She started walking over to the man, but Simon followed. “What?” she barked at him.
He waved his right hand, showing the wrist tattoo.
Oh, shoot.She hadn’t considered that. “Stay behind, then. A hundred feet is plenty.”
She continued toward the guy, smiling as she caught his eye. “Hi.”
“All good with your service?” he asked. “My shift is over, but if you need anything—”
“No, no, everything is perfect. I …” She wrung her hands. “This is a bit odd, but would you go on a date with me? Just a casual one!” she quickly added. “A walk around, or something. I—eesh—uh—”
Dammit.She’d never been this nervous when talking to people. She’d blame this one on Simon.
The guy’s eyes widened, but then he said, “Sure, I reckon I could … right now?”
“Yeah. If you wouldn’t mind.”
“Sweet as.” He scratched the back of his head. “But cliché with the tourist spot and all, but do you want to go on a walk to the rocks? They’re cool as.”
“Lead the way, sir!”
He laughed, gesturing her over the road. “Don’t call me sir, though. I’m Nikau. Nick for friends.”
“All right … Nick?”
“And you are?”
“Shanna.”
“Well, nice to meet you, Shanna. How come you’re here, date-hunting?”
Across the road, they headed down the footpath, surrounded by thick coastal brush reaching to their heads.
“I’m traveling. Following my mom’s footprints, actually. She was here a long time ago.”
“Aww, that’s sweet,” Nick said. “Are you doing the ‘taking photos at the same locations’ thing?”
“I hadn’t thought about that.” She smiled, and as the path narrowed, their shoulders touched. Pretending to look down, she threw a quick look over her shoulder, but because of the curves in the path and the thick bushes, she couldn’t see Simon. Her tattoo hadn’t yanked yet, though, so he had to be following.
“That’s a sweet tattoo,” Nick said, pointing to her wrist. “What does it mean?”
“A bond.”
“To your mother?”
“Huh?”
“It’s on your right arm. For us, the tattoos on the right side of the body are dedicated to our mother’s ancestry. Left is for the father’s.” He showed her the inside of his forearm, with a spiraltattoo that looked like a band made of fish scales. “Mom said I had to get this one done before I left home. It’s meant to be for abundance and health, and the spiral shape’s all about growth and new beginnings.”
“Oh, that’s lovely. May I see?”
Nick nodded, and they stopped. She leaned in, touching the tattoo with her index finger.
Gravel crunched behind them as Simon rounded the corner, stopping dead in his tracks as he saw them, then walked backward behind the bushes.
“Wasn’t that your mate?” Nick asked.
“Mate? No,nooo, we’re not—we’re only friends!”
