“Tomorrow, I’m not meeting you in the lobby or at the restaurant or none of that. I’m coming here and picking you up like the dude my parents raised me to be.” I took my phone out of my pocket. “Pull up your contact card.”
We tapped phones so we would have each other’s info.
“Tomorrow night.” I placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
“Tomorrow night,” she repeated.
5
SOLEIL
Day Three
Spencer met me at my room door, just like he promised he would. As we made our way to the lobby, he told me that we were going off property for dinner. When we walked outside, there was a shiny, black, open-air Jeep waiting for us.
“Wow.” I couldn’t help smiling. “I wasn’t expecting this.”
“I know. It’s called a surprise. Climb in.”
I did, taking a quick few seconds to buckle my seatbelt.
After shutting my door, he walked around and climbed into the driver’s seat. “You told me that you’ve never been to Iredia. You’re gonna be here for the whole week. I figured you should get to see some of it.”
My cheeks felt like they would crack from smiling so hard. “Thanks, Spence. That was really thoughtful.”
He pulled away from the resort, and we drove through the residential streets of the island. I took out my phone and snapped shot after shot. Everything we drove past was cute and picturesque. He laughed as I oohed and ahhed at just about everything.
We parked down the block from the restaurant and walked down the busy but quaint street, holding hands. Once we wereseated at Sunshine & Sea Glass, I took off my sunglasses and settled into the chair on the nautically themed outdoor patio.
“It’s so beautiful here, and the weather.” I held my face up so the last of the day’s sunrays hit it.
“Damn, look at you,” he muttered.
My head flew down, and our eyes met. “What?”
“You’re pretty as hell.”
“Thank you.” I grabbed my menu, quickly opening it to hide my face. Spencer was always making me blush. It was somewhat embarrassing.
We talked about our days. The mud bath left me feeling relaxed and renewed. I decided to skip the facial and instead opted for a scalp massage. I loved it. He told me that golf was cool. It was hot out on the course, but he enjoyed playing golf, so he managed to have a good time.
When the waiter showed up, I ordered macadamia-crusted crab cakes, coconut-lime rice, and grilled asparagus with lemongrass butter. Spencer ordered grilled lobster tails with mango-chili butter, papaya salad, and herb-infused pilaf.
“What’s your favorite meal? I mean, I know you like tacos. I watched you devour them mugs on the first day.” He popped one of the honey and ginger shrimp from the skewers we’d ordered as an appetizer into his mouth.
“Shut up.” I giggled. “Um, if somebody else is making it? Definitely crab cakes. I love crab cakes. If I’m making it? I make really good meatballs, and pasta, too. What’s your favorite?”
“My dad makes the best salmon on the grill. My mom makes the best Poulet de Colombo—Chicken Colombo.”
“I’ve never heard of it. What is it?”
His smile was faint, like he was remembering home. “It’s a chicken stew. It has chicken, vegetables, potatoes, spices, and hell . . . love. You serve it over rice. It’s a dish from Martinique. Igrew up on it, and I convince my mother to make it any time I go to Jackson Bluff.”
“It sounds good. What’s the weirdest thing about being a professional athlete?”
“The weirdest thing is probably the questions people ask you. I swear, most of them come from left field. What’s the hardest thing about being an only child?”
“Ugh, the . . . aloneness. I guess some people would call it loneliness, but I like being by myself. So, I can’t really say that I felt lonely. But dang, sometimes you wanna talk to somebody that’s not imaginary.”
