“I came up to see if you wanted to swim to the island with me. Maybe take a walk on the beach?”
I nodded, “Sounds great.”
To Rafe and Eve who were kissing and dancing, he said, “You guys are welcome to tag along too.”
“We will catch up in a few minutes.”
“Okay, Rafe. Ready to go?” I slid off my sunglasses and kicked off my shoes. A good swim would do me good. I loved physical exercise. I jumped into the lake and felt the cold water wash over me. “Oh my God! That is so cold.” We swam to the shore of the small island that was a little more than a clump of trees with sand around it. I loved swimming in the ocean but it had been a long time since I went on spring break anywhere. The only downside to living in Kansas City was that it was so far from the ocean.
Bullet and I swam at a comparable pace. He may have been a stroke or two faster than me but that was because I let him get ahead. Sometimes, you had to do that with guys. Especially guys with big egos like his. I can’t believe he thought I liked him. Or more to the truth, I can’t believe he found out I liked him. Oh no! I do like him in some weird sort of way. Even knowing that, I knew he was not a one-woman kind of guy. How many ways did he have to show or tell me that?
I remembered Kate’s words, “Don’t fall for him—just have fun!” So much easier said than done. I wish she were here. Well, maybe not. I might have her as competition too. She seemed like a fan. What is wrong with me? I focused on swimming and finally we were on shore. We sat on the beach to catch our breath. “So have you been here before?”
“No, this is my first stop here but my neighbors told me about this little island.” With his hands, he wiped the water off his face.
I laughed and squeezed the
water out of my hair. “You have neighbors?”
“Yes, about a mile away from the cabin. I met them in town once. I don’t have a lot of time for socializing outside of work and I’ve forgotten their names. Nice people though.” I heard splashing and saw Rafe and Eve jumping off the boat. “Looks like your friends will be joining us.”
“Yep.” He leaned back on his elbows, turning his face to the sun and shook the water out of his dark curls onto me.
“Hey!” I protested, smacking him.
“Well, you’re all wet anyway. Let’s go for a walk. It should only take a few minutes to explore this island. I think we should stick to the beach since we don’t have shoes on.” That sounded good to me.
Taylors Island had a little magic to it. It wasn’t big enough for anything other than a grass hut but it had charm. As we walked along the lake beach, Bullet held my hand. Man, he confused me. Suddenly we stopped and he wrapped his damp arms around me. “So do you regret coming yet?” His slightly pink lips pressed down on mine before I could answer him.
“So far, so good.” We walked around the island, finding only a few old logs, an empty beer can and a few bits of trash. I resisted the urge to ask him a bunch of questions, like did he have family and when did he decide to become a plastic surgeon. I suspected that if I did, he would think I was being nosy or too personal.
As we made our way around the bend to return to our starting point, I could see Rafe and Eve naked on the sand and they weren’t concerned about any passing boaters. Rafe had his petite playmate flat on her back with her short legs thrown over his shoulders. He grinned at us and I turned to walk away, embarrassed. Bullet grabbed my arm gently. “Let’s watch for a minute.” He sat on the sand and after a moment of option-weighing I sat with him. “He wants us to watch.” Bullet reached over and rubbed my thigh, stroking it lightly with his lively fingers. I felt awkward; I’d never even watched porn and now it was happening right in front of me.
Quick as lightening, Rafe moved Eve around, as if to show us how strong he was. He placed her in his lap and she bounced away. Bullet gave me a flirtatious smile but I was anything but turned on. Is this what he thought of me? That I was some kind of tawdry floosy that would do it in the sand on a beach with him and two strangers? I tried to be “modern” in my thinking but it stung a little. Of course, a small percentage of me was curious but I would feel more comfortable if they didn’t know I was there. “You are really not enjoying this are you?”
I shrugged and pushed my hair back from my face. It was half dry and curling quickly. I heard a boat in the distance, motoring this way. “Someone is coming,” I whispered as if they could hear me.
“Ready to swim back to the boat? Have some lunch?”
“Yes! I am so hungry.” We dove into the lake and headed back to the beach. Rafe and Eve were still on the shore but they were now lying peaceably in the sand. Thank goodness! I didn’t want to get in trouble with the law while I was here.
After drying off, we dug through the refrigerator and found snacks. I reached for the frosted grapes and chicken salad sandwiches and we sat in the small galley together. It was nice to be alone and out of the heat. “I hope you didn’t have to rearrange your schedule to make time for this weekend.”
“Not really. My sports club always has something going on but I wasn’t leading anything this time. It was easy to sneak away.”
“What did you tell your family? Aren’t they worried about where you are?” I stared at him. What happened to the not personal rule? I really didn’t want to talk about any of this but I also didn’t want to deter him from asking.
“Um, no they aren’t worried about me. My family is gone.”
He stole one of my grapes and popped it in his mouth. “Gone out of town?”
“No, I mean they are gone—as in dead. I don’t have any family, except Kate. We kind of adopted one another. Her family is in England.”
I shrugged as if to say, “I don’t want to discuss this.” I took a bite of my chicken sandwich and Bullet opened two bottles of water for us. “Sorry I brought that up. How is the sandwich?”
“Great! I like the touch of curry Andre added. He’s a genius but I think he has a bit of a crush on you.” I surprised him and he chuckled. “What about you, Bullet? Any family around?”
“Yeah, I have an older sister and an older brother. My parents are divorced. Mom lives on the west coast, dad lives on the east coast. It’s always pleasant around the holidays.”