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After cutting the malasadas in half, she lifted sections of the custard and macadamia pastries to her plate. At the first bite she closed her eyes and savored the perfect creaminess of the one with custard filling. “After yesterday, I felt so safe being here overnight. And now these pastries are like a dream come true. I just can’t thank you enough.”
A text chimed into Nick’s phone. He glanced at it and handed the phone over to her. “It’s for you.”
“Whew. The Airbnb manager says my keycard has been changed. It’s waiting in a lock box by the outside gate.”
She lifted her coffee cup for a sip and their eyes met, sending a frisson of awareness curling around her heart. It had been so long since she’d kissed anyone that she probably didn’t even remember how.
Yet something about this man made her want to shake off her solitary existence and try for the kind of happiness that had always eluded her. Maybe—
What was Nick saying? She jerked her attention from her wayward thoughts.
“...but are you sure you’re up to snorkeling today? It wouldn’t be a problem to reschedule.”
She tentatively rotated her shoulders and flexed her arms. “I should be fine. I just need to pick up my swimsuit and I’ll be set.”
They lingered over coffee and pastries for another twenty minutes, bantering over everything from books to favorite types of restaurants. Then Lucy went back to strip the sheets from her bed and folded them neatly before joining Nick at the front door.
In fifteen minutes they were parked at the curb of her Airbnb.
“Sniper and I can stay downstairs, unless you want me to come up.”
He’d never offered to come upstairs before. And she’d never invited. But as she looked up toward the third floor of the building, an uneasy sensation started to build in her midsection.
At Nick’s place she’d been exhausted and grateful for a secure haven. She’d fallen into a dreamless sleep of sheer relief.
But now that she was back here, fear started to claw at her. Something dark and terrifying lurked at the edges of her memory—something that she couldn’t quite reach.
“Yes. I—I think I would like that. Just to make sure...well, it’s probably nothing.”
He draped a comforting arm around her shoulders when she went to the lockbox to punch in the code and retrieve her new key card, then followed her up to her room.
He waited outside her door with Sniper when she slipped in to grab her swim suit. She made it just two steps into the room.
And then she screamed.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
