“The magical powers you have over people. It’s wizardy,” I say.
“Wizardy is not a word.”
“It’s in my dictionary.”
“Doubtful you’ve ever even seen one,” he counters.
“Whatever.” I cross my arms.
“What are you? Five?” he says, noticing my body language.
“Six, now go away.”
“Is that any way to treat your future husband?” He leans closer, and I fight to quiet my thumping heart as his breath caresses my face. Like a moth to the flame, I lean in before answering.
“I’d never marry you.” I look down at my hands. My voice sounds surprisingly convincing.
“But you’d at least go out with me?” He leans closer to my lips.
“When pigs fly.” I say, glaring at him.
“Good to know.” He gets up from his seat and clasps his hands together. “Now for our plan.”
I’m confused. I look around as if to ask “What exactly is our plan?” But he’s already digging through my bag.
“Ah ha!” He pulls out a black bathing suit with rhinestones. “Go put this on, with the sunglasses and high heels, and meet me out here.”
“We’re not doing this now,” I say flatly and stare at the gorgeous swimsuit.
“Yes we are. Remember? You promised? Plus, Brad and Angelina are staying the whole week. I figure we can change quick, then make an appearance as we’re leaving the boat in about ten minutes.” He checks his watch. “Make that nine minutes. You in?”
I bite my lip. He’s right. It was fun last night. “Fine.” I snatch the swimsuit out of his hand. “But no kissing this time.”
He pulls my body back toward his and whispers into my hair, “I won’t kiss you unless you ask.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” I pull away and walk off to the girls’ bathroom acutely aware of his gaze on my form as I feel my body burning from his momentary touch.
Chapter Thirteen
Our boat arrives within the next nine minutes. I can’t believe I’m actually doing this again. I don’t know what it is about Preston, but I can’t bring myself to say no to him. And the more I get to know him, the more I think he might actually be just a good guy with a bad guy habit. I look in the mirror and smile. Okay, so maybe I won’t marry him, but one date won’t hurt.
I open up the bathroom door and scurry to the meeting place to find Brad Pitt—I mean, Preston waiting for me. We link arms and traipse off the boat as if we own the place. People are watching and taking pictures. Then I see Kristin squint at me questioningly as if to ask, “Do I know you?” I quickly duck my head into Preston’s arm and walk faster toward the other side of the dock.
“Did you tell them?” I ask Preston as we near the next corner.
He’s still smiling. “Of course. They think you weren’t feeling well, and we’re going to stay behind to talk with the on-call doctor. They have no idea. Trust me.”
I nod my head and smile as we pass a few more star struck teenagers on the dock. “Beach?” He asks leading me down to the docks. My stomach growls in complaint.
“Actually?” I say stopping him. “I want food.”
“A girl after my own heart,” he teases and he pulls me back from the dock and into the first restaurant on the boardwalk. It’s one of those little restaurants with sand as a floor, and I love it.
“Spill,” I say, taking a sip of water. I;m actually enjoying all the weird stares and camera phones pointed our way. I think I could get used to this.
“What?” He asks confused.
“Why are you being nice to me when all you actually want to do is get back at me for what I did to you in high school?” There. I said it.
“Wow. You still thinking about that? Because it was such a long time ago.” He smiles.
“Ha-ha. Very funny,” I mock.
“Amanda, you need to learn how to trust people. My plan is not to date you then dump you in front of the entire school. That would just be weird. Plus, we aren’t even in school anymore, and it would be a lot of work to get all of those people together again for a reunion .”
The man has a point. “Sure. Okay, if you say so.” I grab a tortilla chip from the basket. Mexican food in Hawaii? That’s just weird. As I dip into the salsa, the table begins to vibrate strangely. “Oh my gosh! It’s an earthquake!” I shriek.
His look is anything but panicked. “Um, try a cell phone?” He picks up his phone and waves it in the air at me.
“Oh, right.” I sit back in my seat.
“Decaf, Amanda. You should try it. Might change your life,” he smirks and checks his phone. His look turns dark as he tosses it back onto the table.