The water was aquamarine; although, it was a little chillier than I would have liked. Still, it was a quiet little cove and we had it to ourselves. We’d brought the makings of a picnic lunch, the same lunch menu we’d had each day we sailed: tzatziki, bread, tomatoes (I was going to turn into a tomato with how many I’d eaten), and the king and queen of each meal: feta and olives.

Simple and delicious food.

Duncan had somehow perched a small cooler on the back of his and Gerry’s scooter, so we even had beer. For several hours we lounged, swam, ate, talked and picked up pebbles from the mostly sandy beach. It was pretty much like any other family outing to the shore.

After lunch, I waded into the chilly water up to my knees and let it gently lap around me. I heard someone wade in after me and I wasn’t surprised when I turned around and saw it was Josh.

‘Nice bathing suit,’ he said, obviously eyeing me up and down.

‘Thank you. You have seen me in a bikini before, you know.’ We’d done nothing more than kiss – we’d never even had a proper date – and yet, here he was seeing me in my bathers. Parts of our relationship were progressing faster than others. I typically held off on the whole ‘see me in a bikini’ thing until well after the sex part had started and the guy was already used to, or even madly in love with, my body – lumps, bumps and all.

I sucked in my stomach, subtly I hoped. I didn’t want him thinking I was vain – just that my midsection looked phenomenal. He must have read my mind about the proper date thing, because the next thing he said was, ‘So, I was thinking, maybe tonight you and I could go for dinner somewhere – the two of us.’

A smile spread across my face. ‘Are you asking me out, Joshua?’ He met my smile with a shy one of his own.

‘Yes, I’m asking you out.’

‘Like, on a date?’ His smile grew bigger.

‘Yes, exactly like that. Sarah, will you have dinner with me tonight?’

‘Why, I’d be delighted.’

With his mission accomplished, he left me alone and waded back to shore. In my excitement at going on an actual date that night, I forgot the water was cold and dived in. Holy guacamole, Batman. My chest tightened, and when I planted my feet on the sea floor and emerged from the water, I was fighting for my breath.