Someday Beach by Jill Sanders Page A

wanted to reach out and touch the softness, but stuck his hands in his pocket instead. Best not to go too fast.
    “Great. Good.” He cleared his throat and started to turn around.
    “Have you had breakfast?” she asked as she caught up with him.
    He nodded. “I just had some of the best cinnamon rolls.”
    He chuckled. “Yeah, I try to only have Lunch Box’s cinnamon rolls once a year.” He smiled. “They’re the best, but if I didn’t pace myself, I’d eat them every day and end up fat and slow.”
    She reached over and took his hand, almost causing his steps to falter.
    “I know what you mean.” She sighed. “I’m already dreaming of another, and I just finished eating two of them.” She laughed holding onto her stomach. A few extra pounds on her wouldn’t be such a bad thing, he thought. It wasn’t as if she was skinny skinny, but he’d gotten his hands around her and knew that she could handle a little more.
    He liked women in all shapes and sizes, as long as they were soft and made him laugh. He smiled at her as he opened his car door for her.
    When he got in beside her, she turned to him. “So, where are we off to first?”
    He handed her a list of homes. “Pick one. The highlighted ones have open houses today.”
    “Oh.” She sounded excited. “I’ve always wanted to go to an open house.” She looked over the list. “There’s one just a few blocks from here; let’s start with that one.”
    He knew the place she was talking about. “Yeah, this is one of the ones on my second list,” he said as he pulled out of his parking spot.
    “Second list?” She clicked her seat belt into place.
    “I drove by all of them this week. The ones with an X next to them are off the list. One’s with a check are on my second list, meaning I’d like to see the inside before I narrow the field down.”
    She glanced at the list again.
    “You have twelve homes on your second list.” She smiled over at him.
    “Wow, that many?” He shook his head. “I thought I’d narrowed it down more.”
    “Well, nine of them have open houses today,” she said after looking at his list again. “Maybe I can help you narrow them down further.”
    He nodded. “I’d appreciate the help.”
    She set the list down between them. “So, what are you looking for?”
    He thought about it. At one point, he’d known exactly what he wanted in a house. But so much had changed in the years since he’d initially built the list in his mind. “It has to have at least four bedrooms and three baths.”
    “Beach front, bay front, or don’t you care?”
    He shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t care, as long as it has a good-sized yard. I don’t like places that sit right on top of one another.” He frowned. “Most of those places I already crossed off the list.”
    “Okay.” She nodded. “Garage?”
    He nodded. “I have a lot of tools and need the storage. I think I handled that in the first round, too.” He thought about what else he’d want in a place. “I prefer a fixer-upper. Something I could put my own touches into. Course, I don’t want to have to demolish the place and start from scratch.”
    She nodded again as they stopped in front of the first house.
    “Oh, this is lovely.” She undid her seat belt and leaned forward. “It’s right off the main road, though. During tourist season, you might hear a lot of traffic.”
    He hadn’t thought about that and mentally started to scratch it off the list.
    “But let’s go inside. Maybe the inside will charm you further.” She smiled over at him and he realized he didn’t care if he wasted time on a house he wasn’t going to buy, since she was there.
    The place was a bust. He knew it the second he walked in and saw that it had been recently renovated. He was happy when Shelly quickly walked through the place.
    As they drove away, she put an X by the listing. “I can’t believe they wanted that much for that place.” She frowned. “Are any of these listings in