“Do you shop in Sri Lanka?”
Marcus leaned forward and gave me a winning smile. “Rebecca, there aren’t many things I wouldn’t go to Sri Lanka for. Have you ever been?”
“Uh…” I glanced distractedly back out the window before returning his gaze. “Let’s assume I haven’t.”
“Well, they have the most beautiful beaches. And there’s this incredible rock fortress called Sigiriya… We have to go and see it sometime.”
I shook my head with an exasperated grin. “If Takahari decides to golf from the top of it—I’m there.”
“I hope so. I’d love to golf there.”
My eyes narrowed, and I shoved the water into a cupholder. “Really? Well, I like to golf too. I like that it’s just a game, but me and my friends call it a sport. I like that it makes me feel really athletic when I drive from hole to hole sipping mint julips and talking shop. In fact, I even like the little argyle socks I get to wear—they make me look like a Keebler Elf.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our cruising altitude…”
I looked up in surprise upon hearing the disembodied voice before peering hastily out the window. Sure enough, the plane had evened out, and we were sailing through clear blue skies with hardly a bump—just a gentle hum from the engines.
When I twisted back forward, I saw Marcus watching me with a little smile. A sudden suspicion dawned on me, and my cheeks flushed pink in the cool air.
“Was that all just to distract me?”
He picked up a newspaper with an indifferent shrug. “Anything to keep you from vomiting again…”
Chapter 20
The rest of the flight passed surprisingly quickly. I even fell asleep. Marcus and I mostly kept to ourselves, occasionally spouting off a one-liner and grinning over the tops of our respective magazines. The second the plane began to angle lower in the sky, he started up a rousing conversation about pygmy fruit bats, but again, that might have been more for my benefit than his own. Nevertheless, by the time we got to the hotel, I was exhausted. That is…until I saw the hotel.
“Oh my gosh.” I actually paused outside the resort to drink it all in. “This is incredible.”
It was exactly the same kind of “strung-together-bungalows” that I’d seen and envied on the covers of a million travel magazines. The kind of place that celebrities went to vacation and I secretly despised them while simultaneously dismissing the notion that it was somewhere I’d ever get to go. The air was moist and thick with the smell of flowers, and each of the huts was nestled alongside sparkling turquoise water in a bed of white sand.
It was stunning! Beyond breathtaking! Paradise!
I took off my shoes immediately and dug in my toes, smiling as a warm breeze swept my hair off my shoulders and se
nt it dancing toward the sea.
A sudden kiss on my cheek made me jump, but Marcus was already pulling away by the time I looked over. “I’ll go get us checked in.” He hesitated at the slightly confused look on my face. “You’re my girlfriend, remember?”
“And I’m going to play the part perfectly.” I touched his face, gazed into his eyes, and kissed him softly on the lips.
“I don’t think that was convincing enough,” he said.
“Really? Because there’s nobody around but that old couple.”
He glanced over with a sly smirk. “And I could swear one of them had a camera.”
I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close. “Then we better convince them we’re lovers.”
“I knew I hired the perfect actress for the job.”
I gazed into his eyes. “I think you’re enjoying this far too much.”
“I think I am.”
I flashed him a big smile. “Want to see how well I can play the part?”
“Most definitely.”