‘Let’s get you back.’
‘But I—’ I wanted to stay out there and kiss him all night.
‘We can go swimming again later.’ He stepped back.
‘OK,’ I said, and was glad he kept holding my hand, feeling the warmth tingle up and down my arm.
‘Can you wait here a second?’ he asked. ‘Just stand in the shallows.’
‘A naked girl by herself at the beach? You better be quick.’ I turned to face the ocean, so no one could catch a glimpse.
He dashed off before I had a second to watch his body. I couldn’t believe this was happening. My last travel hurrah, and I was going to return with this story. What a story. My friends would never believe me.
In a few minutes he was back with two fluffy towels, one already around him, and a jumper for me.
‘Oh, and this.’ He held up a bag of chips and a bottle of whisky. ‘I nicked it from Brett’s stash.’
He held the towel around me, and then handed me my black dress, underwear and his jumper – which smelt like the ocean, and felt so warm. He took a sip of whisky and handed it to me. The liquid warmed up in seconds.
‘C’mon,’ he said. Dragging a few logs together, he started to make a fire. It was crackling in no time, and he laid out the towels for us to sit on.
‘Well, this is quite nice,’ I murmured, sitting down in front of the fire. ‘I didn’t realise it got this cool in the evenings in Fiji – isn’t it meant to be summer here all year round?’
‘Sometimes it gets cool, which is nice, because then you can cuddle up by a beach fire.’ He sat next to me, near enough to touch me. I could see the flames and reflection dancing on his face, in his eyes.
‘So, what’s your story, Emma?’ he asked.
I felt my body leaning slightly towards his. ‘Well, I’m a retired aqua aerobics World star, who’s bringing pink petal caps to the masses. And you?’
‘I’m a retired picnic rug, who got tired of people walking all over me.’
‘That’s terrible!’ We both laughed.
He paused. ‘Now, truthfully?’
‘Well, I’ve been travelling around the world for seven years, working here and there, and now here I am in Fiji.’
He gave a low whistle. ‘Wow. Seven years. I’m impressed. I think I’m heading back to London for work. Maybe via France. And Austria. Don’t tell me you’ve been there too?’
‘Why, yes, I have,’ I said and realised he was leaning close to me too. A burst of warmth and excitement spread across my chest. I wanted him to kiss me, and I didn’t even know what I was saying. I felt tongue-tied and nervous, and when I do that – I talk.
‘In fact, it sounds like you need travel advice, and, wouldn’t you know it, besides specialising in petal caps, I am a great travel guide and know lots of random facts about all kinds of things.’
‘Like?’
‘Like it would take one million two hundred thousand mosquitoes, each sucking once, to completely drain the average human of blood.’
‘Morbid, but interesting.’ He chuckled.
When we stopped talking, there was only the sound of the breeze through the palm trees.
‘How great would it be to do this, and travel, for the rest of our lives?’ I said.
‘Depends how you travel,’ he pointed out.
‘Good point. How about hiking in the wild, the mountains, waking up to fresh air and trees every morning, then a few nice hotels thrown in so you can remember what it’s like to wear a bathrobe, rather than a scratchy towel the size of a postage stamp?’
He laughed. ‘Yep, I know all about those towels. I spent some time on a boat travelling around Antarctica.’
‘Antarctica! What were you doing there?’
‘This sounds cheesy – but I took some time to volunteer with seals and penguins.’
‘Yep, you’re right, sounds very “I’m a dolphin trainer” to me,’ I said, trying not to laugh.
‘Do dolphin trainers even exist?’ he teased.
‘In every woman’s fantasy they do.’ I winked.
‘Oh, we’re sharing fantasies now!’ He laughed. ‘You do move fast.’
I playfully swatted his leg. ‘Well, right now, my fantasy would be to live by the ocean, perhaps in a palm tree.’
‘I hope you’ll wear clothes,’ he teased. ‘Could get sore.’
I suddenly became aware that I’d been completely naked before – it was strange to think that I hadn’t felt that awkward, that embarrassed, in fact I hadn’t really given it a thought.
‘I’m not the crazy idiot that decided to take off my clothes.’
‘Aren’t you?’ he asked with a smile.
‘Well.’ I nodded. ‘Perhaps I’ll call it peer pressure from a picnic rug.’
‘I’m not sure anyone would believe an inanimate object made you take off your clothes.’ Nick laughed then took a swig of whisky. There was a moment of comfortable silence between us, before he looked over at me with his gorgeous chocolate eyes. ‘So, if you could, would you stay in Fiji for a while, then?’
‘Why not? Sun, sand …’ I paused. Was it sex? God, was that the perfect trilogy?
‘And?’ he teased.
I waved my hand as if I were shooing away a fly. ‘You know the answer to that.’ Then I changed the subject. ‘So, what’s every man’s idea of a woman’s fantasy job?’
‘Well, personally speaking, I go a bit crazy for someone trekking up a mountain or taking photos in a double barrel wave.’
‘I’ve trekked through a jungle in the Amazon. Does that count?’ I asked coyly.
‘It sure does.’ He leaned in, putting his hand lightly on the small of my back. My stomach did a small flip as he asked, ‘Can I get you another whisky? Water?’
I couldn’t breathe for a second because he’d got too close, and now I could only smell the wonderful scent of his aftershave. Up close, I noticed he hadn’t shaved in a day or two and I wondered what his stubble would feel like. His perfect jaw line, his full lips.
‘I … I’ll just have a water,’ I stammered. ‘Actually, no, I’ll have a whisky.’
‘Both?’ He dug around in the bag in front of him. ‘I don’t want to get in trouble for looking like I’m trying to get you drunk.’
‘Are you?’ I teased, still thinking about his lips.
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘Yes? But more no. I mean – how can I answer that?’
He handed me the bottle of whisky. I took a sip and let the warmth flush around my body. He pointed at the stars.
‘That’s Sirius there; look closely, can you see it flashing? It’s one of the nearest stars to us, but if you are patient you’ll see it has flashes of green and blue.’
‘Now, Mr Penguin Trainer, you’re just showing off,’ I said, my head tilted to the sky, trying not to look at him.
‘Am I?’ He was staring at me, instead of the stars.
He took a deep breath and looked back at the stars. ‘Where are you headed next?’
‘Who knows?’ I shrugged, trying not to think about kissing him. ‘Alaska,’ I said dreamily, thinking about my list of places to travel next. ‘Or the Galapagos Islands.’