“Yes. And I’m still not going to start running around outside naked with you, okay?”
He laughs and picks my other towel up off the floor, taking them both back to the bathroom while I get dressed.
Without warning, the sun disappears and it begins to rain sideways into the room.
“Ahh,” I squeal, running over to the doors to close them. I fight with the wet sheers that wrap around my arms when I try to move them out of the way. “Sam,” I call as thunder crashes loudly and a flash of lightning lights up the darkened sky, making me jump.
He steps beside me, dressed in shorts now, and manages to the get doors closed with the curtains on the inside. “It’s really coming down.”
“Yeah.” I wipe my wet arms and head to the bathroom for another towel. “Guess that’s why they call it the tropics.” I dry my arms and face, inspecting my reflection in the mirror. I’m definitely not as tan as Sam—I’ve been bathing in SPF 70 all week because my skin is fair—but I like the sun-kissed glow on my cheeks.
I reach for my brush and run it through my hair, then I flip my head upside down couple of times to tousle the long pieces.
“What are you doing?”
“Flipping my hair.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I always do it. It helps it dry, I think.”
He gives me an amused look. “You’re weird. Cute, but weird.”
“I’m weird? You’re the one running around naked all the time. This isn’t The Blue Lagoon, okay?”
“You have a problem with me being naked?”
I fight hard against a smile that turns the corners of my mouth up. “No.” I wrap my arms around his waist. “I most definitely do not have a problem with it. It’s just a little unconventional.”
“That’s what’s so great about this place, Luc. There are no rules to follow. Now, I know how hard that is for you”—he narrows his eyes—“but before we leave, I want to see you throw caution to the wind.”
“You want me to get naked with you?” I say, sighing with inevitable defeat.
“Well, that’s easy.” He grins. “What I want is for you to get naked with me and go swimming, or jump in the ocean, or maybe even roll around in the sand,” he says, arching an eyebrow. “Like in The Blue Lagoon.”
“I was pretty sure I heard you snoring the other night when we watched it.”
He smirks. “I was awake for the good parts.”
“Okay.” I laugh. “I’ll consider it. But I might need a little liquid ambition before I go stripping my clothes off outside.”
He holds his chin back and says, “I think we can manage that.” He takes my hand and pulls me through the house, until we’re in the kitchen.
I follow him around the corner to the butler’s pantry, which must hold every kind of liquor there is.
Sam opens the cabinets and stands next to the wine fridge. “Pick your poison,” he says with smiling eyes.
I glance over my shoulder at the darkened windows, which are still being pelted with rain. Why not? I sigh and say, “Dealer’s choice.”
Three hurricanes and one Fireball shot later, I’m sprawled across Sam’s legs on the couch, asking, “What’s the coolest thing you did while we were apart? After, you know…”
“Prison?”
“I was going to say after you got famous.”
“Oh. Well, let’s see…I got to meet Rocky.”
I sit up straight, bumping into his hand and sloshing his drink over the side of his glass a little. “You met Rocky?” I ask, ignoring the spill. “Like, the Rocky? Sylvester Stallone?”
“Yeah. I’ve met Sly a couple of times.”
“Shut up!” I say, shoving his shoulder. “You call him Sly?”
“Yeah”—he laughs—“that’s his name.”
“Oh my, God, that is so cool. Did you tell him that you’ve loved him since you were a kid? That you wanted to be Rocky when you grew up?” I ask dramatically.
“Yeah, I mean, maybe not so enthusiastically, but I let him know he was important to me.”
I slouch against the back of the couch and whisper, “Wow.” I watch the rain coming down and sip my drink. He’s so out of my league.
“What about you? What’s the coolest thing you did while we were apart?”
“Nothing like that,” I say softly. “For me, just going to New York City for the first time was pretty incredible. Being exposed to all the culture, the diversity, the food.” I shrug. “I really love New York.”
“I’ve been a few times, but only for work. I haven’t really seen much of the city.”
“Okay,” I say, sitting up again, “we have to go together. I have to take you to the Met. If I end up going to the Aurelia Snow exhibit this summer, you are coming with me.”
“Who’s Aurelia Snow?”
“Only one of the most successful, talented modern artists in the industry. Her gallery is hosting an exhibit this summer that’s featuring emerging artists like me. It’s the one I told you about. The one I hoped my exhibit would land me an invitation to. Not so sure about that now.”
“So, we’ll go to New York anyway. I’d love to see the…whatever it’s called.”
I smile. “The Met?”
“Yeah.”
I finish my drink and stand up. “Come on,” I say, reaching for his hands.
He puts his drink down and stands up. “You want another drink?” he asks uncertainly.
I shake my fuzzy head. I’ve had enough. “No. I want to go swimming.”
“Luc, it’s still raining.”
“So what? The thunder and lightning stopped a while ago. I want to go swimming with you.” I arch an eyebrow and shimmy my shorts down my legs.
He watches me and laughs. “So just like that…all I had to do was get you drunk?”
“Yep.” I giggle and push the glass doors open, stepping out onto the cooled travertine tiles in my T-shirt and panties. “You coming or what?” I ask, leaving the covered patio and stepping out into the rain. I close my eyes and hold my arms out, and spin around.
After a few seconds, Sam catches my wrist and pulls me against his warm chest, which I can feel through the cool rain, and a soft melody begins to play through the outside speakers.
“You put on music?” I ask, smiling up at him.
“Yeah.”
The delicate plucking of guitar strings is the perfect accompaniment to the rain bouncing off the tiles at our feet. Sam holds me close and sways me back and forth to the soft male voice that croons the lyrics, You were mine, at one point in time…
My breath catches in my throat and I grip his arms tightly as we begin to slow dance in the rain under a gray-blue sky.
“Sam,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut. “I love you,” I say quietly.
He presses his hand to my back and grips my wet shirt in his hand, twisting it up in his fist as he brings his mouth to mine and kisses me slowly.
I kiss him back with everything I am, feeling the buzz of alcohol tingle on my tongue against his. My heart pounds inside my chest as the beautiful lyrics remind me of the pain we both felt without each other. What do I gotta do, to erase every piece of you?