“Max, put me down. This is silly.”
“No way.” He forced the words out as he carried me across the sidewalk. Max was strong, but I knew he was relieved when he set me down inside the jeep. “There—safe and sound.”
“You’re amazing, Max.” I kissed him. When I pulled away he smiled.
“Anything for you, Sammy, you know that. I can’t let any harm come to those pretty toes.”
I grinned. “My hero.”
The jeep drove us to the bungalow where we’d be staying, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the water. It was paradise—right there in my reach.
The driver unlocked the bungalow door for us and then handed us our keys.
It was a simple space that had floor-to-ceiling windows and the most incredible view. I felt surrounded by beauty everywhere I turned.
Right after we put our bags away I ran outside to stick my feet in the sand. It was warm, but not so hot that it burned my feet.
“Max, we’ve got to go swimming!”
“I agree.” He smiled as he leaned against the doorframe and looked out at me. He was already in his swimming trunks.
I took a moment to admire how handsome he looked in them, then hurried past him to change into the bathing suit that he’d bought for me.
Chapter 17
As I pulled the swimsuit out of the bag I wondered how Max had managed to find one in my size when most women in Thailand were so petite. When I tried to pull the suit on, I soon discovered that he hadn’t exactly found a suit in my size. It was tight in all the wrong places. I looked in the mirror and tried to see beauty, not the unflattering reflection that seemed to taunt me.
I took a deep breath in as I studied my reflection and thought about Max waiting for me just outside. The more I smoothed my hand down over the tight material, the more I thought about how much time and effort he’d put into finding me the suit. He’d probably had to hit a few different shops to find it.
I imagined him taking his time to survey the style and color. He’d probably envisioned me in it—maybe even peeling it off me. I grinned at the thought.
He hadn’t just bought it on a whim, or handed me the money to pick something out. He’d planned this entire excursion and wanted to be sure that I had something beautiful to wear for it.
So maybe it did make my trouble areas a little more noticeable. Max never complained when he stroked his hands along my body. He seemed to genuinely love the way I looked. I needed to respect that and show him that I appreciated the gesture.
After another deep breath, I emerged from the bungalow and found Max waiting for me.
“Samantha.” He took a sharp breath as he looked at me.
“I know, it’s not quite my size.” I frowned. “Do you think I should find a shirt to cover up a bit?”
“Don’t you dare.” He caught his arm around my waist. “You look gorgeous.” He kissed me.
The way he embraced my lips and pressed his body against mine told me that it wasn’t an empty compliment.
When he broke away from me, his eyes wandered the length of my body again before meeting my eyes.
“Thanks, Max, I really like it.”
“Don’t lie.” He laughed. “I know that you’re dying to go back in there and change into something else. But I’m telling you Sammy, you have nothing to hide. You are beautiful from top to that cute bottom.” He smacked me lightly on the rear.
“Max!” I gave him a playful shove.
“Hey, watch it.” He pretended to be annoyed and chased after me.
I ran toward the water with him hot on my heels.
“I’m going to catch you, you know!”
“I don’t think so!”
Before I could reach the water I realized that there was quite a crowd on the beach. The bathing suit I’d forced myself into was even more revealing when I ran. I didn’t want Max to beat me to the water, but I wasn’t sure that I could run through that group without being mortified.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Max gaining on me. I decided to throw caution to the wind as I ran even faster. However, as I was busy looking over my shoulder to see where Max was, I felt myself suddenly on a picnic blanket spread out in front of me. I didn’t look down until I felt something squish between my toes. It wasn’t sand.
“Hey!” A brash voice sounded from the side of the blanket. “You stepped in my chocolate cake!”
My cheeks burned as I stumbled over the rest of the blanket, then landed hard on the sand beside it.
Max skidded to a stop before he reached the blanket.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see it.” I cringed as I realized that I hadn’t just stepped on a piece of cake, but the entire tiny cake that I guessed was supposed to serve as dessert.
“Anthony, calm down. It was an accident.” A woman leaned heavily on the man’s broad shoulder. She was tall and slim, and had dark hair that reached nearly to her knees.
“How is it an accident? There’s a big blanket here. How could you not see it?” Anthony scowled at me.
Max offered me his hand to help me up. Now my foot was covered in chocolate cake and sand.
“I wasn’t paying attention, it was my fault. Can I buy you another cake?”
“From where?” He frowned. “I brought that one all the way from Bangkok.”
“It was for our anniversary.” The woman smiled and lowered her sunglasses. “Not that I need to eat it, right?” She laughed and patted imaginary fat on her hip.
I swallowed hard to keep from pointing out that there was no reason women couldn’t eat chocolate cake.
“Happy anniversary.” I shook my head. “I’m so sorry for ruining it. Is there some way we can make it up to you?”
“Don’t worry about that. Anthony’s just a little wound up. It’s our tenth, and he wants it to be special. Right, babe?”
“It needs to be special, because you’re so special.” He kissed her cheek.
I couldn’t help but smile at the sweet chemistry between them.
“This is Anthony and I’m Michelle, by the way. Why don’t you two join us later for some drinks on the beach? It’ll be good to have a little company.”
“Sure, that would be great.” Max nodded and tightened his grasp on my hand. “Again, sorry for the trouble.”
“It’s quite alright.” Michelle smiled as she studied Max. “What’s a little chocolate cake between friends?”
“Or between my toes?” I looked down at my foot and winced. “I’m going to rinse my foot off.”
Max hooked his arm through mine as we walked toward the water. I kept a closer eye on the sand beneath my feet.
When we reached the water my eyes widened at the sight of it rushing up over my feet. It was warm and inviting. The rush of the water inspired me to look up and take in the expansive blue that stretched out before me. I heard Max take a deep breath beside me, then his warm arms slid over my shoulders and pulled me back against his chest.
“Now this is what I wanted to give you, Sammy. Look at this.”
“It’s stunning.”
“Not as stunning as you in this suit.” He kissed the side of my neck. “Ready to go for a swim?”
“Sure.” I wiggled my toes in the water to free my foot of the remaining chocolate cake, then we walked into the water together.
As the warm water sloshed up along my ankles, then my calves, and then my thighs, I felt transformed—as if somehow the beauty of the water was being absorbed through my skin. All the insecurity I expected to feel was nonexistent with Max’s hand around mine and paradise surrounding us.
Chapter 18
We swam a little further out, then Max stretched out on his back to float. I floated beside him and our hands drifted together. I smiled to myself at the thought of the water pushing us toward one another. The moment was perfect.
After some time, Max splashed some water on his face and sighed. “This is great, but I just realized we never ate breakfast this morning. Should we take a little brea
k?”
“Yes, my stomach has been growling.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I wanted to wait until you were ready.”
“Sammy, never be uncomfortable because of me. Let’s go eat.”
We waded out of the water and past Anthony and Michelle, who were engaged in some heavy petting on their picnic blanket. I stared just a little bit.
“Do you think we’ll still be that into each other on our tenth anniversary?”
“I should hope so.” He opened the door to the bungalow for me. “And our twentieth and our thirtieth and our fortieth…”
“Ha, you’re forgetting all of the ways life can steal passion from a marriage.”
“Nobody’s stealing my passion for you.” He pushed me back against the door I’d just closed and kissed me.
The forceful surprise of his embrace was enough to send me tumbling into euphoria. Food was forgotten for the moment as we uttered promises of our passion for one another between kisses. Then my stomach growled. It didn’t just growl a little bit. It growled like a grizzly bear coming out of hibernation.
“Oh, um, we should take care of that.” Max laughed.
“No, ignore it!” I pulled him back for another kiss. My stomach growled again.
“I’m sorry, Sammy, but I’m a little scared of that noise.” Max laughed louder.
I grabbed a cushion from the small white couch and tossed it straight at him.
He ducked and grinned. “Let’s eat. We’ll have plenty of time for passion.”
I agreed and we rummaged around to put together some food. The refrigerator was stocked with an assortment of fruit, lunchmeat, and breads. As we settled down for a quick lunch I considered where Max and I might be in the next ten years.
Would we still be touring? Would we have a child? Or maybe two? My heart pounded at the thought. How would we keep our passion strong between changing diapers and sleep deprivation? Would the stress of parenting rob us of the intense chemistry that rippled between us?
“What’s on your mind, sweetheart?” Max picked up a grape and popped it in his mouth.
“Nothing.”
“You know you’re not going to get away with that.” He rolled his eyes.
“I was just thinking about where we might be in ten years.”
“Who knows?” He smiled and took my hand. “We can create anything we desire. Our future is up to us. So where do you see us in ten years?”
It was a loaded question. It would open a whole barrel of concerns. Kids, no kids? Moving? Traveling?
“I’m not sure about that, but I know where I see myself in the next five minutes.”
“Oh?” He tipped his head toward the bed.
“No, out there!” I laughed and pointed through the window at the water.
“I guess that would be okay too.” He smiled.
When we walked back into the water it was even warmer than before. I thought it might cool us down, but it had the opposite affect. Max pulled me close and we remained tangled together as we floated through the water.
It wasn’t long before our closeness led to a little more intimacy and he began to kiss me. I thought about the people on the beach that might see. I thought about not caring. After the next kiss, I didn’t think about anything else.
As we continued to kiss, Max’s body stiffened. It wasn’t exactly the reaction I’d expected. I wondered if I’d bit his lip by accident. I pulled back enough to see his eyes wide and his jaw clenched.
“Max? What’s wrong?”
He looked at me, though he didn’t move his head much. “Sammy, I think I have a problem.”
“What is it? You can tell me. Did I hurt you?”
“No, there’s—uh—there’s—well…” He cleared his throat. “I’m pretty sure there’s something in my shorts.”
“Okay.” I raised an eyebrow. “Just swim it off. Public displays of affection are one thing, but I’m not about to take it that far.”
“No, Sammy, not that.” He cringed. “Something that isn’t supposed to be there.”
“Huh?” I looked down at his shorts in time to see something flopping back and forth. “What is that?”
My high-pitched shriek was enough to draw the attention of people on the beach. A few chuckled, as it was easy to see that I was staring right at Max’s swim trunks when I screamed the question.
“Sammy, please—what if it bites me?” Max’s face was beet red.
“Okay, okay. Let me see if I can get it.” I slipped my hand past his waistband and felt something slimy glide right across my palm. “Oh my god, oh my god, what is that?”
Now everyone on the beach was quite interested in what we were doing.
Chapter 19
“Get it out!” Max gulped and began to wriggle in the water. He pushed my hand away and tried to grab whatever it was himself. “I can’t get it!” His eyes widened.
I knew that whatever the slimy creature was, it had just brushed against Max’s sensitive area.
“Nope, I’m getting out of the water!” Max rushed toward the beach.
I tried to catch up with him but he was much faster than me. I trudged through the water and made it to the beach out of breath and panicked.
Max was right at the edge of the water with his hands on the seat of his swimming trunks. “It’s still in there!”
I saw what looked like a tail flick through one of the legs of his shorts. “Ack!” I lunged forward and without much thought to anything other than protecting my husband’s delicate parts, I yanked down his shorts. It didn’t occur to me that there was an entire beach full of people staring at us. An eel-like fish flopped down to the water right along with Max’s swimming trunks.
“Sammy!” He gasped and covered himself as the fish flopped and wiggled its way back into the water.
Only then did the full impact of what I’d done hit me.
Max scrambled for his trunks, but they were tangled around his ankles. When he tried to grab them, he slipped in the water and lost his balance. He flopped and wriggled, much like the fish had.
As wrong as it was—as horrible a wife as it made me—laughter erupted from my tightened lips.
“Just stay still, Max.” I managed to blurt some words between giggles. In my defense, I wasn’t the only one laughing.
“Sammy! Stop laughing and help me!”
I grabbed the waistband of his swim trunks and tugged them up as hard and as fast as I could.
He groaned as I pulled them up a little too high. Luckily he was covered now, though.
As I bent down to grab his hand and pull him up out of the water, the seat of my far-too-small bathing suit suddenly became much looser. I was relieved and too busy with Max to wonder why.
I got him to his feet with laughter still bubbling up from some awful place inside me that forgot I was his wife.
He scowled at me and brushed wet sand off his chest.
“At least I got rid of the fish.” I smiled as sweetly as I could.
His cheeks were so red that they could have almost been a shade of purple.
“Everyone saw, didn’t they?”
“Yes. But so what? You have nothing to hide, Max. You’re beautiful.”
“Great, I hope you feel the same way.” He slapped my backside with a light touch.
I was amused until I realized that his skin had touched my skin. Skin. Not a bathing suit bottom. I gulped as he stalked past me toward the bungalow. With a hesitant touch I reached around to my bottom, only to find that the bathing suit had not loosened at all. It had run like a stocking, leaving big holes and a clear view of my rear end.
“Max!”
“Don’t worry about it, Sammy, you’re beautiful!” He turned back and winked at me.
Everyone on the beach was either laughing or snapping pictures. I realized in that moment that Max was just a little bit miffed at me for pantsing him in front of an audience, and for once, he was not going to come to my rescue. Either I w
as going to have to be brave enough to walk up the beach with my rear end hanging out, or I was going to have to stay in the water until everyone else left the beach, which could be hours.
“Here, sweetheart.” Michelle walked up to me with a towel. “We’ve all had these moments.”
“Really?” I looked into her eyes hopefully.
“Okay, maybe not me personally, but I’m sure someone else in this great big world has.” She smiled and patted my shoulder.
I managed to wrap the towel around my backside and made my way up to the beach. I was embarrassed, sure that Max was upset with me, and pretty upset with him for abandoning me on the beach. Our little beach vacation was not going as planned.
As I neared the bungalow I saw Max step outside with a towel and a pair of my shorts. My heart warmed as I realized that he hadn’t abandoned me at all.
“Oh, I guess you don’t need these.” He eyed me for a moment.
“I’m sorry, Max.”
“It’s alright.”
“No, it’s not.” I sighed. “I embarrassed you. This trip has been one disaster after another, and you planned it to be special. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I do the silly things I do.”
He smiled and touched my cheek. “I love the silly things you do. You don’t need to apologize to me. This trip is only a disaster if we let it be. I do recall suggesting turning the beach into a nudist beach before we even got here, remember? So we’ve accomplished that.” He grinned.
“How can you be so easygoing about things?”
“Because when I start to get annoyed—when I start to get frustrated—I look at you and realize that I’m the luckiest man in the world. How can I complain?”
“Aw, Max.” I leaned against his chest as he wrapped his arms around me. “I’m the lucky one.”
He kissed the top of my head. “Why don’t we take a break from the beach for a little while? We can go to the shops and buy you a new bathing suit. Plus, I don’t want to run into the fish again.”
“That sounds great. I’m just going to hop into the shower first.”
“Not alone you’re not.” He laughed and pulled the towel free of my waist as I walked past him into the bungalow.
Sammy in Thailand (Single Wide Female Travels #6) Page 6