Breaking the Rules: The Honeybees, book 1 by Amy Archer Page A

get us to follow him. “You’re in a dress, you’re fine,” he said, and flashed me that irresistible smile again.
    “Okay,” I said, smiling and then looking down in embarrassment at the way his grin melted me.  
      I finished the rest of the wine in my mug and then pushed it down into the sand and followed Devin to the surf, glancing back every few moments to make sure no one was messing with our stuff. Taco led the way, galloping straight toward the waves.  
    “This is his first time at the beach,” Devin said. “Let’s see what he thinks of the salt water.”
    Taco hit the incoming wave at full speed, letting his mouth hang open and seeming to bite the water. Then he froze abruptly, sneezed three times in rapid succession, and trotted back toward us. Devin snorted with laughter and I started laughing too, and soon neither of us could stop. It was as though we had the beach to ourselves; no one else around us mattered. It was just the two of us and our dog, standing there on the beach, slightly buzzed from the wine, laughing harder and harder, and every time I thought we were done glancing at the other’s face and starting in all over again.  
    Devin reached out and grabbed my arm as though to steady himself, his eyes tearing up from the laughter, and the warmth of his hand spread through my whole body.  
    Does he…? Could he…? I hardly dared wonder. A guy like Devin, so free and spontaneous? With a girl like me, so precise and planned?
    And then the moment was past and the two of us were stepping into the water-logged sand at the edge of the water, sinking down into it before the salt water rushed over our feet and then retreated, leaving hints of foam on our toes. Taco came back, and he’d found a stick. Tentatively, as though worried about getting his paws dirty, he trotted out to Devin, looking up at him eagerly. Devin took the stick and threw it down the shore for Taco, who raced after it.  
    I ventured in a little farther, and after a few throws Taco got bored with Devin and brought the stick to me. I was touched. I threw it for him, and got so caught up in watching him run after it and then bound back into the waves toward me, no longer suspicious of the water, that I didn’t even notice when a larger wave swept toward me.
    “Watch out!” Devin called, but by the time I turned to see, it was too late. The wave splashed over me, soaking the bottom of my dress to my waist, and the rush of water pushed me off balance. I stepped backward, trying to catch myself, but the surface of the sand was uneven. My arms flailed wildly for a moment, and then I fell into the retreating wave. When I stood up, the whole front and bottom of my dress was soaked, and my underwear clung to my skin.  
    I felt my face redden in embarrassment, but Devin was laughing again, and after a moment I laughed too, trudging back toward our blanket with my dress heavy around me, the fabric slapping wetly against my skin with every step.
    “Tough break,” he said, his eyes still glittering with laughter, and I punched him playfully.
    “Now what?” I said, more to myself than anything. “I don’t have a change of clothes.” I considered the possibilities.  
    I could take off my dress and wring it out, pretending my bra and underwear were a bikini. No. I could never do that—not here, in the middle of the day, surrounded by strangers…and Devin.
    I could dry off with the blanket. But then we’d have to sit in the sand.  
    I could…
    Devin interrupted my thoughts. “Now,” he said, “we have more wine. And our picnic.”
    I nodded, luxuriating in his laid-back attitude and grateful that he didn’t see my fall as time for the afternoon to end.  
    While he poured us another mugful of wine each, I squeezed out the skirt of my dress as best I could, then sat back down on the blanket. Taco plopped down in my lap, and I imagined how much dog hair would be glued to me when he got up. But I didn’t care.  
    “I have a