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“What time is it?” I asked groggily.

Colin glanced at his watch. It was an expensive brand that I recognized, and I had the fleeting thought that it was unusual for a bartender to be able to afford something like that, but I lost the thought as I heard Colin’s response. “Five o’clock.”

I sat up with a start. “Holy shit, I’ve got to get back. I promised to meet my sister for dinner.”

He pulled me down for a fast kiss. “Let’s go.”

We quickly pulled on our clothes and headed back upstairs to the deck. I sat on one of the benches as Colin started the engine and directed us away from the hidden cove. I could feel his eyes on me, but I continued looking straight ahead, staring at the water as I replayed what had just happened.

What had I done? It wasn’t like me to be so impetuous.

My time with Colin had stirred feelings in me, feelings I didn’t want to examine too closely. They felt a lot like...love. I’d known the man for two days, so of course it was impossible. You don’t even know this guy, I reminded myself. Even though it felt so real, I knew that I had to be falling into that classic scenario of confusing love and sex.

Stop being an idiot, I chastised myself. But later that night as I hung out with my sister and her friends, I felt surprisingly unsettled. What happened to the woman who had always had her head on straight, the one who never let her emotions get in the way?

She fell in love, a little voice whispered in my head. As much as I tried to deny it, I knew it was true. And that was a huge problem, because I was going home in two days.

Colin

I sat in the office above the disco, staring down at the dance floor. My eyes found Teresa immediately, dancing in a group with her sister and their friends. Once again the three older women appeared to be drunk, while I could tell from here that Teresa was sober as a judge.

My mind wandered back to this afternoon. It wasn’t like me to lose track of time. Or nap. Or have sex with women I had just met. Yet all of those things had happened today. If I’d had any doubts that she was the woman for me, they had all disappeared this afternoon. I wasn’t a young man, and while I had never been a manwhore like so many of my friends, I’d had my fair share of lovers. But none of those experiences had affected me as deeply as my time with Teresa.

I needed to figure out a way to keep her here. I also needed to come clean about who I was. A lie of omission was still a lie, and while I appreciated the fact that Teresa liked me as a simple bartender, after everything that had happened on the boat today, it didn’t feel right to continue to mislead her. If I wanted something long-term, which I did, I needed to share my full story.

But how to tell her? It wasn’t like I could go up to her and say, “Hey Teresa, funny thing about me working at the bar. I also own it...”

Teresa herded the other women out of the bar, and I headed downstairs. I would just follow them to make sure she got them back to their cabana okay. I had to admit I was surprised that the other ladies were drinking again after their massive hangovers this morning. It wasn’t like they were young anymore; Evie was turning fifty for cripe’s sake. But somehow they’d all had an amazing recovery, feeling well enough to dance the night away.

I trailed behind them, keeping out of sight, until the ladies were all safely in their cabana. I settled on a bench nearby to think, or maybe it was just a premonition because not ten minutes later I saw Teresa come back outside and head right towards me.

“Hey Teresa.”

She jumped, putting her hand over her heart. “Jesus Christ, you almost gave me a heart attack. What are you doing hiding there in the dark?”

I stood up to meet her, moving into the soft light that illuminated the walkway. “I saw you ladies leaving the disco. I just wanted to make sure you got home okay. What are you doing out here, anyway?”

She rolled her eyes and made an awkward noise. “I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out some more, but then I realized that I didn’t have your phone number or anything, so I thought I would walk around and see if I found you. I mean, if you wanted to hang out again. No pressure. No pressure at all. I’m not trying to be clingy.”

She was cute when she babbled nervously. My heart swelled with relief that she was missing me as much as I was missing her.

“Give me your phone,” I instructed. “I’m going to text myself right now so we are connected.”

“We don’t have to...”

“Your phone,” I ordered.

She unlocked it and slid it into my palm. I quickly texted myself from her number, feeling the vibration in my pocket as the text connected. “There, now you can call me anytime.”

She laughed. “Well, I’m only here for one more day, so I don’t know how much I’ll be texting you.” Teresa moved closer, putting her arms around my neck. “So, um, do you want to go back to your place and pick up where we left off?”

“Yes.” I answered immediately, then realized my dilemma. I could not bring Teresa back to my penthouse without coming clean about who I really was. I selfishly wanted one more night with her knowing that she was seeing Colin the man, not Colin the billionaire resort chain owner. “I mean no.”

She frowned. “Oh, sure, sorry, I didn’t mean to presume...”

I pulled her closer, inhaling the soft scent of her jasmine shampoo. “No, that’s not it. I want to but I, um, have a roommate. And you’re sharing a room with your sister. That presents a problem. Maybe there’s a room open in the hotel...”

“Can we go back to the boat?” she asked. “Or will you get in trouble with your boss?”