After spending a day laying around on the beach - reading a book and swimming periodically, Meg went inside and opened a bottle of Jordan Cabernet to let it breathe while she showered. Because the weather was so warm, she took the bottle and a bowl of pasta she'd made for dinner out to the deck. She set her phone on the table and picked a playlist containing Jazz works by Miles Davis and Thelonius Monk and enjoyed a relaxing dinner.

She was planning to head to New Orleans the next day and would spend four nights, long enough to visit her favorite restaurants and watch the St. Patrick's Day parade in the Garden District. But before she left St. Augustine, she was going to skinny dip in the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately, the moon was going to be full that night, so her mission would need to be carried out well after midnight.

It was exactly 1:38 am when Meg quietly stepped out onto the beach wearing nothing but a towel. She was carrying two other items – a small glass tube and an LED flashlight. Dropping the towel and laying the tube down, she turned the flashlight on and stood it up into the sand. She took off running into the water until it was waist deep and dove in. The water was still quite cold, but she was conditioned to ignore discomfort and so she took off with strong, even strokes until she was quite some distance from the shore. She then flipped over to float on her back.

The moon was high and there were millions of stars visible. As she floated, Meg was struck by how quiet it was this far from shore. She closed her eyes and the image that came to mind was of clear blue eyes, a strong jaw, and a dark blonde buzz cut. Doug... He'd been an instructor at the BUD/s school that had been her final step to becoming a Navy SEAL. She'd served three years as a Navy recruit and finished the Naval Academy. At that time she was twenty-three years old and the only woman who'd qualified for the special training program. Doug fell for her first, but it wasn't long before she felt the same towards him. Unfortunately, they had to hide their relationship due to him being an officer. It was a stressful time for them both and drug out for four whole years. But then she'd been assigned to work on a mission that put her in close proximity to a CIA operative team, and within a short time she was being recruited.

It wasn't an easy decision, but it would mean that she and Doug could be open about the fact that they were a couple and go on dates like normal people, so she went to work for the 'Company'. Within six months, she had moved in with Doug and things were great - right up until she was on an operation that took her to Ukraine. She was supposed to be gone for three to four months, but it turned into six and she hadn't been allowed to contact Doug. To make matters worse, she was shot during the take-down of the target, delaying her homecoming even longer.

            The time away without communication was bad enough, but when Doug discovered that she'd been seriously injured and he didn't even know, it was more than he could accept. The idea of letting her leave the house again with no way of knowing if she'd come home was more than even a seasoned Navy SEAL could handle.

By then, however, Meg was hooked. She loved the job, the danger, the simplicity of a life lived out one mission at a time. There was a set objective and everything in between was like a puzzle that she needed to figure out. When Doug asked her to quit, he had no suggestions for what else she might do, other than marry him, which infuriated her. He knew that asking her to be an analyst or a housewife would be equivalent to asking her to sell her soul.

Sighing, Meg stopped her mind from going further down that road and looked over at the shore. A quick calculation told her that she had drifted about a hundred-twenty yards south, so taking off at an angle, she put her strong swimming skills to work and headed back toward her makeshift beacon.

********************

Norman couldn't sleep. While the beach house was lovely and ideally located, the wall thickness left a lot to be desired. Both Greg and Jimmy's snores were rattling the floorboards. Rather than continuing to lay there and get frustrated, he rolled out of bed, grabbed his cigarettes, and went out onto the patio. Once there, he lit up and leaned against the rough cedar wall. The night air was slightly chilled and thick with humidity. He looked out at the moon reflecting on the water and was startled by movement. It took him a minute to focus on what, at first, he thought was a dolphin, but quickly realized was a human, swimming through the dark water.

He watched until the person was close to shore and stood up out of the water. His breath hitched as he realized it was a woman, and she was naked. When she was on shore she reached up and began squeezing the water from her long hair. The moonlight sparked in the droplets that covered her skin, making her look like a marble statue of a Greek goddess, complete with full breasts, curvy hips, and distinct muscle definition.

It dawned on Norman that this was the woman from next door, the one that caught him taking a piss that morning. He observed as she bent over and picked up something off her towel. She then walked, still naked, a few steps into the gently lapping waves. She twisted whatever it was she was holding, and bowed her head for a few seconds, before turning the object over and dumping the contents into the receding water. Turning back towards shore she wrapped herself in the towel, picked up a flashlight, and turned towards her patio and Norman's vicinity. Panic set in as he realized she was going to be heading straight for him, so he took a step back into the shadows and stubbed his cigarette out. He thought about going inside, but the noise from the door would be a sure giveaway to his presence. He was stuck hiding in the shadows as she drew near.

Once on her patio, she stopped and looked right at where he was standing, even though he was fairly sure he wasn't actually visible. "The moon's beautiful tonight. Sure makes the most out of the scenery, hmm?" She said it so that it was a statement more than a question. Before he could even take in a breath to come up with an answer, she disappeared into the house.

For the second time that day, Norman wondered what in the hell was wrong with him? This woman had turned him into a complete idiot who couldn't string two words together. This sudden lack of vocabulary was beyond frustrating.