“Yes. She. The sixty-six-year-old woman who researches animal species on the mountain. She’s hot.” He winks at me, and I punch him in the arm. “But it’s nice to see your jealous streak hasn’t died.”
I return my attention to the water to admire the dazzling display of…Fine, I’ll call it what it is.
Magic.
It’s fucking magical.
“Anyway, she said that moonfish spend all day deep underwater. Hidden in rocks, buried in dirt. They wait until the sun sets, and then, when it’s feeding time…” He sweeps his hand over the lagoon. “Then they dance.”
I’m utterly entranced by the swirls of light streaking over the water. The little fish arc through the air, their bioluminescent bodies trailing ribbons of white behind them before submerging into the water, then jumping out again seconds later.
Gray watches me. “Incredible, right?”
As the moonfish continue to leap, I can’t take my eyes off them. “Sometimes…when I see something like this…I think maybe the world isn’t a lost cause. That there must be a reason we’re all here.” I inhale a breath, lost in the moment. This one perfect moment suspended in time and space.
His thumb strokes the inside of my palm. “I thought you’d like it.”
My heart is fuller than it’s been in a long time. I brush my lips over his cheek. “Thank you for bringing me here.”
He turns his face so that our lips almost touch. “You’re welcome.”
With our mouths still a hairbreadth away, I try not to smile. “You wanna know a secret?” I whisper.
“Obviously.”
“Tonight is my birthday.”
“Are you fucking with me right now? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
I shrug. “Jim and I weren’t really birthday people.”
He stares at me for a second.
Then he bursts out laughing. “Only you, Wren Darlington.”
“Only me what?”
“Can make me want to laugh and throttle you at the same time. You should’ve told me. I would’ve—”
“What? Done something special?” I gesture to the gorgeous spectacle below us. “Mission accomplished, ace.”
“Fuck,” he marvels. “I’m the perfect man even when I’m not trying.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This was a nice way to turn twenty-one, but it’s not like youinventedmoonfish.”
“You don’t know that,” he taunts before tugging me close for a kiss.
I feel like I’m floating when we return to our quarters later. At my door, he plants a soft peck on my lips but doesn’t take it any further,respecting my request we take things slow. I’m glad he does, because I’m five seconds away from yanking him into my room and giving in to the reckless urges that have driven me my whole life. Jump first, think later.
As Gray bids me good night, I’m grateful that at least one of us is able to keep a clear head.
I’m still riding the giddy high as I slide under the covers and settle on my side, so when the high-pitched buzzing fills my ears, it scares the shit out of me.
Zzzzeeeeeeeeeee. Zzzzzeeee. Zzzzzeeee.
I sit up, rubbing my temples. What in the ever-loving hellfuck is that—
“You sure you don’t want the numbing gel?”
