by Brooke Moss
Mallorie and Josh dig through the pile and find snorkeling equipment to fit me. I take off my wet clothes and jam them into my tote bag. Then I walk as gracefully as a drunken mermaid, across the deck and jump off the side of the boat into the ocean.
“Where are the turtles?” I ask.
Mallorie points across the waves. “Turtle Town. You can’t miss them. The boys have longer tails than the girls.”
I put my face into the water. The mask illuminates all the fish and fauna hiding underneath the waves. I don’t even need to see any Honu. This is ah-mazing.
It’s like a wonderful cartoon movie come to life. I’m dazzled by every fish that swims past.
Then, it happens. Rising out of one of the coral caves on the ocean floor, a giant sea turtle swims right towards me on its way to the surface. I notice her short stubby tail as she passes. Her wide mouth is curved, as if she’s smiling right at me. I’m so thrilled by her appearance I almost miss the second turtle, who, I notice, has a longer tail, as he swims past me.
A scream bursts out of my throat. The sound carries through the breathing tube and across the water.
I take off my mask and yell across the waves to the other snorkelers. “I’ve got ‘em. Two turtles. A boy and a girl. They’re together. And they’re right here.”
The other snorkelers swim toward me en masse. I tread water while readjusting my mask. The swimmers press their masks into the water, watching in amazement as the turtles float past . Josh hovers nearby on shark watch.
There’s no way the morning can get any better. Then someone shouts from the other side of the coral rocks. I swim toward the sound and discover Kai floating in the waves.
“What is going on?”
“Manta ray. Have you ever seen one?” he asks.
“No.” I shake my head. I’m not even sure what one looks like.
“Prepare to have your mind blown.” Kai grins.
He takes my hand and we swim out into the deeper water. The sea turtles were truly amazing, but I nearly explode from excitement over the manta rays. On the back of each flat-floating fish is a unique set of markings that look as if they were individually hand-painted by a porcelain artist.
Kai pulls me along with him as we follow a pair of manta rays out into deeper water. I lose all track of time. I’m so focused on the beautiful undersea creatures we’ve discovered, I’m not sure I’m aware I’m holding hands with Kai Cooper. Olympic champion. Multi-millionaire. Hot athlete.
After a while he squints back across the water at me. “We better get back to the boat. They’re making last call.”
I swim back to the boat reluctantly. Most of our party has already returned. I’m the last one up the ladder and onto the deck. The crew is prepping to pull the anchor and motor back to the bay where we boarded the catamaran four hours ago. Since then my world has been turned upside-down.
“First one in. Last one out.” Captain Dan smiles as he pulls me up the ladder.
Kai pulls his mask up to rest on his forehead. “You ready for your margarita? Or maybe a glass of champagne and orange juice?”
“A Bloody Mary is more my speed.”
“Vodka. Now you’re talking,” Kai says. “Count me in.”
We go below deck to the galley and find ‘Tall Brett’ making drinks. He seems unfamiliar with the potency of vodka, pouring it as if it’s tonic water, he tops off our glasses off with a splash of pre-blended Bloody Mary mix.
“What are we drinking to?” I ask.
“To fearless women.” Kai raises his glass. We chunk our plastic glasses together in a salute. A blush paints my cheeks pink. Fearless? Me? Yeah. Right. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The bars on my phone return as soon as we land on shore. The pings of text alerts jingling at the bottom of my tote bag make me stop in my tracks as I’m walking across the beach. I drop behind the others in the group and lose sight of Kai as I scroll through my messages. Suzi wants me to call her as soon as possible. I hit her number on my speed-dial and she picks up on the first ring.
“I’ve been talking to your HR department,” she says. “Your former boss is a dick.”
I can’t help but laugh. “I’m aware.”
“I’ll just bet you are,” Suzi adds. “Brown & Fox is giving you one week of severance for every year you worked for them. Fifteen weeks. Which isn’t much. But it speaks volumes about Ezra Brown. He agreed not to note in your permanent personnel file you were fired for cause. So at least he can’t screw you over when you file for your unemployment insurance.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure. Your paperwork is in order and I’ve emailed it to them. Instead of cutting you a check, they’d like to make a bank transfer into your account. Are you okay with that?”
“Is that unusual?” I ask.
“A little, but this is an unusual circumstance,” Suzi sounds uncertain.
“I don’t understand.”
“You do know they owe you a lot of money, right?” she asks.
“No. I didn’t...” I’ve used a lot of words to describe Ezra Brown over the past ten years. Generous would not be one of them.
“Most of what they owe you is vacation pay. Did you ever take any time off?”
“Not really.”
“They probably should’ve forced you take some time off, or capped their vacation payout after a certain amount of weeks, but they didn’t. So they’re stuck. They want to negotiate a settlement rather than giving you what they actually owe you, but that is so not going to happen.”
“Why not?” I wonder out-loud.
“You hired yourself one badass attorney with raging pregnancy hormones.”
I grin. “Lucky me.”
“Don’t you worry about a thing. Have a good time in Maui. Give my love to Jess. I’m going to enjoy burning off my excess pregnancy hormones being the worst thing that ever happened to Ezra Brown.”
“How can I ever thank you?”
“Puh-leze. My husband is so happy you’ve given me another man to use as a target practice for my pregnancy ire, he wants to take you to dinner when you get back.”
“Sounds marvelous. I’m all in.”
I hang up the phone feeling better than I have in a long time.
Jessica texts me when I get back to the hotel to make sure I’ve arrived on the island safely and in time for the ceremony. I text her back to let her know I’m fine, and will call her when I’m back in my room. I hesitate at the top of the steps off the lobby. It’s my first glimpse of the tropical scenery in daylight. I’m so taken aback by the overwhelming natural beauty on display, my hand instinctively covers my mouth and my breath comes out in uneven puffs.
Below me, the gardens lead down to the beach in a spectacular display of greenery and flowers. Behind the hotel, a volcanic crater rises up in shades of charcoal and dusty pink. And off in the distance the ocean is hypnotic in all its blue magnificence. I never imagined anything could be so breathtakingly beautiful.
A tiny breeze lifts the hair away from my face as I take the wide stone steps down to the little three cottages on the beach.
I open the door to the room with my key card. It takes several tries. Someone has opened the blinds in the sitting room. The Pacific Ocean is perfectly framed in the wall of windows. White birds float above in the blue sky.
I rush toward the beautiful view, and stumble and fall. Stubbing my toe on a matching set of Tumi luggage parked in the middle of the sitting room. My roommate must’ve checked in.
The obscenely expensive hard-sided luggage looks as if it’s been around the world a half dozen times. It has its own personality and is a big fat reminder that I’m in this luxurious suite for the next three days due to the generosity of some rich douchebag. I dread having to share this view with someone else, especially if he’s anything like Ezra Brown, who happens to be the first person who comes to mind when I think of rich douchebags.
A bowl of fresh pineapple has been placed on the
table. Despite wolfing down a giant breakfast burrito on the boat after snorkeling, I’m still hungry. I consume the entire bowl of sweet fruit in a manner of minutes. I’ve never eaten anything as delicious.
Shit.
This is not a good way to show my gratitude to my host. Licking pineapple juice from my sticky fingers, I open a drawer on the media cabinet and shove the empty dish inside to get rid of the evidence. Then, I go into my room to call Jessica.
She sounds pretty chill for a woman who is about to be a bride in a few hours.
“I’m having a spa day,” she says. “I’m treating it like my bachelorette party. Can you come down? I know you’re probably exhausted, but I’d love to see you.”
“Is your sister going to be there?” I ask.
“Yep. She’s here.”
“How’s the crazy?”
“Operating at full capacity.”
“Count me in.”
“Thank you. I know can always count on my squad to run interference for me with her.”
“That is my purpose here,” I declare. “And I’m not about to shirk my duties.”
“The appointment is at noon,” she gushes. “I go right from there to the hair salon. Then back to the room to put on my dress. The ceremony is in the chapel just before sunset. Have you met your roommate yet?” Jess asks.
“Just his luggage. It seems nice. Very expensive.”
Jessica laughs. “Don’t be intimidated. He’s family.”
I claimed the smaller of the two bedrooms for my own when I arrived last night. The maid has already been by and made up my bed. The attached bathroom features a large sunken tub in pleasant shades of creamy coconut and the softest blue.
I turn on the taps and fill the tub with warm bubbles. Then I slip beneath the surface to wash off the salt and sand stuck to my skin. I stay in the tub until my fingertips are pruned, then I get out and wrap myself in a white, terrycloth hotel robe. I make a hair turban from a thick thirsty towel and return to my bedroom, I stretch out on the bed, making a nest out of the duvet.
The view of the ocean from my cozy bed is right out of my imagination. Overwhelmed with exhaustion and in need of a nap, I’m drowsy with a sense of contentment. I take a deep breath, and am asleep almost before I exhale.
CHAPTER 4
The consequences of day drinking have never been clearer to me than when I roll over and find Kai Cooper standing on the lanai outside the picture window over my bed. I’ve got cobwebs for brains, so my first thought is ‘what the hell’?
What the hell is he doing here?
He’s completely naked except for the small patch of a towel he’s holding over his junk. He’s relaxed and completely at ease with being on display. He thrives on it. It’s natural for him. Which is almost unimaginable for someone who frequently wishes to be invisible.
I silently study every inch of him. He’s got an Olympic ring tattoo on his lower back, and a detailed architectural drawing on his side. By the time I finish taking in all that is nearly naked Kai Cooper, hours of my life may have lapsed. I can’t be sure.
Slowly I return to reality. My eyes flick back up to Kai’s face. He waves through the glass with the excited enthusiasm of a kid at the zoo.
“Hey sleepyhead,” he teases. “You’re going to snore through Jessica’s bachelorette party. Five more minutes, and I’m coming in there to wake you up.”
Wrapping the terrycloth robe tighter around my body, I try to comprehend what is happening. “What the hell? What are you doing? Here?”
“Didn’t Suzanne tell you?” he asks.
“Tell me what?”
“We’re roomies.” He makes the announcement as if I should be thrilled.
“I don’t understand. I’m rooming with Bruce’s brother.” I protest.
“I am his brother. His baby brother from another mother,” he jokes. “My mom is married to his dad. We’re one big extended dysfunctional family.”
“Really? Suzanne never mentioned you.”
I think back over all the times I’ve been inebriated in Suzanne’s company, trying to remember if I ever mentioned any of the inappropriate thoughts I’ve had about Kai Cooper to her. Nothing comes to mind.
“I’m the black sheep of the family.”
“But, you’re an Olympic champion.” I don’t understand.
The smile on Kai’s face disappears. “Past tense. This year I fucked up.”
“Don’t I know,” I mutter under my breath.
His brow furrows. “Why do I get the idea I’m the last person on Maui you want to see?”
I force myself to form my lips into a rudimentary smile. “Not the last person. No.”
Kai unleashes another championship smile as I throw my feet over the side of the bed. I’ve got to swallow some ibuprofen before the headache pounding at my temples ends with my head spontaneously combusting.
He chuckles. His laugh is dry. “Don’t sugar-coat it, Viv. Tell me how you really feel.”
“Sorry. I’ve got a terrible headache.” I shuffle into the bathroom and sort through the items I’ve laid out on the counter.
“You’re hung over.” I’ve been living alone for so long, I’m shocked when Kai follows me into my bathroom. “And, I can tell you from personal experience, there’s nothing worse than a cheap vodka hangover.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that this morning?” I sigh, digging through my makeup kit.
“I warned you about having a second Bloody Mary, but you insisted.”
“I don’t recall that conversation.” I can’t remember anything when my head feels like it’s splitting in two.
“I rest my case.” Kai smiles with a wicked gleam in his eye. I scowl at him before swallowing the two pills I find in the bottom of my purse.
“Are you always this blunt?” he asks. “I get the feeling you’re not. That it’s me. Something I’ve done.”
“No I’m sorry. I just...” I hesitate, wondering if I should lie or tell the truth. “You’re the reason I lost my job.”
“I’m the reason?” He looks confused, hurt. “But, we just met.”
“I know, but I persuaded one of my company’s clients to build their social campaign around your triumphant return to your fourth Winter Olympics. Hashtag Kai-Four-Olympic Gold. When you didn’t make the team, my company lost a very important client, and I lost my job.”
“Ouch.” He sits down on the sofa. Spreading his legs, his towel exposes a bit more flesh. “Here, I’m thinking I’m throwing a pity party for one. I guess I better make the reservation for two.”
I let his words sink in for a minute. How could I be so insensitive? This guy has been training for the Olympics all of his adult life. And it’s over. Just like that. I can’t imagine how disappointed he must be.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been so self-absorbed. If it’s any excuse, I haven’t had a lot of time for perspective.”
“When did this happen?” he asks. “When did you get fired?”
“Yesterday.”
He nods. “Fresh wound.”
“Yes,” I say. “Open and bleeding.”
“Me too.” Kai says. “I’ve had a few more days to process than you, still I’m sorry you were collateral damage. Truth is... I was never a sure thing this year. I was, at best, a long shot.”
“I know that now.”
Who could stay mad at this guy?
Kai smiles and runs his hands through his hair, facing me with a rueful smile. He’s so hard not to like. He’s warm and amiable. Not at all what I expected. I put my hand up to shield my eyes from the sun, to get a better glimpse at the expression on his face. That’s when I notice how high in the sky the sun is over his shoulder.
“Ohmigod! What time is it?” I ask.
“It’s almost noon.”
I leap to my feet. “I’m meeting Jessica in the spa in fifteen minutes.”
“We’d better getting moving,” he insists, walking back in from the lanai to the main sitting area where his pile o
f luggage seems to have exploded.
“We? Where are you going?” I ask.
“The guys are golfing. It’s an impromptu bachelor party. Just beer. No babes.”
I make a noise under my breath like laughter. No babes. Yeah. Right. Maybe my imagination is more vivid than others, but I’ve always assumed Kai would have a deli counter take-a-number dispenser next to his bed for crowd control. Women must be willing to wait in line for him.
In my bathroom, I pull a cotton maxi dress over my head. My long curls are low-maintenance, so I pull my hair up in a topknot. Then, I dig through my suitcase for the small package I brought to give to Jess before the ceremony. I put it in my pocket and tap it once, hoping that will help me remember to give it to her while we’re at the spa.
“I’m leaving now,” I call over my shoulder. “Have fun golfing.”
“Hurry back,” he calls from the master bedroom. “We can shower and get ready together.” I’m not sure he knows how inappropriate his suggestion is, but it keeps me giggling all the way along the path to the hotel.
The spa at the hotel is internationally renowned for being ultra-luxurious. The front desk receptionist greets me in a whisper. She calls a spa attendant to take me back to the ladies’ area. It’s all extremely hush-hush.
Jess is up to her neck in a bubbling pool of deliciously scented water. She emerges from the tub naked and anointed with oil like an ancient Roman goddess. She’s always been comfortable in her own skin. It’s a feeling I can’t even comprehend.
“Join me,” she says with a wide smile before enveloping me in a giant hug.
I disrobe and slip into the pool while praying for the power of invisibility again.
Jessica, Suzanne and Petey met at a private North Shore kindergarten. After graduating from New Trier High School, they went on to Northwestern together. And, that’s where I became the unlikely fourth member of their squad.
Meeting my new roommates on the first day of freshman year was overwhelming. Jessica, Suzanne and Petey are tall, and long-limbed with shiny hair and brilliant white smiles. When we went out clubbing, I always felt like the dwarf who’d been sent along to keep track of Cinderella, Aurora and Snow White.