“Thank you.” Julia grinned. “It was very chivalrous of you.”

“I’m sure plenty of people would have preferred to see you topless,” Luke said, lips quirking. “But they’ll have to deal with seeing me instead.”

“Life’s full of disappointments.” Julia laughed ruefully. “And if we don’t get that top back, my friend is going to be very disappointed. I was borrowing her swimsuit.” She shook her head, baffled. “What would a bird want with a bikini, anyway?”

Luke gestured toward a dip in the sand a few feet away. “I think he’s planning to use it in his nest.”

“Add a bit of color, huh?” Julia glanced around the edge of the rock. “Is that the same seagull who stole your notebook?”

“Yep,” he grumbled. “And your ice cream cone. Little kleptomaniac asshole.”

“I think he has an accomplice.” She pointed to a second bird. “Ooh, I wonder if it’s a lady friend.”

“Fantastic. We’ve discovered the Bonnie and Clyde of the bird kingdom.”

The two seagulls fluttered around the nest for a minute before drifting over to a nearby rock.

“Think we can sneak over there and steal the top back?” she wondered.

“It’s worth a shot.” Luke crept forward in the sand.

Julia followed close behind. They were almost within reach of the nest when both gulls started flapping their wings in a frenzy.

“Abort mission. Abort! Abort!” Luke dove, shoving Julia backward and covering her with his body.

Beneath him, she squeezed her eyes shut as Hitchcock-inspired nightmares involving pecked-out eye sockets dripping blood flashed through her mind. She heard more wing flapping. Eyelids still tightly closed, she pressed her face into his chest and asked, “Are they coming?”

“Um, sort of.” His voice sounded odd. Almost strangled.

“Oh, God.” Julia cracked one lid open. “Are you okay?” She patted his naked back, frantically feeling for the ripped flesh of talon scratches. “Did they get you?”

“No. But I think…” He paused. “I, uh, think Bonnie and Clyde are getting some.”

“Some what?” Julia’s eyes snapped open, and she shifted, craning her neck and peering over Luke’s shoulder. One of the birds was standing on the back of the other. Clyde, by the looks of things. “I’m not sure that’s how it works.”

“I didn’t realize you were so knowledgeable about the mating habits of seagulls.”

“I’m not.” She punched him in the arm. “Are you?”

They both turned to watch what could best be described as a circus act. As the bird balanced on top began to gyrate his tail feathers around in an acrobatic frenzy, Julia pressed her mouth to Luke’s ear and whispered, “I feel like a voyeur.”

“That’s because you are,” he whispered back, attention still on the amorous avian activity. He squinted, narrowing his gaze.