Meant to Be by Jessica James Page A

write with by any chance?”
    After going through their pockets,
Pops came up with a pen, and Reese had a book of matches. Glancing
over her shoulder at Rad and Wynn still talking, Lauren ripped the
cover off the matches and scribbled something down. “Thanks, guys,”
she said. “Very nice meeting you.”
    “ Hope to see you again.”
Pops shook her hand.
    Lauren smiled. “Please thank Annie for
her hospitality. I had a great time.”
    “ Will do. Ya’ll have a
good night.”
    As Lauren watched the two fade away
into the darkness, she heard Rad’s voice behind her still talking
to Wynn.
    “ Yeah. We’ll douse the
fire before we head up.”
    She finished folding the matchbook
cover into a tiny sliver just as Wynn reached her. “Nice to meet
you, Lauren.”
    When she turned around, he surprised
her by giving her a hug. “That guy’s a keeper. Just sayin’,” he
whispered before letting her go and waving one last
time.
    Lauren gurgled with amusement that
Rad’s friend would provide such an endorsement. She wondered if Rad
had put him up to it.
    “ I wish you would do that
more often.” Rad stood by the fire, kicking sand onto the dying
embers.
    Confused by his serious tone, Lauren
stopped smiling. “Do what?”
    “ Laugh, dummy.”
    “ Give me some time. I’m
getting better.” She bent down and picked up a discarded cup
someone had forgotten. “There was a time when I didn’t do it at
all.”
    “ Really?” Rad looked over
at her. “When?”
    Lauren walked to a trash can to get
rid of the cup but turned her head toward him.
    “ Before you.”
     

Chapter 10

    Rad and Lauren stood by
the fire that was little more than a smoking pile of warm embers
now. Nothing but inky blackness surrounded them, and nothing but
the sound of waves reached their ears. It was as if they were in
their own world of darkness and shadows.
    Lauren gazed up at the sky, which was
now completely devoid of starlight or moonshine. “Wow. It’s really
dark.”
    “ It’s always darkest right
before the dawn.”
    “ You had to say that,
didn’t you?” Lauren hesitated a moment. “I’ve been afraid to check
the time, but I know I need to get going.”
    Rad glanced at his watch. “It’s
0530.”
    Lauren inhaled a sharp breath of
anguish, and without thinking, put her hands to her face in dismay
and disbelief.
    “ Hey, there’ll be none of
that.” Rad spoke with quiet authority as he moved toward her. “I
want to see that smile.” He seemed big as a mountain and just as
solid as he pulled her hands away and wrapped his arms around
her.
    Lauren laid her cheek against his
heart and reveled in his comforting embrace. She forced a smile and
tried to sound cheerful. “The last twenty-four hours reminds me of
that song from the show Aida.”
    “ Something about being
given paradise—but only for a day?”
    Lauren looked up at him curiously “I
didn’t really expect you to know it.”
    He laughed. “Then why did you say
it?”
    “ I don’t know.” Lauren
continued to shake her head and stare at him. “But I definitely
didn’t peg you as a fan of tragic love stories.”
    “ Not just tragic ones.” He
tried to defend himself. “Anyway, we’re just saying goodbye—not
being buried alive in a tomb like Aida.”
    The comment made Lauren smile and
laugh, and then almost cry because she was laughing again even
though it felt like her insides were being ripped to
shreds.
    She bent down to pick up the container
of water Wynn had left and dumped it on the remaining embers,
watching the smoke rise in the air. Then she walked to the trash
can to throw it away while Rad mounded sand up where the fire had
been.
    He motioned for her when he was done.
“Guess we’d better head back toward your hotel.”
    She nodded as she came up beside him.
“Thanks for today, Rad. It was nice to forget the rest of the world
for a little while.”
    He threw his arm over her shoulder and
squeezed her close to him. “I’d be glad to do it