One Hundred Proposals

by Holly Martin

  Part of me was really looking forward to the conversation I’d promised Harry we would have at the end of the trip. Finally I would find out once and for all whether he returned the feelings for me, though part of me was dreading it with an all-encompassing fear.

  ‘Come on, the boat is leaving, we should go out on the deck.’ Harry stood up and pulled me to my feet. I closed the laptop, slipped it into my bag and followed him out.

  We were heading out to spend a few days at the beach resort of Tangalooma on Moreton Island. It was a convoluted boat trip, not taking the most direct route but the one most likely to encounter whales and dolphins.

  ‘So three more proposals,’ Harry said.

  I stared out at the waves, hoping to see some kind of whale, tail, or dark shape. ‘Yep.’

  ‘We need to do something big for the last one, a spectacular finale. The followers of our blog will be expecting it.’

  ‘You know I like the small gestures as well as the big ones. What are you suggesting?’

  ‘Well a wedding would be a good ending, they’d like to see that.’

  I saw the humour in his eyes. ‘I should marry you to keep our followers happy?’

  ‘Just imagine it. The vicar waiting at the end of a candlelit aisle, you walk up and I ask you one final time, “do you want to marry me?” and you say “I do”. That’s pure gold right there. The followers would love that.’

  ‘And then?’

  He was teasing me, I could tell that. ‘We get married, then we have amazing honeymoon sex.’ He waggled his eyebrows, saucily. ‘That’s the law.’

  ‘And we’d put that in the blog too, all the ins and outs.’

  ‘Well we want to give our followers a complete picture.’

  ‘Ewww.’ I swiped him and he laughed. ‘It seems a bit… far-fetched to go to those lengths just to give our followers what they want.’

  ‘We need to give them something, it can’t just be another no like all the others.’

  ‘I’ve never said no.’

  He looked at me. ‘You’ve never said yes.’

  ‘Maybe you’re just not asking the right question.’

  ‘It’s ‘Marry Me’ Suzie, it’s pretty black and white, yes or no.’

  ‘It’s not how you say it, with all the bells and whistles, it’s what you say that’s important.’

  ‘So you want a huge declaration of love for the last one? Then I’ll get a yes? The followers will just go mad for that.’ He grinned at me. He wasn’t taking any of this remotely seriously. ‘We could invite all the followers there to see the last one. Then there can be a big kiss, and you can lean in on one foot like they do in the movies.’

  A flash suddenly went off in our face and we both turned to see a Japanese man we had spoken to briefly as we were getting on the boat. He was waving a camera in our direction.

  I looked back at Harry in confusion. ‘Did he just take our picture?’

  ‘Probably not, he must be taking it of the view.’ Harry guided me out of the man’s shot but weirdly the man took another photo of us before he disappeared through the crowds of people.

  A shout rang out on the other side of the boat. En masse, a whole boatload of people ran to where the shout came from. I could feel the boat tipping under the weight of such a force. Harry grabbed my hand and ran to the other side too.

  We stared at the waves, some of the tourists taking pictures of water swells, but if there was a whale there it was concealing itself well.

  Another shout rang out from the other side and the boat almost groaned in protest at the mass exodus as we ran to the opposite rail. In a minute the boat would pitch us all into the sea in revenge. There was a definite dark patch this time but it could just have been a patch of seaweed. The beauty of the sea was incredible. The turquoise waters, the sun glinting off its surface. In some parts you could see right down to the sea bed.

  A message was announced over the loud speakers.

  ‘We have a sighting out the rear of the boat, it seems like a humpback is following us.’

  I felt the boat pitch as everyone ran towards the rear. Harry nudged me in front of him and with his hand at my back he guided me through the throngs.

  People were laughing and clapping and I hurried to see the great humpback myself. As I fought my way through the crowd, I saw what it was that everyone was laughing at. The humpback sighting was in fact a large inflatable whale being towed by the boat. Out of the top was a blue ribbon, supposedly representing a spray of water, and emblazoned onto the material were the words ‘Suzie, Marry Me.’

  I smiled. The whale was cute and dorky with googly eyes that rolled in its head as it bounced along in our wake. I quickly pulled my camera out and started firing off shots.

  Just as people were turning away to head back to the front, a huge real life humpback whale breached the surface as it leapt out the wake, twisted in the air and flopped back into the waves – sending a deluge of water over the deck of the boat.

  There were shouts of excitement as everyone rushed to the barrier to take pictures. But although the whale followed us for a while, giving the passengers ample time to take some shots through the waves, he didn’t breach again.

  A quick check on my camera revealed I had taken two winning shots. My proposal endorsed by a real humpback whale.

  I turned to go back inside but Harry was there smiling at me.

  ‘You really do pull out all the stops, don’t you?’

  ‘You wait till the last one, I have big plans.’

  *

  Tangalooma was like stepping into a Bounty advert. The long strip of golden sand nestled into the sea of emerald palm trees was a tropical paradise. The only thing missing was the beautiful girl shipwrecked on the island with her incredible non-melting bar of chocolate. If that had been me, the chocolate would have melted all over me before I’d managed to take the first bite.

  Our hotel room looked straight out onto the beach. From the open window I could see the fat pelicans waddling up the shore, flapping their great wings as the sun set into the rosy waters beyond.

  We had missed most of the beauty arriving on the island after dark the day before, and today we had left early to tour the area and go sand tobogganing – which was easily one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. Though I had brought most of the dunes back with me. It was in my clothes, my hair, my shoes. I managed to clean most of it off me in the shower.

  I nibbled on a piece of pineapple but the fruit lodged in my throat as Harry stepped out the bathroom, soaking wet with only a towel wrapped round his hips. Harry had no problem with his nudity or with me seeing him practically naked. I had seen his fine, beautiful bottom many times and I knew I would never tire of seeing his half naked body. It was a glorious daily treat now. Yes it was wrong to perv over my best friend like that but nothing was ever going to happen between us so the odd appreciative glance didn’t do anyone any harm.

  As Harry dressed, I quickly diverted my attention to the spectacular view but his reflection was very clearly displayed in the glass in front of me. I tried to focus on the sea and the sky rather than the vision of naked loveliness that was parading around the room behind me.

  In the glass, I saw the towel drop as he pulled on a pair of boxer shorts, the tight black kind, that left very little to the imagination. A white shirt was next, covering that beautiful tanned body of his.

  I focused on the sea.

  I’d not had a proposal today, so I presumed Harry was going to whip one out of his pocket tonight when we went for our meal.

  We weren’t going anywhere fancy tonight, just some beach bar that was having a barbeque and served the best burgers and cocktails for miles around. At least that’s what the posters advertising the place said.

  I’d worn a sea green floaty sundress, it was one of Harry’s favourites. I loved the way he looked at me in it.

  Seeing he was dressed, I turned around and saw that his eyes were already on me. I smoothed out my dress t
hen met his gaze, arching an eyebrow at the way he was unashamedly admiring me.

  He smiled. ‘I do love that dress.’

  ‘It’s a pity they don’t come in your size.’

  He laughed as he scooped up my pashmina and carefully wrapped it round my shoulders. ‘Let’s be very clear. I love you in that dress.’

  I looked up at him as he arranged the pashmina, unsure what to say to that. He offered me his arm and I took it.

  ‘Come on then Suzie, let’s see what all the fuss is about with these amazing cocktails.’

  ‘I want Sex on the Beach.’

  Harry cleared his throat. ‘That can be arranged.’

  My stomach clenched unnecessarily. It was ridiculous to be excited by the dark implied threat in his voice but for a few seconds I let myself enjoy the fantasy – the waves crashing on the beach, the incredible passionate sex – until I realised Harry was speaking.

  ‘Sorry, what did you say?’

  ‘I said I prefer the Sloe Comfortable Screw up Against the Wall.’

  I laughed. ‘So that’s your plan, get me drunk and take advantage of me?’

  ‘I was talking about the cocktails, what were you talking about?’ Harry looked at me innocently and I laughed again.

  *

  ‘You know your trouble,’ I waved my hand theatrically through the air to make my point as Harry steered me along the beach back towards the hotel. I was very drunk, I knew that, and my mouth had somehow disengaged itself from my brain and was talking without any consent from me. ‘You don’t realise how bloody amazing you are. How lovely, how kind, how scrumptious, how sweet you are. You just don’t get it. You are just gorgeous. And not in a fit way, inside you are gorgeous. I mean you are fit, very fit, freaking sexy hot fit. But that’s not what makes you beautiful – you are beautiful Harry, inside and out. Where are we going?’

  ‘I thought we’d sit on the beach for a while.’

  I’d thought that Harry was perhaps a bit more sober than I was, despite the fact that we had drunk the same, but he didn’t seem that steady on his feet either.

  With his arm round my shoulders, he guided me down the beach to a dark patch near the end, where the lights didn’t shine. Moonlight licked the waters but other than that it seemed to be pitch black.

  I shivered a little in the cool night air.

  ‘Here sit down here, I’ll build a fire.’

  ‘Oooh you’re such a man.’

  Harry smiled and I sat down watching him as he moved amongst the trees gathering sticks and bits of wood. I looked up at the stars and then lay back on my hands to study them more closely. There were thousands of them, millions, all filling the night sky, shining so brightly that the sky no longer looked black but a sparkling blanket of charcoal grey.

  Orange flames distracted me and I sat up to see a fire burning strongly. I was impressed.

  ‘That was quick, did you rub two sticks together, or use a flint stone?’

  Harry showed me the lighter in his hand and I laughed.

  The flames turned through green and blue, the heat igniting the salt water that had dried on the bits of driftwood. It was beautiful.

  Harry looked up at the tops of the trees and I followed his gaze.

  ‘Fancy a coconut?’ he asked, leaping lightly to his feet.

  I looked at the pair of coconuts hanging from the tree like a large pair of green testicles. ‘You’ll never get them, they’re too high.’

  But Harry was already running off into the trees. I heard him stamping around for a few minutes and he returned triumphantly with two coconuts in his arms, one small hairy one which had obviously come out of the green husk, and one still in its large green outer shell.

  ‘Here,’ he passed me the small one. ‘Crack this open on the rock.’

  I scooted over to the rock excitedly, and smashed it down hard. To my surprise it cleaved open in two neat halves, but there was no milk inside at all. Instead, in the light of the fire, I could see letters on the inside of the shell. I brought the coconut back towards the fire and held it up to the light to see the words ‘Marry Me’ branded onto the inside of the shell in black burnt writing.

  I squealed in delight and looked up in surprise at Harry as he watched me.

  ‘How did you do that?’ I had asked that question so many times in the last few months. I looked back at the coconut and could see the shiny glue on the rim of the two halves. Clearly the coconut had been cut in half, branded and glued back together. Very sweet.

  This was number ninety-nine. I had one more to go.

  ‘Thank you.’

  Harry scooted over to the rock and smashed the other coconut on the side of it. Nothing happened, the green hard shell stayed resolute and unbroken. He brought it down three more times and then suddenly milk spurted from a small crack and he quickly brought it back for me to drink. I licked up the side and sucked over the hole. The milk was warm and watery rather than an actual milk. There was a definite coconut flavour but it didn’t taste great. I passed it to Harry and I watched as he licked round the sides too, then closed his mouth over the crack, closing his eyes in what looked like sheer bliss. There was something incredibly intimate about having his mouth over the same spot my mouth had been seconds before – almost as if we were kissing. Harry let out a tiny, involuntary moan and a bolt of desire slammed into my stomach. He was tasting me.

  I shuffled closer and he eyed me over the coconut, his eyes dark with lust.

  ‘Can I have some more?’ I whispered.

  He stopped drinking and passed it back, holding it for me. My hands joined with his as I licked along the crack, and I watched him, his eyes burning into mine as I drank. I barely tasted the coconut this time. I could taste him, his dark, sweet, sensual taste. I could smell his spicy, clean scent. I wanted more but the shell was now empty as I lowered it to the ground. I ran my fingers over my lip and sucked the last residue off them, longing to taste him again.

  ‘Tastes so good,’ I said, his eyes still on mine.

  His voice was strangled when he spoke. ‘What did it taste of?’

  ‘You.’

  I heard the breath catch in his throat and suddenly he launched himself at me. Or I launched myself at him. Our mouths met, hard, but as he cupped my face he tried to turn it gentle – holding himself back.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The heat, the zing of need for him, ripped through my heart, and sliced straight down to my groin. His tongue invaded my mouth, the taste of him exploding on my tongue. Oh his taste, the acute, pure wondrous delight of feeling his tongue against mine.

  His arms wrapped round me, cradling me against his body as the kiss continued. The kiss became urgent, desperate, filled with want and need.

  His hands were everywhere, as his mouth didn’t leave mine for a second. He pulled at my clothes, sliding my pashmina off my shoulder. The feel of his skin against mine was electrifying.

  We fell back into the sand, Harry pinning me with his delicious weight. His kiss, his taste, his smell, the feel of his body against mine, it was a complete sensory overload. Kissing had never been like this before, this insatiable desperate need for more. An urgent frenzy of hands and mouths and lips.

  The fire cracked loudly and Harry snatched his mouth from mine in shock.

  ‘Sorry, God I’m so sorry. You’re drunk and I’m an ass for taking advantage of you like this.’

  ‘You’re drunk too, I could be taking advantage of you.’

  He smiled slightly, as he stared down at me, his moral conscience warring with need and desire. ‘I want you so much.’

  I reached up to hold his face, tracing my fingers over his lips. He kissed my thumb, closing his eyes, he softly kissed my palm and then the inside of my wrist, leaving his mouth there as he felt my pulse race against his lips. He opened his eyes and they were almost black with desire as he kissed me again.

  His hand gently pushed the strap off my shoulder, reverentially trailing kisses along my neck to my breast.
>
  Suddenly a flash went off, followed quickly by another.

  We both looked up in shock to see the Japanese man from the day before standing a few feet away taking our picture.

  ‘Crap,’ Harry hissed, moving his hand quickly over my breast to try to hide my modesty but the Japanese man took another picture of this too. ‘What the hell?’

  ‘Harry and Suzie, yes?’ the Japanese man said, smiling inanely as he fired off another shot. ‘One Hundred Proposals? She say yes?’

  Harry quickly got up and I grabbed my pashmina but the Japanese man was fast. As Harry moved towards him he sprinted off down the beach in a blur.

  I stared after him in horror because he was taking with him very personal, private photos.

  Harry stood torn for a moment between staying with me or chasing after the man, but in the end he chose me. He knelt by my side, wrapping the pashmina round my shoulders and then pulling me to my feet. He could hardly bear to look at me, his lips were thin with disgust.

  I found I was shaking. It was such a huge invasion of privacy, coupled with the desire and need that was quickly fading to be replaced by shame.

  Harry didn’t say anything as we walked up the beach – the worst thing was he didn’t even touch me or look at me. It was just a drunken fumble and one which he was now deeply regretting.

  We approached the bright lights of the hotel and he stopped me. By blocking my way, not by touching me as he would normally. ‘I’m sorry. That should never have happened.’

  I folded my arms across my chest ‘What? Some pervert taking our picture whilst you had your mouth on my breast or you drunkenly groping me on the beach?’

  He looked horrified and I instantly felt bad. ‘I’m sorry I kissed you, like that. And you seemed to be enjoying it as much as I was, so don’t make out that I forced myself on you.’

  ‘I was enjoying it until you looked at me as if kissing me made you physically sick. Then it kind of lost its shine a bit.’

  He stared at me then laughed. He moved his hands to my shoulders and leaned his forehead against mine. It was such a sweet gesture and almost all of my anger just faded away. ‘You really have no idea how much you mean to me. I was angry with myself for kissing you when we’re both too drunk to appreciate it properly.’