"It's the algae." He watched her lean over the boat to move both hands through the water. The movement illuminated the water around her and it looked as though she was surrounded by starlight. Somehow this seemed fitting to Tyler.
"Magic algae. Who knew?" she said, mesmerized by the beauty of it. "How did I not know about this before? Something else I ignored?"
He shook his head. "It's more recent and it's not all the time. Seems to come and go with certain weather conditions."
"I feel like a fairy," she said.
"Watch behind the dinghy," he said and began to row. Alexis turned around and saw the wake lit up as well. "It's a chemical reaction."
"Don't spoil it with science," she said, giving him a playful swat.
"I thought I was the romantic," he teased.
"I think anyone would be a romantic out in this," she said truthfully. "How many women have you impressed with this fantastic display, Mr. Peacock?"
"I told you," he said, "I didn't want to bring just anyone."
She stared at him, drinking in his gorgeous face. His blue eyes shone even in the growing darkness. "Tyler, I don't deserve you."
"What do you mean? Why would you not deserve me?"
She sighed. "I'm not fun and romantic like you. I'm ornery and selfish and a workaholic. I don't socialize with nice humans. I'm the old woman who sits with her baseball bat and yells at kids to stay off her lawn."
"That's usually an old man." He smiled and flashed the dimple that made Alexis weak in the knees. Good thing she was sitting down.
"Sexist."
"Well, that's not the Alexis I've seen." He reached forward and took her hands in his. "I don't know where you get this image of yourself."
"Oh, I don't know, my family, my colleagues, my boss. The mirror in my room."
She ticked them off on her fingers.
Slowly, he closed each finger and covered her hand again with his own. "Alexis, you're the most amazing woman I've ever known. You're beautiful, you're smart, you're funny. I know you think you deserve to wallow in sadness, but you're wrong."
They sat cloaked in darkness now, except for the light that rippled as the waves crashed against the shoreline. Even though they were in a boat in the ocean, the moment felt completely intimate to Alexis.
"It feels appropriate that I'm sitting in blackness," she whispered, "because that pretty much sums up my soul."
It pained Tyler that she felt this way. He figured the only way to convince her otherwise was to continue to show her how much he loved her.