Chapter Sixteen
Lilavati
I’m jerked from the spell Ant has me under by a literal dose of cold water.
“Get a room,” an American voice yells from beside us. I look over to see three teens, laughing hysterically.
Ant grins, but there’s also a trace of disappointment in his eyes. He still has one arm wrapped around my waist, the other cupping the back of my head, but he’s pulled back slightly, allowing the water to flow between us, cooling us down.
It takes me a moment to gather my wits. They seem to be floating away on a current of sea water and hormones.
“Oh. I dropped my mask,” I say stupidly. But I’m glad for the distraction, because the idea of addressing what almost happened is too confronting. I need time to process. And to feel less, well, less needy.
“I’ll get it.” Looping the strap of his mask over my arm, Ant duck dives beside me with one strong kick. I glare at the teenagers who, now that we no longer look like we’re about to make out, have lost interest and are swimming away, splashing and dunking each other.
It feels like an eternity before Ant surfaces with a rush of water and a gasp, handing me my mask and pushing his unruly hair out of his eyes.
“What do you reckon, time for lunch?”
I’m having trouble keeping up with the transition. One minute, Ant seemed about to kiss the life out of me, the next, I’m being half drowned, and now I’m being offered lunch as if none of that ever happened. Needing a moment to regain my equilibrium, I nod.
Ant duck dives again, and I feel him tugging the flippers from my feet.
We wade out of the water and dry off in silence.
“So, we could find a shady spot by the pool and have lunch there, or would you rather get room service and eat on the lanai?”
I think about the big circular outdoor bed on the lanai. How it would be the perfect place for an afternoon nap. Between the time difference and a morning of unaccustomed exercise, a nap is exactly what I need.
“You promised room service and a nap on the lanai,” I remind him.
“Room and nap it is.” Ant shakes the excess water off the snorkel gear and puts it in its mesh bags, grabs our towels and starts off up the beach.
I doubt we’ll ever be able to eat everything we ordered for lunch. A seafood cobb salad, assorted wraps and a pineapple ‘boat’ filled with fresh fruit and honey. But it seems like snorkelling, and maybe almost kissing Ant, has given me a ravenous appetite.
“I think that was the best experience of my life,” I say, loading my plate up.
It takes a second of silence from Ant, and the look in his eye, for me to work out he’s wondering whether I mean the snorkelling or the electric moment when our mouths nearly connected.
“Snorkelling with a turtle,” I add. The almost-kiss was a very close second.
Although, I have a feeling that if it had been an actual kiss, the rankings might possibly be reversed.
He grins as if this is exactly the answer he was expecting, and that the elephant in the room doesn’t exist. I can work with that. I’ve spent my life ignoring elephants.
“How did you know there were turtles in the bay? How do you know so much about snorkelling in Hawaii?” I ask.
The grin morphs into a secretive smile.
“You’d be amazed at the mysteries you can unlock on the internet,” he responds. That doesn’t feel like an honest answer, but whatever. I had too good a time to ruin it by questioning him.
When there’s not much left on the table but pickings, I fall onto the big outdoor bed.
“I think I’m about to go into a food coma,” I groan. “That was hands down the best meal I’ve ever had.”
“Before you do that, I think maybe we should get some after-sun lotion on your back. You’re a little pink.”
Ant disappears and returns with a bottle of clear, pale green liquid. I roll onto my belly, so tired and full, I can’t even raise an objection to his hands running all over me.
“As much as I hate the idea of covering up all this glorious skin, I’ll pick you up a rashie at the hotel shop tomorrow so you don’t get burnt again.
” Ant’s hands on my back melt what’s left of my bones.
They’re gentle, and the lotion is cool and soothing as he massages it into my tender skin with long, sweeping motions.
The sounds of splashing water, kids laughing and small waves rushing up the sandy beach lull me into a stupor.
I don’t even notice when he stops because the next thing I know, I’m waking to the setting sun.
A light rug has been thrown over me, and the lunch plates are cleared.
Stretching and sighing, I sit up, still groggy but with a sense of contentment I can’t remember ever experiencing.
My cheeks heat as I realise some of that contentment could be due to the dream I just had.
Which starred Ant in the same outfit he was wearing when we met.
There’s a note on the table beside me, weighted down with the bottle of aloe.
Gone surfing. Will be back in plenty of time for dinner. Enjoy your nap. A x
I’m disoriented and have no idea what time it is. I stand up and stretch again, feeling slightly wobbly. Despite the aloe Ant spread on my back, there’s a slight sting as the skin stretches. Great. Only I could be stupid enough to get sunburnt on my first day in Hawaii.
I’m about to try and find my phone when the door opens.
Ant’s hair is wet and dishevelled, his skin crusted with salt and sand.
As it did at the airport, happiness washes over me at seeing his smiling face.
It’s somewhat disturbing. Especially when I remember the dream I just had.
My cheeks heat. I can only hope he thinks it’s due to the sunburn.
“Feeling better?” he asks, striding through the apartment and laying his surfboard carefully out of the way on the floor at the end of the lanai and draping his wetsuit over a spare chair.
If better means I may or may not have been close to a mind-bending orgasm during that dream I just had, then yes.
“Umm. Yes. I think so. I just woke up.” Thanks to years of hospital training, I’m usually on the minute I wake up. But this afternoon, I’m too relaxed to be hyped up.
Ant turns towards me and winces.
“Your back still looks a little red. I think you need another dose of the aloe.”
Guiding me to the edge of a sun lounge, Ant spreads another cooling layer of the gel on my tender shoulders and back. I shiver, but I’m not sure if it’s the coldness of the lotion or the feel of Ant’s fingers slipping under the tie of my bikini and the edge of the sarong.
“There, let that sink in for a few minutes. Make sure you have the water nice and cool when you shower.”
“Thanks.” I tighten the sarong that’s slipping down my hips and stand again, going to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, because suddenly my mouth is dry.
Ant saunters—that’s the only description for the way he walks—into the suite behind me and picks up a pink folder from the dining table.
“I don’t suppose you’ve looked at this?” When he holds it up, I can see it has Emily & Julian in elegant script on the front, surrounded by flowers.
“No. What is it?” Although I can guess. I walk towards him, hand outstretched.
“I thought your mother was kidding when she said there were themes and dress codes. Apparently, she was dead serious. There’s a whole itinerary.”
He hands me the folder, and we sit side by side on the sofa to investigate.
He’s right, there’s a full itinerary. For every day. Every meal. Every hour. With dress codes and instructions on what’s expected of us. It would be funny if we weren’t going to have to attend these events.
“What are you most looking forward to?” Ant asks, sarcasm dripping from his words.
“Hmm. I can’t decide. A whole day of shopping with my mother and grandmother sounds fun.” He grins, interpreting from my tone that I mean the exact opposite. “But I think I’d have to say the girls’ night is what I’m super excited for.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait to go out drinking with Warren on the boys’ night.” Ant stands and stretches. “Well, if we’re going to make this dinner, we’d better get showered. We’ve got half an hour.”
That wakes me up. I need to look on point tonight if I don’t want to spend the night on the end of Grandie’s barbs.
“What? Why didn’t you say so?”
His chuckles follow me as I leap off the sofa and scuttle into the bedroom, shutting the door with a snap.
I rush through my shower—which, as instructed, I set to cool—only giving my hair one shampoo instead of the usual two. I just have to hope it’s not too full of sand.
There’s no time to dry it, so I wrap it in a towel turban-style while I do my make-up, then twist it into a smooth knot on the crown of my head.
I haven’t had time—alright, I haven’t made the time—to unpack, so I rifle through the dresses I brought.
I know my mother had a plan for what I would wear to what event based on the themes Emily has mandated.
But I can’t remember what it was and can’t be bothered looking in the pink folder of doom.
No doubt there’s a text or voicemail waiting for me on my phone with instructions, but I don’t have the time or inclination to worry about it now.
Silky, pale green fabric calls to me. It’s not a dress my mother sent.
It’s something Mei insisted I buy on one of our rare shopping expeditions.
I’d had no idea where or when I would wear it, but Mei was adamant.
I’d noticed it in my wardrobe while packing and thrown it in at the last minute.
Best of all, I don’t need to wear a bra with it.
Just the idea of tight straps and bands on my back and shoulders has me shuddering.
Slipping the dress over my head, I take a look in the mirror and remember why Mei had insisted I buy it.
It’s a little crumpled from travel, but the colour makes my skin glow.
The silky fabric skims and clings in all the right places.
Twisting, I view myself from the behind.
I’d forgotten how low the back was, the halter neck leaving my shoulders exposed.
It’s carefree and casual. Flattering, and, let’s face it, sexy.
Mum and Grandie will hate it. I’m about to take it off again when a small voice in my head says Ant will love it.
As if he’s heard me, he calls out from the living room.
“Five minutes, Sparky.”
Yes. This might not be a dress Lili Gordon would wear. But it’s definitely a dress Sparky would wear.
I thread the diamond drop earrings Mum and Warren gave me for my graduation through my ears, wrap the matching tennis bracelet from Grandie around my wrist and slide my feet into the towering silver heels I know will make my feet ache by the end of the night.
And with a light spritz of my favourite perfume, I throw open the bedroom door.