Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
***CAMERON***
C ameron looked up and down the beach, hoping not to see Kennedy, but he wasn’t surprised when he spotted her down by one of the bonfires. It looked like the entire island was gathered next to the water. The sun was just beginning to set on the horizon, and he could tell by the wide expanse of sand between the fires and the water that the tide was going out. There was a line of tiki torches stuck in the sand further down the beach, sending up happy flames, and he knew it would be a pretty picture once it got dark and the piles of driftwood were lit.
Deciding that it wouldn’t be that hard to stay away from Kennedy in the big crowd, he made his way over to where drinks were spread out, got a big glass of iced tea, and then went in search of Max. He found him chatting with Keith and Stella, but it wasn’t long before he put the three of them to work helping set up the huge pots for the crab boil. After lugging the pots over to where the fires were just being lit, they filled them with little red potatoes, ears of corn on the cob, and a spicy sausage made right there on the island.
“No one told me this was going to be work,” he said, wiping the sweat from his face. “I thought this was supposed to be a vacation.”
Keith laughed. “There’s no sitting around on your butt and being waited on around here,” he said. “Besides, this is fun, even if it is a lot of work, and don’t forget the reward is fresh crab. Once you taste it, you’ll forget how much work it was.”
“It was a good distraction, if nothing else,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I can’t stop thinking about our conversation the other night. I have to prove to Max that all he’s got is a bunch of coincidences. It’s killing me that he believes this island is magical or something.”
Keith and Stella exchanged a look. “Cameron, I know you’ve always been the most…logical and rational of all of us, but this is real. Everything Max told you about really happened,” he said. If you don’t believe him, maybe you should make a few phone calls. What I can tell you is that we’ve experienced it. I promise you that it’s real.”
“And there has to be a logical explanation,” he said, stubbornly. “There’s no such thing as magic; everything can be explained if you look deep enough, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. And I can promise you something: I’m not going to fall in love while I’m here; I’m not even sure that love is a real thing, so if nothing else, that should put an end to all this talk.”
Keith and Stella exchanged another look. “Have it your way,” his friend said. “But I’d be careful what you say. The island seems to love a challenge, and I think you might have just issued one.”
Cameron made his escape as quickly as he could after that. His friends had every right to believe what they wanted to, but that didn’t mean he had to stand there and listen to them. He wandered through the crowd, sipping his now warm iced tea and keeping an eye out for Kennedy, ready to flee if he saw her, but she was nowhere to be found. He was both surprised and annoyed at the rush of disappointment that flooded him but shook it off, telling himself that it was for the best.
“It’s almost sunset,” the man standing next to him said to the woman with him. Let’s go down to the water; the view will be better from there.”
The woman laughed and pointed to the groups of people slowly making their way over to the water’s edge. “It looks like everyone else had the same idea,” she said. “Come on, let’s go find a spot.”
He watched them walk away, wondering if he should follow. That was when he finally spotted Kennedy, and he braced himself, prepared for the wave of desire he knew was coming. But standing there watching her laugh and smile at the handsome man standing next to her, another emotion slowly began to build inside him, leaving him slightly breathless and the creature inside him slowly awakening again.
Rooted to the spot, he could only stand there staring at Kennedy and the man, jealousy making irrational thoughts pop into his mind, the urge to stomp over to them and stake his claim to her one of the strongest. When the man wrapped his arm around Kennedy and pulled her close to him, it was all he could do not to follow through with the urges now thundering through him.
To his relief, Kennedy slipped out of the man’s arms and put a little distance between them, making it clear that the man’s attention wasn’t wanted. The jealousy faded to a manageable level, but he still didn’t move, couldn’t walk away from the scene in front of him, even though he kept telling himself to escape while he had the chance. She wasn’t his and would never be. It was impossible and forbidden, and it was another reason to stay as far away from her as he could .
When the sun finally slipped out of sight, the man standing next to Kennedy walked away, and the last of the jealousy drained away. He expected to feel normal again, but under the jealousy, he discovered desire still smoldering deep inside him, and before he could stop himself, he was walking over to her. She turned and looked over at him. A big smile spread across her face, and he knew that he was in trouble.
“Wasn’t that beautiful,” she said with a big sigh. “Sunset is one of my favorite times of the day.”
“Yes, beautiful,” he said, unable to drag his eyes away from her face. “Very beautiful.”
To his surprise a blush spread across her cheeks. “I didn’t picture you as a watching the sunset kind of guy,” she said, her voice a little shaky. “I thought you never left your lab.”
“I wasn’t watching the sunset, something else caught my eye,” he said, surprised to find himself flirting with her. “I’ll have to try and catch it tomorrow night.”
***Kennedy***
Kennedy was a bit stunned when she realized that Cameron was talking about her and not the sunset, and even more unprepared when he began to flirt with her. “Well, I think it happens every night,” she said. “And you don’t even have to do anything.”
“So, there aren’t any rules about watching the sunset?” he asked. “I mean, I’ve never really done it before, so I wouldn’t want to screw it up. Maybe you could give me a couple of pointers.”
She laughed. “You might be able to convince me,” she said. “But I promise you it’s not that hard.”
“Relaxing doesn’t come easy to me,” Cameron admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. “But you and Max both seem to think that it's important, so maybe I’ll give it a try. ”
“That’s the spirit,” she said, smiling at him, deciding this was her opening. “What exactly is it that you do in that lab, anyway?”
“A lot of things, but it all centers around DNA sequencing,” he said. “It’s a little complicated…but we work with medical professionals and research facilities running the tests they need.”
“Wow, I’ve never met anyone who works with DNA,” she said. “It must be really exciting. I guess I can see why what you do is so important.”
“Microbiology always intrigued me, even as a kid,” he said. “I don’t know how exciting what I do is, but I enjoy it, and I feel like I’m contributing something to science.”
She studied him for a second, sensing that he wasn’t telling her the entire story, but knew she was getting closer to what was happening behind the locked doors. “Okay, everyone,” Max called, interrupting them. “The sun has set, the crab pots are ready, now all we need are some clams. I want you to split up into teams, grab a bucket and get digging. The team that brings in the most clams gets the first pick of the crabs.”
There was a flurry of activity around them. “Come on, let’s go grab a couple of buckets,” she said, grabbing his hand, trying to ignore the bolt of electricity that traveled up her arm. “I’ve never been clam digging. This is going to be fun.”
Cameron started shaking his head. “No thanks, I think I’ll just watch,” he said, trying to pull his hand free, a weird look on his face. “I’m not much into digging.”
“That’s the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “Are you scared to get dirty or something?”
“I’m not scared to get dirty,” he said. “I just don’t want to crawl around digging in the sand like a little kid.”
“Oh, Cameron,” she said, shaking her head. “Try having some fun for a change; it will be like a game. Don’t be such a stick in the mud.”
“I’m not being a stick in the mud,” he said. “I just don’t want to…”
Before he could finish, Andy came rushing up. “Hey, Kennedy, do you want to be partners?” he asked. “I bet we could win.”
She looked over at Cameron, who had that same weird look on his face. “She’s my partner,” he said. “We were just going to get our buckets.”
It hit her then. Cameron was jealous, and a delicious thrill rushed through her at the thought, but then she got herself under control. “I thought you didn’t want to dig in the sand like a little kid,” she said. “Maybe I don’t want to be your partner.”
A frown appeared on Cameron’s face. “I changed my mind,” he said through clenched teeth. “But it’s your choice.”
She studied him for a second, hating the fact that she was enjoying herself so much, afraid that she was crossing a line but unable to stop. “Sorry, Andy, I asked Cameron to be my partner first,” she said. “I hope you understand.”
“Oh, sure, I get it,” he said, looking between the two of them. “Have a good night. Maybe we’ll see each other around the island.”
“Not if I can help it,” Cameron said under his breath, but she pretended not to notice even though it sent another thrill shooting through her.
When Andy was gone, she looked over at Cameron. “We should really get started if we want to win,” she said. “I’m glad you changed your mind. This is going to be fun, and when we’re done, we can stuff ourselves with crab.”
They grabbed their buckets and shovels, then walked over to the open stretch of beach lit up by the tiki torches. “I wondered why these were all over here,” Cameron said, looking around at the people already digging. “What do we do now?”
Just then, Sheila came over to them. “You look like you could use some help,” she said. “All you have to do is look for the little airholes in the sand. When you find one, start digging. The clams will be a few inches down. You may have to reach in and feel around for them.”
Kennedy looked at the sand around her feet. “Oh, look, there’s one,” she said, dropping to her knees and starting to dig. A few seconds later, her shovel came up with a big clam, and she let out a whoop of excitement. “I found a clam, and a huge one.”
“Now you’re an expert,” Sheila said, handing her the bucket. “Put a little water in with them to keep them alive until we want to eat them.”
She dropped the clam in, then got back to her feet and filled her bucket half full of water before carrying it back to where Cameron was standing. “Come on, start digging,” she urged him. “This is fun; it’s like a treasure hunt.”
Scanning the sand, she saw another depression in the sand and started digging again, but this time she was forced to reach into the hole to pull out the clam. After dropping it into the bucket with a splash, she looked up at Cameron, who was still watching her, with a look of amusement on his face.
“Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to dig?” she asked. “I thought you wanted to do this.”
“Not really,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I just didn’t like that Andy guy. He wasn’t right for you, so I got rid of him. I’m happy just to watch.”
She could only stare at him for a second, then slowly got to her feet as anger slowly began to build inside her. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” she asked, a hard edge to her voice. “I don’t think I heard you correctly, at least I hope I didn’t hear you correctly because you have no right to decide who I talk to or when. That is not your choice to make.”
“It was clear to me that he was bad news, I was just watching out for you,” Cameron defended himself. “You can’t be too careful, you know, guys like that… well, they only want one thing.”
“And what if I wanted that one thing?” she demanded. “You have no idea who I am or what I want. Maybe I wanted a vacation fling, maybe I wanted to have it with Andy.”
“I don’t believe that for one second,” he said, his eyes flashing with anger. “You’re not that kind of girl and if you were, you’d pick someone better than that jerk.”
“Oh, you think so, do you?” she demanded, taking a couple of steps toward him. “And who would this mystery man be? I’d love to meet him. After all, I only have a couple of weeks on the island, we should get on with it.”