Waiting for You by Melissa Kate

still think Audrey was in New York? She was certain that she had mentioned her pending trip to visit her grandfather a few weeks back, on the odd occasion her parents did check in.
    She listened with half an ear as her mother gushed about her ex-husband.
    What the hell? She had met him twice!
    Audrey knew it was time. She needed to come out with it and just tell her parents that truth, the whole truth.
    “Mom, I need to tell you about Michael. He—”
    “Oh I have to go now, dear,” she interjected, as though Audrey hadn’t even spoken. “Your father sends his regards. “Goodbye dear.”
    And then radio silence.
    Audrey suddenly had the urge to throw her phone across the room, then she remembered in time that her grandpa was still asleep a few feet away.
    Her neck muscles constricted from the tension the call brought her. She was thirty years old and still invisible to her parents.
    It was a warm morning and she already had on yoga shorts and a tank top. She needed a walk. No way was she getting any more sleep after that phone call.
    She quickly scribbled a note for her grandpa and stuck it on the fridge before quietly letting herself out.
    The beach was a short drive away and when Audrey arrived, the sun was just rising, basking the sky in its ruminant glow. Audrey had forgotten the beauty of nature and she now wished she had her camera with her. This would make a beautiful moment to capture. The different hues constantly changing.
    Inhaling a deep salty breath the fragrance seeped deep into her lungs. It was the first step to cleansing her bad mood and it was working. Audrey walked down the concrete stairs, her flip flops hooked between her fingers. The minute her feet touched the cool, pale sand she began to relax. She tried to remember the last time she had walked on sea sand and came up blank.
    The beach was secluded this early in the morning except for a lone figure Audrey could make out far in the distance bobbing in and out of the water. The person was so deep in that she couldn’t make out who it was, which suited her fine. She needed this time for her own peace and calm.
    The sand was cool as her body stretched into a few yoga poses, releasing her stiff muscles.
    Yoga always brought her calm. Mostly because it was such torture on her core muscles that her mind went blank of everything else.
    She eased into it, doing the familiar downward facing dog, feeling the stretch in her arms and shoulders. Upward facing dog stretched out her back and hips.
    The crashing waves were a perfect crescendo to her calming state, the cool morning breeze a welcome brush on her warming skin. The solitude was calming.
    An hour later and Audrey’s muscles were crying in protest as she supported her upper body against her elbows in the crow position. It was the ultimate test of core strength and it left her feeling invigorated as she calmed down and came into a relaxation position with herself seated, back straight, legs folded beneath her and hands on her knees.
    Breathing in, any remaining remnants of stress began to wash out of her. She opened her eyes and smiled to herself just before she saw a dark figure approaching.
    Squinting at the now bright morning sun, she took in the drenched body of a rock solid man. Her pulse picked up as the familiar sense of trepidation kicked in. Audrey refused to give in to her rising panic. She sat braced, ready to deal with the approaching stranger.
    She eyed him suspiciously against the sun’s glare on the sparkling ocean. He had a hard chest that led to fine muscular ripples on his abdomen, even more defined as he walked towards her with purpose. Her gaze slid from his abs and further down to reveal his unbelievably toned hip lines shaping a sexy V oblique that disappeared into his black board shorts that were riding so low on his hips as to almost be indecent. His strong muscular legs reached Audrey and she was forced to look all the way up again and into the face of Adam.
    A small sense of