by James, Avery
“If you’d be so kind as to follow me,” the concierge said. “I will show you to your room. I think you’ll find it to your liking.”
When Maggie stepped into her room, she could barely believe what she saw. Her suite was enormous, and there were sets of doors with plantation shutters that led out to a balcony with sweeping beach and ocean views. Maggie stepped outside to take in the view. The salty ocean air washed over her, and she knew she was in paradise. She sat down on a lounge, closed her eyes and listed to the lull of the ocean lapping at the beach. Yeah, she could get used to this. She started to drift off to a state of relaxation, nodding off until her cell phone started buzzing. She looked at the screen. Abby was calling from the office.
“Hello?” she asked.
“Is it beautiful?” Abby asked. “Did you get the basket?”
“I got the basket,” Maggie said. “Was that your idea?”
“All Amy,” she said. “It’s part of her kinder, gentler workplace thing.”
“Even the rum?” Maggie asked.
“That one might have been me,” Abby said, “with a little input from Amy’s aunt. Don’t worry, Maggie, I got approval.”
“Do you really expect me to get drunk by myself?” Maggie asked.
“No, I expect you to find some handsome man and ply him with alcohol. Have you met anyone yet?”
Maggie sighed. “I’m here on business.”
“Not until Monday,” Abby said. “You’re on vacation for the next two days on Amy and Callie’s dime. And you didn’t answer my question.”
“You’re right, I didn’t,” Maggie said.
“Is there someone? There is!” Abby said. Maggie could hear the excitement growing in her voice. “Get some while you still can. Sunday evening, you corral Gavin Howard and bring him back. Monday morning, your ass belongs to your job.”
“We’ll see,” Maggie replied. “There was definitely something. Hey, while I have you, can you send through the non-Crayola-ed version of the file for me? You know, the one you were supposed to give me this morning.”
“Only if you promise to have fun tonight.”
“I promise,” Maggie said.
“I need photographic proof. Beach selfie, and you’ll get your file.”
“You’re crazy, you know that, right?”
“You’re in Key West at a hotel with a private beach, and you’re not on the beach, and I’m the one who’s crazy? What’s the temp there?”
“Eighty,” Maggie said.
“Beach selfie,” Abby said, “and I’ll send through the updated file to you tomorrow.”
“Fine,” Maggie said. “Thank you, by the way. For everything, I mean.”
“Thank me with a beach selfie. I want to tan vicariously through you,” Abby said.
“I’ll see what I can do. Though if you wanted me to go outside, you shouldn’t have upgraded me to this suite. I think it has its own zip code.”
“First-world problems,” Abby said. “Gotta run, though. Crisis on the Hill.”
“I wish I could be there to help,” Maggie said, but Abby was already gone. Maggie wondered what the scandal was. She loved the mad rush of creating a plan and setting it in motion, but now her plan was to do everything except rush. She headed inside and changed into her bathing suit. She pulled a sundress over it, gathered her phone and room key and headed down to the beach.
The beach was a long stretch of white sand that gently sloped up from the aquamarine water. There were lounges and umbrellas lined up in pairs along the curve of the beach, and Maggie chose the lounge farthest from anyone else. Almost all of the lounges were occupied or had been claimed with towels, but she found one that looked free. She looked it over for a moment to make sure it hadn’t been claimed, then slipped out of her sundress and snapped a quick picture of herself looking unimpressed in front of the ocean for Abby. As soon as the picture was sent, she put her phone away and turned her attention to the water.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone swimming in the ocean. Her family had vacationed on Cape Cod one summer, and the water had been so cold that she’d barely gotten in before she had to get out again. She had a feeling this would be different. She walked down to the water and let one of the small waves wash over her feet. The water was warm, almost as warm as the air, and she walked in until it was deep enough to slide beneath.
When she resurfaced, she let the warm sunlight wash over her. She relaxed her body and floated in the water, letting her concerns wash away with each lolling wave. Maybe she didn’t have everything figured out yet, but that was fine. Abby had been right. For the next two days, she was going to forget about work and enjoy herself. As she swam, the sun sank lower on the horizon and the sky started to take on the deep red of dusk. She felt the first rumblings of hunger in her stomach and realized it was probably well past dinnertime.
She got back out of the water and headed toward her lounge, except she couldn’t find it. It took her a moment to realize that her spot had been taken. Ring Tan and his mistress were sitting side by side and her phone and dress were on the table between them. Ring Tan was wearing a neon yellow Speedo. Maggie stood at a distance and considered just coming back for her stuff later, but she wouldn’t be able to get back into her room without the key.
“It’s quite the fashion statement, isn’t it? I’m thinking of asking where he got it,” someone said from behind her. Maggie spun around. It was Charming. He was in a much more tasteful bathing suit, and he looked even better without his shirt on.
Maggie tried to remember what she was doing, but her mind went blank as soon as she faced Charming. After a moment, it came back to her. “He took my seat,” she said.
“Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not sure you want it back,” he said. “I have some serious concerns about coverage with that bikini bottom he’s wearing.”
“My stuff is over there,” she said. “Phone, clothes, towel etc.”
Charming shrugged and headed over to the couple. They said something back and forth, and both men laughed. A moment later he was coming back with all of Maggie’s belongings. “He said you have an open invitation to join them if you’d like. I might have insinuated that you were here with me to keep him at bay. Instead of taking the hint, he invited both of us to join them. I politely declined.”
“Thank you for that,” Maggie said, trying to hide her horror at the idea of being propositioned like that.
“Walk this way with me,” he said. She walked with him a ways down the beach to another set of lounges, separated from the rest. “I’m about to head back, but you can have my spot if you’d like.” He handed her a towel. “I’m Harry, by the way. I think I saw you earlier today.”
“Maggie,” she said. “I’d hate to displace you just because someone took my seat. Seems a bit too chivalrous, anyway.”
“I’d rather be displaced by you than Speedo Guy any day,” he said. “And I was getting ready to head out anyway. I’m heading over to the bar in a bit,” he said. “I’ll be down the end. If you want to thank me, you can come over. Otherwise, I might end up spending the night talking about men’s fashion with Speedo Guy.” He laughed as he spoke.
“I think you two are a match made in heaven,” Maggie said.
“Hopefully I’ll see you over there, Maggie,” he replied. “Either way, it was a pleasure.”
Maggie sat down on the lounge and watched the sunset. Charming was totally into her. Normally, she’d have told herself to forget about him. She’d have found an excuse to go catch up on work or hit the gym, but she was here to enjoy herself and leave everything else behind.
One drink, she told herself. What’s the worst that could happen?
Chapter 3
The hotel’s bar on the beach was aptly named The Sand Bar. It anchored one end of the outdoor space, giving privacy to the beach that stretched out to the point in the distance. Maggie found Harry sitting at the end of the bar as promised. The sun was dipping below the horizon, and so
on it would be dark. There was music coming from somewhere, but Maggie couldn’t recognize it above the sound of conversation at the bar.
Harry was staring off across the water as she approached, and he didn’t seem to notice as she took a seat beside him. “Hey,” she said.
“Maggie,” he said. “How are you? What will you have to drink?”
“I have no idea,” she replied. “I’m usually a red wine kind of girl.”
“Not tonight,” he said. “They make daiquiris with fresh strawberries.” He nodded down the bar. “They seem to be pretty popular.”
“And yet you don’t have one,” she said. She looked at his drink for a second. It looked like a cross between tea and mud.
“Dark and stormy,” he said. “You want one?”
“Give me a minute to think it over,” she said. Her stomach was rumbling, and she caught a whiff of something delicious in the air. “I’m starving. Do they serve food out here?”
“Bar food mostly, but they have a raw bar. Oh, and they make a pretty good Cubano,” he said.
“What’s in a Cubano?” she asked.
“You’ve never had one?” he said. He seemed genuinely surprised. “Are you a vegetarian or something?”
“No, my mother used to say I was practically a carnivore.”
“Then you’ll love this sandwich,” Harry said. He motioned to the bartender. “Can we get two Cubanos and two mojitos?”
“Matching drinks?” she asked.
“Maybe they’re both for you,” he replied. “I have to give you some reason to stick around.”
“What are you having?” she asked.
“Besides a delightful conversation?” he asked. “One of the mojitos, now that this drink is gone.” He downed the last of his drink and pushed the glass forward. He tapped his hands on the bar as they waited for the drinks. “So what brings you to Key West?”
“Part work, part pleasure,” she said. “I have the weekend to myself, and then I have to…” She trailed off. She had ruined more than one date by talking about her job and only her job. Even though this wasn’t a date, she didn’t want to talk about work. “You know what, I promised myself I wouldn’t think or talk about work for the next two days.”
“A wise choice,” he said. “Let’s change topics, then.” He looked around the bar. He grinned. “Speedos, yes or no?”
“I’ll have to go with no on that one unless you’re a competitive swimmer.”
“I’m competitive at pretty much everything,” Harry said.
“Very funny,” Maggie replied.
“So no talking about work?” he asked. Maggie nodded. “And if I mention Speedos again, you’ll probably leave and never come back.”
“You’re a fast learner,” she said. “We could always talk about the weather.”
“Aside from hurricanes, I don’t think they have weather here, just different degrees of balmy. Politics?”
“A real mood killer.”
“Current events?” he said.
“Even worse,” she told him as the drinks arrived. She was enjoying this back and forth. Usually, she lost interest in guys as soon as they opened their mouths, but Harry was fun, and she needed fun.
“Very old events?” he asked. “We could talk about the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. Or is that too recent? How about when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon?”
Maggie raised the glass in a mock toast and took a long sip. The drink was cold and refreshing, and it sent a shiver down her spine.
“Or, what if we skip small talk altogether and get to the good stuff?” he said.
“I like that idea,” she said. “I think every first date I’ve ever been on has been entirely small talk. People are afraid to say what they really believe, because they want other people to like them.”
“So this is a first date?” he said, he raised a brow.
“That’s not what I meant. This isn’t a first date, but maybe that’s a good thing. I haven’t been on any dates, first or otherwise, in forever.”
“I have a hard time believing that someone as beautiful as you would have any trouble finding a hundred guys to fight over you.” Maggie stared down at her drink. She wasn’t used to being so openly admired. Harry continued, “By the way, I agree with you about saying what you believe.”
“My work gets in the way,” she started. She caught herself before talking about the high standards and incredible stress of her job. “But I’m not going to talk about that,” she added, taking another sip.
“For what it’s worth, the best first dates are the ones you don’t plan,” he said.
“So this is a regular thing for you,” she teased. “Picking up women on the beach.”
“This is the first time it’s actually worked, though. Usually I lose them to Speedo Guy.”
She took another sip of her drink. Before she knew it, the drinks were almost gone and Harry was ordering another round. “You’ll want to wash the food down with a beer.”
The food arrived with the beer. Maggie’s mouth started watering the moment she smelled it.
“Since this isn’t a date, I’m not going to worry what you think when I eat this entire sandwich in thirty seconds.”
“Just wait until you taste it,” he said.
Maggie took a bite and let out a little sigh of delight as she chewed. The sandwich was incredible. It was so good that it made her want to swear after every bite. She didn’t look back up until she was done. When she did finish, she realized Harry was only halfway through his Cubano. For a moment, she considered reaching over and taking a bite of his sandwich, too.
“How have I gone my whole life without ever having one of these?” she asked.
“Until you’ve had one in Havana, you still haven’t,” he said.
“You’ve been to Cuba?” she asked.
“A few times,” he said. “I’ll have to bring you sometime.”
“Travel ban be damned?” she asked.
“They’re lifting it. You should see it before they open the gates and it floods with tourists.”
“I won’t have another vacation for years,” she said. She caught herself before she said more. “Sorry, I know, no work talk.”
“For what it’s worth, that was an impressive display of eating. Another dating pet peeve: when women get a salad and take two bites because they’re afraid of food.”
“In fairness, I think I only took two bites,” Maggie said. “They just happened to be very large bites.” She smiled as she tipped back her beer bottle and drank. This was already the best non-date she’d been on in a long time.
“Not bad, right?” Harry asked.
“Not bad at all,” she said.
Harry leaned toward her and rested his chin on his hand, looking at her while she took another sip. “Would you like to go for a walk?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said. She was a little buzzed and enjoying herself much more than she had anticipated. Charming was living up to his name. She placed the beer down on the bar and kicked off her sandals, picking them up as she started her way across the sand. She turned back after a moment. “Are you coming?”
Harry came scrambling after her. “I didn’t mean this second,” he said.
“So what was the good stuff you were talking about?” she replied.
“Oh, you know, hopes and dreams, deep dark secrets. Let’s start easy—where are you from?”
“Chicago, originally. Well, half an hour outside Chicago. I live in D.C. now. You?”
“Connecticut, Virginia for a while, but I was a boarding school brat.”
“Ah, boarding school,” Maggie said, “that explains your superficial charm.”
“Come on,” Harry said, “I’ll have you know that much more of me is superficial. I don’t want to give some illusion of depth.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and Maggie leaned into him a little bit. She wondered if he was going to kiss her. The tension had been building between them since she’d taken him up on his off
er to get a drink.
“Family?” she asked. She bit her lower lip and looked at him.
“No, thank you,” he replied. “Only child. Distant father.”
“Overprotective parents, two sisters,” Maggie said. She ran a hand through her hair.
“And here I was thinking you’d floated into my life out of the sea foam.”
Is he comparing me to Venus? she wondered. “On a big seashell?” Maggie asked. “Unfortunately, no.”
“Let’s agree to disagree,” he said. He was grinning and stealing glances at her as they walked farther down the beach. Everything about this felt so easy and natural to Maggie.
“Any deeply held beliefs?” Maggie asked.
“Aside from your potential divinity?” he said. “I believe in moments, and this is a particularly nice moment.” The air was cooling off in the darkness, but the warmth of Harry’s arm around her felt just right. “It makes more sense for me to live in the moment instead of thinking too far ahead. Tell me something you want to tell people but can’t.”
“Like not to wear Speedos?” she said, eliciting a snort of laughter from Harry. She thought about his question for a second. “I’m afraid I’m going to waste the next decade of my life, that I have my priorities all mixed up and that I’m going to end up alone. I’m afraid that I’ll play it safe and never take a chance on a life that can be something more.” She stopped talking and realized that was a bit more than she wanted to share, even with a stranger.
“What do you want in life?” he asked.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” she replied. “I want to be part of something that matters. I want to be happy, and I want to be able to get out of my head every now and then.”
“Like right now?” he said.
“Yeah, like right now,” she said. “I’m sorry, that was dumb. Let’s go back to flirting.”
“Not at all. What if I told you I’m afraid of the exact same thing?”
“You’re afraid that I’ll waste my life?” she said.