Closest To My Heart

Chapter Twenty-Two

Awaken by an insistent shriek, Maggie forced her eyes open to find a lone white seagull staring at her from the far edge of the blanket. The shade umbrella was open and Tag was gone, but in his place was a balled-up piece of plastic wrap with the discarded remains of a sandwich inside. Not bothering to sit up, Maggie tore it open and tossed a small hunk of bread to the bird.

"If you feed them, they'll never leave you alone."

Maggie propped herself up and turned to see Tag walking slowly toward her from the direction of the water, his dark hair dripping wet and the t-shirt he'd been wearing earlier balled up in his hand. The sun, just starting to graze the treetops behind them, glistened off the water droplets trapped in the lush thicket of hair that adorned his broad chest. He slipped his arms into the sleeves of his shirt and pulled it on over his head, the rippling contraction of his abdominal muscles causing his swim trunks to slip down just far enough to reveal the thin line of dark hair that ran straight down from his navel. Maggie averted her eyes as he pulled the shirt down over his torso, hoping that he hadn't heard the small whimper she'd been unable to contain. Seriously, what was the matter with her these days?

"Recharge your batteries?" Tag asked, apparently oblivious to her internal discomfort as he sat down on the blanket beside her.

"Mm," Maggie nodded as she slipped the cover-up on over her bikini. "How long have I been asleep?"

He shrugged. "Three hours, give or take."

"You're kidding!" she said, although the position of the sun in the sky told her that he wasn't. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm not much good for company, am I?"

"I'm the one who should apologize," he insisted. "I've gotten so used to going without sleep that I sometimes forget that other people still need it."

Maggie smiled distractedly as she glanced left and right, then behind them to the wooded trail where the Jeep was parked.

"Expecting someone?" Tag teased.

"Huh?" Maggie murmured, and then realized what he meant. "Oh! No, I just, um—" She paused to scan the surrounding landscape one last time before reluctantly confessing her dilemma. "I have to pee."

"Oh." Tag blinked, and then made a long sweeping motion across the horizon with his arm. "Behold, nature's restroom."

"No way, I am not peeing in the water!"

"Why not? The fish do it."

"Well, I'm not a fish," Maggie scoffed, and then narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you pee in the water?"

"Of course not," Tag said, and then a slow smile spread over his lips. "I'm a guy. We pee in the woods."

"I can't do that," she said. "I tried, once, and it didn't go well. At all."

"I see," he said, rubbing a hand over the shadow of stubble that had cropped up along the square line of his jaw. "Well, your only other option is to dig a hole in the sand."

"Tag!" Maggie crowed, giving him a playful shove.

"Okay, come on," he grinned, rising to his feet and pulling her up. "There's a bathhouse at the public beach on the other side of the point."

The tide was out, but they still had to wade through the rocks in water up to Maggie's thighs to reach the other side of the point, where the rest of the trek was sand right up to the steps of the bathhouse. When Maggie emerged after taking care of business, Tag was sitting on the steps, inspecting the lens of his camera as he waited. He turned to her and smiled, and Maggie's heart skipped a fluttery beat in her chest.