Okay...let's see if I can redeem myself and get back to my "fluffy" story. Lol

Chapter Nine

“NORA!” Bo shouted as he made his way along the beach. When she was late returning to the bungalow, Bo decided he would just meet her on the beach and do the surprise from there. But, as he walked along, he saw no sign of her.

“NORA!” he shouted again. No answer.

He walked quite a distance scanning the sand and sea for any glimpse of her. Finally, he found her towel and book lying on the sand.

“NORA?” he shouted again.

Even though he saw no sign of her, finding the book and towel assured him he was headed in the right direction. Still, he was getting worried. He continued his search. He came to the peninsula of rock jutting into the sea and decided to walk across it to give himself a better view of the water.

“NORA?!” he called as he scanned the water. “NORA!”

Nora thought she heard something. She lifted herself as high as possible on her rocky crag. “BO?” she shouted. Then louder, “BO!”

The second time she called, he heard her.

“NORA?” He made his way as quickly as possible toward the end of the headland. “NORA?!”

Nora saw him approaching. “BO! BO, DOWN HERE!”

As Bo turned, he saw her clinging to the rocks. “Hold on, Red! I’m coming...just hang on...hang on, honey!”

He scrambled over the rocks as quickly as possible till he was by her side.

Brushing her wet hair out of her face, he asked “Red...are you alright? What happened?”

“Oh, thank God you found me...you’re here…” she said wrapping one arm about his neck while clinging to the rocks with the other.

“Yeah, I’m here. You’ll be fine now. What happened?”

“I was pulled into a riptide, and this is where I ended up. I thought I could pull myself up, but my foot is wedged and I can’t move,” she told him over the sound of the crashing waves.

“I’ll go under and see if I can free it,” Bo told her before dipping beneath the surface.

Nora felt Bo prodding her foot and the rocks around it before he resurfaced. He pushed his wet hair back.

“I’m going to keep going down and try to break away some of those stones and coral...not sure that I can,” he told her.

He swam under and resurfaced for air several times.

“I was able to break away a bit of coral, but not a substantial amount. I’m going to have to pull on your foot to try and free it. I’m sorry, honey.”

When Bo went under again, Nora felt him twisting her foot sideways and pulling it. She bit her lip as she felt stinging pain.

Bo resurfaced for air then went back down. After further prodding and pulling, the foot was freed.

Bo surfaced again and climbed up onto the rocks. He pulled Nora up to his side. She clung to him.

“Are you alright?” he whispered holding her tight.

She shook her head ‘yes’.

“Let me see your foot,” Bo said.

They sat up and took a look at her foot. It was scraped and bleeding.

“Can you move your ankle? Flex your foot?” he asked her.

She did both.

“That’s good...I’m glad it isn’t broken,” he told her. “Let me help you back to the bungalow. Guess I’ll be the doctor this time and fix you up.”

* * * * * * *

Nora insisted on a shower to rid herself of the sticky sand and seawater before letting Bo doctor her foot.

While he waited, he put away the surprise lunch hoping they could use it the next day.

As Bo worked on her foot, treating it with peroxide and wrapping it in a clean linen tea towel he found in the kitchen drawer, Nora watched quietly.

“There,” he said as he finished. At least it will stay clean. Sorry I don’t have any real gauze. You look like a wounded pirate with that rag tied on your foot.

Nora smiled. “We’re a pair, aren’t we?...You with that scrape on your head and me with my raggedy foot?”

Bo shook his head and looked up at her.

“I’m just thankful all you got was a wounded foot...when I think about what could have happened, Red…”

“I know. I’m thankful for those rocks...if they hadn’t been there, I would have been swept out to sea…”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Bo said. “Then what would I do?”

She ran her hand along his cheek. “You would have a lot less trouble,” she teased him.

“Not funny, Red,” he told her. “Besides…” he looked up at her, “life is boring without a little trouble.”

She giggled. “I’ll remind you of that every time I give you trouble from here on out,” she said with wide eyes.

He stood and helped her to her feet. “How does it feel?” he asked her.

“It’s sore, but I’m going to be fine. Thank you for rescuing me. You know what this means, don’t you? You saved my life. Now I’ll be forever indebted to you.”

“Hmmm...sounds promising…”

She pulled him close.“I’m sorry I ruined your surprise,” she told him.

“It’s not ruined...just postponed. We’ll do it tomorrow if your foot is up to it. Right now, let’s eat. Then I want to get a shower. Guess we’ll have to watch movies since the hot tub will be out tonight.”

* * * * * * *

Fed, showered, and snuggled on the couch, they watched Bogie in The African Queen; then they chose a John Wayne movie that neither of them had seen.

The second movie didn’t hold their attention as well. They were distracted by feeding each other popcorn and sipping wine and doing a little necking.

Nora, who had been lying with her head on Bo’s chest, raised up on an elbow to get another sip of wine.

“You know...you really shouldn’t serve red wine with popcorn, Bo.”

“I’m sorry, honey...excuse me for not following wine etiquette...the red was all I had left.”

“Well, I don’t know if I can get involved with a guy who serves red wine with popcorn…”

“Oh? Well then, next time I’ll serve you beer. When all else fails, resort to beer.”

“That’s a Buchanan motto, isn’t it?”

“Mmhm,” he answered toying with her hair.

Putting her glass down, she settled herself comfortably back on his chest. They watched the movie for a few moments, then Nora interrupted.

“Okay...I’m confused. Wasn’t that woman with the other guy before? How did she end up with this one? We missed something, Bo. We’ll have to rewind it…”

Bo interrupted her, “Honey, I’ve rewound this thing twice and we still don’t know what’s going on.”

“That’s because you keep distracting me,” she said with big eyes, poking him in the chest to emphasize each word.

“Me? I don’t think so, Red. You’re the one who’s being distracting,” he said kissing her again. Another long, lingering kiss...the kind that had been distracting her all evening. He had been letting his hands wander too…

“You tired?” she whispered the next time their lips parted.

He looked into her eyes. “That depends,” he said quietly.

She smiled. “Depends on what?” she asked running her finger down his jawline.

“Depends on...why you ask,” he whispered giving her a questioning look.

“Well,” she began quietly, “I’m getting...very tired...and I thought...if you were tired too...that we could be...tired together…” she finished, playing with his shirt buttons.

They smiled as their eyes met. “Is that an invitation?” he asked softly.

Still looking into his eyes, she nodded her head an almost imperceptible ‘yes’.

He felt longing and desire building quickly within him.

“Well...suddenly, I’m very tired,” he said trying to sit up beside her. “In fact...I’m just plain exhausted.”

Nora giggled. “You are, huh?”

“Yes,” he said, “but...one question...how are we going to...you know...with your foot hurting like that?...”

Nora stood. “We’ll find a way...you’re creative, remember? Coming?” she asked, extending her hand to him.

He placed his hand in hers and she led him to the bedroom. They entered and he shut the door behind them where he pulled her into his arms.

“Did you lock the door?” she murmured between kisses as he backed her toward the bed.

Bo laughed. “Honey, we’re alone on this island. There’s no one to come in on us.”

“Oh, that’s right,” she giggled. “We’re all alone.” Then more seriously she added as she pulled him closer, “Just the two of us...all alone...at last…” as her mouth found his in an all-consuming kiss.