Wasn’t the first time.
I made women either swoon or run. Reid on the other hand just made them swoon, the bastard.
Ugh.
“So.” Rex appeared out of thin air, his orange skin more orangey now that humidity was starting to seep into the plane. Curious, I wondered if he was melting. Furthermore, if I threw water on him, would I suddenly discover he was albino? I eyed the ocean curiously. “We’ll let the girls off first and then you can follow the crowd to the beach house.”
Beach house, now that sounded better. After being put through endless hours of torture watching the show with Milo, I knew that at least the contestants were given kick-ass food and a place to stay, not to mention top-shelf liquor.
So it wasn’t going to be all bad.
Ten minutes later I realized it was going to, in fact, be bad.
“What do you mean you lost my luggage?” I tried to keep my voice calm, when really I wanted to shake Rex’s orange body until his head popped off.
“It won’t be a problem.” Rex patted his head with a cloth and put on his sunglasses. “We’ll have the luggage delivered as soon as possible. Let’s get you a nice drink, how’s that sound?”
“Fine.” I was tired, jet-lagged, and still reeling from that kiss. It didn’t help that we were staying on a private island, meaning we had to take a boat ride to get there, and damn I just wanted to take a nap, check the area for wild goats, and have a beer. Probably not in that order, but whatever.
The boat ride took a half hour.
The girls were in the boat ahead of me, but they were staying on the opposite end of the Island, which sounded freaking awesome until I found out the Island was only a mile long.
Which begged the question.
Where the hell did I run?
We were in the freaking Society Islands, somewhere near Bora Bora. The only thing I could do was look at a damn map, find the largest of the islands, and try to swim to it without getting eaten by a shark or taken by pirates.
Ah, pirates. I’d forgotten about pirates.
Ahoy.
“Allergies?” Someone poked me in the arm. What the? I looked up as the on-set doctor poked me with another needle and examined my skin, then looked down at his iPad.
“Um, ouch?” I seriously, seriously, wanted to poke the bastard back.
But then I realized, in my head, that I hated the word poke. Who made up that word anyway? One should never poke. Poking assumed . . . entering someone’s skin by force, right? Wow, that pill must have done a number on me.
“Looks fine.” The doctor nodded and reached up. I flinched. Hey, not my fault—Grandpops had classically conditioned me to be wary of anyone wearing latex.
Latex . . . what else was made with latex?
“NO!” I screamed and fell to my knees.
“Damn it!” The doctor pulled something out of a case, and I felt a tight pinch. “He’s having an allergic reaction to the shot!”
“YOU SHOT ME?” I yelled back, then looked down at my arm and started rubbing it. Wait, what just happened?
“To make sure you wouldn’t have an allergic reaction,” he said calmly, pulling out another giant-ass needle and flicking it. Without any hesitation he stabbed me again, just in case. His words, not mine.
“And if I would have?” Who was this monster? I demand to see his degree!
The doctor flicked the needle. “We would have made sure to give you some medicine to counteract the effects just in case the worst happened.”
“Worst?”
“Death.”
One of the producers chuckled.
“Ha-ha.” I joined in, then pushed the doctor’s hands away. “And I’m not having a reaction. I’m fine. I just . . . panicked.”
“Oh, yeah?” He peeled off his latex gloves. “You sure?”
I shivered. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
“Paradise.” Rex slapped me on the shoulder and took a deep breath. “Your hut will be over—”
“Hut?” I interrupted. “You said beach house.”
“Ah, the beach house is headquarters, command central if you get my meaning. But you’ll be staying on the beach.”
“That’s not so bad . . .”
“Just be sure the mosquito nets are covering your bed. You don’t want any of those little bastards sneaking in and chomping on your parts, am I right?” He laughed and elbowed me.
“Right.” I stared hard at the beach as the boat docked.
A hut.
One single hut was on the shore.
It wasn’t really small.
But it wasn’t big either. In fact it looked like something off of Survivor, so that was new. Last year the show had had a penthouse for the contestants. Swear the only thing that got me off the boat was visions of strangling Jason with my mosquito-bite-swollen hands.
I’m leaving a production crew with you and seven others with the girls. They’ll be given instructions to explore the Island tonight. Your only task is to get to know them and stay alive.” He kept a straight face.
I felt mine pale.
“Ha-ha!” Rex laughed and slapped me on the back. “I’m a kidder, I kid. You’ll be fine!” He laughed harder. “The only lizard sighting they’ve even had was at least fifty years ago.”
“L-lizard?” I repeated.
The captain of the boat suddenly dropped what he was doing, made a cross in the air, and then spit behind him and stomped his foot three times.