From This Moment On: Heartwarming Contemporary Romance (Windswept Bay Book 1) by Debra Clopton Page A

place.”
    “Now, don’t go calling my Jeep names before you’ve seen her.”
    “Her, huh? Let me find her.” She scanned the lot and immediately stopped on the twenty-year-old, faded, light-blue Jeep with one white front fender and an unpainted patch on the rear fender. If that wasn’t enough to set it apart, it also had jacked up off-road tires that were made for exploring. A bubble of laughter spontaneously escaped Cali and she pointed. “An educated guess.”
    “Don’t laugh. She may look less than gorgeous but boy can she crawl over rock crevices. Come on, hop in.”
    “Hop being the literal term here,” Cali drawled, staring at the seat that was about chest high.
    “Do you need me to give you a lift?” He moved to stand beside her and shot her a grin. To his joy, she gave him a cute look of scorn and then grabbed the roll bar. Just before she climbed into the seat, she frowned. “Maybe you need to look the other way. I was not intending to climb Pikes Peak today in this sundress.”
    He glanced at the dress that hit her about mid-thigh. “Yup, I see what you mean. I can put you up there—”
    “I can do it. Turn, please.”
    He sighed and looked away.
    “Okay, you can hop in.”
    She sat in the passenger seat, her skirt flirting dangerously high on her thighs.
    “That was quick.” He jogged around and climbed behind the wheel. He grinned at her, feeling more uplifted than he’d been in months. And it felt good.
     
    As they drove along the beach road and into town, Cali felt that same sense of exhilaration sitting beside Grant that she’d felt from almost the first moment of meeting him. She loved that he’d bought such a road-worn Jeep to travel around on the island. He had the means to have bought a brand-new Jeep and then resell it for a loss if he’d been inclined to. But no, he’d bought one of Charlie’s cheap rent-a-wrecks. And the result was that he looked perfectly at home on the island now. He fit in as if he’d been here forever. He wore an old straw cowboy hat that shaded his eyes and reminded her of a country music video of Kenny Chesney riding around on an island in a topless Jeep. Like Kenny, fitting in with island life when he liked to relax, Grant seemed to do the same.
    “You seem really relaxed and happy this morning,” she said as the salty breeze kissed her skin and streamed through her hair as they rode down the narrow road.
    “I am. This island is beautiful. I’m glad I came. I did a little exploring yesterday. Getting the first painting done was a good thing.
    “How are you? We haven’t talked much really since the day you were on my balcony.”
    She didn’t want to go there right now. “I’m fine. Let’s not go there right now.”
    “You were crying.”
    And you nearly kissed me. “You captured something that touched me. That’s it. I’m a girl. Girls cry.”
    “We’re going to talk about it.” He pulled into the parking lot of the kayak rental business located beside a lagoon. It was a popular place for tourists.
    “Really, Grant. I don’t want to. And especially not here in this busy parking lot.”
    “Oh, no, we’ll talk later, but we will talk. This is what I want to show you.”
    He climbed out of the Jeep and though she was confused as to why they were here, she followed him.
    “What are we doing here?” She went to stand beside him on the boardwalk leading along the side of the building around to the back where the entrance and lagoon access was.
    “We’re going for a ride.”
    It had been a long time but she’d been down the lagoon many times growing up. It wove through the Windswept Bay interior and to the ocean. “But I thought you had found something to paint?”
    “I have, but I’m still looking for what will be the best. Earlier today, I was talking to Jax, the owner of Lagoon Adventures, and he piqued my interest. He told me of some cool places the lagoon runs past.”
    She’d been having fun but now she looked down at her