Chapter 4 #2
“Come on,” he said, deliberately breaking whatever was flaring between them. “Let’s get back to the boat.”
He climbed up first, then turned and offered her his hand. Her fingers curled around his, and something electric sparked between them. Ignoring it, he pulled her onto the deck.
He patted himself dry with a towel and glanced over to find her doing the same.
The late afternoon sun burned warm against his skin.
Shauna grabbed the sunscreen, squeezing some into her palm and smoothing it over her arms, shoulders, and the long line of her legs.
He tried very hard not to stare, and failed miserably.
She looked up and offered him the bottle. He rubbed the lotion over his chest and arms, then reached over his shoulder to get his back.
The attendant approached him with a bright smile. “Would you like some help with that? I can do your back.”
Before he could even respond, Shauna plucked the bottle out of his hand.
“No, thank you,” Shauna told the other woman, her voice sharp. “We can manage.”
Akash blinked.
She stepped behind him and placed a firm hand on his shoulder, turning him slightly.
He felt the first warm stroke of lotion across his back and nearly forgot how to breathe.
He had to literally force his mind back to what had just happened.
Shauna had cut off the other woman as if she was… she was… Jealous?
He swallowed. No. That didn’t make sense. They were no one to each another. Why would she be jealous? This was nothing. Wasn’t it?
Shauna’s hands moved slowly, deliberately, across his shoulders and down the center of his back, and he completely lost his train of thought. His skin heated beneath her touch, every nerve suddenly awake. Fuck. He shut his eyes, hating how much he liked her touch.
She finished and lightly tapped his arm. “Your turn.”
Handing the bottle back to him, she spun around, offering him her back. Taking the bottle, he gently shifted her hair over one shoulder. He spread the lotion across her shoulders, and he felt her breath hitch beneath his touch. And then, almost as if nothing had happened, she started talking.
About the reef. The colors. The way a manta ray had moved like silk through the water. He tried, really tried, to focus on what she was saying instead of the smooth warmth of her skin beneath his hands, but it was hard. So fucking hard.
Thankfully, Shauna kept talking, blissfully unaware of the havoc her nearness was wreaking on his mind… and his body.
The boat roared to life once they were seated again.
Akash pulled his shirt back on. Beside him, Shauna slipped her dress over her head once more, the bright bikini disappearing from view.
He hadn’t realized how much the sight of her had been affecting him until she was covered again.
At least now he wouldn’t have to keep fighting the distraction of her sun-warmed skin every time he looked her way.
Especially since she’d chosen to sit beside him.
Close. Close enough that her arm brushed his as she continued to excitedly explain every coral formation and creature she’d seen.
He nodded, adding a comment here and there, but part of him was still acutely aware of the warmth of her thigh near his. And her scent. He breathed her in every time he inhaled. Salt from the sea, coconut from the lotion, and beneath it all, that strong floral scent that was so uniquely her.
He inhaled before he could stop himself, and something tightened low in his chest. Being this close to her, breathing her in, feeling the heat of her body beside his… all of it was its own kind of torture.
By the time the boat pulled back to the resort jetty, the sky had shifted to deep gold and soft pink.
He stepped off first and turned, offering her his hand.
This time, he braced himself for the now-familiar spark, the quiet rush of heat that slid from her skin into his the moment her fingers curled around his.
They walked side by side along the wooden path toward their rooms, the evening air cooler now. She stopped at a fork in the road.
“I’m this way,” she said.
He nodded in the other direction. “And I’m over there.”
She studied him for a moment. “Well, that was unexpectedly fun.”
“It was,” he replied. Then, after a beat, “It was nice not being at war with you.”
“You and I not fighting… was different.” A small smile touched her lips. “It was nice. Maybe we should keep this new equation even when we go back.”
He held her gaze. “Yeah. Maybe we should.”
She stepped back slowly. “See you for dinner.”
“See you.”
She turned, halted, and then walked back to him.
“I want to apologize for last night,” she said quietly. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. It was… unfair.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “I had no right to judge you. That was rude and completely uncalled for. I was angry, and I said something I shouldn’t have.”
He watched her silently for a moment.
When he didn’t respond, she asked, “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“I’m thinking.”
Her brows lifted. “About what?”
His lips curved. “That this might be the first time you’ve ever apologized to me. I ought to cherish it for a moment longer.”
She threw him a dark glare, but he lifted his hands in mock surrender. “Relax. Apology accepted, Shauna.”
For a brief second, something flickered across her face. But then she smiled, gave him a slight nod, and turned to walk toward her room.
He watched her walk away before turning toward his own room.
He knew why she’d been angry. He’d been pushing her to talk about that night in Singapore, to perhaps get an idea of what she’d actually felt about it.
As always, she hadn’t wanted to talk about it, and that’s why she’d lashed out at him in the worst possible way.
He was glad she had taken the step to clarify and ease things with him.
He sighed. There had been a time, years ago, when they had been as easy with each another as they had been today. When they had smiled and chatted, when there had been no friction, just friendship and a hope of something more. And somehow, today, he’d found that version of them again.
Back then, he’d found out his truth and had forced himself to walk away from her.
A truth that had changed their equation forever.
That truth that still stood between them.
And the moment it came to light, it would splinter this fragile peace, if it even lasted.
The moment Shauna learned it, she wouldn’t just be angry.
She would hate him.
Forever.
He exhaled slowly. That truth didn’t have to surface tonight. Tonight, he would take this reprieve. He would welcome a few more hours of this unexpected calm. A few more hours of not being at war with her. Because once he returned home to Mumbai, he knew everything would change.