Every Breaking Wave by Megan Nugen Isbell Page A

come out of hiding and when I opened the screen door, they both looked in my direction.
    “Mommy!” Noah exclaimed, running towards me and hugging my thighs tightly.
    Jeremy was next to us a moment later, still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, the beard on his face heavier than I’d seen it before, but still short enough to be sexy.
    I wanted to scoop up Noah into my arms, but with my cast, I couldn’t.  Instead, I bent down to his level, wrapping my arms around him.
    “How long have you been up?”
    “I don’t know,” he answered and I looked to Jeremy for the answer.
    “A couple of hours.”
    “Why didn’t you come wake me up?”
    “Because you needed to rest.”
    I stood up, holding onto Noah’s hand as my eyes met Jeremy’s. I felt guilty that he’d taken care of my son for the last two hours while I slept, but I knew not to tell him he shouldn’t have done it or it wasn’t necessary, because he would’ve insisted otherwise and truthfully, I appreciated the gesture. I may have thought it was unnecessary, but deep down, I knew it was necessary. I needed to rest and he’d made that happen.
    “Thank you, Jeremy,” is all I said instead.
    “Don’t mention it.”
    His mouth formed into a smile and when our eyes met, I tried to tell myself I didn’t feel the heat rushing through me.  Look, but don’t touch I reminded myself. Jeremy Parrish may have eyes like chocolate, dimples that caused me to blush and an apparent heart of gold, but that didn’t change the fact I’d already been sucked in by a seamlessly perfect guy once in my life and I wasn’t going to let it happen again.
    “So,” I said a moment later. “What have you two been up to for the past two hours?”
    “I made breakfast. Veggie omelets. I hope you don’t mind I raided the fridge, Beth,” Jeremy said. “I’ll get you some more onions and mushrooms from the store, but there are still a couple of tomatoes left. I went sparingly on those.”
    “Wait,” I interrupted, looking between Noah and Jeremy. “Did Noah actually eat it?”
    “Wolfed it down,” Jeremy answered.
    “Noah doesn’t like mushrooms or onions.”
    “Apparently he likes them when I cook them. Perhaps I can give you a lesson so he’ll eat them for you too.”
    His coy grin both infuriated me and made me smile at the same time.
    “I’ll pass, thank you,” I said, shooting him a playful glare. “What about after breakfast?”
    “We’ve been out here playing. Noah wanted to go to the beach, but I told him we had to wait till you woke up.”
    “Can we go, Mom?” Noah jumped in and I looked down at myself, still in my pajamas. I glanced across the street and could see the sand already peppered with umbrellas and people. I could tell it was going to be a warm day and I didn’t blame everyone for getting an early start. In an hour I knew it’d be nearly impossible to find a decent spot to set up.
    “Give me ten minutes, Noah,” I told him and I saw him grimace, but he didn’t complain.
    “Fine,” he mumbled, opening the screen door and walking inside, leaving just Jeremy and I.
    “You’ve got a great kid there, Beth,” Jeremy said after Noah left.
    I watched his face as he said it and I didn’t think he was making it up. I thought he actually liked Noah. Then again, maybe he was a great actor and was merely saying it to get on my good side. Darren had said a million things to me that all ended up being lies.
    “He is a good kid,” I said softly, folding my arms across my chest and then it grew quiet between us as I heard Noah inside getting his beach stuff together.
    “How’re you feeling this morning?” he finally asked.
    “I’m okay.”
    “How’s the pain?”
    “Not as bad as I thought it would be. I’ll be fine,” I said and the silence settled in between us again.
    I knew I should say something, like thank him profusely again for what he’d done and how he’d taken care of the situation last night, but I didn’t. He’d