Saving Cinderella

Chapter Seven

The beach was pretty quiet for midafternoon in the summer. It was a blessing. Sophie could learn without feeling crowded or intimidated.  

He set both of the boards down and took off his shirt. Sophie, who had the ties of a suit wrapped around her neck and peeking out from under the collar of her own shirt followed his lead and then ditched her jeans in short order.

He swallowed the dryness in his throat at the sight of most of her skin revealed. Her swimsuit was a black bikini; a shocking contrast to her skin. She was white as paper but her skin was flawless.

Keaton lost himself for a moment until her arms wrapped around her belly and she bit down on her bottom lip.

“Do you want your wetsuit now?” he asked. It was doubtful she was cold. The sun was overhead in full force but hiding herself with her arms made him think she could be feeling self-conscious. Shit. Maybe he was staring.

“Are we going in the water now?”

“No,” he said. “Not for a bit.”

“Then I’ll wait.”

Perfect. He could enjoy the view for a little while longer but he’d try to be discrete about it.

“Okay. First things first. This is a short board and probably not the best thing to be teaching you on, but it’ll do.”

“Is that what your brother meant about short boards being harder to manage?”

“Sort of,” he said. “A beginner board could be short too, but they’re softer, easier to paddle and have a wider deck. If you like surfing, I’ll buy you one.” He crouched down and pointed to the top of the surfboard, “this is the deck,” he pointed to the back, “this is the tail.” Keaton allowed his hand to settle on the rubbery plastic piece on the side of the deck near the tail. “This is the plug for the leg grab,” he held up the small band that wrapped around the ankle. “This is the leg grab.”

“Looks like a ball and chain,” she observed.

He slid his hands down the side lengths of the board. “These are the rails and,” he said grabbing the front, “the nose.” He flipped the board over, “These are the fins. Most boards have three but some only have two.”

“Okay,” Sophie said. “Seems simple enough to list parts. Shortboard. Deck. Tail, plug, leg grab, rails, nose, and fins.”

“Right,” Keaton said, setting the board back down to the sand. “Show me how you’d stand on the deck.”

She arched a brow. “Like they do on TV?” She stepped onto the back of the board and bent her knees.

“Move more to the middle, angle your front foot at about 25 degrees and keep your arms out for balance.”

“I feel ridiculous.”

“You look hot.”

She laughed.

Keaton grabbed her hand and pulled her from the board, moving to the tail end of it and lying with his stomach to the sand. “When you are in the water, use your hands to get a grip on the rails and pull yourself up the first half of the board.” He demonstrated this as he spoke. “Then do it again until your feet are touching the tail. From there you can move to a standing position.”

“Looks easy enough,” she said, “on sand.”

They went through a few more basics and when Keaton handed her his wetsuit to wear, for the first time she looked genuinely concerned. “You’re going to be great,” he said. “Don’t worry.”