Her Scottish Mistake (A Perfect Escape)

by Michele De Winton

  “Who said anything about going back?” He slithered off the rock and started breast-stroking back toward the shore. For a moment Janie allowed herself the simple pleasure of watching him. His arms cut through the water, his long legs kicked evenly, not breaking the surface, and the muscles in his back shivered and danced as they moved with a slick of seawater on them. Was that what perfection looked like? Apparently.

  She thought about digging her heels in—this was her dream; no one told her when to end it. But when she looked around, drinking in the beauty of the spot, she saw what Bevan had. About ten long-tail boats and as many speedboats heading toward the beach, bristling with tourists. Bevan was right: sharing this place with so many all at once would ruin it. That’s not what he said though. He’d said he didn’t want to share her. Janie gave herself a little hug and clambered back into the water. This trip was getting better than a clutch full of newborn baby snakes.

  “Come on, time for the next stop.” Bevan was already on the boat, toweling himself off.

  “Next stop?” Janie scrambled on board, then spent a moment trying to both wrap herself up and not look like a fluffy sausage in the enormous resort towel.

  “We’re going round the back of the island for a picnic.”

  Janie stood up straighter. “The back of the island, but how? No one goes there. I read all the guidebooks and everything I could find online. No one ever mentions the back of the island.”

  “Which is why we’re going there. Ready? You might want to sit down.” Too late. Tuan revved the engine and Janie toppled about as elegantly as a stack of reptile scat as the boat swung around and headed back toward the incoming onslaught of tourists.

  It was only a short trip compared to the first one of the day, but Janie had to stop herself after her twentieth “wow.” Whatever Bevan had done to get them this tour had to have been illegal. It was definitely outside the resort’s itinerary and it wasn’t on her to-do list, but then again, Bevan hadn’t been on her to-do list until yesterday, and now…wow, again.

  Tuan killed the motor, and she looked about. “Um, I don’t think we’re there yet.”

  The driver shook his head and gestured at the cliffs in front of them.

  “Yep. Like I said. Not there yet,” Janie said.

  “I think he begs to differ,” Bevan said with a drawl that was two parts Sean Connery and ten parts James Bond.

  She raised an eyebrow then remembered she was wearing big sunglasses. “There’s no beach. Obviously there’s no beach. But there’s nowhere to get to shore. When you said the other side, I thought there would be, something, you know, like to walk on.”

  Bevan laughed. “There’s a cave over there, see it?” He pointed to a dark hole in the face of the sheer cliff.

  “We’re going to swim through a cave? Are you kidding me?”

  “He assures me it’s the most amazing thing you’ll do in Thailand and, while I’m not sure I believe that for a second, I figure it’ll be something I’ll never get to do again. And there’s no one else here to disturb us. Come on.” Bevan stripped off his T-shirt again and pointed to the water. The driver nodded wildly, his face split in a grin.

  Janie put her hand on his arm. “There’s nowhere to swim to. And what’s to stop him leaving us here and stealing all your money? Sorry.” She turned to Tuan, uncertain of his grasp of English. “But you could.”

  He laughed. “I come too,” he said and as if to prove a point, dived off the boat, fully clothed and with a small bag still strapped to his back.

  “What? Wait, where is he going?” She turned back to Bevan.

  “I think we’re about to find out. Come on.”

  “But how will we… Where are we? He hasn’t even anchored the boat properly.”

  Bevan took her hand. “It’s a sea anchor.” He pointed to the rope snaking out the back of the boat. “We’ll be fine. If you get freaked out, we’ll come back, but look down.” Janie looked into the water, which was so clear you could almost see the individual grains of sand on the bottom. “Don’t you want to get in that?”

  Janie nodded and took off her sunglasses.

  “Race you then.” Bevan jumped off the boat, leaving Janie no option but to climb in after the two men or sit like a party pooper, alone on the boat. Trip of a lifetime, girl. Better get your adventure pants on.

  The two men were already ahead of her, and there was no way Janie wanted to be left behind in the ocean, clear or not, so she kicked hard and swam to catch up.

  The boat driver stopped at the entrance of the cave, holding on to a rock as the water bobbed him up and down. The cave was dark. Black. For a moment, Janie almost turned back. She grabbed on to the rock too, steadying herself and caught her breath. “What if the tide comes up? What if we get trapped in there? I mean, we’re practically in the middle of the ocean. No one knows where we are.”

  Tuan shook a finger at her and pointed out behind her and then to the water.

  “The tide’s on the way out?”

  She was rewarded by a big smile and his nodding head. “Very safe. Very beautiful,” he said.

  Bevan swam over to her. A wave came in and she was pushed against his bare chest, her hand sliding against smooth, cool muscle. Don’t drool. But it was hard not to feel slightly light-headed as the blood rushed immediately to her groin. Again.

  Another wave came and he slid an arm around her waist, drawing them both against the smooth rock to stop the water from pulling at them.

  OMG, OMG, OMG. Janie closed her eyes and tried to steel herself to make the next move, because that was a move, wasn’t it?

  “You okay?” he asked, his mouth now close enough to her ear that she could feel his breath on her cheek.

  “Um. Yes. Sorta. It looks really dark.”

  “I did say we didn’t have to do this if you don’t want to. But I’m not going to lie. I really want to get in there and swim through. There’s a beach on the other side. Can you believe it?”

  No. No, she could not believe it. But she also did not want to disappoint McDashing, and she did not want to be left out here alone. “You’re sure?”

  He pulled a little away from her and the loss of contact yanked at something hot inside her and made her hand reach out for him in the water all on its own.

  “We go now. Not wait.” Tuan waved animatedly at her.

  “I can swim you back to the boat if you want me to, but I’d really like to see it.” Bevan’s eyes flashed blue, and all she wanted was to have them locked on hers. On dry land. With no one else around.

  “Or if you’re not putting on a show and you’re frightened, we can forget the whole thing.”

  Two-Minute Tom’s voice echoed in her head. Deep down you just want to play it safe. To get married, have kids, stay in Little Acre. This blog of yours is a joke. You’re just doing it because you think you should. I want more adventure, and you don’t have it in you. Janie clenched her jaw. She did have adventure in her, dammit. No way was she going back to the boat. “I’m coming with you. All the way,” she said, and was impressed with how brave she’d managed to fake her voice.

  In the cave, the darkness enveloped them immediately, but the boat driver kept up a steady chatter to make sure they had his voice to follow. Janie paddled along, breaststroking to keep her head up and not touch…anything. Her heart’s hammering wasn’t due to Bevan anymore. The images of all the things that could be alive and well in the black cave flickered through her head with their teeth, claws, and stingers all poised ready to attack. But after only thirty seconds she realized it wasn’t completely dark. The light from the entranceway behind them filtered into the gloom, and ahead there was light.

  “Can you see it?” Bevan’s voice echoed in the small chamber and warmed Janie instantly. She was okay. They were okay. Nothing was going to eat them. “Yeah,” she said. “I didn’t think I could see anything at first, but I can see it now.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  His words landed right where Jan
ie needed them and pushed away the last of her fear, replacing it with a glitter of excitement that pushed gleeful fingers through her muscles, making her speed up. My girl. Being Bevan MacGreggor’s girl was something she was most definitely up for, for as long as it was on offer.

  In no time at all, the light from the other end of the cave tunnel took over, and Janie could see the perfectly formed beach approaching. When she stepped up on the sand and spun around, she did almost burst out in song. It was, quite simply, perfection.

  It was Maya Beach in miniature, just without the palm trees or the threat of tourists arriving. Because apart from the tunnel they’d swum through, there didn’t seem to be any way in. Somehow, the water had etched away at the stone and made this little circle of isolated paradise deep in its center. The cliffs dropped down on one side, and people might have been able to trek in from there, but a thick network of vines made it look pretty impossible.

  “This is more like it. Nice work, Tuan,” Bevan said to the boat driver. For a moment, the three of them stood around and soaked it up. “All for us.” Bevan’s voice was full of satisfaction, and again, his use of a pronoun that included her in his thoughts with such obvious enjoyment gave Janie a thrill.

  “It’s like the cliffs decided to make a nest for it. For the beach,” Janie said.

  Bevan laughed, but softly. “Something like that, yep, something just like that. Nature. Bloody incredible isn’t it?”

  “Better than the movies,” Janie said, and for a moment she thought Bevan stiffened. Weird. But when she checked again, she decided she must have imagined it.

  “I promised you a picnic, didn’t I?” he asked, and she frowned. “You’ve been generous enough. This place is amazing. I thought I had all the best spots covered on my to-do list, but I never would have seen it, or even dreamed it, without you. ”

  He chuckled, low and dark. “That’s what I was going for, stuff of dreams.”

  Well, he was doing it right, that was for sure. Because as if her stomach had heard the word “picnic,” it gave a mighty growl.

  “Seems the lady would like a picnic after all. What have we got?”

  The boat driver pulled the bag off his back, and Janie realized it was a waterproof pouch.

  “I didn’t really have much breakfast in the end,” Janie said quietly as he pulled out some thin rolled-up pancakes, roti, what looked like green mango salad, and a plastic-lidded container, steamed up.

  “How did you organize all this?” She turned to Bevan in amazement.

  “You were faffing about below decks with your bag. Our man Tuan here grabbed the food from the stall his wife runs down on the beach. There’s always a few local stalls if you look for them, but no one usually does at those resorts, they just want a home away from home but with a beach.” He sat on the sand with Tuan and pulled a corner off the edge of one of the roti. “Oh that’s good. Your wife’s a good cook, man.”

  Tuan beamed.

  Could the guy get any more perfect? Janie looked shyly at Bevan from under her eyelashes. What was the catch? “You’re being awfully nice to me when all I managed to do was spill my drink on you and ruin your shirt. What’s the deal? Should I be worried?”

  He grinned up at her. “Fair comment. I’m just trying to make the most of a random situation. I’m here alone. You’re here alone. And it looks like we’re going to be the only ones like that in the whole resort. Couples resort, phfft, bloody stupid idea.”

  Janie laughed. If she believed in fate, Bevan MacGreggor would definitely be in the “meant to be” box. And if she was going to prove to Two-Minute Tom and herself that she had more adventure in her than anyone gave her credit for, this was her chance. She sat next to Bevan looking for a way to make her move. And as she did the sun shifted and sent beams of golden sunshine streaming down into their little haven as if spotlighting the beach. Janie sighed. “That’s it,” she said. “I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

  Bevan lay back against the warm sand and folded his arms behind his head. Okay, so now I’ve died and gone to heaven. His chest opened up when he lay like that, exposing the sculpted muscle of his biceps and that perfect handful of deliciousness at the side of a guy’s pecs that transforms a great chest into a drool-worthy one.

  This was it. She lay down next to him and rolled onto her side so she could lean over and kiss him, but he interrupted. “So tell me, without it sounding like the worst pickup line of all time, what’s a beautiful, smart woman like you doing here all alone?”

  Okay, so he deserved the truth on that one after making all this happen. Nonetheless, she chose her words carefully so she didn’t scare him off before she’d even gotten to first base. “I had to get out of town. My ex was getting married and everyone was invited. Everyone. Chances of me enjoying those nuptials were about as high as my pa accepting the fact that I’m a better mechanic than my brother.”

  She was gratified that he chuckled and didn’t question her mechanical abilities. His silence urged her on. “I was supposed to save for another year so I could stay longer, but I had to get out.” She shrugged. “I might be able to save up again and come back. See the bits I missed. You never know. The world might hand me a lottery ticket with all the right numbers.” Her heart shrank a little as she spoke. The chances of her making it back here weren’t very high.

  Bevan’s silence urged her on. “After my mom died I made a deal with Pop. I would work with snakes for a couple years—I think he wanted to say so I could get it out of my system, but he was too polite—and when my brother went to college I would come work for him full-time. Do the books, run the shop.”

  “And show off your skills with a wrench? That sounds kinda fun.”

  “Oh, not quite. Girls don’t fix tractors. Not in Little Acre. No one would trust me with their precious baby. I get that Pop couldn’t put me on the shop floor.”

  Bevan frowned. “Man, that sounds lame. I’m sorry. But wouldn’t you be able to save some travel money doing that?”

  “We’re family. Paychecks for family don’t feature high on his priority list.”

  “But that’s not fair. The whole thing makes your pa sound like a right dinosaur. Surely he must know that. Why don’t you say no?”

  “Someone has to make sure he takes his heart medication and someone has to run the shop. I love my brothers, but they’re useless. I couldn’t leave Pop alone. Not without earning a bunch of cash so I knew he was being looked after. The plan was that I’d marry Two-Minute Tom one day, have babies, make my mom’s chili for everyone and be on call to run my family and Pop’s shop when he retired.” She took a deep breath. “But then the plan changed.”

  “Two-Minute Tom.” Bevan chuckled. “Sorry, I don’t mean to laugh at your misfortune, but that’s a name and a half. Remind me not to piss you off.”

  Janie forced herself to smile brightly. “Anyway, why are we talking about this? I came here to get away from it all.”

  “Too right. Here, have another piece of this stuff. Rostie? Although it doesn’t look like any type of tattie I’ve seen before.”

  Janie laughed. “It’s a roti. Flatbread. Not a potato.”

  “Oh, right.”

  The tightness in her chest that always came when she thought of what lay back home for her dissipated, and Janie looked into the cool blue eyes of the guy who seemed determined to fit every stereotype of Prince Charming she could think of. He looked up at her and the world narrowed. The gold in the sunlight intensified, the air stilled, the sea even quieted its hush over the sand at their feet. All there was, was Bevan. The flicker of tension under his jaw, the glint in his eyes, the smile over his lips. His pupils widened, their centers black, deep, ready. Now! This was it! She leaned in, her breath tight, every muscle in her body coiled, ready to start something she was damn well going to finish…

  “Snake. Snake.” Tuan had gone to the back of their enclosed beach, exploring the stack of rocks and branches that must have tumbled down from the cliffs above at some sta
ge. Now though, he ran toward them. “We go. Deadly. Very bad. Come.” He started packing up the remains of their picnic, but Janie stood up, looking to where he had been pointing. A banded snake slithered onto the sand, forming itself into an S shape. It opened its mouth wide, the black inside as ominous as the cave they’d swum through had seemed initially. Janie breathed out. “It’s okay. It’s a Boiga dendrophila melanota.”

  Both men looked at her blankly.

  “A banded mangrove snake. They’re harmless enough, but they do bite. Best you leave him alone.”

  “No, no. Poison. Kill you.”

  Janie waved an arm. “It’s okay, I promise. Not deadly.”

  Bevan had gotten to his feet when the boat driver had come running and now took her hand. “Not to be questioning you, snake girl, but how long have you been in Thailand? You don’t think the local probably knows his local snakes?”

  “It’s an easy mistake to make,” Janie said. “It looks almost the same as a krait—Bungarus fasciatus. Apparently, it happens all the time and the poor snake gets its head hammered with a rock because it looks similar.”

  Both men still looked at her blankly. Damn. Why had she pulled her snake girl out of the bag? Bevan might have said it was sexy, but the reality probably wasn’t quite the same.

  “Either way, probably better we head back,” she said, squeezing his hand. His face couldn’t have shown his relief more clearly than if he’d gotten a pen and written “Thank God” on his forehead.

  Swimming through the dark wasn’t the adrenaline buzz it had been the first time, perhaps because she knew what lay at the end. And perhaps because the appearance of the snake reminded her of her real life. A real life where five years was already too much time to have spent on a blog that wasn’t even close to making money. A real life that Bevan most certainly wasn’t part of. He wasn’t a real Prince Charming. This was all going to end, and she was going to go back to being ordinary Janie. The one who would be heading back to Little Acre, forever, to honor the memory of her mother and look after Pop the way she would have.