“Yeah?”
“Once all the servers are out with the hors d’oeuvres, I want you to—carefully—make your way all the way down that walkway and then head to the left at the end.”
“Um, okay?”
“Don’t get caught. If someone stops you, just say you’re taking in the view or that you just want to take a quick picture or something.”
“And where are you going to be?”
“I’ll be there three minutes ahead of you,” she grinned. “I know a back way.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay. If we get arrested, though, this one’s on you.”
“Deal.”
I did exactly what Harmony said. I tried to be my stealthiest self as I wove between topiaries and trees and alongside a wall made of thatched dried palm leaves. I ducked behind a lounge chair at one point when a server headed back in the direction of the bar. By the time I made it to the end of the deck and turned to the left, my heart was in my throat.
But there she was.
Without her dress.
Harmony stood in the middle of the round hut, with its wood planked floor and dome-shaped, thatched ceiling, wearing only black lace panties, a strapless matching bra,and her high heels. The spa cove was open to the sea but otherwise private, and there were two massage tables behind her. Her body, which I’d come to know well over the course of the week thanks to the myriad bikinis I’d seen her in, was perhaps more beautiful than ever, courtesy of the dim glow of the moon. It was our only source of light.
“Hey,” she said.
“Wow,” I replied.
“You like?” She gestured at the space around her.
“Um. Yes? I mean, the space is great, but—you look amazing.”
She grinned, looking down. For someone who was doing something bold and wild, she wore a surprisingly shy expression. “Thank you,” she mumbled.
“This is where you got your rubdown?”
“Uh huh. I thought maybe you’d like one.”
“A massage?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t stop thinking about you when I was lying here. It was the most relaxing experience.”
“I’d love that. But are we sure this is a good idea?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if we get caught?”
Harmony shrugged. “What’s the worst they can do? Put us in hotel jail?”
“I’m sure they have laws about trespassing in Aruba. Also indecent exposure?” I reached for her bare waist. “God, you’re beautiful.” Her body was like a magnet, pulling me close. I placed my lips on her neck and inhaled her scent. It was clean, fresh—a combination of aloe and citrus fruit. I tried to focus on the fact that I had the most perfect night planned for us, and itwould offer us the privacy we craved, along with the requisite magic that a casino bathroom lacked.
I didn’t want our first time to be here, regardless of how sexy the venue was or how unfathomably striking Harmony looked, standing there in her tantalizing underthings.
She tilted my face away from her neck and moved her mouth in to meet mine. She kissed me sweetly, tugging my body in one direction when my brain was trying so desperately to remain grounded. It wasn’t just that I wanted to surprise her—I did, of course, and I knew that no matter what happened, my surprise would floor her. That wasn’t the issue.
Harmony deserved better. She deserved to be held, to be warm under fresh bedding with some crazy-high thread count. She deserved to be loved slowly, thoughtfully, not in a rush with a constant worry about getting caught. She deserved the very best I could possibly give her.
And this wasn’t it.
