Throb

“How can we do that?”

He shrugs and smiles. “Easy.” He lets go of my hands and extends a handshake to me. “Hi, I’m Flynn Beckham.”

I shake my head, but play along. “Kate Monroe.”

“Nice to meet you, Kate.”

“Likewise.”

“Listen. I hope this doesn’t sound too stalkerish, but I’ve been stealing glances at you every chance I get. Would you go out with me the day after tomorrow?” We’re already scheduled for our one-on-one date on Wednesday.

“I’d love to,” I say and, for the first time since my eyes landed on Cooper Montgomery, I mean it.

The invitation that was delivered to my room this morning gave only a hint of the date that was to come this afternoon. The card read, You make my heart soar, although there was a bikini delivered with the gold-embossed invite.

I slip on the white bathing suit. It’s simple, yet sexy—alluring long strings hang from the tie closures, almost a flirty invitation to anyone to tug and see what lies beneath. My skin is deeply tanned to a golden bronze after the last four days of lazily soaking up island sunshine. The image that bounces back at me in the mirror is pleasing—a flutter of hope that I won’t be stuck in sadness forever finally starts to peek through.

Wardrobe outfits me with an almost see-through white cover-up dress and an incredible pair of high-heeled sandals. The only color in my ensemble is from the aqua bow on the brim of my straw sun hat. Mercedes and Jessica eye me angrily when I walk through the living room to answer the door for my date. It validates what I saw when I looked at my reflection.

“Wow. White’s your color.” Flynn’s eyes pore over me and then he kisses my cheek.

“I don’t think white is actually a color.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s the absence of color.”

“Well, then the absence of color looks hot on you, smarty pants.” We both laugh.

“Likewise, your absence of color looks mighty handsome.” Flynn’s dressed in all white too. Well, except for the splash of color artistically running down his left forearm. All of his tattoos are black and grey except one. I’d never noticed it until now.

My handsome date leads me to the car and opens the door for me. “Is it a coincidence that we’re both dressed in white?”

“Nope.” He closes the door and jogs around to the driver’s side. “It’s symbolic. We’re starting over. Remember? Today is our first date.”

“Please tell me you don’t expect me to go up in one of those?” We pull into a beach parking lot and a shack offering parasailing rides makes me suspicious. There are a few people floating around in the sky tethered to colorful parachutes above them.

“I do.” He parks and smiles at me.

“I told you I was afraid of heights.”

“We’re starting fresh today. Remember? What better way to start off than to live a little.”

“I’m all for living, it’s the opposite of living that scares me and keeps my feet on the ground.”

He opens my car door. “They set us up for a double harness. I’ll hold you through the whole thing.”

“Even when we splatter on the ground?”

He chuckles. “We won’t splatter on the ground. Besides, there’s water underneath us.”

I look around and find the cameras already rolling. Taking a deep breath, I finally give him my hand. “What’s your greatest fear?” I lean in and whisper to avoid my voice being picked up.

“Rejection.” He kisses my cheek. “See, we’re both conquering our fears today.”

I’m still on an adrenaline high from our afternoon date as I get ready for dinner. Flynn was right, facing one of my biggest fears was somehow freeing. Leaving me to feel like today really was a fresh start.

As promised, Flynn held me the entire way. My body secured in a harness clipped to his, his muscular thighs straddled me, long legs wrapped tightly around my waist from behind the minute we lifted into the air. One strong arm fastened around my middle in a bear hug left me feeling secure as we soared high above the ocean. Even when I had finally relaxed enough to enjoy the breathtaking view of the crystal-clear aqua water below, his hold on me never loosened. Eventually, I found myself leaning into his embrace instead of clinging to it.

After parasailing, the boat took us to a sand bar in the middle of the ocean and we hand fed giant sea turtles and snorkeled amid schools of colorful fish. Today was a day made for reality television, yet I was so completely enraptured with everything we did, most of the time, I didn’t notice the cameras.

The smile on Flynn’s face when he arrives for dinner matches my own. His long hair is loose, framing an undeniably swoon-worthy face. But it’s his smile that undoubtedly would have women throwing their panties at him on stage.

“What? I didn’t even say anything yet and you’re shaking that head at me like I’m up to no good.” Flynn feigns innocence, although his eyes tell me his thoughts are anything but.

“That smile. I bet women drop their panties for those dimples.”

He takes a step closer. The air between us shifts. “I hope so.”

Unlike the playful carefree mood from this afternoon, tonight there’s a tension that hangs thick between us. The challenge of navigating down the steep natural stairs of the dimly lit cliff to Bottom Bay is handsomely rewarded at the bottom. The serene beach, surrounded by tall privacy-ensuring cliffs is dark and empty. Until we walk a few hundred yards and pass a towering jut of a mountain to the other side. I actually gasp at the vision.