I never thought I’d be more than happy to say my girl is on the rag, but my girl is on the rag.

Finally, Makayla got her period yesterday.

Twelve days late.

Because of our scare, she and I have decided to go back to using condoms for a while and I promised to find the best choices for her.

Thinking she might be pregnant was a stressful time, but it kicked me into gear. Time to get back on track. Get my head in the game, and all that shit.

That is, if I can.

I’m worried about the hows, wheres, and whats to do. I’m worried about making a wrong decision. I’m worried about blowing my trust fund and having nothing.

Today is my day off, but instead of working on my own plan, I spent the first part of the morning doing what I always do on my days off—talking to some of the guys who own local businesses and helping them assess their issues.

When I get back home, I start to get this itch, like it’s my time.

Kicking into gear, I grab my laptop and start to do some research, punch some numbers, and try to figure out if what I have in mind is the right move.

I want to buy my first company, but I’m not sure the one I’m looking at is the right choice. I make a quick call and plan to visit the company tomorrow. I think I’ll see if Brooklyn wants to tag along, because he knows the area well.

Pushing away from the table, I look around my kitchen and rub my hands on my shorts. All of a sudden I’m feeling a lot of pressure for no fucking reason at all. I think I need a break, so I decide to take a walk on the beach.

Trekking through the sand, I find myself breathing in and exhaling the salt air. Being inside for all those hours has worn on me. Looking out into the clear blue of the water, I feel a little better now. Out of nowhere I have an urge to hit the waves, so after I change into my wet suit, I grab my board.

There’s a weightlessness that exists as I move quickly—up and down, hovering over the water. I gain speed and it’s thrilling, exhilarating, liberating even. When I break through its ledge, I position myself on the peak. It’s large and hollow and I have to move forcefully to stop from getting caught in the lip, but I do it and just like that, I’m riding the best fucking wave.

The sun rises higher off in the horizon and there’s a haze hanging in the air as I enfold myself inside the wave’s whorl. I look ahead and can’t help thinking that for the first time in the past year, I’m focused, I have no doubts, and I know what I want to do.

It hasn’t been easy. It’s been a long road. Grief definitely took hold of me. Blinking my sad thoughts away, I look up as the swell emerges from more than fifty-foot depths and I watch as the silver-tinted waves of the Pacific roll in at a lightning-fast rate. Then I ride them out like a master. Well, not really, maybe more like an apprentice. Especially when I take a fall and have to swim to the surface.

Up on my board again, I give it another try. I take a full breath, all the way from my stomach to my chest, tilt my head back to open my lungs, and take in more air until the water cascades all around me and once again I’m completely submerged. Time stands still while I swim through the blur of the ocean and toward the light. I reach the surface and blinking, I see more than the clear day. I can see a future.

Chest to board, I paddle in and watch the shore come alive in the early afternoon hours. As I scan the beach, my eye catches a familiar sight off in the distance. I strain to make sure it’s her. Cupping through the ocean faster, I pick up speed and hit shallow water. I can’t help grinning at the sight of her.

Last night I was pissed as hell at her for arguing with me about what she should do about her jewelry business. She was nervous; she couldn’t calm down. If I suggested proceeding, she thought I meant that she stop. If I said yes, she heard no. I get that it was her nerves. In my current state of mind, though, I found it to be so damn frustrating.

But seeing her now, all the frustration just slides away because the sexy, sassy, and funny-as-hell girl is waiting for me. Waving a hand in the air, I shake the water from my hair and tuck my board under my arm.

“What are you doing here?” I yell as I emerge from the water.

“We have a lunch date, remember?” she responds, shading her eyes with her hand.

“Right.” I smile with a laugh.

She narrows her eyes. “Did you forget?”

“No. I just lost track of time.”

That face she makes tells me she’s not sure I’m telling the truth.

I am.

And I’m not.

I didn’t quite forget.

Or I didn’t mean to.

I got caught up in my business ideas.

That’s all.

Letting my guilt go, I allow my gaze to sweep the length of her and once my body stops humming in desire, I curl my fingers over my mouth to stifle my laughter at that mad face she’s making. “Hey, you look great,” I tell her.

She’s wearing a flowered green dress with gold straps, earrings, and one of her necklaces. She looks fucking beautiful, like Miss America. She’s also wearing sparkly sandals. It’s as if she could light up the whole beach, just like seeing her is lighting me up.

As I close the distance, I feel that same feeling I do every time she’s around. It’s in the way she looks at me. Angry or not, her alluring features are all I can see—the long strands of her hair blowing in the wind, her perky tits popping out from her form-fitting top, the slight curve of her hips, and fuck me, the smile she gives me without knowing she’s smiling. Then again, if she knew she was smiling, I doubt I’d be getting one. You see, I was an ass last night. I have some making up to do.

Kicking the sand up beneath my feet, I allow my gaze to focus on hers and try to tame the thudding of my pulse. It isn’t easy.

When a cool breeze presents itself on the shoreline, I stop on my heels and dig my board into the sand. Then I unzip my wet suit and move a little closer. “Want to go for a swim?”

She frowns at me. “I have to get back to work, Cam. I can’t go swimming now.”

I know she’s not trying to make me feel guilty that I have a flexible schedule and she doesn’t, but I do. I run my hand through my hair. “Let me get changed and we can go anywhere you want.”

With a step toward me, she smiles what I know is meant to be a real smile, and then she kisses me on the lips. “You stay out here and have fun. I’ll grab something quick on the way back to work.”

“You sure?”

She nods. “Yes. How about dinner instead?”

And then just like that, wet or not, I grab her face. Our mouths meet, our tongues collide, and we breathe each other in. We kiss with a hunger that I’m almost certain can never be satisfied. Time slips away as our hands move freely, roaming over each other in ways they shouldn’t in a public place.

Then just like that, she breaks our connection. My mind is whirling with how much I want her, right here, right now. The beach is fairly secluded, even if it’s not private. Yet I know better than to risk it.

“Come inside with me,” I whisper.

She steps back and straightens her dress, now a little wet. “I can’t, Cam. I have to get back to work. How about tonight?”

With a sigh, I answer, “I can’t. I told Oscar I’d meet him for dinner and look over his expansion plans.”

“Oscar Trivo from Trivo Furniture in the Village?”

I nod.

“What are you, Laguna’s unknown Chamber of Commerce?”

I rest my forehead against hers and grab her fingers, lacing our hands together. “He asked for my help,” I say, and kiss her once more. She’s not wrong. I do spend a lot of time helping others. Nothing wrong with that, but it is time to work on me.

“Lunch tomorrow then?” she asks.

With a lick around her lips, I find her ear. “Yes. Lunch tomorrow. And I can always come over tonight when I get home, you know.”

She kisses me back. “I’d love that, but I have to get up early, so I really should go to bed early.”

After I press my lips to hers one last time, I pull back. “Lunch tomorrow it is.”

Walking backwards, she waves at me. “See you then.”

I wave back and get this odd feeling, like there is something wrong between us that I can’t quite get a grip on.

I don’t know if it’s big or small.

It started with the baby scare, but it didn’t end when we found out there was no baby.

All I do know is that I need to find out what it is before it’s too late.