I leaned against the door, my eyes on my reflection. The nagging sensation that something was wrong wouldn’t let go. On top of that, I figured out what was bugging me from when we’d talked about our date.

I stared at myself, all tattoos, dog tags, muscles, swim trunks and five-o-clock shadow—it hit me. The problem with her wanting a fancy date with flowers and dresses and jewelry and valet parking was I wasn’t fancy.

I could put on an expensive suit and pretend.

I could afford to be that guy, money-wise.

But underneath the suit and the charming smile, I was the tatted-up Marine that had no place dating the daughter of a prospective President of the United States of America. She was supposed to be with a trust fund baby. One who had money and wealth and recognition.

Me? I so wasn’t that guy.

I never would be.

The waves were strong, but not so much that I had to worry about being taken under. Thank God. I’d already been there once before, right after I found out Finn was working for my father, and I had no desire to be there again.

I looked over at him, and he was watching me, his warm blue eyes shining. His light brown hair looked almost blond in the sunlight, and his wetsuit clung to his muscles like a second skin. And I knew under that suit was a perfect body with an even more perfect heart underneath of it. He smiled at me, but I could tell it was strained.

He was upset about Dad not texting him, and I was, too. Even though I played it off like it was no big deal, it did sound bad. I called him while Finn was in the bathroom, and he hadn’t answered. That freaked me out.

Almost as much as the call Finn had gotten from his commanding officer.

And it was killing me to act like it wasn’t killing me.

“Hey, back at my place you told me to remind you about a story,” he said, his tone light and teasing. It didn’t fool me, though. He was stressed—and so was I. “What happened in Italy?”

My cheeks heated, and I looked over my shoulder. Why had I told him I’d tell him about that? Ugh. “Well, for me to explain, I have to tell another story first. You might already know it. Did you hear about what happened in Nevada when I was ten?”

Finn’s brow creased. “No. My dad wasn’t there yet. I was still in California. My mom was still alive…” He trailed off, his eyes focused on a past I couldn’t see. “At that point in my life, I was a carefree surfer boy who thought he was invincible. My dad worked on a high-security detail for the governor, and my mom was healthy as a horse.”

I nodded, wanting to probe more about what his life had been like before his mother died, but knowing now was not the time. He wanted his story, so I would give it to him. “There’s a reason my dad is as crazy as he is. Back then, he wasn’t so insistent we have security on us twenty-four/seven. I had freedom and there were actually times when I was on my own. We were free.”

“You didn’t have someone on you constantly?”

I shook my head. “Nope. In fact, Mom and I got bored while Dad was campaigning, so we decided to go shopping at the local mall to pass some time. We didn’t bring anyone with us.”

“I think I see where this is going,” he said dryly. “You got lost and he panicked?”

I shook my head. “Nope. We got abducted.”

“W-What?” he said, sitting up straight. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I wish.” I sighed and looked over my shoulder. I hated talking about it. It had been a nightmare. “The guy was a complete idiot, so they found us pretty quickly, but my dad got really shaken up about it. We all did. And ever since then, he’s been different. Controlling.”

He sighed. “I almost get it now. If something happened to you on my watch, I’d probably go insane, too.”

“Even though we were the ones who were abducted, I think he’s the one who had the major post-traumatic stress issues. Mom and me?” I shrugged and stared out at the ocean before turning to Finn. “We moved on, but with the security that Dad insists follow us everywhere. And it’s stayed that way ever since.”

Finn nodded, his hands tight on his board. “So that’s why he makes me follow you around out here.”

“Yeah.” I watched a fairly large wave form in the distance, rolling slowly toward us. I loved the way the waves did that—started small but slowly built up height before crashing to the sand. I could sit here all day and watch Mother Nature do her worst. “And in Italy, I escaped the watchmen.”

Finn flinched. “Please tell me you weren’t kidnapped.”

“I wasn’t.” I smiled at him. “But I didn’t answer my dad’s texts and he freaked the hell out. I mean, catastrophic panic.”

Finn tapped his fingers on his board, playing a tune I didn’t recognize. “I would’ve been away then. I missed the show.”

“You’re lucky. I hear it was quite ugly.” I sighed and tore my eyes from the water, looking back at my other favorite sight—otherwise known as Finn.

“Where did you go? In Italy?”

“I wanted to flirt with that guy I told you about when we first met. The Italian guy I mentioned. Remember him?”

His brows slammed down. “I do. But do I want to hear anything else?”

He was glowering at me now, but at least he looked more alive than he had for a while. Ever since he asked me on a date he’d been acting weird. Brooding, almost. I could tell something was bothering him, but I had no idea what it was or if it was even related to our date later tonight.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. I never even got close to him. My dad’s guards found me and took care of it,” I said, lifting my hands and doing air quotes. “But for those thirty minutes when no one knew where I was? Dad texted me every single second, I kid you not. I’d ignored him because I knew he was being his normal spaztastic self, and I told him as much. But after that, he promised to only text me twenty million times if it was an emergency.”

Finn pressed his lips together. “So you’re telling me this to make sure I don’t panic like him, or what?”

“Pretty much.” I reached out and caught his hand, squeezing it tight. “It’ll be okay. You’ll see.”

“I know.” He lifted my hand and kissed my fingers, making my stomach clench. “With you at my side, how could it not be?”

My heart melted at that sentence. Combined with the way he looked at me—his eyes soft and his lips even softer—I wasn’t sure I had the muscle power to surf right now.

“You catch the first wave,” I said, my voice practically a whisper. I cleared my throat and tipped my head toward the approaching wave. “It looks pretty big.”

He nodded once. “And you’ll wait till I come back to catch another one.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved a hand at him impatiently. “I remember the rules, master of the sea.”

He looked over his shoulder, more than likely calculating the time it would take for his ride to arrive. He had a few seconds at most. He shot me a look and started paddling forward, his back muscles bunching and rolling flawlessly. “You can give me all the attitude you want, but I almost lost you once—I won’t do it again.”

“I know,” I called out, splashing water at him. The drops barely reached him. “Now go before you’re too late.”

He grinned and flawlessly caught the wave, riding it to shore like the pro he was. He sliced in and out, doing moves I didn’t even know the names of, never once tipping off balance. He was mesmerizing and beautiful to watch out here.

Well, anywhere. But especially on the water.

I watched him with awe, quite certain I’d never get to that level of skill, but I was okay with that. I just liked coming out here, hanging out in the water and enjoying the time with Finn. For the most part, we were left alone. There were a few surfers out this morning, but it was much emptier than on a weekend.