Chapter 23
JASMINE
Fishing was never my thing. Many little girls were never subjected to it. But not me. My mom had two girls, and my dad seemed to hold out hope that one of us would be a tomboy.
He dragged my younger sister and me to the pond on my grandparents’ property dozens of times before finally giving up.
Neither of us would ever be the son he never had.
By then I pretty much hated fishing, and didn’t pretend otherwise.
Today I’d make an effort to at least pretend to enjoy it.
That’s what I told myself on the way to meet Kai at the marina.
He’d insisted on going an hour earlier to get everything ready, “so I wouldn’t hate it before we even left the dock. ”
“I’m not going to hate it,” I’d reassured him, sounding more convinced than I was.
Kai was waiting on the dock, a big smile beaming. “Your timing is perfect. I just finished loading up.”
“Great! Did you get good snacks? I get insanely hungry on the water.” I’d never been fishing in the Keys, but every time I went diving I turned into a ravenous beast, inhaling protein bars and orange slices like I’d been rescued from a deserted island.
“Pastries and coffee for the first course, and sandwiches on fresh baguettes for the second. All from Bitton.”
My favorite French café. It hadn’t quite been a month that I’d known Kai, but he got me. “Perfect.”
Kai’s gaze shifted at the same time I heard footsteps approaching.
Instinctively, I turned. Reef was twenty feet away, heading straight for me.
My breath caught, and for a split second I had the irrational thought: Dear god, is he coming with us!
? It was a date. I knew Kai wouldn’t invite him.
But why the fuck was he here? My stomach dropped, the old panic flickering.
Being around him carried the weight of our secret.
I summoned all my calm to try to act relaxed.
“No charter for you today either?” I asked.
“Half day,” he answered, aloof. “Leaving at noon.”
I said, “Oh good,” and meant it.
He asked Kai about which boats they were going to use for a group of fourteen coming next week. And with a brief glance my way, he said, “Good luck out there.”
“Thanks,” I said, relieved as he walked away. I turned to Kai, smiling. “Alright. Let’s do this.”
Kai helped me onto the boat and stashed my bag in the dry locker. “Let’s start out at Alligator to catch some bait.”
“Oh, the lighthouse?” I perked up. No need to fake enthusiasm for that. Snorkeling around Alligator Lighthouse was still in my top three enchanting Keys experiences.
“Yeah, then we can head out to deeper waters and see where the birds take us. To something big, I hope.” His eyes glittered with excitement. Instantly I recognized the feeling, and wondered if I looked the same sort of goofy when I got psyched up to make art.
The boat skimmed over water so calm it looked like glass, broken only by ripples of turquoise and cobalt that shifted beneath the hull like living brushstrokes.
I leaned against the rail, the sun warming my shoulders, eyes fixed on the slender silhouette of Alligator Lighthouse rising from the horizon.
This is why I’d always wanted to live in the Keys. Nature’s art.
Closer, the magnitude of the structure left me breathless. Against the endless sweep of sky and sea, it seemed almost unreal. White metal latticework tapering to a world of blues that blended so perfectly that the horizon was a mere whisper of a delineation between heaven and earth.
“Gorgeous place for a wedding,” I said as we approached the large yellow buoy balls marking the protected waters around the lighthouse.
“Don’t mention we got baitfish out here to Corinne,” Kai grinned, pulling a net out of a locker. “It’s a sore spot.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. It’s perfectly legal, but she would ban fishing altogether if she could.”
This was news to me. “That’s gotta make for an interesting relationship.” I hadn’t really thought about it. She’s a marine biologist. He’s a fisherman.
“Real life enemies to lovers,” he said with a chuckle.
“My favorite romance trope,” I told him with a wink.
His head cocked. “You read romance novels?”
“Why is that so surprising?” I asked, amused.
“I don’t know. I just can’t picture you drooling over those shirtless guys on the covers.”
My gaze drifted over his perfectly muscled, shirtless chest as he situated the net on the deck. “Really? You can’t imagine that?”
“Alright,” he held up his hands like I had a gun on him. “Anything I say right now is gonna dig me a bigger hole. Can we change the subject?”
It was kind of fun watching him squirm. “If you want. But I’m happy to talk about my favorite smut. I just finished one yesterday, in fact, while I was painting.”
“How’d you manage that?” he asked, brow creased. “Reading and painting at the same time?”
“Audiobooks,” I said, pointing to my ear. “That’s how I do most of my reading these days. I wish I could listen to them in the bar. Drown out the customers,” I laughed a little too hard. That really would be nice.
Kai looked at me, a playful glint in his eyes.
“I learned something about you today.” He pulled me into a quick kiss, his broad hand pressing into my low back.
I stared up into his hazel eyes, yellow specks glittering, and felt myself relax into his hold.
Safe. That’s what I felt in his arms. He held me for a moment, letting his eyes hypnotize me.
“Those baitfish aren’t going to catch themselves,” he said, releasing the security of his embrace.
He pointed toward the lighthouse. “There’s a whole school of them.” I stood on tiptoes, holding onto his shoulder for balance while I scanned the crystal blue water. Finally, I spotted the silver cloud under the surface. “There. Got it.”
“Good. Now we’re going to drift over them.” He hoisted the net up into his arms.
The wind inched us closer to the school of fish, and Kai stood poised, ready to pounce.
Finally, the cast net unfurled from Kai’s hands like a silver halo, glittering as it caught the sun before sinking in a perfect circle. The strength in his shoulders, his easy rhythm. Competent. Confident. Sexy as fuck.
I watched, enthralled, as the net hit the water, spreading over the hues of blue with barely a splash. Even the fish seemed to pause, captivated the way I was.
He gave the line a sharp tug and the net drew tight, writhing with flashes of silver just beneath the surface. Kai pulled with all his might, bracing as the weight dragged against him.
“Can I help?” I asked, stepping over to the edge of the boat to steady him.
Kai gave me a look that was nothing short of elated that I was jumping in. “Here, grab hold,” he said, handing me the tail of the rope.
I stepped in beside him, fingers closing around the coarse rope.
The pull surprised me, heavier than expected.
I used all my weight to help drag it over the side of the boat.
We laughed, breathless, after we hoisted it over.
Baitfish spilled across the deck in a glittering cascade, tails thrashing.
My palms burned from the rope, but Kai’s wide, boyish grin was worth the sting.
“Wow, you must be good luck,” he beamed. “We got more than we need on the first cast!”
From his jubilance, I had to assume that was not the norm. “Beginner’s luck,” I said, my mouth curling to mirror his big smile, one that came from joy so pure. It wasn’t just sharing with Kai what he loved. The act itself was fun. “We’ll see if it holds.”
“What do you say we test our luck after almond croissants?”
I rubbed my palms together. “Oh god, yes please.”
While we ate, the sun climbed higher, changing the palette. I was tempted to take out my phone for photos, but it was too sweet a moment. I tried instead to commit every sensation to memory.
We drank coffee from a thermos, drifting off Alligator Reef with the lighthouse as backdrop, and I couldn’t remember ever experiencing anything like it.
“This is a great first real date. I’m glad I came.”
“It gets better,” he assured, eyes playful. “We’ve only caught bait.”
The fish didn’t matter to me. He was the catch I didn’t want to let get away. “It’s hard to improve on perfect, but by all means…”
He crooked a smile. “You’re on.”
Kai eased the throttle forward, the bow rising as we left the shallow turquoise behind for the endless sweep of deep blue.
His gaze skimmed the horizon, never still, and he handed me a pair of salt-spotted binoculars.
“Keep an eye out for birds working the surface. If they’re diving, it means bait’s getting pushed up—and the tuna won’t be far behind. ”
I lifted the lenses, scanning where the water and sky blurred.
My stomach fluttered with anticipation, exhilaration from taking part in the hunt.
My eyes teared after minutes of straining, so I wasn’t sure I could trust them when I saw movement ahead.
“I think there’s birds that way, around two o’clock.
” I handed him the binoculars to confirm.
His smile flashed quick and certain. “There are indeed. Good job, babe.”
As we approached the half dozen birds circling and diving, the water erupted in a boil. “There,” he murmured, eyes locked on the chaos ahead. “Tuna.” He pointed with a sharp grin at the silver flashes ravaging the baitfish.
He throttled back and put the engine in neutral.
Moving fast, he pulled two rods from the holders and rigged them with practiced efficiency.
His fingers worked with easy confidence—line, hook, bait, cast—each motion fluid as the sea.
He had both lines in, in record time. I tracked the baits skipping out into the frenzy for only a second before they were lost in the wash.