Glitter In The Ocean

Dangerous, yet beautiful.

Playful yet powerful.

As hypnotic as a street dancer, it lulled her into a trance.

A breeze, salty yet sweet, tickled her exposed skin.

Liquid, golden sunlight wrapped everything in its radiant glow.

Tilting her head back, Daisy closed her eyes, basking in the stillness that came just after sunrise. Her silk nightgown feathered against her knees, as if it, too, wanted to join the song and dance of a new day. She wiggled her toes, burying them deeper into sand so pure it glowed white.

“There you are.”

A smile curved Daisy’s lips as a thickly muscled arm tightened around her waist, hoisting her up so a pair of equally muscular thighs could slide beneath her. She settled comfortably against her new backrest—a chest as sturdy and unyielding as a mountain. Lips pressed against her bare shoulder, leaving a trail of kisses up to her ear.

“What are you doin’ up so early?” Michael whispered, voice raspy and thick with sleep.

“Thinking,” Daisy replied as she leaned into her husband. His skin was deliciously warm from their bed.

Michael breathed in the lingering scent of her sweet vanilla shampoo, feeling his pulse slip back to normal after the alarming discovery of waking up without her in his arms. “About what?”

“There’s glitter in the ocean!”

“Is there?” Michael chuckled, hugging her waist from behind. “Tell me about it.”

For the next twenty minutes, Daisy rambled on and on about her discoveries while watching the sunrise. How seagulls swooped into the water, emerging with a spray of sparkling, crystal droplets, but sadly no fish. How tiny crabs burst from the warm sand after she stuck her toes too close to their homes. How the palm trees swayed to their own rhythm, their papery whispers sounding like secrets over her head. How crisp ocean spray blew onto the deck of their private cottage as if beckoning her to come play. How the waves flirted with the shoreline in a breathtaking push and pull of fluffy seafoam. How the sun shimmered like a million tiny gold coins on the surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Glitter in the ocean.

Daisy knew her outlook on the world was often too idealistic for people. As a child, her world had been vibrant, full of opportunity and color. Full of love and warmth. Creativity abounded.

As an adult, her whimsical world came crashing down, dulled to bland grays. Mundane had sucked the joy out of her routine. Fitting in meant watering down. Staying safe meant being realistic.

Then, one damp, dreary afternoon, while plugging away at a mind-numbing work project, she met him.

A stranger who happened to share a table with her in a crowded coffee shop. Dashing, broody, impossible to read, and utterly captivating.

They only exchanged a handful of polite words on their first encounter, too engrossed in their tasks to entertain anything else. He had smiled before he left, as if grateful for her company, and it was one of the most beautiful sights Daisy had ever seen. She coasted for a week on that high, longing for another chance to bump into him, so she might see that smile again.

Again, it happened. Totally by accident.

Different crowded coffee shop, different day of the week, different table, different everything. Yet, recognition flashed in his dark eyes when he spied her across the bustling lobby.

Struck by an unusual sense of confidence, Daisy wiggled her fingers in a shy wave and pointed to the empty seat at her corner table. They were quite a pair, she with an iced strawberry-matcha, piled high with fluffy whipped cream, and a decadent slice of coconut pound cake; he with an iced Americano and a simple vanilla bean scone. Her sticker-encrusted laptop perched on the table across from his leather-bound journal and a dense, nonfiction book on neuroplasticity.

As the minutes crawled by, Daisy would steal the occasional glance, hoping to spy the name written on his cup by the barista.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Without looking away from his book, he turned his coffee so the sticker was facing her side of the table.

Michael.

Daisy inhaled sharply, caught red-handed, and became intently focused on her work. An amused smirk tugged at his lips, which made her want to puff out her cheeks and sulk.

Unable to focus, Daisy zoned out at her computer screen as she mindlessly sipped her strawberry-matcha. A piece of folded paper tumbled onto her keyboard. Startled, she unfolded it. There was only one word:

Hey.

Butterflies swarmed in the pit of her stomach. Daisy schooled a giddy smile before shutting her laptop and meeting his gaze. “H-hi.”

The rest was history.

What began as an innocent meet-cute in a coffee shop blossomed into a beautiful love story. Bashful conversations over steaming cups of bitter coffee and frothy matchas evolved into long walks in the park, movie nights, and trips to the farmers’ market.

At first, her friends wondered what she saw in him. They were nothing alike. Day and night. Sunshine and storm clouds. Yet, in Daisy’s eyes, everything about him made sense. Michael was steady, confident, and kind. Gentle as a summer breeze. Intentional.

As their relationship developed, her world began to revolve in color again. Whimsy returned. Her wardrobe overflowed with frilly sundresses and pastel cardigans. She stopped apologizing for being a hopeless romantic and an idealist. Being loved by a man whose presence exuded safety made it easy to see the best in everything and everyone around her.

“Where’d you go now?” Michael murmured, tapping the end of her nose.

Daisy’s eyelashes fluttered as she nuzzled into the crook of his neck. “You’re perfect,” she whispered, letting his shoulder-length hair cover her face. It tickled.

Leaning back, Michael propped himself up on his hands. He felt his wife’s busy fingers find the chain for his necklace. Soon, the light, musical chime of metal against metal joined the seaside orchestra. “That’s somethin’ a man could get used to hearing every morning,” he said with a sigh of proud satisfaction.

Abruptly, Daisy jumped up and grabbed his wrists. “C’mon!” she exclaimed, full of energy.

Yawning, Michael stood, but kept his feet planted. “Baby, we’re still in our pajamas,” he laughed as she strained with all her might to get him to budge.

“Pleaseee!” Daisy begged, hopping up and down. Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she glanced up and down the picture-perfect beach. “No one’s around.”

“Of course, no one is,” Michael clarified, his resolve beginning to waver. Before their paths crossed, his life had been incredibly tame—nothing out of the ordinary, nothing unpredictable. Just structured schedules and routine until he fell in love with a spunky rainbow. “Because I booked a private beach house for our honeymoon.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot,” Daisy giggled, releasing him so she could skip a few steps closer to the water. She pouted when he continued to stand there, gazing at her like the wholly besotted man he was.

Slowly, Michael approached his wife, stopping once his face was inches from hers. “Race ya,” he chuckled, pecking her lips with a light kiss. Before she could even blink, he took off, kicking up plumes of white sand.

“No fair!” Daisy squealed as she raced after him, laughing the entire time. Of course, he made it to the water first and dove into a foamy wave as it arced through the air.

Catching her breath, Daisy jogged to a stop where the wet sand squelched between her toes. Hands on her waist, she gazed across the paradise that was theirs for four more days. Brightly colored birds darted from one palm tree to the next, adding vibrant splotches of color on an otherwise plain blue sky.

With a spray of crystal droplets, Michael resurfaced, his hands gliding over his wet hair to smooth it back.

As if drawn by a magnet, Daisy emerged from the shade of a palm tree and stepped into glorious sunshine. Water trickled down his body, outlining every dip and hard curve of muscle. She drew her bottom lip between her teeth, watching him stride through the waves like a Greek god.

Daisy walked a little faster and made it to the edge of the waves just in time for him to reach out and sweep her into his arms. She giggled when cold water swirled around her calves and rained on her face from his hair.

“I saw that, you shameless woman.”

An innocent smirk curved the corners of Daisy’s lips. “Saw what?”

“You were gawking,” Michael hummed. His palms glided down her sides until he could grip her hips and swing her into the air. Her shriek of laughter was music to his ears. A wave broke against his back, completely drenching them.

“Can’t help it when my husband is the hottest man in the world,” Daisy confessed, breathless from the delight of being twirled in a circle. His lips pressed to her cheek before trailing to her ear, where he whispered:

“You look gorgeous.”

“You’re only sayin’ that because you realized this nightgown is see-through when it gets wet,” Daisy murmured, tilting her chin up in hopes that he’d kiss her. A gust of warm air made the water shiver like silver fish scales. She shivered, silk clinging to her body. “I look like a drowned rat.” His face was inches away now.

“Cutest drowned rat I ever saw.” Without wasting another moment, Michael succumbed to the breathless, desperate need and kissed her, deep and slow.

Daisy’s overactive thoughts dissolved into quiet warmth and fuzzy happiness. One of his hands pressed flat against her lower back, and his other hand slid up her shoulders to the base of her neck. She hummed contentedly and melted into her husband, every touch of his hands sending pleasant tingles across her skin. She buried her fingers into his wet hair, tugging him impossibly closer. His teeth grazed her bottom lip as he pulled back briefly, only to kiss her again.

Daisy forgot everything else. There was no sand, no sun, no majestic ocean, no tropical island paradise.

Just him and her.

Husband and wife.

Sandy toes and salty kisses.