by Hazel Kelly
And when my mind began to wander straight into the gutter, I grabbed it by the neck and yanked it back out. After all, the handsome man kneeling before me wasn’t exactly slipping a perfectly suited glass slipper on my foot. On the contrary, he was picking hunks of marine life out of an unsightly bloody gash that was effectively going to ruin the rest of my trip.
I sighed.
He looked up at me, his crystal blue eyes crinkling around the edges and blending in with the ocean behind him. Then he turned his attention to the first aid kit and pulled out some gauze.
I watched him cut a small square and lay it over my open wound. Then he cut a longer piece and began wrapping my foot so expertly I was convinced he could’ve bandaged my foot with his eyes closed.
“There,” he said when he was done.
Megan and I took that as a cue to admire his work.
“Thank you so much for all your help,” she said.
“Yeah.” I straightened up in my chair before deciding that leaning back again was a kinder angle for everyone involved. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
He stood up, and it took every drop of willpower I had not to look at the front of his board shorts.
“You can thank me by resting,” he said, looking down at me.
I swallowed.
“And by letting me carry you back to your room so you don’t get the bandage all wet and sandy,” he said.
I raised my eyebrows.
“Lead the way, Megan,” he said.
Before I could protest, he scooped me up in his arms again, holding me like I was a slight little thing whose weight didn’t even register. And he kept holding me while Megan swept our belongings into the beach bag about half as fast as I was willing her to.
Then, much to my pride and embarrassment, he followed Megan through the hotel lobby, past the friendly staff at the front desk under the picture of the king, past the meditating Buddhas, and down the hall to our door.
Even though I was self-conscious about receiving that level of attention, I’d never been carried by a man like that and I knew there was a good chance it might never happen again. So I resisted the urge to let my own insecurities spoil the event and did my best to enjoy it.
And when it finally came time for him to set me down on two feet outside our door, I felt the moment had come too soon. In fact, I was unprepared for how I would feel when we were finally standing face to face without our aviators to hide behind.
As he set me back down, Megan turned her attention to scrambling for our room key in the bag.
“Thank you for going to all this trouble,” I said, crossing my arms in front of me.
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” he said.
I pushed my wet hair out of my face. “What’s your name, Dr…?”
“Jack.”
“Dr. Jack,” Megan said to herself. “That has a nice ring to it.”
I stared holes into her back until she turned the key and disappeared into our room.
“Just Jack is fine,” he said, extending one of his healing hands.
I took it, and the strength of his handshake made my legs feel weak. “I’m Audrey,” I said, looking into his eyes.
“Pleasure to meet you,” he said, not letting go.
“Sorry about the circumstances.”
“Don’t be,” he said, finally letting go.
I inhaled and pursed my lips, torn between saying something else and running into my room to squeal.
He ran a hand through his hair despite the fact that the muscles in his arm looked like they should’ve been too heavy to lift.
“Could I maybe take you to dinner, Jack?” I asked, letting out the breath I was holding. “You know, as a thank you for saving my life?”
He raised his eyebrows. “That’s funny.”
“What is?”
He smiled. “I was just about to ask you the same question.”
Chapter 13: Jack
She blushed and looked down at the floor.
“How about 8 o’clock?” I said.
“Okay.” She reached for the door to her room.
“I’ll meet you in the bar downstairs.”
She forced her eyes to meet mine. “That sounds fine.”
“Great,” I said, knowing just where I wanted to take her.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said, taking her time turning the handle.
“Me too.”
“Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you later then,” she said, pushing the door open.
I let my eyes travel down her back when she turned around and felt my whole body ache. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a round ass like that to sink my fingers into.
Fortunately, I stopped furrowing my brows at it just before she turned around to look at me through the crack in the door.
“Bye Jack.”
“Bye,” I said, turning on my heels as she closed the door.
I was beyond excited. She was absolutely gorgeous- every fucking inch of her- and I couldn’t wait to get to know her better in the most indelicate sense.
After all, she was exactly the kind of woman I’d been craving for ages, and I was going to stop at nothing to make sure I could have her over and over again until it was time for her to catch her flight.
Plus, what else was she going to do now that she’d injured her foot? Lying on her back was going to be the perfect activity for the rest of her stay. And I was confident I could make sure she enjoyed every minute of it.
My bare feet squeaked against the tiles as I crossed the lobby and walked out of the cool hotel back towards the beach. And while I couldn’t be sure, I swear to god it was sunnier than it had been before.
I hopped along the hot sand back to my chair and picked my book up from where I’d dropped it, shaking it so the sand would fall out from between its pages. Not that it was any use. Everything I owned eventually ended up covered in sand.
I sat down on my chair and put my sunglasses back on so I wouldn’t get a headache. Then I pulled my phone out from under my towel where it was left untouched because Thai people are the best. Any other beach and my shit would’ve been jacked in the time it took to take a piss. But here, it was just as I’d left it a half hour ago. Gotta love Buddhists.
I squinted at the screen until my eyes adjusted enough for me to see that it was almost four o’clock. Fortunately, that gave me plenty of time to relax and get cleaned up for my date with Audrey.
I noticed I also had a few missed calls so I leaned back in my chair, took a deep breath, and dialed my voice mail.
The first message was from my Mom.
“Hi Jacky, it’s me. Just calling to see how you’re doing. Call me back.”
When was the last time I’d called her? My intention was to check in weekly, but I never managed to keep that going. I knew I needed to do better since I was her only kid, but I hated calling her when I didn’t have any good news. Still, it had to be done. Maybe later. Maybe tomorrow.
The next message was from my agent in Cali.
“Jack. Jerry here. I’ve got a big opportunity I want to discuss with you. Big. Big. Big. Call me when you get this. I really think this is going to be the one, Jack. Call me.”
I sighed. Jerry always had something big for me. I appreciated that he hadn’t forgotten about me even though I’d done everything in my power to make sure he did. But I guess the royalties from my book were still rolling in enough to keep me at the front of his mind.
Usually, his ideas sucked, but strictly according to the law of averages, he was due for a good one soon. And who knows? Maybe he’d make me an offer I couldn’t refuse and I’d have a project I could get excited about again. Stranger things had happened.
Plus, if I didn’t call him back, he would fill up my voicemail like the selfish bastard that he was and tick me off. So I’d have to make it a point to get back to him sooner rather than later.
The last message was from Audrey.
“Jack. Hi. I’m just c
alling to say I can’t wait to suck you dry tonight. My pussy is already dripping for you.”
Okay, no it wasn’t. But if it had been from her, I liked to think that’s what she would’ve said.
In reality, the last message was from Jin.
“Jack! How are you, buddy? Did you have fun last night? I think by how many Corona’s I have left you did. Anyway, I just got up and wanted to see if you were around tonight. I’m hosting a bachelorette party at the club and I need a male stripper… Just kidding. No one wants to see that. But call me anyway so I know you’re alive.”
I shook my head. Sometimes Jin did my head in, but he had a good heart and he made me laugh. Plus, he kept me from being antisocial.
I scrolled through my recent call list and tapped his thumbnail.
“Hi.”
“You sound like you’re still in bed.”
“That’s probably because I am.”
“How much later did you stay out?”
“Let’s just say I was up late enough to get Lu’s first banana pancake this morning.”
“Jesus, Jin. You’re a maniac.”
“When did you leave? Two or something?”
“Something like that.”
“Did you make it out this morning?”
“I did, yeah,” I said. “Actually I’ve had a pretty big day.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, I went paddle boarding, got breakfast, hit the beach, and saved a beautiful American girl’s life.”
Jin laughed. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s still drunk.”
“It’s true,” I said. “It really happened. Maybe I didn’t really save her life, but I did impress her enough that she agreed to go out with me tonight.”
“Fuck me.”
“That’s exactly what I’m hoping she’ll say.”
“Where did you find a beautiful American girl?”
“Outside The Dolphin.”
“Damn,” he said. “You have all the luck.”
I listened to him chug some water. “Where’s she from?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Hopefully she leaves tomorrow. Then you know she’ll be up for a wild night.”
“I don’t know. I’d kind of like this one to stick around for a few days.”
“Wow,” he said. “You must really like her.”
“It’s too soon to tell, but I know I like her smile.”
Jin laughed. “Oh really? It was her smile that got you, huh?”
“Yeah,” I lied. “I didn’t even notice her tits.”
“That’s what I thought,” he said. “She blond?”
I nodded. “She is, yeah.”
“So you’re not going to come help me host the bachelorette party?”
For once I was delighted I didn’t have to make up an excuse. “Not a chance,” I said. “I’ll be too busy hosting a private party of my own.”
Chapter 14: Audrey
When Megan returned from reception, she had a winning look in her eye.
“Well?” I asked. “What happened?”
“I explained the situation and the extent of your injury.”
“Yeah,” I said, sitting up against the pillows on my bed.
“And I expressed my disappointment that we had to rely on a complete stranger to help us because there was no hotel staff anywhere to be seen.”
“Right.”
“And they were very apologetic,” she said. “Almost awkwardly so to the point where I thought maybe I overdid it.”
“Is that all?”
“No!” Megan pulled several envelopes out from behind her back. “They gave us a bunch of consolation presents!”
“Wow. Dare I ask what those might be?”
“The first one is a voucher for a free couples massage,” she said, flicking through the envelopes.
“Nice.”
“And they gave us a free dinner voucher.”
“Always handy.”
“Lastly, they gave us complimentary tickets to a lady boy show on any night of our choice.”
I furrowed my brow. “A lady boy show?”
“I know.” Megan shrugged. “But two outta three ain’t bad, right?”
“I’m glad you’re happy.” I crossed my straight legs at my ankles. “Maybe I should’ve gotten even more hurt.”
Megan smiled. “There’s still time.”
“True,” I said, resting my hands behind my head. “And in case I haven’t admitted it, I’d much rather be laying here with my feet up in paradise than sitting at home in my pajamas trying to figure out whether I should buy stock in Ben & Jerry’s while I think of new ways to politely end phone calls with my Mom.”
“I know the feeling.” Megan dropped on her bed and rolled on to her stomach. “Two weeks ago I thought I would be ironing Max’s work shirts and watching The Simpsons with him every night for the rest of my life.”
I nodded.
“Now I never have to do either again.”
“That’s probably how Mandela felt when he was released from prison.”
“I know, right?” Megan grabbed a pillow and put it under her chest. “So did you figure out what you’re going to wear to dinner tonight?”
I looked past my feet at the brightly colored dresses I’d strewn across the end of my bed. “I don’t know,” I said. “Whichever one best distracts from my foot.”
“I’m sure they’ll all do that just fine.”
“Not that he hasn’t seen it,” I said, wiggling the toes sticking out of my bandaged foot.
“Still,” she said. “I’d be worried if I were you.”
“Worried?” I asked. “Why?”
“Cause it’s all downhill from here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I don’t see how you could possibly improve on the fairy tale relationship you’ve had so far.”
“It was certainly an exciting introduction.”
“No shit,” she said. “First the guy rescues you from imminent danger-”
“True.”
“Then he plays doctor with you- very convincingly I might add-”
“Right?!”
“And then he carries you like you’re a delicate princess whose dainty feet shouldn’t have to touch the ground.”
“I know. I was there.”
“Seriously, though, what else is there to do?”
I smiled. “I can think of a few things.”
“I bet you can you hornball.”
I shrugged.
“I just hope I didn’t imagine him. Like what if I had heat stroke and didn’t realize that he was actually a greasy weirdo with a cleft palate and adult acne.”
“Trust me. He wasn’t.”
“Okay, cool. Cause I’d hate to think I had beer goggles on along with those other ones.”
“On the contrary, the only thing worth popping on him was his balls in your mouth.”
“Megan!”
“Just saying.”
“I appreciate your support, but you don’t have to be so graphic.”
“Hey, I’m just trying to help. It’s going to be tough thinking of ways to improve on the perfect encounter you’ve already had.”
“I think I can come up with a few things to do before we get to the ball juggling phase of the relationship.”
“Maybe,” she said. “You’ve always been more creative than me.”
“I don’t know about that.”
She started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.”
“What?”
“It’s just too perfect. I mean, you even drew him!”
“So?”
“Like Jack drew Rose in Titanic.”
I shook my head. “That’s not the same at all.”
“Of course it is.”
“No it’s not,” I said. “First of all, he didn’t agree to it. Second, he wasn’t naked, and third, he wasn’t wearing precious jewels.”
<
br /> “Sure he was. And I bet he’ll show you them up close tonight.”
I swallowed.
“Promise me if he tries anything you won’t freak out and bail.”
“Why would I freak out?”
“Cause you tend to overthink things.”
“No I don’t.”
“Yes you do,” she said. “And listen very closely, Audrey-”
I raised my eyebrows.
“That guy is not some shaggy back packer on holiday with his student loan money. He’s a fucking hot ass doctor who saved your ass today.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Talk about a change in luck.”