Chapter Two 

“Building sand castles at your age?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, it’s an activity that my six-year-old abandoned last summer, progressing and maturing to a steady regimen of Pokémon and miniature golf.”

“Cha. Bite me.”

Gracing her smirking cousin, the opinionated Ilene Wentworth, with a gentle (if rather pointed) nudge, Vivian Banks turned her attention to her canvas of choice, a mound of sand that shone in the rays of the brilliant Florida sun.

Barely noticing the departure of a bored Ilene, who made fast tracks for a nearby tiki bar, she formed and kneaded the sandy mass at the edge of her rainbow-patterned beach towel.

Soon its glittering nature made grains evolved and merged into something more: a sculpture that took the radiant, ebullient form of a castle on the shore.

With loving patience Vivian built the levels of her gleaming crystalline manse, forming the tall turrets, sweeping balconies and sun-kissed windows that lent beauty and character to her art.

Finally she affixed a handpicked sea shell to the home’s front entrance, forming a door that shone in its accents of lavender and pearl pink.

“Beautiful.” She said the word quietly in her mind but also heard it in the form of a deep, smooth voice that tickled and teased her senses.

Before she turned to behold the source of this alluring sound, Vivian first turned her gaze to her own, fully made form, dressed today in a one-piece swimsuit of stark pea green.

“Well, considering that I hit the sand sans make-up today and wearing a swimsuit that could double as an Army tent in a pinch,” she arched a caustic eyebrow, “I assume you’re making reference to the sand castle.”

She froze as her words were met with a round of warm, gentle laughter.

“Actually, I was referring to both the beautiful castle,” the voice continued, “and the lady that makes it.”

Vivian rolled her eyes.“Oh come on now, you’re so...” she began, falling silent as she raised her gaze to the man who made this unbelievable comment. “Hawt,” she finished vaguely, shaking her head as she beheld the most beautiful man she ever had seen.

Standing tall and proud in the sand before her was a man who shamed the sun, for even as his waist-length reddish gold hair and massive bronzed chest mirrored these pure golden rays, his bluish green eyes rivaled the sky that oversaw their meeting.

A pair of long, trim legs completed this perfect package, as did a tight, ruby red Speedo that seemed to contain some very ample assets. “Why thank you,” he dazzled her with a white-toothed smile. “I’m Haiden. And who, may I ask, is the lovely artist that created this beautiful house?”

“Right now I have no idea.” Vivian shook her head to clear it of its dreamy haze. “If memory serves, however, my name is Vivian.”

Haiden chuckled. “I like a funny girl,” he nodded, kneeling beside her to take a closer look at her sand-sculpted handiwork. “You know, it’s very rare that I see a sand castle of this incredible caliber. Are you new to Port Emerald?”

Vivian nodded. “I just signed on as an art teacher at the city university,” she told him. “On my day off my cousin Ilene, and I like to hit the beach—but even here I usually find myself putting my hands to work, either sketching something I see on the sand or building one of these ridiculous sculptures.”

Haiden shook his head. “Ridiculous?” His eyes of blue emerald glowed as they regarded the turrets and towers of her sanded creation. “Madame, this work is both beautiful and so true to life. It reminds me of my own home.”

Vivian jumped. “For real?” She tilted her head in his direction. “I mean, it does remind me a bit of my new apartment, in that both structures tend to fall apart at a moment’s notice and have precious little monetary value. Do you mean to say, though, that you actually have digs that resemble a tropical palace? If, that is, there is such a thing.”

Haiden nodded. “Let’s just say I make my home out in nature—a place that I consider to be very regal indeed.” He raised his arms in a sweeping gesture to honor their ethereal landscape, acknowledging in its scope the swaying palms and ivory gulls that swept the gem blue sky cape, as well as the crystalline sands and rolling waves that lingered just beneath them.