It was the first time in a long while that Carly got to wake up naturally and didn’t have to leap out of bed immediately. It felt fantastic. The bed in the pink and green room was perfect, and the blackout shades on the windows worked so well Carly was shocked when she rolled over and noticed the bedside digital clock read 10:18. She grinned and stretched. She wanted to grab a book and stay in bed for a while longer, but her bladder had other plans. After several glasses of wine the night before, Carly had drank a couple glasses of water to try and avoid a morning headache. Her head felt fine, but she needed to use the bathroom right away.

When she was done, Carly toyed with the idea of climbing back into the king size bed and snuggling in. But the ocean view beckoned her, and she padded out to the living room to stare out the glass French doors. She almost couldn’t believe her good fortune. Any upset she’d felt over Penny not coming had dissolved entirely, and she’d fully embraced the alone time the coming week would bring.

Carly silently blessed the homeowners again when she found fresh coffee beans and a grinder next to the coffeemaker on one of the kitchen counters. Late nights of studying in college had contributed to her developing quite a coffee habit. As the wonder drink brewed, filling the house with an amazing, homey smell, Carly scrambled a couple of eggs. She’d need to get to a grocery store soon—the food generosity of the homeowners wouldn’t stretch through the rest of the day.

After breakfast, Carly changed into a one-piece lavender bathing suit with small white polka dots. She grabbed a big towel, some sunscreen, a flavored water, and her book and headed out across the deck and down the steps to the beach.

Carly scanned the shoreline in both directions. There were only a few other people around. She found a good spot near the water’s edge, smoothed the sand with her foot, and spread her towel out. Then she spent five minutes getting sunscreen everywhere she could. Her mom had already been diagnosed with skin cancer once, so Carly was always mindful of wearing enough sunscreen. As she put the cap on the bottle and reached for her book, something hit her squarely in the back of the head. Shock and a burst of pain made stars dance in front of her eyes, and her hand flew up to touch the area of impact. She glanced around and found the culprit: a brown and green Frisbee lay in the sand next to her where it had dropped after bouncing off her head.

Carly rubbed her skull again and checked her fingers. No blood. Of course not, she scoffed at herself. A Frisbee bonk wouldn’t make your scalp bleed. She heard shouts of “Sorry!” coming toward her, and she scooted over toward the Frisbee to pick it up. When she rose from the ground with the disc in her hand, pain exploded in her head again, and she collapsed again.

“Dammit! Sorry again. Are you okay?” A man dropped into the sand in front of her, reaching his hands out to hold her arms. He peered into her face. Carly’s head swam a little, and then suddenly, everything snapped into clarity. She realized they’d both bent to pick up the Frisbee at the same moment. She’d come up before him and crashed her head into his.

But that wasn’t what made her jerk to attention. It was the fact that this guy was the Ford driver. The one from the cottage next to her rental. And he was so much more gorgeous close up.

He had dark, curly hair and a goatee that looked like he spent more time grooming than she did her hair and makeup together. Her eyes dropped to his chest and arms, which were beyond perfect, and then her gaze slipped even lower, to his black swimsuit bottoms.

Out of the blue, the entire right side of her face was covered in wet goop. Carly squealed and dove away from its source, but it kept following her. She staggered to her feet, wiping at her cheek. The source of the attack, the hot guy’s Labrador, sat down and looked up at her with eyes as deep and brown as his owner’s, and Carly laughed.

“Gus, leave her alone!” The man grabbed his Frisbee with one hand and the dog’s collar with the other and got to his feet too. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

Carly wiped her face again. “I’m fine,” she said. “I’m such a dope.” Ugh. Only dopes announce to handsome men that they’re dopes.

“Nah, it’s all Gus’s fault. I was throwing the Frisbee for him, and he missed. He needs more practice.” The guy smiled, and Carly’s heart felt like it did a full somersault, crashing into her sternum. He moved the Frisbee to his left hand and stuck the right one out toward her. “I’m Donovan,” he said. “And I’m so sorry my dog and I assaulted you.”

Carly laughed and shook his hand. It was all she could do to let it go after the socially acceptable time period for hand shaking had passed. She wanted to hold on and use it to pull his body closer to hers. “I’m Carly,” she said.

“Nice to meet you, Carly. Are you here on vacation?”

“Yes. I’m in this cottage for a week.” She gestured toward her bungalow.

“All the houses in this strip seem to be VRBOs. I’m here for a week too. Well, Gus and I are.” He reached down and ruffled the dog’s ears. Gus lolled his tongue and seemed to smile.

“Hello, Gus.” Carly knelt down and gave the dog a good neck petting. He leaned into her happily. “Aw, he’s super sweet.”

“He’s all right. Likes to kiss beautiful women on the beach, which is sometimes awkward.”

Carly prayed she wasn’t blushing. Had this superhot guy just called her beautiful?

“You know, I really think I should do something to make up for Gus’s bad manners. And poor Frisbee handling skills. Can I take you out to dinner tonight?”

Carly’s head snapped up, and she searched Donovan’s face. She didn’t know what to say. A voice in the back of her mind was urging caution—was it safe to go out with a guy she’d just met on the beach? Then Gus kissed her again, and she told the voice to stuff it. The man seemed perfectly lovely. Besides, what kind of dangerous criminal had a super happy, tongue-lolling Labrador?

“That sounds great,” she said.

Donovan smiled. “Awesome. I’ll pick you up at six.”

“Okay.”

“Come on, Gus. You need more practice with the Frisbee.” Donovan threw the disc in the opposite direction and the dog took off after it, kicking sand up behind him as he dug into the beach for traction. Soon, both of them had disappeared, leaving Carly to climb back onto her beach towel. She grabbed her book, but the words swam around on the page in a disorderly fashion, not making any sense. All she could think about was the hot guy and their date. She was supposed to be having a quiet, relaxing week. Not going out with a stranger she met on the beach on her first full vacation day. What was wrong with her?

But Carly didn’t care. She couldn’t wait to see more of the dark-haired hunk next door. She closed her eyes and grinned. Penelope would just die when she heard about this.