Conner was studying me now. “Have you taken the ARE?”
The Architect Registration Exam was an essential part of becoming licensed. I shook my head. “But I have done my supervised hours.”
Confusion was written all over his face. “I’m sorry. I solve problems and put things together for a living, but I can’t quite get this to add up.”
Suddenly, I didn’t want to be here anymore. I didn’t want to talk about this, about the humiliating day that caused me to walk away from fulfilling my dream. But it wasn’t like I could just run off now like I had then. I was on an island—and not the one my resort was on. So, I had to stay with my ride, whether I liked it or not.
I stood up, hoping I didn’t look as flustered as I felt. “Shouldwe face the stalwart sea again, hope that we aren’t washed away by her unforgiving hand?”
He just sat, looking at me curiously.
I pointed. “I’m kidding. We’re only like fifty yards away.”
“You don’t say ‘yards’ about water distances. When we steal the boat and you’re being questioned, that will be a dead giveaway that you’re a rookie.”
I nodded, relieved he hadn’t noticed my anxiety, that our repartee was back. And maybe, most of all, that we could avoid the very unfun subject that was killing my vibe. “Good to know.”
We shoved the dinghy back into the water, and I realized right away, as the first spray of water hit me in the face, that my mission to dry my dress had been fruitless.
“Okay,” Conner said calmly. “Ariel is making us a delicious five-course dinner at eight.”
“The Little Mermaid?”
He nodded. “Yes. The evil sea witch still has her voice, so we’ll play charades to figure out what we’re eating.”
“I’m not staying for dinner, Conner. This has been great, but I need to get back to the resort.”
“To your empty hotel room by yourself?”
That was kind of harsh. But it was also totally true.
“Well, yes. I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”
“You can’t go back,” he continued, “because we have to go to Foxy’s after dinner.”
Foxy’s was one of the most famous bars in the BVIs. A can’t-miss. Even I knew that.
“And then,” Conner continued, “have you ever seen Mars?”
I gasped sarcastically. “You have a boatanda spaceship?”
I tried to stay serious, but we both laughed. “Noooo. But Marsis rising at 4:03 a.m., and I think it would be irresponsible—nay, reckless—for us to not sleep on the bow, under the stars, to see it rising.”
“I don’t have an overnight bag,” I said lamely. It was only partly true—I had packed a change of clothes and a few makeup essentials in my beach bag. I didn’t have everything, but I had enough. I thought of Babs always saying she never went anywhere without her passport.You have to be ready for adventure when adventure calls, she always said. I would usually agree with her. So why, lately, did I feel so afraid of everything?
“Would Amelia Earhart have said she couldn’t complete another flight because she didn’t have the right clothes?”
I cocked my head. “I hardly see how that relates.”
“She’s an adventurer. You’re an adventurer.”
Babs wouldlovethis guy.
The trip back to the boat was much less eventful than the trip out—still wet, but less bumpy. All the while, I had to shake the feeling that I was doing something wrong, that I was cheating on Hayes. But I had to remind myself that wasn’t the case; I was free to do as I pleased. Hayes wasn’t the one for me because I couldn’t trust him. No one could pull me back in, make me forget myself and my self-worth, better than he could. And I deserved better than that.
Once we reached the boat, Conner helped me up, and then, grabbing a huge plush, black-and-white-striped towel from a basket on the stern, wrapped it around my shoulders like no one had done since I was a child.
He ran his hands up and down over my arms to warm me. But he was still standing there, towel-less, looking so adorable—and a little cold. So I spread my arms out to open the towel. He steppedtoward me, and as he wrapped his arms around me, I wrapped mine—and my towel—around him.
