“My future husband’s a lucky man,” she said as she leaned into me, grinned, and pulled her skirt up another inch, just above the knee.

Damn it, I was caught. I was embarrassed, but speechless, me? Never.

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen a pair of legs like that since, well, since…”

“Let me guess, since college. I get that all the time.”

Wow, ok, we obviously have a clever and funny one here. I’ve got to play this just right. Just this once, say something smart and clever, and leave her wanting something more.

“I was thinking more like the last movie I saw where the hottest girl on the planet comes walking out of the ocean and onto the beach, and the camera focuses in on all that salt water splattering and running down those long curvy gams.”

“Gams, huh? Well, that’s a new one for me,” she said with raised eyebrows.

“That’s what I do—new is my middle name.”

“Well, my middle name is Hellen, but you can call me Holly.”

“Hi, Holly, my name is Jack.”

“Nice to meet you, Jack!”

She was checking me out as we both sat there on the park bench. I was doing the same to her. I had that first-date feeling in my stomach—you know, the one where you’re not sure what to say or do, and it feels scary and good all at the same time.

“I love watching the sunset here, Holly. How the sun moves over that big ship and then dips herself quietly into the top of those rolling hills. When it rains, sometimes you can see rainbow colors scattered for miles.”

“You’ve quite a way with words, Jack. The way you just described the sunset, that’s nice.”

She took one long drag on her cigarette. I was captivated as the smoke galloped delicately out of her mouth. She looked over and winked at me. She had these squinty, sexy, lazy bedroom eyes. I felt more alive than ever before, like we were lost lovers or something. It was nice. Her hands were perfect, with slender fingers that connected to strong hands. Her hair was bombshell blonde, silky straight, and cut shoulder length. The ends of her hair curved inward toward her collar bone. She sat with her tan legs crossed and kept bobbing one leg up and down. Every time her leg came up, I felt my heart skip a beat, and every time it dropped, a breath of fresh air filled my lungs. Holly mesmerized me, and just like that, I was smitten with her. That’s what Holly was to me right then and there—a breath of fresh air.

That’s how it began with Holly and me. With the complex, unshaven me gazing upon those tan, sexy legs of hers. I’ve made all kinds of mistakes in this crazy life of mine but never had any regrets, never any real solid remorse, but sitting down on that park bench, overlooking that big cruise ship in the Long Beach harbor, may have been my first and last regret.

I also felt we were being watched.