Barefoot Bay: Castle in the Sand (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Jeannie Moon

don’t know,” she protested. “I should go home. I’m soaked and I’m so tired.”
    “It’s just dinner, Josie. Stay and eat with me, then I’ll walk you home, okay? They have great burgers here.”
    He was charming and sweet, and the thought of spending time alone with him was so appealing, she’d said yes. That one decision had changed her path, as well as the way she saw herself—for better or worse.
    They’d talked non-stop during dinner. He told her about a negotiation he was handling for his government, and she told him about the research she was doing for her doctorate. They held hands as he walked her home. And then Tony kissed her in the rain in front of her building. People alternately cursed or cheered as they walked around them, either being charmed by the romance, or annoyed that they had blocked the sidewalk.
    It was there, with the summer storm raging around them, rain coming down in buckets, that she stopped fighting all the crazy mixed-up feelings, and gave herself to Tony Granville.
    She’d been innocent, a virgin. A young woman so wrapped up in her studies and ambition that she’d never made time for relationships. She’d had a few boyfriends here and there, but no one serious. No one worth the commitment. But Tony? She loved him, and when he kissed her, Josie let it consume her in a way that nothing else had.
    To this day, Josie wondered if her heart had been waiting for him. If all that time she’d been so focused on her classes and research, that she’d been wishing for Tony. He was a gentle, patient lover, and he made sure her first time was one she would never forget.
    She wouldn’t. Josie felt like magic rained down upon her when Tony made love to her. Just thinking about it made her feel alive, but that first night, when he held her in her small bed, Josie understood that he’d ruined her for anyone else.
    And she was okay with it.
    That was the night he’d first called her mon ange ; my angel. His words, his touch, would hypnotize her. Letting herself go back there, her mind filled with the delicious sensations; she felt his hands on her, his mouth—then she heard the crash, the sound of breaking glass and then she felt the warmth.
    Blood. There was blood. She’d cut her hand.
    “Dammit! Oww!” she exclaimed, grabbing a paper towel and putting pressure on the wound.
    She had no idea Tony was home from fishing until he dashed into the kitchen. “What? Are you all right?”
    “I cut my hand. Crap.”
    Josie was hanging over the sink with her arm bent at the elbow, elevating her hand. She was more annoyed with herself that she’d been so wrapped up in her daydreams about Tony that she hadn’t been paying attention than the actual injury. The sting was really starting to set in when he took her hand and examined the cut on her palm.
    “That’s a good slice there. What were you doing? Plotting my demise with a meat cleaver?”
    Josie was obviously in pain, and Tony was trying to distract her by making her laugh. It was sweet, and she’d missed how sweet he’d always been to her.
    “No. Not this time. When I imagine that scenario, I generally use melons. And I don’t usually miss.” He laughed, while he kept hold of her hand. “I dropped a glass in the sink,” she said. “It broke into a million pieces. One got me.”
    He swapped the blood soaked paper towel for a clean one. “It’s slowing down, but you may need a stitch or two. Is there a good doctor on the island?”
    “Yes, but it’s probably quicker if we head to the urgent care in Naples. Not too far.”
    “Are you in much pain?”
    “It hurts, but I’ll live. Do you really think it needs stitches?”
    “It looks deep. It’s probably smart to have it checked out.”
    Josie nodded. “I should have been paying attention. So stupid.”
    She turned her eyes to her hand, where his thumbs were running up and down over the skin in a gentle, soothing caress. “You always had the softest