questions, it was sexy.

It also reminded her of pouring her heart out to him, and for one short time, she had everything she wanted.

Sliding backward and losing ground on the dune, she reached out for Race's hand without even thinking about it. He pulled her up beside him, and together they climbed. At the top, she panted for breath. It wasn't the steep climb winding her.

"Let's sit on the hill. It'll keep some of the wind off us." He guided her past the outcrop of grass, being careful not to let her step on any short blades and cut her feet.

He lowered himself to the sand, stretching his legs out in front of him. She sat beside him and bent her knees, hugging her legs. Wearing a pair of chinos, already rolled, she tried to keep most of the sand off her work clothes.

"I played water polo in college." He picked up a handful of sand and let it spill out of his hand. "I was the defensive specialist on the team."

She stared at his broad hand, glancing at his face. "That must be where Callie gets her love of swimming."

He raised his brows and nodded. She hadn't known that about Race, and she wondered what else she hadn't learned during the years they were together.

"There are swimming lessons offered at the aquatic center," he said.

Since moving, she'd been too busy with the house and work to think about letting Callie start taking swimming lessons again. She seemed to get her quota of time in the water when she went to Race's house.

"I'll check into it. She'd like to be around other kids her age, and I'd like her to continue learning more about how to be safe in the water." She laid her cheek on her knee, looking at him. "If I do, would you want to go and watch her, too?"

"I'd love to go." He harrumphed. "You know what she said the other day?"

"I couldn't even guess." She smiled. "She comes up with some crazy things, sometimes."

"She was talking about the deer that hang around the path behind our houses." He shook his head in amusement. "Callie was insistent that one of them came into your house while she was sleeping and woke her up. I told her she must've been dreaming. That deer don't go inside houses."

"Then, she asked me what dreams were." He leaned back, planting his elbows in the sand. "In all my years of counseling others, I don't think I have ever had to explain what dreams were or where they come from. To try and explain it to a four-year-old had me wanting to call you and ask what I should tell her. I felt like I was saying and doing everything wrong."

"Nothing you say would've been wrong. She's probably already forgotten about the conversation," she said.

He chuckled and then grew serious. "As I dug myself deeper into a hole with her, she finally planted her little hands on her waist and said, 'That not true.' I swear, at that moment, I felt like I should stop seeing patients and go back to school."

Katie laughed. "It's tough being a parent. She's constantly asking why this and why that? She's naturally curious about everything. There's nothing like a child to make you feel like you don't know enough answers."