''And now you're back at the beach, where you're comfortable, Princess.'' He pushes off from the car and pulls me with him. He grabs my big beach bag from the back seat and we make our way onto the sand.
The whole town has to be here. Literally, the whole town. Seriously, who knew a sandcastle competition was such a big deal?
''Come on.'' Alec tugs at my waist. ''I want a good spot.''
''It's sandcastles, Alec,'' I remind him.
''Yes, Miss Smarty Pants,'' he teases with a grin. ''I know that. It's fun trying to guess what everyone is building. For the last two years we've had our own competition. You have to guess what each castle is, and at the end of it the loser has to buy everyone a drink.''
I frown. ''How do you know if someone's cheating?''
''You write it down.'' He shrugs. ''It's a game you wanna play, since Carl lost both years.''
I grin as we find a spot to sit down by the rocks. Even here, people are set up for the competition.
''Okay, you're on.'' I lay my towel out. ''How come no one ever gets the news or paper down here? Isn't Woolacombe's sand castle competition massive?''
''That's why we don't get them here. Woolacombe's competition was last week or something. We keep them close. Lilac Bay is too small for too many tourists.''
I nod my agreement. The only people that ever holiday here are family members that live elsewhere, like us.
I pull my dress over my head and lie on the towel on my front, all too aware of Alec's eyes on me. His hot gaze sends tingles through my body. I clear my throat and his eyes snap to mine.
''Do you mind?'' I ask.
''Nope.'' He pulls his top off and lies next to me so our arms are touching. ''I don't mind looking at you in a bikini at all.''
I roll my eyes and prop my chin on my hands, watching chaos unfolding as a klaxon sounds and the competition begins.
Alec's finger trails lightly up my arm, over my shoulder and down my spine leaving goose pimples in its wake. He draws absent circles on the skin above my bikini bottoms. I swallow and try to ignore the feelings crawling across my skin but it's virtually impossible. My skin blazes where he's touched me, igniting hotter than the sun that burns down onto us. I glance at him out the side of my sunglasses. His eyes are fixed to me and I squirm under his intense gaze, looking away again.
Deep breath, Alexis!
My shoulders roll as I shiver. Alec's hand presses flat on my back then slides round, cupping my hip. He scoots even closer and mimics my position, pressing his cheek against mine.
''You did that deliberately,'' I accuse in a hushed voice.
''Can you blame me?'' he asks innocently, turning his face so his lips sweep across my cheek. ''If you had any idea how f**king hot you look right now, you wouldn't.''
A blush creeps onto my cheeks as he kisses my earlobe.
''Alec, public,'' I remind him. He groans.
''If there was a way to magic these people away right now, I'd do it,''' he whispers. ''I know I said we'd go at your pace, Princess, but when you lie there like that right in front of me, my patience is really tested.''
''You don't need to wait, Alec.''
''Huh?'' He pulls back slightly and his blue grey eyes bore into mine.
Have I not been obvious enough? Or is he just being typically dense and male?
''Good morning my little daffodils,'' Jen sings and drops to the sand in front of us. ''I wasn't interrupting anything, was I? Cause you should know, you'd have one hell of an audience.''
A smile creeps onto my face as I turn to look at her. ''No, no. As much as Romeo here thinks so, he'd be wrong.''
''Romeo and Juliet had a tragic love story,'' Carl inputs.
''Yeah.'' Alec kisses my temple. ''But it was only tragic because they were so in love. That tragic kind of love is the kind that consumes you until you can't do anything but live and breathe it. When you have that kind of love, you know you've found what true love is all about. So really, when you think about it, dying for the person you love isn't all that tragic at all.''
I glance at him as Jen gapes. He's looking at me again, an indiscernible look in his eyes. I gaze at him, my eyes narrowed slightly.
He talks like he knows. Like he knows what it's like to be so deeply in love you'd do anything, be anyone and go anywhere for that person.
I swallow my gasp. His lips twitch and he kisses me softly.
''Dude, someone needs to confiscate those Spiderman pants and give you the big boys boxers,'' Carl shakes his head.
And I'm pretty sure that in a roundabout way, Alec Johnson just admitted he was in love.
With me.
~
''Do you really believe that Romeo and Juliet weren't tragic?'' I ask as we lie staring at the stars on the now deserted beach.
''I guess it depends on your definition of tragic,'' he replies quietly, shifting so he's on his side. ''To some people it would be. It kinda sucks. I mean, he did kill himself and she wasn't even dead, after all, but it's kinda beautiful too.''
''I don't get it.'' I make out Orion and trace the constellation with my eyes.
''Think how much they must have loved each other to die for it, to know there was no one else in the world they'd ever love. That's a whole lotta love, Princess.''
''I guess,'' I say softly, earlier still playing on my mind.
''What's on your mind, pretty girl?'' Alec twirls a piece of my hair between his fingers and squeezes my waist.
''Nothing,'' I fib. ''Just thinking about what you said.''
''What I said earlier,'' he sighs.
''What?'' I turn my head so my eyes meet his.
"I love that you still don't get it." His lips curl up on one side.
"Get what?"
"What you do to me. What you mean to me."
"What do I do to you?" I raise my eyebrows.
"Drive me crazy," he answers, rolling over so we're facing each other. I'm tucked tightly in his arms, our faces millimetres apart.
"You tell me that every day." I smile and tap my finger against his chest.
"You want me to get soppy, don't you?" He closes his eyes, still smiling.
"Maybeeee," I tease.
He opens his eyes and the smile is gone from his face, his eyes are whirlpools of emotion.
"You're like my drug. I don't know if I'll ever get enough of you. Every day I need another kiss, another smile, another fix from you. I just need more. You make me crazy, Princess, out of my mind crazy." He strokes my back in lazy circles. "I could stare at you all day and never get bored of the view, I could listen to you speak about anything and everything and never get sick of the sound of your voice. I don't know how you've managed it, but you're so under my skin you're practically a part of it."
I close my eyes and lean forward. I'm not brave enough to tell him I feel the same about him and more. I'm not brave enough to admit that 'falling in love' has changed to fallen in love. Not yet.