Chapter 11
Mac bit her lip before she asked what term he was referring to. Temporary. This was all temporary, she chanted in her head like a mantra. “It’s my house. I’ll cook.” Mac left the bathroom and went to her room as she towel-dried her hair.
She put on a pair of panties and slipped on some grey pajama shorts and a tank top, going sans bra.
She hated them. They dug into her shoulders. She had under-boob sweat. She always enjoyed taking them off at the end of the day and letting the girls relax.
Mac bent over and scrubbed out her hair one more time before tossing her head back and finger combing through it. She set the towel on the bar in the bathroom and headed into the kitchen. She wasn’t surprised to see Barry was already there looking through her fridge.
His hair was wet and tousled, and his shirt had dark wet spots as if he hadn’t completely dried before putting his clothes back on.
“I told you I would make something.”
“I don’t mind helping.”
“Fine.” She didn’t mind help. “Do you have any allergies or anything you don’t like to eat?”
“No, I’m pretty easy.” He grinned at his double innuendo before his gaze lowered to her nipples jutting through her shirt. Let him look. Mac wasn’t going to apologize for not wearing a bra.
“There’s a brown wrapper with fish I got from the market yesterday in there. We can have that and some peas and rice.”
Barry shook his head as if he had been in a fog. “I like it.” Barry grabbed the fish from the fridge while Mac got the other supplies. She pulled out the cutting board while Barry opened the package of fish. “This thing is whole,” he said, sounding shocked.
“Yeah.” Hadn’t he ever seen a whole fish before?
“Doesn’t the market cut it into fillets for you?”
“No,” Mac chuckled. Such a city boy. “The market here is different.” Barry wasn’t in Kansas anymore. No one here was going to cut up his meat for him. You had to work for some of your meals here.
“I’m getting that.”
“The local fishermen bring in their haul and sell it at stands at a pier down the coast. It’s up to you as the consumer how you want to prepare it. Do you know how to fillet a fish?”
“No,” he admitted ruefully.
“We’ll switch them. You can chop up the vegetables and bacon.”
“I thought you were making rice and peas.” Barry’s eyebrows pinched together in confusion.
“I am.”
“I’m confused.”
“I’ll walk you through it.” Mac chuckled again.
She was so used to the locals and their cooking style here, she forgot not everyone ate this way.
“Chop that stuff up and when you’re done, I’ll tell you the next steps.
” She’d walk him through it slowly, not that she didn’t think he’d catch on quickly, but it was easier to do it one step at a time so he didn’t miss something.
“Have you always made rice and peas this way?”
“Since moving here, yes.” She didn’t think she could have it any other way now.
“How long have you been living here?” Barry inquired, though his main focus was on cutting the vegetables.
Mac paused in her slicing of the fish to think about it. It felt like forever. “Seven years now.”
“That’s a long time.”
“What can I say, I love it here.”
“Because of the sharks or the weather?”
“Believe me, it’s not always paradise here. When the hurricanes hit and you’re stuck on a tiny island hoping you don’t end up like the fabled city of Atlantis and at the bottom of the ocean, it’s not fun.”
“I never thought about that.”
“Not many tourists do. They just see sandy beaches and sunny skies and don’t think about the rest.” Mac clamped her mouth shut, realizing she sounded cynical. “Sorry, the sharks are what drew me here. The weather is just a bonus.”
“Have you always wanted to be a shark biologist?”
“I’ve loved sharks since I was a kid. I thought it would be cool to have one as a pet.
” Mac laughed at the memory. Her family thought she was crazy by the notion.
“It wasn’t until middle school that I realized I could turn that passion into a career.
When I went to college, I volunteered to be part of a program that came down here to study reef sharks and never looked back. ”
“It’s always nice when you can combine your passion with your career. Not all people can do that.”
“Is that what you did?” Mac had told herself to keep some distance between them, but learning about each other’s careers wasn’t that big of a deal. It wasn’t getting too personal.
“I did,” was all he said.
With the fish ready, Mac seasoned it and put it to the side, then got a pan ready for the bacon before getting the rice and peas out of the cabinet.
“What are those?” Barry tipped his chin to the bag of peas in her hand.
“Black-eyed peas,” she replied as if it should be obvious. It had been a while since she had been in the states, but she knew they sold them. “Trust me,” she added to his skeptical look.
“I don’t have much choice.”
“Not unless you want to find your own dinner. This is what we’re having.” He had agreed to it, so this was what they were doing.
“Wow, you’re tough.”
“No, I’m just not making two dinners.”
“I wasn’t going to suggest it. I’m fine with this, it’s just different. I’ve never had black-eyed peas.”
“Then you’re in for a treat. You’ll never want rice and peas any other way after this.” Barry still looked skeptical but kept his mouth shut. “What did you end up doing today? Did you check out the falls I suggested?”
“I did go for a hike but not that way, and then I had lunch down the road from my hotel. I can’t remember the name of it, but it was run by a lady named Elsie who makes the best conch salads.”
Mac knew exactly who he was talking about. There was only one Elsie that Mac knew on the island. She was famous for her conch dishes. Mac had had her dishes a few times over the years.
Mac didn’t make a habit of eating out a lot, but during her student days, she used to go to the local restaurants to learn about the food and culture on the island.
“Did she tell you her life story?” Elsie had never met a stranger; everyone was a friend to her.
“No, but she feels a passion for Miles as you do.”
Some of the islanders were vocal like Mac was about not liking Miles on the island. “She’s very passionate about the island. This is the only place she’s ever known. As far as I know, she’s never been anywhere else. Her family has lived here for generations. She’s very protective of it.”
Mac checked on Barry’s progress. The vegetables were cooked down. It was time for the next step.
“I didn’t see the source of your ire from last night on our way here.”
“Miles doesn’t come down to mingle with us lower class very often. He prefers to stay up in his ivory tower. We’re ready to add the tomato paste and sugar.”
Barry grabbed the supplies and measured them out as Mac instructed. “I was curious about his hotel and looked it up online. It looks impressive.”
Mac rolled her eyes. She had done the same when she’d found out he was building there, but she wasn’t impressed. The thing was big and gaudy. It stood out like a beacon on the island and didn’t fit in.
“You disagree.”
“Let’s not talk about Miles tonight.” She wanted to enjoy her night and whatever time she had with Barry before he went back home. She didn’t want to get herself worked up in anger.
“Okay, what would you like to talk about?”
There were so many things Mac wanted to learn about Barry, but she’d made a deal with herself: the less she knew about him, the better.
This was only supposed to be temporary. Why get to know each other just to forget about each other soon?
Though Mac doubted she would forget about Barry anytime soon. “Can you cook rice?”
“What?”
“It’s time to add the rice. I need to work on the fish.”
“I can do this.”
“Do you mind if I put on some music? I like cooking with music in the background.”
“Sure.”
“Is there anything you like?”
“Classic rock like Queen.” He was old school. She liked that. So was she. Mac grabbed her phone and opened her music app, connecting it to play over the speaker. It wasn’t loud but just enough to hear.
Mac recognized the opening chords to “Take My Breath Away.” She started swaying to the melody and singing the song softly under her breath as she heated a pan on the stovetop.
Barry stopped right beside her, watching the pot as if it were going to do something. What, she didn’t know, besides cook. Maybe he was just lost in thought.
“Can you dance?” she found herself asking.
Barry pulled a face somewhere between horror and a grimace. “If I’m required to.”
“What if I’m asking you to?” She smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes.
“Well, are you asking or just hinting?”
“Will you dance with me?”
Barry leaned closer until their arms brushed up against each other. “If you want to press your body against mine, you don’t need to use dancing as an excuse. We can turn this off and do a different kind of dance. One without clothing.”
Mac felt her breathing turn choppy. She had heard some come-ons in her life, but this one was by far the best. One she was tempted to take him up on right now, despite her hunger and the fact they had made love not even an hour ago. “We can do that kind of dance later. I need to fuel my body.”
“I hear fish is an aphrodisiac.”
“That’s an old Greek tale; it’s not true.”
“I’m curious to put it to the test.”
“We can try it.” It wasn’t like she needed an aphrodisiac to get in the mood. She just needed to be near Barry, and she was ready to go.
Mac held her hand over the pan. It felt warm enough. She laid the fish down and watched it as she danced in place while waving the spatula around.
Barry took her hand and pulled her back away from the stove before spinning her around. “What are you doing?” Barry pulled her back to him, their chests colliding together, and he started swaying them back and forth.
“Dancing,” he said as if it should be self-explanatory. His hand rested on her hip as the other took the spatula from her hand to set it down, then interlaced his fingers with hers.