But I know that would all come crashing to an end if something ever happened between us. I would instantly become one of the groupies he fucks and not his treasured friend.
I couldn’t hold a man like Christopher Miles—not for long, anyway.
And while I silently dream of what it would be like to be with someone like him . . . I know I can’t even entertain the idea.
I’m still not over my last heartbreak, and it’s been two years. If it happens again, I know I’ll be a spinster for life. I came on this trip to get over heartbreak, not start a new one. But Christopher is my friend. I know I can trust him to be just that.
He spins me again, and I laugh out loud.
“Let’s go swimming.” He smiles.
“Now?” I gasp. “It’s three o’clock in the morning.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What about sharks?”
“Sharks are the least of your worries,” he replies as he pulls me out of the bar by the hand.
Five minutes later we are on the beach, and he takes his shirt off over his head and strips down to his boxers.
Oh crap . . .
He wades out into the darkened water and turns back toward me. “Come on, Grumps.” He splashes the water up at me. “The water’s beautiful.”
“I don’t have a swimsuit.”
“So?”
I look up and down the beach. There are people everywhere.
“Stop being so uptight.”
He’s right. I am too uptight, and I want to change that about myself. I don’t like being like this.
Oh god . . .
I wade into the water, desperately wanting to go in.
“Come on,” he calls. “I want you to come swimming with me, that’s all.”
That’s all.
Right . . . I can do this.
Fuck . . .
“Turn around,” I call.
“What?” He laughs. “I’ve seen you in your underwear a million times.”
“Just turn around.”
He turns and faces out to sea, and I grab the hem of my dress and lift it over my head. I look down at myself. I have a black matching bra-and-panties set on.
Thank fucking god.
I wade into the water as I look around. “If I get eaten by a shark,” I call.
“I’ll save you.” He swims toward me.
“You’re supposed to be looking the other way,” I call.
“Da na . . . da na . . . da na . . .” He begins to sing the Jaws music as he swims toward me.
“Stop it,” I cry.
He picks me up and hurls me into the air, and I land in the water and go under deep. “Ahh,” I cry as I come up. “You idiot.” I look around in a panic. “You’re waking up the sharks.”
He picks me up again and hurls us both into the water with his arms tightly around me.
We surface, still arm in arm.
The air between us changes, and he stares down at me. Body to body, alone in the darkness.
His brow furrows as if confused as we stare at each other. In slow motion he lifts his thumb and dusts it over my bottom lip.
“Kiss me,” he whispers.