I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. When my thigh rubbed against Mac’s again, fire shot straight to my core and I had to bite my lip to keep a moan from escaping.
This was wrong. No matter how right it felt. My stomach twisted itself in a knot. I looped the strap of my purse over my shoulder and spoke to Mac without making eye contact. “Could you let me out, please? I’m not feeling well.”
“Oh, no! What’s wrong?” Parker’s frown was genuine.
Mac moved immediately, allowing me to slide out of the booth and stand on somewhat trembly legs. When he took a step back and his eyes passed over me, he wore an odd expression. Something I didn’t recognize.
“I’m sorry. I have to go.”
And that was how I ran from Mac the hulky firefighter for the second time in twenty four hours.
I probably should’ve been embarrassed, and maybe later I would be, but at that moment I was just relieved to get away. There was something about Mac that made me want to cross all kinds of boundaries and compromise my morals in all sorts of ways.
I quickly made my way down Main Street, crossed over to the west side of the island, and strolled back along the beach. My nerves were jangled. I felt too raw and exposed to want to return to my room and stare at the walls just yet.
When my phone buzzed, I prayed it wasn’t Adam. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him right then, not with my thoughts going haywire.
The screen said Ben, which meant it was either my brother Pierce or my cousin Ben. They were an overprotective couple of idiots, and since the two of them were always together, they often used one another’s phones.
“Is this Thing One or Thing Two?”
“Rude. If I didn’t love you so much, I might not like you.” It was Ben.
“Good comeback.”
Ben grunted. “You want my come back, you’ll have to scrape it off yo’ mama’s teeth.”
“Ew, gross! That’s your aunt, you freak.” I grinned. “I’m scarred for life now from that mental image.”
I found a shady spot under a couple palm trees, and plopped down in the sand. “Let me see… Before you ask, yes, I’ve been locking my door. No, there’s no one I find creepy. No, I don’t feel in danger. Yes, the town seems safe. Yes, I’m eating and practicing self-care. No, I haven’t had unprotected sex and gotten knocked up by a total stranger.” I didn’t mention that there seemed to be a perfect candidate on the island.
“Well, thank you for easing my mind, but that wasn’t why I called.”
Grinning, I hugged my knees, and stared out at the ocean. “What do you want then?”
“Just checking in.”
“Ben?”
“Fine. We heard that you and Adam are having troubles.”
“Oh, why don’t you two mind your own damned business?” The fact that Ben and Price were acquaintances of Adam and thought he walked on water was another thing tying me to the man. He was the first guy they welcomed. Probably because they hadn’t yet seen through his big bank account and phony bologna charm.
They were way too protective of a fully-capable, adult woman, but due to my past, I had difficulty convincing them I wasn’t as naive as they seemed to think I was.
When I’d shot to fame as a recording artist almost overnight, I very quickly found myself isolated and protected from the outside world by my family. If I did go anywhere, I had bodyguards. I hated every second of it. As my contract went up for renewal, neither the record company nor my agent was at all pleased when I decided that the limelight wasn’t for me and I bowed out. Price and Ben, however, both stood beside me, and for that I’d always be grateful.
I had found it stressful living the life of a celebrity and had longed for a normal life—fixing dinner for my husband, reading bedtime stories to our children, PTA meetings, and family vacations. I got rid of the celebrity status but, at over forty, I hadn’t achieved that life I’d envisioned.
“I’ve got to go.”
“Fine, but I also wanted to remind you to pick us up in the morning. Our flight gets in at 11.”
“Whatever. I’ll think about it.”
I hung up. Ben’s call helped distract me a little, but thoughts about Mac were still running rampant in my brain. Inhaling deeply, I filled my lungs with salty ocean air. Ugh! Even the scent of the sea reminded me of Mac.
He is a stranger!
This obsession with him was ridiculous. And it wasn’t right. I should be thinking about Adam, not Mac. I was supposed to feel this way about—
I groaned aloud. Of course. It was probably my dissatisfaction with Adam and our relationship that had me manufacturing this extreme attraction to a man I barely knew. Sure, Mac was hot and all, but simply put, Mac was the grass on the other side of the fence. He looked greener, but eventually he’d need fertilizer too.
The sound of water splashing nearby caused my head to swing in its direction just in time to witness a polar bear break the surface and lumber out of the ocean onto the sand. Nice.
Wait, what?
Heart jackhammering in my chest, I slid farther under the cover of shade. My breath caught in my throat. I would have screamed, but I was too afraid. I was going to be eaten by a polar bear.
Wait, why was there a polar bear in the tropics?
I thought back to the only beverage I’d consumed at Mimi’s Cabana, a diet coke. Had it been spiked with something? Some sort of hallucinogen? It hadn’t tasted funny.
The blood rushed to my head. I was going to pass out.
My stomach did a flip. I was going to throw up.
Then, before I could either pass out or throw up, the polar bear vanished—just vanished, and right where he’d been standing was a naked man.
Blink... Blink… Blink…
The man stretched, yawned, scratched under his ball sack, then jogged off down the beach.
Blink... Blink… Blink…
What did I just see? My brain felt like an old Commodore 64 with dial up internet. I was not computing. Polar bears didn’t live in Florida. A polar bear should not be emerging from the Gulf of Mexico. But that wasn’t at all weird compared to seeing a polar bear turn into a man.
I rubbed my forehead. Polar bears did not turn into men, Mel. That could not have really happened.
I felt dizzy. Confused. Dizzy with confusion.
Was I hyperglycemic? Hallucinations could be a symptom of dangerously high blood sugar. I rifled around in my purse for my monitor and checked my sugar. 90 mg/dL, normal.
Struggling to my feet, I stumbled toward the bed and breakfast, still rubbing my forehead. I knew what I saw. I had very definitely seen a large, white polar bear. Then, I had very definitely seen that large, white polar bear turn into a nude man.
I let myself into my room, locked the door, and leaned back, resting against it. Barring hyperglycemia or being slipped a mickey, what else could have caused me to hallucinate such an unusual sight? Assuming of course I had hallucinated.
A stroke? I was only in my early forties and while, as Ingrid pointed out, I didn’t exercise on a consistent basis, physically I wasn’t in terrible shape either.
A tumor? That was a possibility. I’d had a yearly checkup not too long ago, but still.
It took me a while to move from that spot, but when I did, I went into the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. I splashed cold water on my face.