“Exactly. It is none of my business. Which is why I don’t ask you questions like that. Although from the looks of it, the idea seems to intrigue you.” A sliver of a smile slipped across Roman’s face, but his eyes stayed serious as they held hers.
“I… well, I mean, of course it intrigues me,” Avery sputtered. “What woman doesn’t like hours of pleasure visited upon her body? You’d be crazy to think someone wouldn’t find that appealing.”
Roman laughed, and Avery found herself smirking up at him. He had a remarkable ability to go from annoying to charming in seconds.
“How’s Cherylynn?” Roman asked, neatly changing the subject – and also not answering her question, Avery realized.
“Not happy. She’ll be fine, but she doesn’t want to be the first to go.”
“I don’t blame her. Being the first always has a sting to it. Are you going to vote to have her stay?”
“That’s the plan. I need to go talk to the other women and see what the deal is.” Avery looked over to the couches, where many of the women had gathered. Plates and cups of coffee were littered about, and the conversation looked to be growing heated.
“Good luck,” Roman said. Stepping back, he did his best to fade into the corner, reminding Avery that they were indeed still being filmed. Shaking her hair back, she did her best not to look at the cameras and went to join the other women.
“I think Delia should definitely go. She hasn’t been friendly with anyone,” Lisette said, stretching a tanned leg in front of her. She seemed to have more interest in examining her pedicure than in the fate of the woman she was discussing.
“Hi.” Avery dropped down next to her and nodded to the other women. None of the eliminated women were around, but Avery wondered if they were hovering in the stairwell above, listening as their future was decided. “How does this work exactly? Will we all vote together? Or do we all put ballots in? Do we have to decide in advance?”
“There’ll be a dramatic ceremony tonight, and we’ll all cast a ballot on who should stay,” Lisette supplied. “They’ll count them and one person can stay.”
“How does everyone currently feel?” Avery asked carefully.
“Everyone’s torn. There’s no real way to choose who stays.” Lisette was now examining her hair and frowning slightly at what must be a split end.
“Well, I think there is. It doesn’t necessarily have to only be based on who is friends with whom. But what about the person who’s been the kindest? Or someone you feel you can trust? I mean… I heard there was a fight last night. What happened there?”
“That was with Mindy,” Lisette said, and the other girls began to nod in agreement.
“I heard it didn’t go so well,” Avery said, choosing her words carefully.
“It didn’t. Mindy was awful,” one of the women said, and the others all were quick to agree.
“Plus she fought with Cherylynn today too,” Lisette said, then began telling the group how bitchy Mindy had been during sandcastle building.
One down, Avery thought. She let the others talk about the two other women. She hadn’t had much time with them, so she couldn’t offer an opinion one way or the other, and she wanted to let things go naturally so it didn’t seem like she was scheming.
“Avery, you’re rooming with Cherylynn. What are your thoughts on her?”
“Honestly, she’s been really helpful to me,” Avery admitted, looking around at the other women, an earnest expression on her face. “I’ve felt a bit out of my comfort zone here – this is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this. She’s been really good at making sure we have fun and enjoy this experience to the fullest. Because, let’s be honest here, ladies, how often do we get to do something like this in a beautiful place like Siren Island? Cherylynn has really helped me to appreciate where we are, and to take each moment as something really special.”
“It is special,” Lisette agreed. “I’ve done a couple of these shows, but this is by far the prettiest location, and with the best bunch of girls I could ask for.”
A few women sniffled and Avery blinked in shock as, one after another, they began to cry, pulling each other into hugs and talking about how grateful they were for each other and this moment in time they’d been gifted. The cameras circled, eating it up, while Avery looked on in confusion. Were they really at the tears-and-hugging-each-other point already?
“Should I start singing ‘Kumbaya’?” Avery asked and laughter broke out from the group.
“We like you, Avery,” Lisette deciding, slinging an arm over her shoulder. “I might even help you get onto Instagram. I’ll design your profile for you. It’ll be great.”
“Great…” Avery said, panicking a bit.
“I promise. You’ll love it.”
“Too bad we don’t have our phones,” Avery said, hoping to drop the subject.
“That’s fine, I’ll set it up at the end. I’ll Skype with you and we’ll figure it out. I don’t mind taking people under my wing.”
Avery wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to be taken under Lisette’s wing, but in the interest of playing nice and making friends, she half-heartedly agreed. Figuring she’d done what she could to blow the winds of favor in Cherylynn’s direction without creating too much controversy, Avery went to forage for snacks to bring up to the room for Cherylynn.
“You played that nicely,” Roman commented from his new perch on the kitchen counter. Avery jumped – she had been so focused on the snack basket in front of her that she hadn’t seen him.
“I didn’t ‘play’ anything. I just don’t want Cherylynn to leave.”
“From the outside, it looks like you neatly maneuvered everyone to where you wanted them to be.”
“I’ve worked in project management for years. There’s a knack to getting people to agree on something. Mainly, you have to let them think it was their own idea. I didn’t do anything wrong, I was just laying out some of the facts.”
“I know. I didn’t say you did anything wrong.” Roman watched her carefully as she nibbled her lower lip, feeling the need to defend herself.
“I don’t think helping people make an informed decision is doing anything bad,” Avery mumbled, digging through the basket and pulling out some granola bars and a few packets of chips.
“It isn’t bad. I admire how your brain works. You must be good at your job,” Roman said, almost too smoothly.
Avery stopped to look up at him. “And now you’re maneuvering me.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
He held up his hands in the air. “Hey now, it’s not my first rodeo having an argument with a woman. I find it’s best to smooth any ruffled feathers I can.”
“I’m not… my feathers aren’t ruffled,” Avery exclaimed, shaking her head at him. “Well, maybe they’re getting ruffled, now that you’ve said that. God, didn’t we talk about you working on being an asshole?”
“How was anything I said being an asshole?” Roman crossed his arms over his chest and studied her.
“You’re just… ugh, I don’t know.” Avery wanted to smack the counter, but her hands were full of snacks. “It’s not that you’re outright being an asshole right now. It’s just – little comments that come across as condescending. Like you have to just walk around placating women all the time because we’re some sort of irrational beasts that’ll fly off the handle at any given moment.” It didn’t help her point that her voice was rising or the fact that her face was flushed. Realizing she might sound a bit hypocritical, Avery took a deep breath.
“I –” Roman began.
“Listen, I’m just sensitive to the whole ‘there there’ mentality that a lot of men adopt. I’m in a fairly male-dominated field and it puts my back up when people act like women are these fragile beings incapable of handling ourselves or our projects. This isn’t all you; it’s something I deal with constantly on the job site.”
“That’s fair. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t lump you in with a lot of the women I come across either. From what I
can gather you’re highly intelligent, seem competent, and I enjoy speaking to you. Unlike many of the women here. I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t bait you. It must be an instinctive thing from back on the days of the playground – you know, boys needling the girls they…” Roman trailed off.
Both of Avery’s eyebrows shot clear to her hairline when she realized what he had almost said. “The girls they what?” she asked sweetly, enjoying the flash of emotions that rushed over his face.
“They think are cool,” Roman finished quickly. He hopped off the counter, saying, “I have to check the production tapes from this morning.”
Without another word, he strode off, leaving Avery with an armful of snacks and a brain whirling with questions.
Chapter 14
“Ladies, please cast your votes.”
Roman watched as his cameramen circled the room, carefully filming each woman’s facial expressions, zooming in over their shoulders to see what name they were writing on the slips of paper they’d been handed. His crew worked together efficiently, and barely needed direction from him. They’d already done a few rounds of filming these types of shows with him, and knew what the money shots were.
In spite of his best efforts to not look over at Avery, Roman found his eyes drifting to where she sat, nibbling her lower lip, a worried expression in her huge eyes. He wondered if she had any idea that she bit her lower lip when she was worried, or just how intoxicating her eyes became when she was working out a problem in that fascinating brain of hers. No wonder she’d come across a lot of opposition in her field of work. Roman could only imagine how difficult it would be to sit across the desk from a woman like her and stay focused on the task at hand. He could hardly manage it now, and he was barely in the same room as her.
He’d stay just long enough to see her smile, Roman decided, then slip away for a breather. These shoots were non-stop and if he didn’t take some time to himself, he’d burn out before the show was over. It wasn’t that he minded working long hours – it was that he had a hard time being around people talking incessantly for hours on end. It was part of what had driven him to explore the wilds of so many different countries. Not only was he determined to bring about real and actionable change with his documentaries, but he also loved the peace that nature brought to his soul.
Avery glowed in the candlelight, Roman thought, his eyes drawn helplessly back to where she sat, her hand clasped in Cherylynn’s. Tonight she wore a dusky green slip dress, her hair bound back in a loose braid with curls popping loose, and simple swingy gold earrings. Perhaps it was because she tried less that she stood out more, Roman mused as he scanned the rest of the women, who were done up in all the flash and glitz they could find. In theory, a woman like Lisette would be considered traditionally more beautiful than Avery, with her model-like build, stunning face, and long sweep of artfully tousled hair. But the substance was missing, and that was what kept drawing Roman back to Avery. There was something about her that made him want to peel back the next layer and see what made her tick.
A smile flashed across her face like a flash of lightning illuminating a dark beach, and Roman lost his breath for a moment. Then the women were hugging, and Roman knew that Avery had won her quest to keep Cherylynn on the show.
For now.
Easing back onto the deck, Roman turned and followed the walkway past the swaying palm trees to find the beach. He needed to connect with the earth and get his head on straight, he thought. He kicked his sandals off and wandered down the beach, each step pressing thickly into damp sand at the water’s edge. Only when he was far enough away from the villa did he finally stop. Finding a clump of boulders to sit on, he leaned back to look up at the night sky.
A cooling rush of calm pushed through him as he breathed deeply, focusing on the stars, and allowed himself to find his center once more.
He’d promised his mother on the phone earlier that he was fine, but now he wondered if he really was. She worried, he knew, that he wandered too far and too long, and would never settle down. But settling down for him was akin to death, and he’d yet to find a woman who wanted the same things he did. His past relationships had proven that, Roman thought. He crossed his arms over his chest, blowing out a breath, and kicked his toes in the water. Each of his girlfriends had enjoyed the traveling lifestyle for a while. But eventually they had all craved the same thing – a house, a routine, and a family. Nothing wrong with that, but it wasn’t for him.
A song whispered across the waves, an invitation, and Roman had hopped off his perch and was half in the water before he realized what he was doing. He stopped and held his breath as a hauntingly beautiful voice slipped across the water. The notes slid through him, tendrils of lust and longing entwining themselves around his heart until tears pricked his eyes. In that moment, he would have given his life just so the song would never end. When it cut short, it was like a knife sliced through him and an ache filled the space where the music had been. Swiping at his eyes, he stared out to sea as the water rushed around his waist.
“Going for a swim?”
Roman turned to see Irma standing on the sand, seemingly illuminated from within; her white dress glowed around her and her hair danced in the breeze. Bracelets jingled at her wrists as she motioned for him to come back from the depths. Heart pounding, Roman turned to look back out over the water, before shaking his head and forcing himself to walk back toward the beach. Each step felt like quicksand and he wanted nothing more than to dive back into the water and swim until he found the ethereal and haunting voice that had beckoned to him from across the sea.
“I… I’m not sure what I’m doing,” Roman admitted when he finally stood in front of Irma, saltwater dripping from his legs. Reaching up, Irma put a hand to his chest and a cool rush of calmness zipped through him, so strong that he had to acknowledge that she’d just done something to him.
But what was that something?
“You heard them,” Irma said, starlight glinting from her eyes.
“I… I felt like I was entranced,” Roman said. “I was half in the water before the song was finished.”
“Didn’t you make a rule about nobody going in the water after dark?” Irma teased. She took his hand, gently easing him back to the boulder where he’d just been sitting.
“I did. I had. I don’t know,” Roman said, shaking his head as if to clear the last dredges of the intoxicating song from his mind, but he knew the notes would be forever emblazoned on his soul. “What… what was that?”
“The sirens,” Irma said, tilting her head to study his response.
“The… sirens. Right. Siren Island, I get it,” Roman almost chuckled, but then thought better of it. He’d been trained to be open-minded, and to explore the unknown. While this was certainly unknown territory, he wasn’t just going to dismiss Irma as being silly. He’d traveled the world enough to know that there were many things that defied explanation. This could be one of them.
“Do you though?” Irma asked.
“Do I what?”
“Get it, as you say.” A smile slipped across Irma’s face and Roman found himself once again admiring her almost otherworldly beauty.
“Well, this is named Siren Island. I suppose it would make sense if there were sirens to be found here.”
“But do you actually believe in things like sirens and mermaids? Or do you think they are nothing but tall tales told on sailing ships after one too many rounds of rum?”
“I honestly can say that I’ve never given the existence of sirens or mermaids much thought before,” Roman said, figuring it was a fair enough answer. He wasn’t one to dismiss something just because he hadn’t seen proof of it one way or the other.
“You’re open to the possibility then?”
“Considering the depths of the ocean and the unknowns of this universe, yes, I’m open to the possibility that sirens are real,” Roman said, wiping a hand over his face.
“That’s fair-minded of you,” Irma decided, nud
ging his arm a little with her own. “I like a man who doesn’t immediately dismiss things he doesn’t totally understand.”
“I like to seek answers. I’m an explorer and an adventurer. I don’t know what it was that I just heard, but it was possibly the most intoxicatingly beautiful song I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. I don’t honestly know that I’ll ever be the same.” Roman pressed a hand to his chest and took a deep breath, feeling the remnants of the music still embedded in him. “What did you do to me just now?”
“What did you feel?” Irma asked, her eyes bright and curious as she looked up at him.
“It felt like you sent cool water through me and calmed my nerves.”
“Ah, interesting. You are open. I wondered,” Irma said.
Roman just stared blankly at her. “You gotta give me more here, Irma,” he finally said.
She laughed, the sound like a tinkling of bells dancing across the waves. “Open to energies, that’s all. I just gave you a little healing energy. You looked a bit shell-shocked, standing fully clothed in the water. I was almost convinced you were going to swim out to follow their song.”
“I almost did. And you keep saying ‘their.’ What do you know about these sirens? Obviously there’s something more to the story if you can hear them, and you seem to know about them. I know I didn’t just dream that, and I haven’t had a drop of alcohol tonight. Unless someone slipped some drugs in my drink, I’m absolutely sober and completely aware that I just had some sort of otherworldly experience.”
“I’m assuming you’ve read the history of Siren Island? You know about the young couple in love and the heartbreak because two worlds kept them apart?”
“I did read the stories, yes. I always read up on where I’m going to visit,” Roman said. “But I’ll admit I thought they were just fables. You know, myths interwoven with history through the ages.”
“Why did you assume that they were just myths?”
“Because mermaids aren’t real,” Roman said automatically.
“Aren’t they?” Irma asked, her eyes on his.
A Good Chance (The Siren Island Series Book 3) Page 8