I shake my head.
“I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“Probably a good thing,” he winks at me, and everything inside me melts like spilled ice cream. “I’ll sleep better knowingthere aren’t any sharks or sea snakes I need to rescue you from.”
Is hot runner…flirtingwith me? Am I actually flirtingback?We lock eyes, but the moment breaks when he looks down at his watch. His expression falls.
“I’m sorry, I’ve really got to get back,” he tells me, brushing his hand over my leg ever so gently before standing to go.
“Don’t go walking in any mud for a while. And see if the front desk can stick a plaster on it.”
“A plaster?”
“Band-aid,” he translates for me.
The left side of Caleb’s lip curls up into another half-smile, and for a moment, I feel a buzz of electricity pass between us. In an instant, all of my man blocker defenses come crashing down like an overplayed game of jenga. Did I learnnothingfrom my situation at home? It’s probably a good thing I’m heading out tomorrow.
“Enjoy your trip,” he calls to me, and as quickly as he appeared, Caleb jogs off towards the beach, Pantene ad curls bouncing around his head like an ombre halo.
Maybe, justmaybe,this vacation isn’t going to be so bad, after all.
4
“Um, who was that?”
I jerk out of my dumbstruck reverie and turn to see Marianne peeking out from behind the unused tiki bar.
“What the hell, Mer!” I hiss. “Where have you been?”
“I didn’t want to interrupt!”
She emerges from her hiding place, her hair three times as fluffy as it was thirty minutes ago.
“How long have you been there?” I ask her.
“Long enough to see you fail to get abs-on-a-stick’s number. Will! You can come out now!”
Will emerges sheepishly from behind a palm tree a few yards away, his face framed with the eavesdropper’s guilt his wife so obviously lacks.
“You were both just going to let me die of urchin poison?” I hiss at her. “Why didn’t you come out!”
“And ruin all the fun? That was like a movie! Hot water god rescues hapless damsel from near drowning and sea monster attack? Stella, I think the universe is telling you something!”
“That I need to invest in some cuter underwear?”
“That even the sea urchins want you to get some. He’s a ten, Stella, and he was totally flirting with you! I could see it from a mile away.”
Thisagain.If I left Marianne in charge of my love life, I’d be sharing bodily fluids with every available man on the island.
“It doesn’t matter,” I sigh. “He’s got to go back to work. He works on one of the boats at Denarau.”
“And you didn’t exchange digits? Stella, this could be your vacation fling!”
“Don’t listen to her,” Will says, plopping down on the lounger next to me. “I spent three years working docks in high school and let me tell you: all those water boys are the same. Charming, flakey, and total womanizers.”
“You’re such a cynic!” Marianne says. “Let the girl dream.”
“Seriously, Stella.” Will ignores her. “I’ll bet you fifty bucks he’s got a different girl in every port. Even if you had gotten his number, you’dstillnever hear from him again after tomorrow.”
