By the time Marco had called time, their station looked like a tornado had swept through it. But at least their plate of food was ready and presentable.
“Alright, ladies. I’ll be tasting each plate.” Chef Marco moved around the room, leaning over each station. He swirled sauces, sniffed plates, and tasted fish. Skye tried to focus on his expression. She needed him to savor Lucy and Amy’s creation just a little more than Nova and Cleo’s and a hell of a lot more than theirs. Skye couldn’t risk going on a solo date with Alexis. She just couldn’t.
“Very nice balance,” he said, tapping his fork on the edge of Skye and Alexis’s plate. “I like how the ginger dances with the soy instead of stepping on it, and the pineapple gives it this playful brightness.”
Alexis beamed, and Skye had to keep her disappointment inside. Great. Now they stood a chance of winning. Usually, sheliked winning, but not today. Certainly not withher. Frankly, it couldn’t get any worse than this.
“And the winners of this challenge earn a special date with the bachelorette,” Marco announced, raising his hands once he took his spot in the center of the room. He paused for maximum effect, and Skye could feel Alexis stiffen beside her. “Lucy and Amy, congratulations, ladies! Those were some perfectly baked mahi mahi parcels.”He gave a salute in their direction.
Amy squealed and pulled Lucy into a hug. Nova and Cleo clapped politely and mumbled congratulations. Alexis, on the other hand, was a sore loser. Not that Skye had expected anything else. She didn’t clap, and she didn’t congratulate. She simply stepped closer to Skye and whispered quietly enough into her ear so that no one, not even the cameras, would hear. “Just remember that I’m not beyond making sure I get what I want.”
That was the last straw. The one that surely broke the camel’s back. Not that Skye could do anything about it in this moment, and so she simply gave Alexis the side-eye and stepped out from behind her table.
“Well done, you two,” Skye said as she walked over to Amy and Lucy’s bench. “I guess we’ll be going on a date later today.” She stepped forward and hugged Lucy, her mouth inches from Lucy’s ear. “Meet me in an hour on the beach,” she whispered softly. “Same place as last time.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lucy trudged across the sand, letting it squish between her toes. The tide had left the beach speckled with tiny pools, each reflecting the sky. Bits of seaweed tickled her ankles as she walked. She had no idea what she was doing there, but Skye had asked her to meet her at the same spot as their first kiss, and of course, Lucy had obliged.
She was nervous. Which was perfectly normal given the circumstances. Every minute spent on this island, on this show, had shown that nothing could be trusted.
The sun was directly in front of her. Lucy squinted through the harsh glare only to see Skye already waiting just off the footpath. The bachelorette was pacing just as she had done the other day in her bedroom. She looked anxious as she kicked at the sand every few steps.Everything about her made Lucy feel like her chest was too small for her heart.
Lucy tried to focus on the sound of the waves, letting them roll and crash over the sand, and the faint rustle of palm fronds, but every time Skye kicked up a spray of sand, her heart kicked too. Trying to distract herself wasn’t helping.
“Skye,” Lucy called softly when she was close enough that she didn’t have to raise her voice. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”
But the look on Skye’s face when she glanced up forced Lucy to hold her breath. Skye’s eyes drifted past Lucy to the empty stretch of beach behind her.
Shit. Was someone following her?
Lucy whipped her head back so fast that she not only felt a creak in her neck but heard one too. She scanned theshoreline for anyone or anything that would make Skye look that panicked. But there was nothing. Which was a relief, even if Lucy hadn’t expected anyone. She’d made sure no one followed her when she’d snuck out of the villa. But still, Alexis was sneaky. One could even consider her a cockroach. Lucy suspected that if the world ended right now from a nuclear explosion, Alexis would probably survive.
“Sorry,” Skye said. She shook her head as if she could physically rid herself of the tension. “I’m just feeling a little—”
“Paranoid,” Lucy finished for her.
Skye nodded. She stepped closer and tangled her fingers with Lucy’s. Sunlight caught her hair, turning it into a halo of fire. A single strand draped across her cheek. Lucy couldn’t resist. Without thinking, she reached up and brushed it aside. Her fingertip lingered against Skye’s soft skin. Lucy might’ve imagined it, but it seemed as if Skye had leaned into her touch, just barely. But before Lucy could even think about where this might lead—a kiss, maybe another skinny dip in the ocean—Skye stepped back.
“Listen, Lucy,” Skye said. Her expression was deadly serious, but her gaze was on Lucy’s mouth. It was a terribly confusing scenario, if Lucy had to be honest. Which got even more confusing when Skye added, “I don’t think I can do it anymore.”
“Do what?” Lucy asked slowly, though her heart was beating faster. Was Skye talking about this, whatever was happening between them? Weren’t they on the same page? Didn’t they agree that whatever they were doing was worth every jolt of panic, every threat of exposure?
Panic bubbled up in Lucy’s chest. How the hell could she have read this so wrong?
But then Skye exhaled and said, “We need to come out with it.” She pointed to both of them before she added, “We needto tell the other contestants and the producers about us. Alexis wants me to choose her for the final lei ceremony.”
Relief slammed into Lucy like the first breath of air after being held underwater for too long. It was dizzying and sparkling at the same time. It was as if champagne were bubbling in her veins. Skye was still talking, but Lucy was barely listening now. She was just so damn happy that Skye didn’t want to break things off. Quite the opposite, she wanted to tell everyone.
“Are you hearing what I’m saying?” Skye asked, cutting through Lucy’s bliss. Her green eyes narrowed, and her mouth tugged into something halfway between a pout and a scold. “This is important, Lucy.”
Lucy lost it. A laugh exploded right out of her. The laugh was big and messy and entirely inappropriate for the moment. It was the type of laugh that tilted her head back and shook her shoulders and ended in a very undignified snort through her nose. She had no idea why she was laughing other than it was her body’s way of converting residual panic into hysteria. Like how some people cried under pressure, or others froze up in response to danger. It was physiological.
“Why are you laughing?” Skye’s brows shot up like she’d just been insulted. “This is serious. We’re going to get in trouble. You know that, right?I’mgoing to get in trouble.”
“It’s notthatbad,” Lucy muttered, still fighting down the remnants of her laugh.
“It is,” Skye countered, looking adorably serious. She raked her fingers through her hair, leaving a few strands to tumble forward and stick against her forehead. She quickly tugged those strands back behind her ear.
