Resorting to Romance

by Franky A Brown

  Chapter Two

  Joselyn made her way outside with her hair twisted up into a messy bun and her darkest sunglasses on to hide her red eyes. She couldn’t believe she was crying again. Samantha certainly opened up the floodgates. There was something to be said for bottling up one’s emotions for an extended period of time. No swollen, bloodshot eyes from so much crying.

  Okay, so that was the only good thing about it. She’d thrown herself into her work so hard it was almost as if she’d lost herself. She’d tried to block out the memory of a certain someone. It worked pretty well for the past six months. Until her sister got her talking about it. Really talking about it, no holding back…and crazy ugly crying after refusing to deal with the emotions for a long time. It was like a dam broke. Yet, somehow, here she was in an absolutely beautiful resort in Florida, thinking about him again at the sight of a wedding.

  How stupid was this? This was an amazing location for a wedding. Who wouldn’t want to get married here?

  She inhaled deeply, savoring the saltwater breeze. There were two large pools out the back entrance, and a path between them leading to the steps and wooden deck over the sand dunes and out to the beach. The lazy river beyond the pool to her right wound around palm trees and more decorative plants, then traveled inside the hotel. The guests floating around in the large yellow inner tubes looked so relaxed. She made a mental note to try it next. First, she needed to get down to the beach and find the lifeguard with her kayak reservation. Unsure what to wear, she’d gone with a cute sundress over her bathing suit. She was well lathered with sunblock and ready for this.

  She marched up the wooden steps and walked over the tall grass and sea oats growing out of the white sand dune below. The view of the ocean was spectacular. Too long had she refused to take a vacation. Perhaps if Victoria continued to be dissatisfied with her performance, she should look into selling beachside real estate. She crossed the deck and went down the steps on the other side. As soon as her flip-flops reached the bottom, she slipped them off and wriggled her toes through the warm sand. The fantasy of moving to the beach and forgetting about Victoria brought a smile to her lips as she watched seagulls wandering around near the water’s edge.

  Not far, a lifeguard stood below a wooden chair tower next to a lone kayak. She stopped and bit her lip. The lifeguard was talking to a certain realtor she’d hoped to avoid for at least the rest of today.

  Why couldn’t she catch a break?

  “Josie, hey.” Luke waved at her with a bright grin on his face. His eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses.

  She clenched her teeth together and forced a smile as she struggled with what to say.

  Fortunately, the young man wearing a whistle and holding a clipboard spoke first. “Are you my two o’clock?”

  “Yes. Joselyn Bell.”

  “You’re the one who requested a partner?” Luke asked, adjusting his sunglasses. “This’ll be fun.”

  Joselyn lifted her chin. “I don’t really need a partner. I’ll be fine on my own.”

  “Sorry, ma’am.” The lifeguard pointed to the single yellow kayak on the sand below. “This is the last one, and I have the two of you scheduled for it right now.”

  Luke watched Josie’s lips twitch at the thought of being alone with him on a kayak. It was painful for him to see how much she couldn’t stand him. Josie seemed to want to write him off as the boss’s pet and not bother to get to know him.

  “When does your next kayak become available?” Josie lifted two fingers to rub her temple.

  Luke folded his arms and breathed out slowly. “That’s okay. You can have the kayak, Josie.”

  The lifeguard handed her the paddle and then she passed it to Luke. “Oh, no, no, you can take it.”

  “No, really, you can have it.” Luke tried to hand the paddle back to her but she held her hands up to refuse.

  “I insist, you can take it.” She shrugged. “I don’t know anything about kayaking anyway.”

  The lifeguard cleared his throat. “We do recommend the guests go in pairs for safety reasons.”

  The pout on her lips was adorable. Luke sighed. She’d hate him even more if they both walked away now. They’d both miss the chance to go. “Come on, I’ve done this a few times. Let’s just go out, and I’ll paddle you around while you sightsee. You don’t even have to talk to me.”

  Luke took hold of the front handle of the kayak and began to drag it toward the sea. The less talking they did, the better.

  Josie followed him. “Why would you want to do that?”

  Luke glanced back at the lifeguard, who’d already put his clipboard down and had his phone out while popping bubblegum into his mouth. This guy wasn’t going to be immediately alert to any situations out on the water.

  “Everyone should get to go kayaking. I don’t want you to miss out. It’s safer to go with someone like the lifeguard said.”

  “Is it really dangerous to go alone?” Josie blinked. “Really? It’s probably out of an overabundance of caution.”

  “It really could be dangerous to go on your own. For starters, you have to pay attention to what you’re doing.”

  “Are you saying you don’t think I’d pay attention?”

  “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be insensitive here.” Luke turned to face her and raised a hand. “But I did stop you from walking into traffic one day when you were checking your email, talking on the phone, and talking to me at the same time.”

  Her mouth dropped. “For the record, I wasn’t talking to you; I believe I was blowing you off.”

  “Yeah, and you were definitely not watching for cars…”

  “I am grateful, and I believe I did thank you for stopping me from walking into traffic, but I can’t believe you are bringing that up.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing. You suck at it.”

  Luke pulled one of the life jackets from the boat and handed it to her. “Will you please go kayaking with me?”

  Josie paused, then grumbled under her breath as she put on the life jacket. “Answer one question for me.”

  “I’ll answer any questions you like if you go out with me.” Luke gulped, realizing what he’d said as Josie’s eyes went wide. “In the kayak. If you go out with me in this thing right here.”

  He absolutely wanted no misunderstanding about this. No way was he asking her out.

  “Oh, of course, I know what you meant.”

  She actually blushed for a brief moment, and it surprised him. The color in her cheeks brought out her gray eyes, and his heart skipped. He turned away, wondering what that was about. Luke helped her into the kayak and pushed it out into the waves. When they were in the water up to his knees, he hopped in the seat in front of her and started to paddle.

  At least they wouldn’t be facing each other if things got ugly.

  Seagulls squawked as they flew overhead in the clear blue sky. The ocean was calm and gently rocked them back and forth as they paddled out to deeper water.

  “There’s one thing I really want to know,” Josie began as he moved the paddle through the water, propelling them forward.

  “Shoot.”

  “Why do you always call me Josie?”

  That surprised him. For one thing, he thought she would ask what his problem was. “You don’t like it when I apologize, so I’m not sure what to say. I tend to be a teaser.”

  “Really? Huh?” Her tone was not the least bit convincing.

  “I didn’t realize you didn’t like it. I certainly regret any hurt feelings…”

  “It didn’t hurt my feelings. It’s not a big deal. I just didn’t know why. Everyone else calls me Joselyn. I’ve never introduced myself as Josie.”

  “I thought it fit you. I knew a girl named Jocelyn with a c when I was growing up and she went by Josie.”

  “An old girlfriend?”

  “No.” He shook his head. “A neighbor kid.”

  “I kind of like it,” she admitted. “But still, yo
u should have asked me about it first.”

  “Of course, yes…”

  “You’re far too goofy at the office sometimes. Who can keep up?”

  “We can’t all be as serious and…shall we say, dedicated, as you. Pardon me for saying, but you do tend to overwork yourself.”

  “Not all of us have it as easy as you do.”

  “I have it easy, huh?” He shook his head. Josie didn’t elaborate. “I’m good at what I do, but it’s far from easy. You know as well as I do how much work it is.”

  He breathed in deeply and let it out slowly. He connected with most people right away. But not Josie. She let people see her stress. Homebuyers wanted someone confident and relaxed.

  Didn’t she have anything to say? Had she even heard him?

  “Josie? You okay back there?” He peered over his shoulder at her and saw her squinting at something out in the water.

  She pointed to their right. “Is that a shark?”

  Luke saw the triangular fin coming toward them. “Uh-oh.”

  Chapter Three

  Joselyn gasped. She’d never been this close to a shark outside of an aquarium. It was fascinating to see it in the wild. Its sleek gray body glided through the green water with ease. “Wow, what kind of shark do you think it is? It could be six or seven feet long.”

  Luke froze with the paddle in his hand, then glanced back at her in shock. “Are you kidding me? It’s huge. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  He splashed the paddle into the water and moved at a frantic pace.

  “No! Don’t! It’s going to think we’re an injured seal or something.”

  He paused his mad paddling and looked back at her with a white face. “We’re just supposed to sit here?”

  “It will probably lose interest and swim away.”

  “What are you? A shark expert?”

  “I’ve seen some episodes of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. I’m hardly an expert, or I’d know what kind of shark it is. I do know the worst thing you can do is panic and splash around like drowning prey.”

  “I doubt it. Pushing you overboard would be the worst thing I could do right now.”

  “You’re panicking. You would never do that.” She certainly thought he wouldn’t at least. She tried to remember if the shark specials had mentioned anything about encounters with kayaks. The only thing that stuck out in her mind was the need to not appear to be a wounded animal.

  The shark began to circle the kayak, and Josie’s heart rate sped up. This wasn’t a good situation to be in, but with Luke straight up panicking in front of her, someone had to remain calm.

  “Maybe if we stay put, it will lose interest. You know, when it realizes we aren’t a seal.”

  “Are there seals around here?”

  “I don’t know.”

  It circled a few more times. Swimmers in the distance were heading back to the shore. There might be more than one shark.

  “This kayak isn’t very high off the surface. It could jump in or take a bite out of the side.” Luke sat with rigid muscles. “I saw this video online where a shark attacked a canoe. Crashed right into it.”

  “Well, if it was online, it must be absolutely true.”

  “You’re hilarious.” He glanced back at her again with a smirk.

  “I don’t believe sharks normally behave like that. Don’t panic. We’re fine as long as we stay in the kayak.”

  “How do you know?”

  She didn’t. The shark continued to circle them ominously.

  Joselyn couldn’t resist teasing him a little and humming the Jaws theme music.

  “That is sooo not funny.” He growled.

  She stopped. “I was trying to lighten the mood.”

  “We have to get out of here. It’s circling us like its prey.” He held up the paddle, then didn’t move.

  “Give me the paddle.” She leaned over into his back and tried to snatch the paddle.

  “You don’t know how to paddle it.”

  “It’s not rocket science. I’ve been sitting behind you this whole time watching. Hand it over.”

  He was still frozen, and she took hold of it. The movement rocked the kayak a little, and Luke yelped. “Get back in your seat. Do you want to tip us over?”

  She settled back into her seat with her heart in her throat. “It’s just a fish, Luke.” She hoped her voice didn’t reveal her anxiety. “We’re fine.”

  “A fish with plenty of teeth, that’s all.”

  “It’s not going to climb into the kayak with us.” She pulled the paddle smoothly through the water, trying to take it slow and easy, when the shark charged the paddle and took hold of it in its teeth.

  Josie squealed, instinctively wanting to drop the paddle, but she held on.

  “What is it?” Luke whipped his head around in time to see the shark release it.

  “It bit the paddle.” Her voice was shaking and so were her hands. Nausea nearly overcame her.

  “We’re in trouble.” Luke took hold of the paddle, surveyed the teeth marks on the end, then passed it back.

  The shark reappeared, charging into the kayak and bumping into the side, sending the kayak tilting a little too far. Joselyn and Luke both screamed and threw their weight the best they could to the other side to keep the kayak from tipping over.

  “We’re too far from the beach.” In only a sundress over her bathing suit with bare feet, the fear of falling in the water unprotected was real. Josie was breathing too quickly. “Do you have your phone with you? It might be a good time to see if it works.”

  “Who do you call about a shark attack that could reach us before this thing finishes us?”

  Josie pulled the paddle through the water slowly, trying to make smooth motions that hopefully wouldn’t be perceived as a frantic animal.

  “See if you can search what to do when you encounter a shark in a kayak.”

  Luke’s thumbs tapped away on the screen. “I don’t have a signal.”

  “Keep trying.”

  The shark circled them again. “Wait, I’ve got a weak signal now.” Luke spoke as he typed the words. “What to do when you see a shark in a kayak.”

  “The shark is hardly in the kayak.”

  Luke ignored her and waited for the screen to load. “It’s going slow.”

  “Oh, come on, signal,” Josie said, exasperated.

  “It’s coming up.” Luke squinted to read the screen in the bright sun. “It says: do not panic. The shark is likely attracted by something you are doing.” He held out his hands and watched the shark making another circle around them. “What were we doing?”

  “Maybe it was your paddling.”

  He shook his head. “There was nothing wounded seal–like about my paddling, thank you.”

  “What else does it say?”

  “It says, if you were fishing and have a bait bucket, let the shark have it.”

  “Okay, what else?”

  “It says to stay in the kayak. No kidding.” Luke threw up his hands. “How is this helping?”

  “Just keep reading.”

  “Slowly make your way toward shore…oh, here it says if the shark becomes aggressive, bump it on the nose with the paddle to let it know you have a weapon. Sharks want an easy prey.”

  Joselyn tried again to paddle toward the shore. The shark still circled, then turned and headed for them again. “Here it comes.”

  Holding her breath, she held out the paddle and bumped its nose. “I hit it!”

  The kayak rocked again. “Whoa.” They both held on to the sides until the boat steadied.

  “Where did it go?” Luke surveyed the water, but Joselyn kept her eyes toward the beach, pulling long strokes through the waves on each side of the kayak.

  “I don’t know, but I bumped his nose. Hopefully, it was his nose and I didn’t hurt him.”

  “It’s trying to eat us, Josie.”

  “He’s not going to. He either swam away or he’s crazy angry and coming back for more.
” She picked up the pace of her paddling but tried not to splash much in the process. “We are getting out of here no matter what.”

  She wasn’t sure if she was breathing as the shore came closer and closer. No swimmers were in the water, and Joselyn didn’t feel safe getting out of the kayak till it was grounded on the sand in the tiny waves.

  Luke jumped out first and pulled her in the kayak onto the dry sand.

  It was then she inhaled deeply and her tight muscles melted.

  Luke held out a hand to her, and she struggled to grip it firmly enough, so he took her by the arm to pull her up.

  “Wow, Josie. You are really good in an emergency.”

  “Thanks.” Her knees gave out when she stood, and she fell into his chest. He held her against him and her heart did flips. Their life jackets pressed together formed a good barrier, but the scent of his cologne was tantalizing as she gripped his firm biceps.

  “Are you okay?”

  She stepped back from him. “Yeah.”

  Nope. No way was she okay. In fact, she was rattled enough by their shark encounter that her hormones were out of whack. Must be the adrenaline rush.

  Chapter Four

  Luke dragged the kayak back across the beach. The lifeguard still mindlessly smacked his gum and scrolled up with his finger on his phone.

  “Hey.” The young man put it down and grabbed up his clipboard. “You two have a good time?”

  “No, we did not,” Luke snapped. “There is a very aggressive shark out there. See this?” He pulled the paddle from the boat and held it up for inspection, pointing to the scarred end. “See the teeth marks?”

  “Better the paddle than you, huh?” He made a note on the clipboard. “That’ll be an extra charge for the damages.”

  Luke’s fist tightened around the paddle. “Excuse me? How is it our fault if we were attacked by a man-eating shark?”

  “It wasn’t a man-eating shark.” Josie rolled her eyes as she tossed her life jacket into the kayak. “But yes, I agree, there is no way we are paying extra for a shark encounter. In fact, we should be asking you for a refund.”