Simply Being Belle

  “So do you,” she pointed out. “I’m sorry. I’ll drive back.”

  “We’ll see,” he said cheerfully. “And here we are.”

  He steered the car into a parking lot. Belle saw a broad expanse of sand ahead, and beyond that, not-so-gently crashing waves. She glanced around, noting the parking lot was flanked by seafood restaurants on either side, and across the street behind them was a strip mall boasting souvenir shops and a gas station.

  Dare climbed out of the car and rounded the front. Belle slipped out of her seat and met him. He locked the car with the click of his keyless entry remote, and then slipped an arm around her waist. “Shall we go?”

  They walked across the parking lot and to a trail that led to the sandy shoreline. As they stepped from the path and onto the beach, Belle glanced ahead and saw the waves were fierce. She glanced out beyond the surf and saw dark, threatening clouds on the horizon. “Looks like a storm might be brewing,” she commented.

  “Could be. We should get moving just in case.”

  She glanced up into his face. “Get moving where?” she asked curiously.

  He turned her to her right and she gasped. About a quarter mile away, a huge sand dune towered over the beach. Belle spotted several dots at varying points along the dune. “Are those people?” she asked incredulously.

  He nodded, grinning. “Yep. Are you up for a challenge?”

  Since he’d put it like that, she was certainly up for a challenge. “Race you to the top?” she said, meeting his gaze.

  He stopped walking and stared in her eyes. “You think you can take me, huh?”

  “Oh, I know I can,” she teased.

  “That’s what I like—a confident woman.”

  Belle cocked an eyebrow. “I wonder how much you’ll like me when I’m at the top of that dune, waving down at you.”

  Dare laughed and then gathered her against him, chuckling against her soft hair. She pulled back and met his gaze. He leaned forward then, taking her lips, and she responded, not pulling back as the wind whipped her hair. She felt herself awash with sensation, drowning in his touch. When they finally parted, she felt awed by the power of their attraction. Their eyes met and held, and Belle’s thundering heart suddenly felt as if was beating in synchronization with the pounding waves. “Wow!” she said finally.

  Dare grinned at her, a triumphant gleam in his eyes. He took her hand and they walked together to the dune. From a distance, the sandy mound had looked like a rather intimidating hill, but up close and personal, it was more like a mountain.

  “Prepare for me to leave you in the sand,” Belle taunted, turning to Dare, and swiping at the hair that flew across her face. He smiled and reached to tuck the tendril behind her ear, and then to her surprise, he dashed away and up the dune.

  Belle gasped. He had gotten an unfair advantage. The competitive spirit in her flared and she started after him, matching his pace up the dune.

  At one point, he glanced back and grinned widely. She met his gaze and narrowed her eyes. The expression on her face caused him to throw his head back and laugh.

  Scaling a sand dune proved tiresome at best, agonizing at worst. The sand was deep, and she found herself sinking into its depths. The activity felt much like sloshing through molasses. Finally, she glanced ahead and noted she was gaining on Dare. Hmmm.

  She would overtake him. She just knew it. One foot in front of the other. She repeated the refrain over and over for some time, when to her surprise, she glanced ahead to find him, only to discover she had somehow passed him. She glanced back and spied him several yards behind. “See ya,” she called to him.

  He glanced up, eyes widening in surprise as she offered a breezy wave. She couldn’t possibly allow him to see that she really was struggling. If she couldn’t manage a bit of mind over matter, and fast, she knew she would soon collapse in the sand like the young couple she had just passed. And then Dare would likely pass her.

  She decided to think about anything but how her legs were currently cramping up. Her thoughts turned to work—to the Monday that awaited her. She would be back to Legal Aid tomorrow, and she wondered again how she would manage to work there while finishing her work at Elm Place.

  Perhaps if she started at Legal Aid even earlier than her normal start time, she could manage to leave early enough that several hours remained in the business day for her to complete her projects at Elm Place. She winced. That wouldn’t work. She barely had enough time to squeeze in her Legal Aid responsibilities during the course of an extended workday.

  She had told Jacob Biggs she would have to scale down on her work hours with him, and he had seemed so disappointed. She couldn’t blame him. They had hoped to complete the reconstruction of the complex within a six-month time frame, but she doubted it would be possible with her working full-time elsewhere.

  She was so engrossed in thoughts of work, her motions had taken on a robotic appearance as she powered up the dune. She forgot about her aching muscles and wouldn’t have stopped for a break had Dare not called to her from several yards below. “I give!” he shouted. “Belle, you’re killing me.”

  “What?” She stopped her assault on the dune long enough to glance down at him. She saw him lying face down in the sand, reaching toward her with an outstretched hand like a man lying prone in the desert after a futile search for water.

  He raised his head briefly. “I give!” he repeated dramatically.

  Belle grinned at him. He looked rather pathetic lying in the sand. She decided to climb down to him, since it was clear she was the winner in this dune climb. When she reached his side, he glanced up and gave her a searching look. “You can’t be human,” he murmured as he dropped his cheek onto the sand again.

  She poked him in the shoulder. “I win.”

  He raised up slightly and nodded. “Aren’t you exhausted?”

  She considered the question. “I was, but…”

  He glanced up, weary but curious. “But what?”

  “I got to thinking about work, and all the things I have to do next week, and I forgot all about the dune. It was a simple case of mind over matter.”

  He shot her a rueful glance. “We’re at the beach, climbing a veritable Mount Everest, and you’re thinking about work.”

  “I can’t … help it,” she admitted.

  Dare gave her another searching look, and the sparkle of humor she’d seen in his eyes vanished. “I brought you here to take your mind off of work,” he pointed out. “I’d hoped to give you a little downtime.”

  “Scaling Mount Everest, as you call it, doesn’t exactly qualify as downtime,” she pointed out in her defense.

  “Point … taken,” he said, reaching out to take her hand. “Let’s go back.”

  “We’ll do no such thing,” she said with a horrified gasp. “Look ahead. We’re nearly there.”

  “To the top?”

  She nodded. “Yep. Let’s get going.”

  Dare watched her, noting the rosy hue in her cheeks and how the wind whipped her hair across her face. Her eyes sparkled. He rose to his knees, sat back against the sand, and met her gaze. “We don’t have to go to the top,” he told her, reaching out to stroke her cheek.

  “I know. I want to.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just do. You started this, by the way.”

  He nodded. He had, but he was content not to finish. “Do you always have to win?” he asked. “For that matter, do you always have to finish?”

  Belle sighed, realizing their conversation had shifted to serious subject matter. No doubt he was attempting to make a point, and she bristled. “Well?” he prompted, surprising her when he took her hand again and held on, as if he thought she might bolt. And she might very well have.

  “I like to finish what I start,” she said in her defense. “Frankly, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Besides, I’m looking forward seeing the view from the top.”

  Dare surprised her by taking her by
the shoulders and turning her around to see the view before them. She gasped. From their vantage point, she could see for miles. She was mesmerized by the crisp blue water with foamy white caps as far as the eye could see. “It’s beautiful,” she said, awed by the picture postcard scene before her.

  “Do you think this view is any less beautiful than the view from the top?” he asked, watching her intently.

  She wasn’t sure how to answer. She suspected anything she said wouldn’t satisfy him, so she chose not to speak at all.

  “It’s a matter of perspective, Belle,” he continued softly. “Life is like…”

  “What?” she snapped. She knew she sounded curt, but was he really about to lecture her about her work ethic? She didn’t need it. Not today.

  He simply smiled in response and squeezed her hand before bringing it to his lips. “Life isn’t a race to the finish, Belle. And neither is this climb.”

  She met his gaze, and gave an audible sigh. “What exactly are you trying to say?” she asked pointedly. “That I work too hard—that I don’t have perspective?”

  He released her hand and sat, resting his arms on his knees. He stared out at the view, smiling slightly. Belle watched him in profile, feeling the familiar power of attraction. He was so handsome, his wind-whipped hair lending a boyish quality to his striking face. He turned to meet her eyes, smiling faintly.

  “You do work too hard. That isn’t a secret.”

  She gave him a long searching look, but turned away from him, scooping up a handful of sand and watching it drizzle between her fingers.

  “I do think you need perspective,” he said, watching her for a reaction. “We all do at one time or another in our lives.”

  Again, she refrained from responding.

  “I also think you need…” The unfinished statement hung in the air.

  “What?” she demanded finally, more sharply than she’d intended.

  He grinned, and said in a low voice, “Me.”

  He surprised her when he reached for her and pulled her into his arms. She startled as she found herself sprawled across his chest, her hands braced against his powerful pectoral muscles. He reached up with a gentle hand and drew the hair out of her face, then spanned one side of her face with his hand. An awed smile spread across his face. “I love you, Belle. I want a life with you. I want to be the one who makes you want to slow down and smell the roses. I want to be the one to give you perspective. And I want you to do the same for me.”

  For a breathless moment, she watched his face, unsure how to respond. What did she want? And then, to her wonderment, she knew exactly what she wanted this moment. She wouldn’t worry about tomorrow, or the next day. Only this moment, and in it, she wanted Dare’s kiss.

  He didn’t disappoint her.

  Chapter Nineteen

  On the return trip home from the beach, try as she might, Belle couldn’t manage to stay awake. She slept the whole way home and only woke up when Dare eased his car to a stop in front of her house.

  “I’m really sorry,” she said sleepily, smiling ruefully. “I don’t know why I’m so tired. I should have let you sleep.”

  “Don’t worry about it. You have to be tired after kicking my butt on that sand dune.”

  “I did kick your butt, didn’t I?” she teased. “Big, strong guy like you.”

  “Yep, and I’m not ashamed to admit it,” he said. “But … I’m sure we’ll both be regretting the climb come tomorrow morning.” He shifted in the seat slightly to get the kink out of his back. “I’m not as young as I used to be,” he complained.

  Belle realized her legs in particular were protesting the exertion. “I’m not either,” she said, reaching for the door handle. She climbed out of the car and found her limbs were so uncooperative she could barely make them work.

  Dare slid out of the car and met her on the sidewalk. He opened his arms to her, and she stepped into his embrace. “Thanks for today,” she said. “I wish we could have stayed longer.”

  “Get back in the car. We’ll go now,” he said.

  “If only…” she mused wistfully.

  “We could, you know.” He pulled back and snared her gaze. “What’s stopping us? Come on, Belle. What’s stopping us? I can call work and leave a message for my assistant to clear my schedule, and you can call Millicent. You have, what, four more weeks vacation coming to you.” He laughed. “Heck, let’s each pack a suitcase.”

  “We can’t,” she said sadly, but curiously, she wished they could climb into his car and drive back to the beach. She had to admit it had been good to get away, even for a day.

  “Who says we can’t? We’re adults,” he said, smiling encouragingly. “Come on, Belle. Where’s your sense of adventure—your spontaneity.”

  She extended a hand to him, as if greeting him for the first time. “I’m Belle Preston,” she said in measured tones. “Obviously, we haven’t met before.”

  He watched her ruefully.

  “I have no sense of adventure or spontaneity,” she volunteered with a sheepish grin. “And I don’t play hookie.”

  “Never?”

  “Never.”

  “Well, I can help you with adventure and spontaneity,” he volunteered good-naturedly.

  “You can?”

  “Absolutely.” He arched his brows suggestively, causing her to chuckle.

  She cleared her throat, biting back a smile. “Anyway … I happen to know that as a new hire at the firm, you’d be committing professional suicide to take off more than a day or two at your job,” she pointed out reasonably. “Your sense of adventure and spontaneity could cost you your livelihood.”

  “You’re right. But I’d sure like to go to the beach with you. Any beach. I heard Belize is nice this time of year.”

  She searched his face. She could read in his eyes how unhappy he was at Preston and Dunne. Was he so unhappy he dreaded going to the job each morning? Had his time at Legal Aid altered his career aspirations?

  Suddenly, the couple turned toward the house when they heard the dogs barking from the backyard. “I should go check on them,” Belle said, but made no move to leave. The dogs howled louder, and she finally turned with a resigned sigh. “They’re liable to wake the neighbors.”

  Dare nodded, but made no move to leave either. Finally, he sighed. “Back to the real world. I’d better go, and you’d better tend to those dogs.”

  “I’d better,” she said.

  “Unless … need any help?”

  She nodded with a smile and he followed her up the porch steps and into the house. She flipped switches as they went and the home was bathed in light. As they stepped into the kitchen, Dare halted her with a warm hand on her shoulder. He turned her around and kissed her gently on the lips.

  The dogs had heard them enter the house, and began howling fiercely from the back porch steps. “Doggone dogs,” he muttered against her lips.

  She chuckled and hurried to let them inside. Surprisingly, they greeted Dare first, encircling his legs and vying for his affection. With a crisp command from Belle, they trotted obediently into their dog houses.

  “Amazing,” he said with a chuckle as he reached for her and pulled her into his arms. “Hey, are you sure you don’t want to run away with me?—head off to parts unknown.”

  “We’d have to take the dogs. And the cat,” she pointed out.

  He sighed. “Guess that lets Belize out.”

  Suddenly, he glanced down at the kitten as she swiped at his pant leg. He bent down to scoop her up. “Did you ever name her?” he asked.

  She winced. “No, I’ve been so busy…”

  “Too busy to name the cat!” he said with mock indignation as he held the kitten in front of his face. “Hmmmm,” he mused. “I know, call her Belize, since she’s part of the reason we can’t head off to the sandy beaches…”

  “Her and any number of other reasons,” she reminded him with a smile.

  “You’re right about that,” he said with a beleagu
ered sigh.

  Belle searched his face. “You’re really unhappy at Preston and Dunne, aren’t you?”

  He gently put the kitten on the floor and then dropped into a nearby chair at the kitchen table. “You know,” he said with a sigh, “I am. Unhappy that is. And you know what, I’m better at giving advice than taking it, because I’d be telling anyone in my shoes to get out—to find something that makes them happy. But…”

  “It’s not an easy decision to make,” she said as she took the chair across from him. She reached for his hand. “What are you going to do?”

  He smiled and shook his head. “Don’t know. My current job is a great opportunity. I don’t want to make a quick decision—don’t want to make a mistake…”

  “But…” Belle murmured softly.

  “Indeed—but…” He sat quietly for a moment, thinking. When he spoke, it was with forced brightness. “Ah, everything will work out,” he said. “It always does.”

  When she looked into his eyes, she wondered, would everything work out? Clearly, he found the work at the firm unfulfilling. He could certainly find work elsewhere—but where? Would he decide to leave the area?

  The thought of him leaving broke her heart. The possibility of her world without him in it left her feeling bereft and wondering, what did she want?

  ***

  If the beach trip had been a means to relax her, Belle realized it had been a miserable failure—or at least the expedition up the dune had been. Besides having caused her aching muscles and wind whipped skin, the experience had tired her so much she found herself struggling to rise from bed Monday morning.

  As she readied for her first day back at Legal Aid, she recalled her and Dare’s conversation on the dune. While a part of her acknowledged how right he was about her propensity toward working too hard—about her need to win—at least she didn’t have to win at all costs, which she felt accounted for something. She did realize he had attempted to help her redefine her definition of winning. She also realized, she needed to think more about that, though the very act of thinking required time she didn’t have.