I take in Jamie’s warm brown eyes, adorably crooked nose, and perfectly full lips… and his bare chest, still dripping wet, pool water running down the rivulets of his abs.
I’m rooted to the spot, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing. Maybe I had too much of that welcome mai tai and this isn’t real—I’m just passed out in my hotel room having a deranged daydream that my ex-fiancé is actually here in the same hotel as me.
“I—you—What are you doing here?” I choke out.
It takes a few seconds for Jamie to respond, and I can tell he’s just as taken aback as I am.
“Sybil. Wow. Hi.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Um, I’m here to—”
There’s a splash behind Jamie, and a woman with sun-kissed skin and glistening jet-black hair exits the pool to stand beside him. He motions toward her. “This is my colleague, Genevieve Lee.”
“I—” I start, but it sounds more like I’m gargling my own saliva. “I mean, um, hi.”Great recovery.
I watch as a bead of water descends from his face to his chest and further down.
What. Is. Happening.
Jamie starts to describe the specifics of the work trip that has brought him here, but I’m still in ex-fiancé shock and can’t make sense of any of it. Something to do with portfolio diversification and leveraging existing client relationships. Truth be told, I was never really able to grasp what Jamie does for his family’s equity firm. The finance lingo always sounds like gobbledygook to me. Plus, I’m hung up on what he called Genevieve just now… hiscolleague?
A colleague in a tangerine string bikini? Yeah, right.
My heart twinges, and I suddenly feel annoyed with my choice of bathing suit; the nautical stripes and little anchor decals scream cute and quirky, not hot and effortless, like hers.Breathe.I tell myself,It’s not a competition.And just because my love life has been DOA since we split up doesn’t mean that Jamie’s would be. It’s been over a year; it’s only natural that he’d be with someone else by now. Guys like Jamie don’t stay on the market.
Obviously sensing the sheer awkwardness of this interaction, Genevieve steps forward gracefully and offers her hand.“It’s a pleasure to meet you…” She lets the words trail off in a question.
Slowly, I reach out to shake her hand. “Sybil. Sybil Rain.”
“Nice to meet you, Sybil.” There’s no look of horror or recognition in her eyes, so they either must be newly dating or Jamie didn’t feel I was worth mentioning.
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Jamie clearly wants to forget that period of his life ever happened. But seriously, he’s never once said my name? Not even in the context of “Oh yeah, my crazy ex Sybil used to work at that art gallery—you know, before she ran off days before our wedding and completely ruined everything.”
He squints his eyes, like he’s having trouble seeing me—like I’m standing miles away and not a mere few feet from him. “What areyoudoing here?” he asks.
“Um, just, you know, vacationing.”
“Here?”I see a spark of something flicker in Jamie’s dark eyes. It almost looks like anger? Or maybebetrayal?
A prickle goes down my spine, and the pure and utter confusion that had been fogging my brain since first seeing him starts to fade away, making room for something sharper.
“Yes,here. I’ve always wanted to visit this resort,” I say stiffly.
“I remember.” Jamie’s mouth is a grim line.
My brain conjures images of the two of us poring over travel websites, sending each other pictures of various getaway destinations: Santorini, Thailand, the Azores… but when we came to the homepage for the Halia Falls Resort, we both knew in an instant that this was the one.
“Look,” I had said, coming to sit on the couch next to himwith my laptop. “It has all kinds of activities for me, like ATVing and sea caves, plus a bunch of art galleries and heritage sites for you—and seriously, have you ever seen more beautiful beaches?”
“It’s perfect,” Jamie had agreed. “But hey, don’t count me out for all the adventurous stuff.”
I put my laptop on the coffee table and climbed onto Jamie’s lap, carding my hands through his brown waves. “Mmm, so what you’re saying is, you want to go spelunking the Hana Lava tubes with me?” I said, slowly lowering my face to his.
Jamie gave me a crooked grin. “That sounds like hell.”
“Parasailing?”
“Let’s start with horseback riding,” he whispered before meeting my lips for a kiss.
The Jamie standing in front of me on the pool deck now clears his throat, and I’m forced back to the present.
