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little confused. When their hands met it felt like a thousand volts shot through her body. “My friends call me Mel” she added feeling a little self-conscious.
    “Nice to meet you Mel” Sam said giving her a bright smile.
    “ Wow , he is overly confident” she thought to herself.
    “I never said you were my friend” Melanie replied sharply, feeling a little irritated by this gorgeous guy in front of her. And part of her irritation was the fact she had thought he was possibly the most amazingly gorgeous guy she had every met and all she could think of was what it would feel like to kiss him, which was ridiculous because he was a few years older than her and definitely way out of her league.
    “Ouch” Sam said and smiled shyly and blushed a little. “I guess I deserved that”.
    Melanie tried her best not to smile but she couldn’t help herself. She felt a little bad that she seemed to have embarrassed him.  She turned and looked back out over the sea. She needed a moment to calm her thoughts.
    “So” Sam said after a couple of minutes. “I assume from the accent you are from around here”.
    “No I’m not” Melanie answered with a smile but still didn’t look at him. “I am from Dublin. I am staying with my Mom’s best friend for the summer”.
    “Ah top o the morning to ya” he said in his best fake Irish accent and laughed loudly.
    “I don’t talk like that” Melanie snapped and tried but failed miserably not to laugh too. “Why does everyone who isn’t Irish assume we all talk like bloody leprechauns?”
    “I am sorry” he barely managed to say through his laugher. “I couldn’t resist”.
    Melanie giggled too and for the first time in almost three weeks she could feel herself relax a little.
    “Now that’s much better” Sam said softly he eyes capturing Melanie’s once again. “A beautiful girl like you shouldn’t look as sad as you have looked all week. It’s nice to see you finally smile. I knew it would be a beautiful one”.
    Melanie was speechless. No one had ever said anything so sweet like that to her before. She wanted to look away because she knew her face was now burning pink from embarrassment but she couldn’t seem to drag her eyes away from his.
    “And I have to wonder, what fool in his right mind could have broken your heart so badly” he continued softly as he reached up and brushed a lose strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. His finger touched off her face ever so slightly but it sent a shock wave right down through her body that made her jump back.
    “Nobody broke my heart” she snapped and shifted slightly to put some distance between her and him. She turned back to the ocean as her heart raced. Her breathing quickened. “Do you always make such personal observations?”
    “I am sorry” he replied quickly. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable”.
    She didn’t reply. She just gazed down at her fingers as they combed through the small patch of sand that was between them. They sat for a few minutes in an awkward silence.
    “So how do you know Dan” Sam finally asked.
    “Dan?” Melanie repeated not knowing who he was talking about.
    “The guy who owns the beach house you are staying in” he explained.
    “How do you know where I am staying?” Melanie asked; surprised he seemed to know so much about her.
    “My Mom and Dad own the house next to Dan’s” he explained. “I saw you sitting on the deck reading a few times”.
    “Oh, right” she said as she glanced back at the house next to the one she was staying in. It was much bigger than their one and was beautiful. “The guy, Dan, is Maggie’s editor. He is gone to Europe for the summer and he said we could use it”. He nodded and smiled.
    “So how long are you staying for?” he asked, never taking his eyes off her.
    “A couple of month’s maybe” she answered, giving him a sideways glance. He was still watching her and a small smile danced on his lips when he