Chapter 17
LUCAS
“Lucas!” Kendra’s voice was full of enthusiasm. “Look!”
Lucas dipped his head underwater to follow her pointing finger and spotted a green turtle, winging through the water as gracefully as a dancer.
Its green shell was patterned with fine brown lines, and its small legs propelled it effortlessly forward.
Kendra dove beneath the water and swam beside it, kicking gracefully with the large neon-yellow fins the resort had provided.
Her hair streamed behind her, and she looked like a mermaid, more a part of the reef than the world above the surface.
Then she came up for air, grinning, and she was Kendra again.
“Did you see it?” she asked.
“I did.” Though the turtle had been impressive, Lucas was more focused on Kendra than the reptile.
She looked gorgeous, happy, and content.
Every time he saw her, his heart skipped a beat, and he could hardly believe that they’d spent the night together.
Memories of kissing her, running his hands over her soft skin, and making her sigh with pleasure came back to him.
In the back of his mind, Lucas knew that this was just a break from real life.
All too soon, he’d be back in LA, picking up the shattered remnants of Omegron and hoping for the best. But for now, all he cared about was Kendra.
For a little while, he would just enjoy their time together without worrying about the future.
In the spirit of that, he dove beneath the water with Kendra the next time she went.
Side by side, they swam through a school of silvery fish, close enough to the reef that they could have reached out and touched it, before surfacing again.
Fish danced beneath them in an elaborate choreography that only they knew, and the seaweed waved lazily in the light current.
“Have you noticed,” Kendra said, treading water so that she could face him, “that almost everything we do seems to be in the water?”
Lucas laughed. “You have a point there. Including the kayaks and our walk on the beach last night, even though neither of those activities was supposed to include getting in the ocean.”
“Maybe it’s our thing.” Kendra grinned before putting her snorkel back in her mouth and floating to look at the creatures below them.
They were only a short distance from where they’d capsized the kayak on the first day, and Lucas could see a few other couples on kayaks nearby.
They seemed to be having a much easier time of it than Lucas and Kendra had.
From the shore, Susie beckoned for them to swim over.
They did as she asked. As Kendra got out of the water, rivulets of seawater ran down her, and Lucas thought it made her look like she’d stepped out of a film shoot.
She shook her hair, sending more droplets falling around her. He found it hard to tear his eyes away.
“How was it?” Susie asked, beaming at them.
“Wonderful. We saw a turtle!” Kendra’s green eyes shone with enthusiasm.
“That’s great!” Susie looked overjoyed that they were finally enjoying her activities. “After lunch, we have a trip to the Mission San Jose de Cabo, so get changed.”
Kendra and Lucas exchanged a smile. Previously, Lucas would have protested about the trip off-site and suggested that they stay here, mostly so that he could be close to his phone.
But he’d barely even glanced at the news today.
It was more important to enjoy the vacation with Kendra than to worry about work. So, he just nodded.
After a delicious lunch of enchiladas, they met Susie for the drive to the church.
It was tall and white, with bell towers on either side, and the square in front was strung with small green and yellow flags.
A few other tourists snapped pictures of the outside, but it wasn’t as crowded as some places had been.
“This church was founded in 1730,” Susie explained as they climbed a small flight of steps to the square in front of the church. “It was the southernmost Jesuit mission in Baja California. Take a few minutes to look around and let me know if you have any questions.”
“Thanks,” Kendra said. They crossed the square toward the church, and Lucas instinctively reached out and took her hand.
It was a simple gesture, but warmth thrummed up his arm when she squeezed his hand.
Lucas had rarely, if ever, held hands before.
It felt way too couple-y and made him uncomfortable.
Today, though, he didn’t mind. He loved the way Kendra smiled when he ran his thumb across the soft skin of her palm.
They stepped through the arched doorway into the church’s interior, which was quiet and cool. They first made a loop around the church, admiring the architecture and sculptures without speaking much. Then they went back outside.
“Isn’t it amazing that this church has been here for nearly three hundred years?
” Kendra tilted her head back to take in the building, her eyes bright with excitement.
Usually, Lucas wasn’t that impressed by historical sites, but her enthusiasm made him interested, too.
He tried to imagine what this place would have been like when it was first built, centuries before either of them was born.
“It is hard to believe,” Lucas admitted.
“When I look at things like this,” Kendra continued, “natural wonders especially, but historical ones, too, it reminds me of how insignificant I am.”
“You aren’t insignificant,” Lucas protested. He squeezed her hand, but she was already shaking her head.
“No, I am, but in a good way. Think about it. In the grand scale of life on Earth, my problems just don’t matter that much.
When I got left at the altar, it felt like it was the end of my life, but it wasn’t.
In fact, it didn’t matter nearly as much as I thought it would, because I ended up on a great adventure with you. ”
“I suppose I see what you mean.” Lucas led her to a bench that overlooked the square, and they sat together.
A couple of kids were throwing a ball around, shouting to each other in Spanish and laughing when it bounced onto the ground.
An older couple with lined faces and bright smiles sat together on the opposite side of the square, sharing fresh mangoes with chili powder from a plastic container.
“Even here, when I see so many people calmly living their lives, I remember that what I do isn’t as important as it feels. ”
“Exactly.” Kendra squeezed his hand. “But that’s a good thing. It means that we can enjoy life and be ourselves without always worrying about the future.”
“I like that.” Lucas leaned over and kissed her cheek.
Now that they’d slept together, it was natural to touch her more, to admire her often, and to feel almost like their charade wasn’t a charade anymore.
He was falling for this woman. If he’d realized that at any other time, it would have scared him, but after the conversation they’d just had, it was okay.
He could fall for her, at least for a little while, and life would go on.
Soon, he’d be back in LA. But for now, he would enjoy being with her.
That evening, they shared a candlelit dinner before going for another stroll along the beach.
This time, Lucas asked Susie for a picnic blanket before they left, so they lay on the sand under the star-studded velvet-dark sky.
Kendra’s leg was thrown over one of Lucas’s, and his arm was wrapped around her.
“I see the Big Dipper,” she said, squinting. “I think.”
“I thought the Big Dipper was over there.” Lucas pointed to a completely different part of the sky, and Kendra laughed.
“Okay, fair enough.” She rolled over so that she was looking at him instead of the sky. “So, I know your company is in trouble right now, but tell me, what’s it like being the CEO of a tech company?”
“It’s great,” Lucas said honestly. “Most of the time, anyway. It took years of hard work and sacrifice to get Omegron off the ground, and there were years that I wasn’t even cutting a salary for myself.
But then, business took off, and now, when things are going well, I spend my time looking at the big picture and dreaming about new products. ”
“Like phones and stuff, right?”
Lucas smiled in the darkness. “Yes, like phones and stuff. And computers, tablets, headphones — all those things.”
“And are they special? Omegron’s products, I mean?” There was a smile in her voice.
“Of course.” He chuckled. “We push the envelope on innovation. Our latest phone, which was supposed to release a few weeks ago, unfolds to the size of a tablet.”
“Really?”
“Really. Although how you haven’t seen any advertisements or news about it, I don’t know.” Lucas laughed.
“Hey, I’ve been really focused on wedding stuff lately. I’ve barely kept up with the news at all.” She was smiling in the darkness.
“Tell me more about being a wedding photographer. What do you do, exactly?”
“Well, my clients hire me for their weddings, as well as for bridal showers, reception dinners, and even engagement photos. I get to know my clients over a few meetings to figure out the aesthetic they want and how I can make that happen. Then I show up to the wedding covered in equipment, looking completely out of place, and run around for hours snapping photos of everything.”
Lucas could imagine her draped in camera equipment, her brow furrowed as she focused on getting the right shot. The mental image made him smile. “Do you have a favorite moment to photograph?”
“Definitely. The best ones are always the groom’s face when the bride steps onto the aisle, and the shots of the bride getting ready with her loved ones. Then, depending on the wedding and the couple, different things stand out.”
“Like what?”
“Are you really interested in this?” She smiled at him as she adjusted to use his arm as a pillow.