Throb(78)
“About what?”
“Kissing you.”
“I’m not.”
“But you didn’t kiss me back.”
“Only because you were too drunk.” He halts. “You wanna try it again now, sober? See if I hold back?”
I smile and take his hand, tugging him forward. “Underneath that tattooed bad-boy exterior, you’re really a good guy.”
We walk some more in silence, hand in hand. Finally Flynn asks, “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Did I do something to turn you off?”
“What? No. What makes you say that?”
“When the show first started, I thought we had a connection. And then I kissed you and I felt it. I could swear you did too. But then things changed. We still had the connection, but you keep me in friend territory.”
I sigh audibly. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. If it’s not there, it’s not there for you. I just wondered where we went wrong.”
“We didn’t.”
“I don’t understand.”
“There was someone else in the room with us whenever we were together. Not physically. But I couldn’t really be with you, when my heart was involved with someone else.”
“Was involved. Not is involved?” He’s astute.
“It’s over now. I’m sorry. It should have never happened to begin with. What you felt when we first met … when we first kissed … you weren’t alone. I felt it too. Then things got complicated and I could never move forward after that.”
“And now? Are you available now?”
“Technically, yes. Honestly, you’re a great guy. But my heart’s broken. I wish we’d met under different circumstances at another time.”
“Why don’t we start over?” he says, taking my other hand and turning to walk backwards.
“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.