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mean those, I meant the, um, muscles.” She blushed in embarrassment and returned to removing her shoes, grateful he hadn’t called her on the slip.
    His deep chuckle brought her head up. “Thanks for noticing the muscle before the scars.”
    “Any woman would.” She immediately reddened and focused on pulling off her socks. Standing, she walked toward the water, her limp much more pronounced without her inserts. She jabbed her foot into the squishy sand with each step, the granules almost covered her partially-formed right foot.
    Beck quickly reached her side and held onto her elbow, steadying her. She glanced up at him, appreciating his warm touch. “Thank you.”
    “Sure. Do you mind me asking what happened?”
    “Birth defect.” Had any man ever cared about what happened to her foot? Most had ignored it or tried to ignore it. Her dad had paid for numerous surgeries to fix the defect but when you were born without your fourth and fifth toe and a third of your foot, it was pretty hard to implant that.
    “Thank you for taking your shoes off,” he whispered next to her ear.
    Alyssa turned, his face was close as he bent toward her, and she focused on how well-formed his lips were, shapely and intriguing. She trailed her gaze from his face down to his muscular shoulders and blushed again. “Thank you for taking your shirt off.”
    He chuckled and they walked straight into the water. It was a little cool, but still felt wonderful with the warm sun overhead. Alyssa couldn’t believe how understanding and gracious Beck had been about her foot. He hadn’t seemed embarrassed for her or embarrassed to be with her.
    “Are we swimming or just wading?” Beck asked.
    “Oh, we’re swimming.” Alyssa pressed on until the water was waist-deep then broke from his grip and performed a shallow dive.
    Beck appeared by her side, swimming through the waves. “I knew I liked you, Alyssa Armsworth.”
    “What did I do that made you like me?” She smiled at him, treading water and looking into his blue eyes that gave the water competition for sparkle.
    “You’re not a sit around and suntan kind of girl. You’re a get in the water and enjoy it kind.”
    “Life’s too short for skin cancer,” she said.
    He laughed.
    A large wave came toward them and Alyssa started swimming freestyle to catch it. The wave slid up and over her and then she was in the middle of it and it pushed her forward in its trough. She came up out of it, sputtering water and grinning from the rush. Beck stood a few feet away, a similar smile on his face. He gestured with his head and they both swam back out to catch the next one.
    After several successful rides, they treaded water side by side, basically floating in the salt water. Alyssa couldn’t believe how relaxing it was to be with this man compared to the many horrifying experiences she’d had with other men. She didn’t want to be some man hater, but she usually found it easier just to avoid the opposite sex.
    “So how does body surfing compare to real surfing?” she asked.
    Beck met her gaze and the compassion she hated to see was there. “I’m sorry. When I asked you if you wanted to learn to surf this morning I didn’t know…”
    Alyssa nodded. “It’s okay. It’s no big deal. I just can’t balance as well as I’d like sometimes.”
    “I’m sorry you can’t surf, but this is almost as much fun.” The sun glinted off his wet, dark hair and his broad shoulders.
    “Almost?” Alyssa smiled to let him know she was teasing.
    “Well, you wouldn’t want me to lie to you, would you?” Beck grinned.
    Alyssa’s breath caught in her throat. She stopped treading water and swallowed a bit of sea water. She spit it out. “Excuse me. No, I definitely wouldn’t want you to lie to me.”
    The moment turned serious as she studied Beck and he returned her gaze with those clear, blue eyes. Was he really as genuine as he appeared or would he turn into an obnoxious octopus given the