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I gave him my phone.
He held it up in front of us and pressed the power button until the screen went black.
“There”—he dropped the phone back into my purse—“nobody can get mad at you for not returning texts you don’t receive until later tonight.”
“But…” I felt obligated to protest, but I couldn’t think of a single negative thing to say. Kai was so much more than a pretty face. He had brains, and his genius idea to turn my phone off proved as much.
“Repeat after me. Va-ca-tion,” he said.
I couldn’t repeat anything with his hot hand still on the small of my back.
“You’ve been in go-mode ever since the first moment we met,” he said. “Today is all about you. Slow down. Take some time for yourself and unwind.”
We crossed the road with the crowd. I was inexplicably drawn to the water I’d been convinced was going to kill me yesterday.
I wanted to walk barefoot in the warm sand and dig my toes deep into the fine grains while soaking in the endless motion of the waves.
But I wasn’t here to relax. I had a job to do, and I hadn’t even decided if I was going to do it yet. My mind started whirring, showing me more scenarios of the future than I could process.
None of them were good.
“I don’t think I know how to unwind,” I said.
“That’s why I’m here.” He pulled his hand away from my back. I couldn’t keep my bottom lip from jutting out in a pout.
He took my hand, and we jogged into the shade of a stand of palm trees, away from the bustling crowd. I leaned up against the trunk of one of the palms. Its smooth horizontal ridges were a far cry from the rough bark of the maple trees I was used to back home.
Kai stood in front of me and looked deeply into my eyes. He stepped closer, until he was the only thing I could see.
I couldn’t complain about the view. Who cared about the turquoise water that was only a stone’s throw away? Kai was close enough that I could see flecks of gold in his dark eyes that I’d never noticed before.
He rested his forearm above my head on the tree trunk and leaned in even closer. “I know exactly what you need.” His voice rumbled through my body, making my insides quiver like instant Jell-o.
I gulped before using my most sophisticated voice to utter a single-word answer. “Oh?”
Brilliant comeback, Beth. Brilliant!
“You need someone to teach you how to have a good time. Lucky for you, I just so happen to be taking on new students.”
I scoffed despite the shiver his words sent through my body. “I know how to have a good time, thank you very much.”
And I did, too. Just because I didn’t have a good time all that often didn’t mean I didn’t know how.
Kai’s face scrunched into a grin that said I don’t believe you.
“What? I do. You don’t know everything about me, you know.”
Truer words had never been spoken.
“When’s the last time you shut out work and responsibilities?”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek while I tried to find the answer to Kai’s question.
“Time’s up. If you have to think that hard, it’s been too long. Come with me.” He took my hand again and started walking.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s time for your first lesson. We’re getting in the water.”
