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I pasted on a phony smile and nodded, pretending that disappointment wasn’t crushing the life out of me. There would never be a more perfect time or place for our lips to lock. If it wasn’t happening then, it probably would never happen at all.
The drama was welling up in me big time. I wondered if Kai would want to kiss me if I admitted just how much of a drama factory I actually was.
“I’m still on the clock, you know,” he said.
On the clock? As in working?
Oh, right, that pesky thing we had to do every day to keep the light bill paid. I was on the clock, too. My queasy stomach roared back to life. What had I been thinking? I couldn’t kiss the man I was supposed to put out of work. I was here to do a job, not break hearts—his or mine. We had to keep things professional.
“Yeah. You’re right. You should totally go get the boat.”
“Wait here,” he said.
“What? No!” I snaked my arms around his neck all over again. “Take me to shore first. I can’t swim, remember?”
“Do you trust me?” He unwound one of my arms and pulled back. “You’re not going to drown.”
“How can you know that?” I said, re-coiling my arm around him. I was like a panicked octopus, curling my limbs around him faster than he could break away.
“I know that because all you have to do is stand up.” He loosened his grip on my waist and my lower half sank until my feet hit the sandy floor of the cove.
My cheeks heated exponentially when I looked down and saw that the water only reached my chest. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“And miss the chance to play lifeguard to the most beautiful woman on the island? Not on your life.” He winked and took off swimming after the boat.
I was left to cool off in the water and come to terms with the fact that Kai wouldn’t be a part of my future. That bothered me more than the fact that the only way back to the main beach was in our battered little boat.
Once I did my job, there would be no more close encounters of the Kai kind.
