Wet: Part 2

by Rivera, S. Jackson

  “Paul!”

  “Hmm?” She wasn’t convinced he grasped how she really wanted his attention.

  “I don’t want to order delivery. I’m going home to make us something to eat.”

  “If I don’t get this fixed by Sunday, we’re screwed.” He obviously hadn’t heard her.

  “I’ll be fine. I’ll hurry. Don’t worry about me, okay?” He didn’t respond. Entrenched in the problem, he wasn’t about to slip out of mechanic mode anytime soon. “Okay, I’m leaving, but I’ll be right back.”

  Still nothing, and she didn’t want to press her luck. She stood and pulled her shorts from her backpack and slipped them on over her swimming suit bottoms, but didn’t bother to put the T-shirt over her tankini top. She’d be back to get it in less than an hour.

  “I’ll see you later. Please don’t worry.”

  She started to walk off but stopped, knowing he would normally have a fit about what she planned to do. The fact that he didn’t say anything made her worry. She hated seeing him so stressed out and wished she could help. She really wanted to just burn that darned boat. It’d been nothing but trouble since it arrived.

  She made it to her apartment in record time and decided not to shower. She went straight to the kitchen and set about making a tuna salad. She decided to eat before heading back, knowing Paul was too preoccupied to have any hopes of having anything that resembled a dinner date. She put the rest of the salad in a bowl with a lid, and grabbed two beers from the fridge before heading back to the shop.

  oOo

  Paul still stood in the water as she’d left him, holding pieces of the boat, looking perplexed that he couldn’t get it to work in spite of what he’d learned on the Internet.

  “Why don’t we just burn it?” Rhees asked with a playful grin. “I’ll get the match.”

  He didn’t look up, but at least he acknowledged her with a, “Hmm?”

  “I have some dinner for you,” she said. She looked down at him from the deck but he just grunted again. She sat down on the floor, put the food next to her, and watched him for about a half an hour until she started to worry about all the bacteria growing in the unrefrigerated salad.

  “Paul. You need to eat before this goes bad. I know you don’t care about germs like I do, but you’ll never convince me that food poisoning is a figment of my imagination.”

  “Okay, Babe. Just a minute.”

  Hmm . . . Babe. At least he knows it isn’t Dobbs keeping him company.

  He pulled the mask from around his neck, up over his eyes and slipped under the water to fiddle with putting the parts back. She sighed. Two minutes later, he resurfaced.

  “Paul?”

  “Hmm?” He still hadn’t looked at her.

  She rolled onto her stomach, and with the salad in one hand, the spoon in the other, she leaned as far over the edge of the dock as she could while still balancing herself. She spooned a bit of salad and held it out to him.

  “Paul, eat!” The stern, motherly tone in her voice was odd enough to make him break away from his engine troubles. As soon as he saw her, he did a double take. The way she hung over the edge of the deck, her swimming suit top—the way her breasts dangled in her suit as she leaned . . . over—it caught his attention.

  He hardly noticed the spoon she held for him, and didn’t really care about it until she gestured that she wanted him to eat. He opened his mouth. She put the spoon in, and he closed his mouth around it but didn’t let go. He didn’t take his eyes off . . . her. He raised his eyebrows in approval.

  “You like it.” She smiled, pleased with herself and relieved he didn’t seem to be upset about her walk home and back, alone, against his wishes. His eyes gleamed, and he nodded, slowly.

  “Let go of the spoon, and I’ll get you some more.”

  He released the spoon, but before she could scoop up another bite, he reached up and grabbed her, pulling her down into the water with him. She squealed in protest, and it was all she could do to hang on to the bowl and spoon and not drop them into the water.

  “What are you doing? I almost spilled your dinner.”

  “Mm,” he grunted, drawing her to him and holding her close. “I’m going to kiss you now, so get ready.” He leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. “Mm!”

  “I thought you liked my salad.” Ending up in the water had thrown her off. She didn’t think about the closeness or react in her usual uptight way. She crooked her elbow around his neck to hang on, trying not to spill the salad.

  “I like the way you’re feeding me. I like it a little too much.” He opened his mouth again to suggest that he was ready for more, and she fed him another spoonful. He chewed but didn’t stop studying her. He mused at how the island had turned her whole body his new favorite color. Her skin had tanned to a beautiful golden brown, matching her hair, which had lightened after spending months in the sun. He’d always thought it the color of honey, but now it nearly glowed, just like her golden amber eyes. After he swallowed, he pressed his lips against hers again, more passionately than before. She returned his kiss but not very enthusiastically.

  “You have fish breath,” she said, her lips still against his mouth.

  He smirked and gazed at her. “I would love to have fish breath.”

  “Oh, you have it, all right. Trust me.” She made a face.

  “I mean a different kind of fish breath.” His eyes sparkled with wicked humor.

  “You don’t like tuna? Do you like crab? I almost made crab salad instead.”

  He broke into laughter and squeezed her tighter. “Oh, Dani Girl!” You have no idea what I’m talking about. “Mm. I think your salad is delicious. Just like you.” He gave her another quick kiss and helped her out of the water.

  oOo

  “How about naming it, The Tow’d?” Rhees walked up behind him as Paul finished tying the new boat off to the dock.

  His research had paid off. He and Randy had just taken it out and back with no problems. Paul hoped the fix would last, at least until the singles group came and went.

  “The Toad? I like it.” He smiled and put his arm around her. Her whole body stiffened, and he promptly removed his arm.

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she smiled up at him and snuggled against him to assure him that she was ready this time.

  He glanced sideways at her but tentatively wrapped his arm around her again. He pulled her close enough to rest her ear against his chest. That always helped. She took another breath, not as deep, and didn’t flinch.

  “The Toad, fits. Toads are as disgusting as this darned boat!” He tried to suppress a secretive smile.

  “I meant Tow’d, as in needing a tow.” It relieved her he no longer wanted to name it Swell Dancer, and she’d been trying to help him come up with a new name—that didn’t reference her in any way. “You know, since you’ve had to tow her so many times.”

  “Oh, I thought you meant toads—because you hate those ugly, disgusting creatures.”

  She stared at him with a strange look on her face. “How do you know that?”

  He grinned and shrugged his shoulders with a little too much emphasis. “Lucky guess.”

  The night after the dance contest, when he’d helped her home, they’d come across a knot of toads in the road along the way. She’d jumped into his arms, screaming hysterically about how she hated toads and calling them, “Ugly, disgusting creatures.”

  “The Tow’d it is.” He kissed the top of her head and let her have it her way. The boat, in his mind, would be named after her, or because of her, without making her uncomfortable the way Swell Dancer had.

  Later that day, the painter arrived. Ninety minutes later, the boat officially had its name.

  He’d made Rhees promise to stay i
n the office until the painter finished. Paul led her around from the other side of the shop and stopped so they were across the deck from the boat, looking at it from a distance. He removed the hand he had over her eyes.

  “What do you think?” Paul asked. He stood behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders, as he pointed her toward the boat to inspect the new name.

  “It looks good,” she answered.

  “Why don’t you get a closer look—just to make sure.”

  She moved closer, but he stayed where he was and braced himself.

  “The” and “Tow’d” were painted in large gold letters with a black outline. The other words were painted in a small gold font, without the outline. From a distance the smaller words weren’t noticeable, but up close, the boat’s title read:

  The Gosh Darn Freakin’ Tow’d

  Rhees spun around to let him have it, but he had disappeared.

  Chapter 11

  Claire couldn’t contain her excitement—they’d pulled it off. The singles group came and went, and miraculously, The Tow’d didn’t break down once. The group loved how Paradise treated them and had already booked a repeat trip for the following year.

  The day after the singles group left, a new girl showed up in the office.

  “I want to sign up for diving lessons.”

  Paul sat at his computer, but he didn’t even glance up. “Claire, can you get that?”

  “Um, actually, Paul, you’re the one I was hoping to talk to. A couple of friends and I came to dive, but my friends preferred to go to Island Divers. I insisted on diving here though, because . . . I wanted to meet you.”

  Paul looked up, and Claire noticed a quick look of surprise shoot through his eyes. The girl was a knockout. American, blonde, hot! Paul turned back to his computer. “Claire, could you get her started on the paperwork? I need to finish this.”

  Claire was impressed.

  Ten minutes later, Paul finally stood to greet the girl while she filled out the last few items on the forms. He offered to shake her hand, but she didn’t let go when he tried to pull away. She smiled at him.

  “Just a sec.” He picked up the microphone. “Rhees, Baby. Could you come to the office, Honey?”

  Paul noticed Rhees’ flushed cheeks as she walked cautiously into the office, not knowing what to expect. He’d never been so lovey-dovey over the microphone before.

  “Hey Dani Girl! This is . . .” Even though he remembered the girl’s name, he made it a point to look down to get it off of the paperwork, just to make sure Rhees, the new girl, and even Claire, knew he hadn’t paid attention, or cared. “Sarah, our newest student. Sarah, this is my girlfriend, Rhees.”

  “Hi, Sarah,” Rhees said with uncertainty. Paul hurried around the counter. He grabbed Rhees and gave her a big, hard, passionate kiss, catching her off-guard. Rhees gasped and tensed up, and he let her go before she had a chance to push him away too forcibly. His eyes pleaded with desperation, hoping she’d notice.

  “Where’ve you been? I haven’t seen you for a whole ten minutes. I’ve missed you.” He put his arm around Rhees, possessively.

  “Um . . . on the deck, reading.” Rhees looked at the new girl and smiled. Sarah’s face registered confusion, and then Rhees looked at Claire. Claire appeared to be trying to warn her without being obvious. “Um . . . I missed you too, Babe!”

  “Sarah, let me show you around,” Claire said. “It’s my job to initiate the newbies.” She didn’t give Sarah a chance to argue. Claire grabbed her by the arm and pulled her through the tunnel and into the equipment room.

  “What was that?” Rhees whispered to Paul.

  He seemed embarrassed and didn’t answer. All he could do was shrug.

  “Do you want to be with her? Is that it?” Rhees finally had to ask. “You know we’ve made our point. We can end this any time.”

  Rhees felt herself start to grow shaky at the thought of what might be happening—that he might be ready to end it.

  “No!” The look on his face seemed very convincing. He sighed. “Let’s just say . . . having a girlfriend comes in handy.” He still had a strange expression, but after a few seconds, a sly smile broke across his face. “Bet you never thought you’d hear me say that, did you?”

  oOo

  “Rhees,” Claire said thoughtfully that afternoon when they were alone in the office. “What will you do when Paul screws up?”

  Rhees scowled and then shrugged. She didn’t answer.

  “Because, you know he’s bound to at some point, right? He can’t go on living like a monk for the rest of his life.”

  Rhees didn’t like hearing it. “Everyone thinks I’m broken in now. Paul knows he can move on whenever he’s ready.” She tried to sound convincing.

  “But you don’t want him to.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Don’t give me that. I see what’s going on between . . . It’s not only you. It’s Paul too.” She let out one loud, ironic breath of air. “Who would have thought? Rhees, darling, I know he’s trying. I’m amazed at how well he’s doing—I never, in a million years, would have believed he could do this, but while he’s acting like your boyfriend, you need to act more like a girlfriend.”

  Rhees’ face flushed pale. She thought she knew what Claire meant and it made her sick inside, knowing she just couldn’t. “I can’t. You know I can’t.”

  “No. Not that. It’s girls like Sarah. If a girl even looked at Dobbs the way Sarah looks at Paul, I’d scratch her eyes out. It’s sickening, the way she goes after him, right in front of you.”

  “I told you. Paul’s a grown man. If he’d rather move on . . .” It was harder to say than she realized. “He can just break up with me or pretend to.”

  “Rhees.” Claire wheeled her computer chair closer to her and turned Rhees’ chair so they were face-to-face. “If Paul were my boyfriend—if this was Dobbs we’re talking about—Dobbs understands. He may think about other women. I can’t control his thoughts, and sometimes letting him have a fantasy or two actually works to my favor.” Rhees didn’t understand—especially the sad look that flashed across Claire’s eyes as she’d said it. “But he wouldn’t dare sleep with anyone else because he values his life.”

  “But we’re just pretending to be in a sexual relationship,” Rhees said. “He really is my friend though, and friends don’t put demands on each other like that.”

  “Rhees, honey. Listen to me, okay?” Claire looked into her eyes. “I don’t know how much longer Paul can keep up this thing you two have going, but he’s not ready to stop. I don’t understand what’s going on with him, but he needs this, at least, for the time being. I see it every day. But a little territorial behavior will go a long way in making sure a man like Paul remembers that.”

  “Okay,” Rhees grumbled. “I’ll try.”

  “Don’t try. Do!” Claire seemed desperate to get it through to her friend. “And while you’re at it, you need to be more convincing in the, I’m his girlfriend department. I actually think Paul would appreciate a little help with the skanks. Sarah’s not the only one throwing herself at him.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I’ve overheard things. Sarah isn’t the only cheap trollop sniffing around your man. The other girls are complaining, wondering how a man like Paul wants to have a girlfriend who is so cold—physically. People are noticing how hard it is for you to let him touch you.”

  Rhees threw her hands over her face. It was difficult to hear someone tell her the same thing that had been going through her mind for weeks.

  “Listen Sweet. Just try, okay?”

  Rhees took a deep breath and nodded.

  oOo

  Rhees tried for the next few days to act more girlfriend-like, but she felt too inadequate to pull it off. At
least Sarah, the new girl, didn’t appear to get the message. She constantly hounded Paul, acting, Rhees thought, obnoxiously slutty. Even Paul rolled his eyes at Sarah, walked away from her in the middle of her sentences, and tried ignoring her completely, but she didn’t give up.

  Rhees’ attempts to initiate affectionate behavior led Paul to falsely get his hopes up. When he reciprocated the affection, she tensed up, writhed away, and downright scorned him.

  “Trouble in paradise?” Sarah asked Paul after watching Rhees suffer through one of his surprise affection bombs, aimed at getting Sarah off his back.

  “Never,” Paul answered tersely.

  “That’s interesting, because I really get the vibe Rhees just isn’t that into you. She’s crazy. Who couldn’t be into you?” She tried to make eye contact, but he wouldn’t look her way.

  He gritted his teeth and regretted what he believed he needed to do.

  “I guess she’s just so into me in private, she’s too worn out for a lot of PDA, she needs to save her strength—or should I say—I’m so in her?” He arched his brow suggestively, but on the inside, he felt sleazy for making such a dirty slur against the girl who was his beautiful, virtuous princess. Sometimes the stakes in this game got a little high, even for him.

  “I am into her, so until she kicks my sorry ass to the curb, I’m in it—with her!” He hoped that settled it once and for all, but it didn’t.

  oOo

  That afternoon, Rhees was surprised to find Paul at his computer, in the middle of the day.

  “What are you doing in here on this lovely afternoon?”

  Paul didn’t want to tell her how he’d grown tired of Sarah’s constant flirting, and the office sounded like a good excuse to be out of her reach. Looking for things to do in the office made him think about the business he’d neglected for so long.