Rescuing Her Seal(4)

Those were her favorite shots: a tree in a dense forest with interesting moss patterns or a snowy field so covered in white that you couldn’t tell what lay under the blanket of flakes.

“Fine.” Her friend’s scowl said it was anything but fine. “Be a nature photographer the rest of your life. Never find your true potential. See if I care.”

Guilt settled down low in Lilah’s stomach. That was it in a nutshell. Thora had come up with this idea for Lilah’s benefit, and she had thus far been her usual prickly self about doing anything that was the slightest bit out of her comfort zone.

She hated being outside her comfort zone. Problem was everything was outside her comfort zone. Hanging out with new people ranked as one of the worst. Especially men. To say she was awkward with the opposite sex would be kind. Calling her a disaster might be more accurate.

Lilah made a noise in her throat. “I’ll think about it.”

She would. Maybe.

A knock at the door interrupted her partial capitulation.

“It’s me. Open the door,” a male voice ordered.

As if. They were in a strange hotel in a strange country. Depraved perverts could wander the streets looking for women to—

“It’s Jack.” Thora’s eyes widened as he pounded again. “I don’t want him to see me like this!”

“Um, like what?” See her in the Caribbean, where she’d agreed to hang out with her childhood friend for a week, whom she would never shut up about? See her in a hotel room?

“I don’t have any makeup on, and I look like death warmed over,” Thora hissed. “Shhhhh. Maybe he’ll go away and come back.”

More pounding. “Thora! Open the door.”

“Doesn’t sound like he’s much for waiting.” Served Thora right for roping her into this thing to be embarrassed by letting a guy see her when she wasn’t at her best. “Besides, we’re supposed to be going on a scavenger hunt over the course of two days. Did you think you were going to wear makeup the whole time? And this is a guy you’ve been friends with literally your whole life. Hasn’t he seen you without makeup?”

Besides, to hear the girl tell it, she’d never cross the friend-zone line with Jack under any circumstances, so who cared what she looked like?

Thora didn’t answer in favor of smacking a pillow over her head. “Don’t let him in.”

“Okay. I’ll send him away.”

Lilah opened the door and locked gazes with the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen in real life. His eyes held a pinwheel of gold radiating from the dark center to splash across a sea of light green, and she wanted to capture that exact expression on his face, as if he’d caught sight of something he’d been looking for and desperately wanted.

Another guy pushed past her into the room, shattering her perfect moment of clarity. And the shot. Dang it. Except she didn’t even have her camera in her hand, and then Gorgeous Guy smiled, highlighting the most perfect cheekbones in existence, and she forgot how to breathe.

“Hi,” he said and held out a hand. “I’m Fitz. You must be the friend.”

“I’m, uh…” Completely going to owe Thora a huge apology. “Lilah. Houston. That’s my last name. It’s also a city. In Texas. But I’m not like named for it or anything.”

Yeah, that wasn’t perfectly obvious. And she was supposed to be shaking his hand because that was how social conventions worked. Or should, unless you were presented with a beautiful man who looked like the one standing outside her hotel room.

Him, she had no idea what to do with.

“I’m also the friend,” she clarified and grabbed his hand, shaking it a whole lot harder than she’d meant to, but the second their palms connected, a flash of energy invigorated her whole arm.

He either had a lot of practice with awkward women or more natural charm than anyone had a God-given right to, because he slowed everything down in an instant, holding her hand steady as he spoke again in that smooth, deep voice. “Me too. Jack dragged me along for the ride. Can’t say this is what I’d planned to do for my vacation. But here we are.”

That jump-started her brain. “Oh. Right. You’re not the famous Jack whom I’ve heard so much about.”

Which he had just said. Maybe her brain had actually abandoned ship, never to be seen again.

“No.” His hazel eyes twinkled as he finally released her hand. “And that’s probably the first time I’ve ever been confused for him. Hope it’s the last.”

Her palm tingled as she remembered her manners. “Come in. Please.”