A Holiday Romance by Bobbie Jordan Read Free Book Online

interesting question when everything is exactly the way you want it.
     
    “Can we stay in bed?”
     

“Sure, but we could save that for when we’re old and lazy, right?” Latisse smiled at Guys usual “meet life head on” attitude.
     
    “What do you want to do?”
     
    “An adventure. Up for it?”
     
    “Yeah, it’s been kind of boring around you the last few weeks; I’d like some adventure for a change.”
     
    “So get up and get dressed.”
     
    “You first!”
     
    “Okay, let’s just stay in bed.”
     
    “Now you’re talking” Latisse said as she curled up into Guy’s strong arms.
     
    Guy’s cell phone was ringing. “What time is it?” Latisse asked.
     
    Guy checked the caller ID and said “nothing important, go back to sleep.”
     

    They were on their way to Montana D’Oro, A California State Park named for the golden wild flowers that covered its coastline paradise.

When Latisse heard of Guy’s plan, she was again speechless that he could have planned an excursion so in tuned with her own personal sense of self. Montana D’Oro was 22 miles of virgin pacific coastline. It had been protected land from pioneer times and was the same today as it had been a hundred, two hundred or more years ago.
    “Can you ride?”
     
    “What do you mean can I ride?” Latisse asked.
     
    “A horse. Have you ever ridden a horse?”
     
    “I grew up in the south, yo!”
     
    “Yeah, and?”
     
    "Yeah, okay, yes I ride.”
     
    “Hey, okay, I don’t know. I’m sure a lot of beauty queens have never been on a horse before.”
     
    “Fair enough. This one has.”
     

They spent the day exploring the coastline. The company that had provided the docile mounts had also provided a basket lunch. When they stopped and dismounted, they explored the tide pools, the wild flowers and looked for shells in the surf. During lunch, his phone rang once, she barely noticed, he didn’t seem to notice at all.
     
    Extending out from the coastline were lines of rocks forming jetties into the Pacific Ocean. At one such jetty they stopped and tethered the horses. Hand and hand they carefully picked their way across rocks out into the very center of the ocean. There, uninhibited by complete privacy and seclusion they stripped down and laid on flat rocks a good ¼ mi westward from the continental United States. They were the only two human beings in existence as far as anyone knew. Latisse and Guy had never felt any more right with the world. They felt loved, protected, safe and at home in their own skins. Nothing else existed for several hours. There was no cell service out on the jetty.
     

By the time they got back to the Inn, Guy had three voicemails waiting. While Latisse was dressing for dinner, she could have sworn she heard Guy yelling for an instant. Maybe it was the T.V. She couldn’t imagine Guy raising his voice under any circumstances.
     
    They went out to dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant called Ristorante  Allegria. They sat in silence after ordering their meals; Guy seemed to be lost in thought. Latisse made a few attempts at small talk, but it was obvious Guy was lost in another world. He kept staring off into space, swirling his red wine absent-mindedly in his glass. Finally Latisse had had enough.
     
    "Well, what is it then?" she exclaimed, startling Guy out of his reverie. For a moment he looked like he didn't know where he was, but then his glazed expression cleared and he smiled warmly at her, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand.
     

"Nothing baby. Just thinking about work, that's all." Latisse didn't buy it; she just couldn't believe that work would have him a million miles away from her when they were sitting right across the table from one another. Still, she let it drop, at least for now. He would tell her what was bothering him when he was ready.
     
    After dinner they went back to their hotel suite and cuddled up on the couch to watch a movie. Latisse found herself