The Sanctuary (Playa Luna Beach Romance) Read Free

look at a man in the past year, even if she had wanted to. She’d been so hell-bent on creating the vaquita sanctuary that all other things in her life had taken a back seat, love included. Especially after her ordeal with Butthead.
    As her thoughts moved in time with the waves, she listened to the voice of the man at the pina colada truck. It had a strong quality, but not overbearing. He was asking the vendor how he was doing, and what his life was like, seeming to be interested in the response.
    In easy conversation, they joked about the changes in Baja, the decline of the number of fish, and the more frequent sightings of dead vaquita on the beach, caught in the gill nets of the over-eager fishermen. Her ears perked up at that, and she sat up, wanting to hear more.
    As she turned toward the conversation, she realized the man she had been eavesdropping on was looking directly at her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she quickly looked the other way. Her cheeks flushed as she flipped over onto her stomach, her head still facing away to give her time to stop blushing. A man hadn’t had this effect on her in a very long time, and she wondered why she found him so attractive.
    His unusual amber eyes and wavy brown hair, a little bit long, were handsome, yes. But the way he carried himself, the way he spoke kindly and respectfully to the vendors, had caught her attention. His friends looked different, too, like they’d be more at home on the beach in San Diego than here in this sleepy fishing village.
    He took a sip of his drink, and Cassie caught his eye over the rim of the pineapple. Horrified he’d caught her watching him, her hand betrayed her and shot up to give a little wave.
    Wave? Really? Cassie groaned. She really was rusty with men. Trying to forget about the absurd wave, she walked down to the beach to take a swim, wading into the warm and inviting water. She did what she had been taught by her father to do in these waters and shuffled her feet to scare away any stingrays that might be lurking.
    She had the fleeting thought she may look ridiculous, adding to her embarrassment, but enough of her friends had been stung by sting-rays on this beach that it was non-negotiable . She took the precaution. Stingrays were plentiful here and came in with the high tide. She often saw the holes they had made to rest in as she walked the beach at low tide, after they had gone. Some of the holes were up to three feet wide, and they left indentations in the sand where their tails had been.
    It was fascinating to her that you could tell when it was breeding time. Then, there were some very big holes, indicating huge stingrays, and lots of much smaller ones surrounding them, some as small as eight inches in diameter. She knew for a fact they were here, so she went ahead and shuffled, hoping she didn’t look too silly to the man on the beach, adding insult to injury.
    She surprised herself, wondering if he was watching her, and was glad she had grabbed her new, favorite bikini as she packed back in San Diego. At 5’4”, she knew she was on the shorter side for girls from California, especially volleyball players as she had been, but she thought she was pretty well proportioned. She had been a competitive volleyball player in high school and two years into college, and always the shortest on the team. Since then, she tried to stay as fit as available time allowed. At least she hoped she had at that moment, shuffling in the sand and trying not to fall over.
    Now waist-high in the water , she pushed off, swimming leisurely. Big waves were infrequent here on her beach, and she navigated the small ones today with ease. She was a strong swimmer and loved the feel of the warm water on her body. Swimming steadily, she could feel the tug of the tide pulling her with each wave.
    As Cassie swam in the clear water, she saw something big glimmering on the sandy ocean floor. Amazing shells were common here, and she was an avid collector. She