Chapter Two

 I stretched out on my towel, and then sat up, digging my feet into the sand at the edge of my towel. The sand burned a little, but the heat felt so good on my skin. I couldn’t believe how much I was enjoying being on the beach. The ocean sparkled in the tropical sun, the sand glowed with sunlight. Gulls called in the distance, but the constant breathing of the ocean was all I wanted to hear. I never wanted to stop hearing it.

I was almost alone on the beach. A single figure walked along the waterline to my right, and the couple staying in the cabana next to mine played in the water to my left. Other than that, the beach was empty as most of the resort guests preferred the pool with the swim up bar. I didn’t quite understand why they all preferred being on display in a crowded pool when the ocean was right here, but I was happy to have the beach to myself.

I smoothed the front of my swimsuit self-consciously. It was expensive, but the 1940s style cut flattered my curves. “You just have real curves,” a friend had once said when I complained about how I looked. I was never going to be model thin. I did try to take care of myself, but I was never quite happy with my body shape. I tried not to let it bother me, but swimsuits were always dangerous ground. I thought this swimsuit accentuated the curves I liked and hid the ones I didn’t. So far, it was worth every penny.

I watched the couple splash for a moment, the girl shrieking with delight as the man tried to dunk her under the water. I felt a surge of jealousy. I had technically won a trip for two, but I had come alone.

I lived by myself, had no boyfriend, and my older sister who was supposed to come with me had gotten appendicitis and had to cancel at the last minute. It was easy enough to cancel the reservation for her, but it meant that no one else was able to get the time off to go with me. I was on my own for this trip. I sighed and turned away from the happy couple. Valentine’s Day had only been a couple of weeks ago, and I didn’t want another reminder that I was alone.

I looked towards the solitary figure in the other direction. It was a man, at least good looking from the distance, but unhappy about something. It was subtle, but the way he kicked at the waves and clenched his hands, I could tell he was not enjoying his vacation. I wasn’t sure how that was possible in a place like this, but I wasn’t about to let a stranger ruin my good mood. He was walking slowly towards my spot on the beach, lost in his own thoughts.

I pressed the small clicker the bar had given me for "beach service", knowing they would bring me a fresh piña colada in minutes. This really was a slice of heaven.

“Help! Somebody, help! HELP!” A scream came from the water, high pitched and full of fear. I jerked up, knocking my sunglasses off my face. The girl was screaming and thrashing in the water. My first thought was a shark, but the water was still crystal blue. She was struggling with the man’s limp body towards shore, screaming as she battled the waves.

I was up in a heartbeat and racing towards her to help. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the solitary man running in the same direction I was headed. I crashed into the shallow waves, the first touch of the warm water surprising me. I had expected it to be cold, but it felt more like bathwater. I reached the girl quickly and grabbed hold of her boyfriend’s arm to help drag him into shore.

“What happened?” I shouted as we pulled his dead weight through the water.

“I don’t know! One minute he was under the water, and the next he was just floating there. I thought he was just playing, but, oh God...” she cried softly. The solitary man reached us, not even breathing hard despite the fact he had sprinted down the beach. Between the three of us, we maneuvered the unconscious man onto the beach, his feet still in the waves as I bent to check his pulse.

I couldn’t find it. I wasn’t sure if I was too excited and was missing it, or if I really couldn’t find one. Either way, I knew what I had to do. It was more instinct than actual thought; I placed one hand on the other and began pumping his chest, humming an old Bee Gee’s song under my breath. The girl started screaming again and Solitary Man quickly grabbed her and took her up higher on the beach, asking her questions. I could barely hear them, like they were in a far away dream as I concentrated on making my thrusts deep and even.

“Does he have any heart conditions?”

“I don’t know... wait, yes! He said it wasn’t a problem though!”

“Is he on any medications? Even stuff that he wasn’t prescribed?”

“No, no... Well, he took something today. A little blue pill. It’s our first vacation together and we didn’t think it would cause any harm! Oh god, why did I let him take it?”

The man underneath my fingers suddenly lurched and gasped. I quickly rolled him on his side, just in time, as he vomited salt water and whatever he had for lunch all over the beach. I rocked back on my heels, suddenly light headed. My shoulders and back ached; I hadn’t realized how hard I had been pushing. The girl was screaming again, but this time with joy as she rushed over to check on him.

A uniformed man came running towards me carrying a big red medical bag. Another man carrying an orange back-board was hot on his heels. I stood up and backed away slowly in a haze, letting the professionals take over. They spoke quickly between themselves, efficiently transferring the man onto the back-board and hooking up a blood pressure cuff and other monitoring devices. Before I had cleared my thoughts enough to understand what was going on, they were already halfway up the beach to a waiting ambulance. They passed by a confused looking waiter with a piña colada walking towards my empty towel on the beach.

I brushed the hair out of my eyes, suddenly realizing I had lost my sunglasses. I glanced around the beach, but couldn’t see them anywhere. A kernel of irritation welled up inside my chest; I really liked those sunglasses. I kicked at the sand before realizing that my sunglasses weren’t important. I giggled a little; I had just saved a man’s life, but my issue with the day was about my missing sunglasses. People lose sunglasses all the time, but very few people randomly save a stranger on their vacation.

“That was amazing,” a deep voice said by my shoulder. I spun around quickly to see Solitary Man smiling at me.

“Oh, um, thanks. I didn’t even really have time to think about it to be honest. I just reacted,” I said, a little flustered. Up close, he was really handsome. Like movie star handsome. He had a white t-shirt that did nothing to hide his muscles and dark blue swim trunks that looked expensive. He ran a hand through sandy hair, his eyes twinkling at me.

“Well, I think you saved his life. Not a bad thing to tell the folks at home about your vacation. You did really well,” he said. His eyes were focused solely on me, like I could be the center of his world. I fidgeted with my foot in the sand, embarrassed by his praise.

“Thank you. You helped. You kept his girlfriend from completely freaking out,” I said quickly. I could still feel my heart pounding a million miles a minute and I wasn’t completely sure the whole thing hadn’t been a crazy dream. Adventure never happened to me. I was always the one who came in five minutes after the excitement ended, not the person living it. Once again everything felt surreal.

“I think it was his wife. She had a big diamond on her finger,” he said with a smile. “I’m Jack by the way. Jack Saunders.”

“Emma. Emma LaRue,” I replied and shook his outstretched hand. His skin was warm and his grip firm. I felt a strange tingle run through my fingers as we touched, like we were completing a circuit. He smiled and repeated my name, still holding onto my hand.

“Emma. Well, it is very nice to meet you, Emma. Are you staying at the resort here?” He asked. I nodded and held up my other wrist with the pink bracelet.

“Yup. How about you?”

“No, I am staying at a house on the beach a little further down,” he said, jerking his head back in the direction he had come from. He still hadn’t let go of my hand and I wasn’t about to complain. I found myself wanting to touch even more of him.

“Oh, that must be nice. The houses I saw on the way in looked very nice,” I said, instantly sounding dumb in my head. I needed to find a new adjective. I let myself off the hook for it though. I was still a little shell shocked. He sighed and let go of my hand.

“I am actually trying to escape it right now,” he said, his smile gone. It was like the sun had dipped behind a cloud when he stopped smiling.

“It can’t be that bad,” I said, hoping he would smile again.

“I came with someone, and I thought we were going to have a good time, but it has been miserable. I couldn’t stay in the house with her a second longer,” he said with a grimace.

“Girlfriend?” I asked, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice. If he was here with someone, then I probably would never see him again. I had only known him for less than five minutes, but I never wanted him to leave.

“Secretary. I thought maybe the cliché would work, but it’s no fun out of the office,” he said. He shook his head and shrugged. I nodded. He had a secretary. Those swim shorts probably were as expensive as they looked.

“So you just left her?”

“She’s out admiring the pool boy and still hung over from last night. It hasn’t been the best vacation of my life,” he said. “Our conversation has been the most civil one I’ve had all day,” he said looking directly into my eyes.

“That is no vacation. Vacations are supposed to be fun. You know, maybe even save a life or something,” I said coyly. I was never very good at flirting, but I didn’t want him to leave. I wanted to talk to him all day. I asked the first thing I could think of to get him to stay, “You want a drink?”

He laughed. “A drink sounds great.”

We walked over to my towel, the piña colada melting quickly in the sun. I smiled sheepishly at the melted drink, and bent to pick up the clicker from my towel.

“I’ll get you a fresh one,” I said quickly.

“We can split this one until it comes, You look like you could use a sip. Besides, I’m in no hurry; I’m on vacation,” he said, settling into the sand and taking a big sip of the slushy drink. I hit the clicker and sat down next to him. He handed me the drink and I took a small sip off the side.

“How did the ambulance get here so quick?” I asked. Now that a couple of minutes had passed and the adrenaline was wearing down, I felt the weight of what had happened hit me. I was glad I was sitting. I took another bigger sip. I was sure I was going to wake up any moment. How could this be happening? I had saved someone’s life and was now sitting next to the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. My life was not this exciting or this good.

“I called it. I heard her screaming and then you took off like a bat out of hell,” he said nonchalantly as he gently took the glass from my hand and took another sip.

“You have a phone that works out here? That must cost an arm and a leg. My phone company said mine wouldn’t work on the island,” I said. He handed me the drink and I took a big sip this time. My nerves still felt frayed, but with him sitting next to me, it still felt too dream-like for me to worry about it.

“The downside of my business; even on vacation, I have to carry a phone.” He took the drink back and took another swallow. It was almost half gone at this point.

“What do you do?”

“I work for my father’s company. What do you do?” he said, dodging my actual question. He looked at me like I should know who he was, but I didn’t press him for more. He was on vacation and didn’t want to talk about work. I could understand that.

“I'm a vet tech,” I answered and reached for the drink.

“So, you work with animals?” He asked, waiting for me to finish swallowing so I could answer.

“Yup. I love it. I'm actually in the process of applying for Veterinary School,” I said proudly.

“So you want to be a vet? That sounds like a great job. I wanted to be a doctor when I was a kid,” he finished off the last of the drink and set the glass in the sand. “But with my dad’s business, that was never really an option. I hope you do it though. If you can save animals like you save people, you’ll be great.”

“Thanks. I sure hope so,” I said with a smile. He glanced over at me, his brows darkening slightly as he thought of something.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how can you afford this vacation? I can’t imagine vet techs make enough to go on vacations to an exclusive resort very often,” he said. His outward appearance never changed, but a current of tension wound through him, as though he suspected something.

“You want to know my age and weight too?" I asked with a smirk. He managed to look slightly abashed, but obviously still wanted an answer. It seemed strange, but it was a question I would ask if I were on a super expensive resort too. I was an interloper on this island.

"I actually won this trip — a radio station call in thing. My sister was supposed to come with me, but she got sick at the last minute. There is no way I would ever be able to afford anything like this otherwise,” I said before realizing I had just told him I was poor and very alone here. I smiled nervously and hoped he didn’t notice.

“So you’re here alone?” he asked, raising his eyebrows. No such luck there.

“Um, well, the resort is keeping track of me, so I’m not really alone,” I tried to backpedal. A quick pulse of terror pushed through me, but I fought it down. Telling things like that to a complete stranger, no matter how good looking, was not a good way to stay safe. My dad would have killed me if he knew I was telling people I was here by myself.

“No, no, that’s good. I was afraid you were here with a husband or boyfriend.”

“Husband? No. With work and applying to vet schools, I haven’t even had time to go on a date in months,” I said. I hoped he didn’t think I sounded pathetic. He laughed and leaned back on his elbows, the tension gone from him again.

“I hear you on the too busy thing. Why do you think I came with my secretary? She's the only person I see on a daily basis I felt like I could ask,” he laughed and then scowled at the thought of his secretary. “I thought there would be more to her away from work, but she is so boring. She's almost too perfect if you know what I mean.”

I laughed and nodded. “I’m sorry she is ruining your vacation.”

“Well, suddenly I don’t feel like it is ruined.” He smiled and I doubted it was possible for him to be more handsome. “Especially now that we have another drink,” he said with a wink as the resort waiter appeared with a fresh piña colada. He thanked the waiter and handed him a couple of dollar bills. The waiter smiled and promised to bring more whenever we buzzed again. I waited for him to leave before turning to Jack.

“I didn’t know we were supposed to tip them. When they said ‘all expenses paid’ I thought that included tips,” I said, mortified. My face felt on fire with my blush. Jack laughed and handed me the drink.

“You don’t have to tip them. I did because I’m not a guest here and I would like him to keep bringing us drinks,” he said with a tilt of his head.

“That’s good. For a minute there, I was thinking I was the worst guest ever. So, you wanted to be a doctor?” I asked, changing the subject and hoping my blush would fade.

“Yeah. I liked the idea of helping people and really making a difference in someone’s life. Like what you did for the guy on the beach. I would do that every day if I could,” he said.

“I just realized I never got his name. I hope he is alright,” I said playing with the edge of my towel. “So what stopped you from following your dream?”

“My parents. Specifically, my dad’s company,” he sighed. “I am their oldest child, so it was made pretty clear that I would someday take over the company. I don’t really have the option not to at this point.”

“That’s too bad. Maybe you could find a way to combine it? I don’t know what your dad’s company does, but maybe there is a way to help people with it. Or, you could always volunteer or donate to something that does,” I sipped the drink before handing it back to Jack.

“No one has ever made it sound so easy. You are the first person to actually make me believe I could do something like that,” he said softly. He smiled, his eyes lighting up. They were a combination of green and brown, a hazel that couldn’t decide what color it wanted to be. A girl could lose herself in those eyes.

“Anytime,” I said with a smile. He handed me the cold glass and I sipped on the sweet liquid. “You said you were the oldest? How many siblings do you have?”

“Just one. A younger brother.”

“Are you close?” I took another sip before setting the drink carefully in the sand.

“Not really. He's almost seven years younger than me, and the expectations my parents have for him are very different than the ones they have for me.” Jack shifted in the sand, a sadness in the subtle motion.

“They don't expect much of him, but they expect everything of you.”

Jack looked at me surprised. “That's it exactly! How did you figure that out?”

“Easy. That's how it is in my world too. Only, I'm the younger sibling.” I shrugged and Jack nodded.

“What does your sister do that makes them not expect much of you?” Jack asked.

“She works in the ER as a physician assistant. My dad is a dentist and I think he kind of assumed that his kids would both go into some sort of medicine. I'm not exactly following that trend.”

“You're going into animal medicine, doesn't that count?” He leaned back on his elbows, the shirt barely disguising a perfect six pack. I looked out to the ocean so I wouldn't stare.

“Apparently not enough. It's not a big deal though.” I suddenly realized that this was a more serious topic than I had intended and I quickly added, "I didn't mean to put my problems on you. I just meant to say that I understand the family dynamic.”

“You're fine. It is actually nice to hear it from the other side. My brother and I don't get the chance to talk much. I've always felt a little guilty about it. I think he has a hard time with it sometimes. More drink?” He held up the nearly empty glass and I nodded, clicking the little button for another.

It felt so peaceful sitting on the beach with Jack. It was like we had known each other forever, like we had always been friends. He had an easygoing charm that made it easy to talk to him, and his laugh made my insides melt. We passed the drink back and forth, ordered another, and then another, talking and laughing.

We talked about everything and nothing at the same time. Our conversation drifted easily from topic to topic, from the weather to our childhoods to what we wanted from the future. It was like catching up with an old friend who really did want to know how life was going. I learned that Jack came from a wealthy family and he was expected to take over his father’s company in the next year. It sounded like this was going to be his last vacation for a long while. He was very careful never to say what his company was, and I didn’t pry. He grew up with privilege and was fascinated by my stories of growing up “normal.”

“I can’t imagine your life,” he said lying back on the sand. He closed his eyes and obviously tried to imagine it. “Used cars, paying rent, ramen noodles, no one hounding you for money all the time... it sounds great.”

“No, we get hounded for money all the time, but we actually owe people the money, and don’t have it,” I said. He laughed and opened his eyes to look at me as I spoke. “I can’t imagine your life — no worries about what bill to pay first, expensive clothes, vacations like this,” I gestured to the beach. “Want to switch for a little while?”

Jack rolled onto his side, propped his head on his elbow, and smiled at me. The sun was beginning to set, and the soft reds and golds highlighted his features and glinted off his hair. I felt my breath go short. I had never met a man with a smile like that; I would have followed him around like a puppy for that smile. I felt my cheeks go red and I dropped my eyes, pretending the sand was fascinating.

“Would you be interested in joining me for dinner tonight?” Jack asked, his eyes still trained on my face. I couldn’t help it, but my cheeks went redder. I was interested in doing anything with him.

“Won’t your secretary mind?”

“I think she is going to be finishing her vacation without me. I think I will be eating here at the resort — I am enjoying your company,” he said. I glanced up and saw his eyes were almost golden in the setting sun, and completely serious.

“Sure,” I said slowly. Normal me would have found a reason to back out. Normal me would have been afraid. Vacation me wanted the adventure. Vacation me wasn’t about to let an opportunity to have dinner with a gorgeous man pass by because I was scared. Besides, what’s the worst that could happen? “I’ll have to let the resort know.”

“I’ll call the resort and set it up. It shouldn’t be a problem. By the way, you should put some sunscreen on tomorrow. I think your cheeks might be burning,” he said as he sat up. Small flecks of sand stuck to his skin and shirt as he stood up. They sparkled in the setting sun, and glistened like falling jewels as he brushed them off. He pulled a phone out of his pocket and searched through a contacts list before putting it to his ear. I was right outside my cabana house, so I stood up and grabbed the towel and clicker. I quickly went to my porch and ducked inside to change for dinner. Everything was going so well. I was taking a handsome man to dinner, and who knew where the night could end up.