Page 5 of Double Booked

“Sounds like Justin and I would get along well.” I joked.

Colton looked thoughtful. “You know, I honestly think you both would.”

“Then we could outnumber you.” I teased.

“That’s an excellent reason for you two to never meet. Between your creativity and his strategy I would probably have to sleep with one eye open.” Colton joked as he held the door to the rental place open.

“We’ll see,” I teased like it was a possibility and not like whatever was between us had an expiration date.

Checking in for the rental was surprisingly easy and adding Colton as a driver was just a matter of adding a signature. He opened my car door for me and then we headed back to the hotel. I ran up to my room and dumped the stuff out of my crossbody. I threw on a swimsuit and a coverup over it and packed everything in my bag that I thought I would need for the day. I hesitated over my laptop. I shouldn’t bring it but it was my safety net. What if we got bored and stopped at a cafe. No, Riley, you’re being ridiculous. I locked it in the safe for safekeeping and snagged a beach towel from the shelf in the bathroom. Sunscreen, sunglasses, hat, towel, key, wallet, phone? Check. Mental sanity? Eh, probably not.

I tapped my foot anxiously as the elevator descended. Enough, a voice in my head that sounded dangerously like my mother said, pull yourself together. Don’t be too enthusiastic. No one likes someone who can’t control themselves.

When the doors to the lobby opened, I slid my sunglasses over my eyes as I headed towards the entrance. Out front, the muscles under Colton’s shirt rippled as he placed a bag in the back of the jeep. He had changed into swim trunks but kept the bright patterned shirt. He turned when the doors opened and I was glad my sunglasses hid my staring.

“You look beautiful,” Colton said, taking in my blue and white flowered coverup. He kissed my cheek in a smooth movement while sliding my bag off my shoulder and into his hands. He placed it into the back carefully and helped me into the passenger seat. I swore his fingers trailed along my arm when he let go but the touch was so faint I must have been imagining it.

“For our first adventure, I thought we might drive up to this beach here.” He pointed to a spot on the map that was on the opposite side of the island. “Then we can make our way back along this route and hit this village for lunch and then the wildlife sanctuary here. How does that sound?”

“That sounds perfect,” I said honestly. Colton stowed the map in the driver’s side door and pulled out of the hotel parking lot. I could see why rental places didn’t mind renting to tourists. It would be difficult to get lost on the island. There was just one main road that went in a large circle around the island. Almost tourist-proof but I was sure some of the rental places we passed could share customer horror stories.

I peeked at Colton from the corner of my eyes as he drove. Reggae music played on the radio as the silence stretched between us. It was a comfortable silence though and I didn’t feel an awkward pressure to fill it like I usually did. I had been on several dates where I constantly got one word answers to any questions I asked leaving me to scramble to fill the silence. There was something about being with Colton that felt easy. Like I had known him for a lifetime instead of less than 24 hours.

I had texted Ryan last night that I was meeting with Colton the next morning and spending the day with him. You could never be too safe after all, even if I had taken lots of self-defense and martial arts classes for my book research. The emojis I got back had me rolling my eyes while my cheeks heated. I thought for sure he would tell me I’m crazy for going off with a man I barely met. I could practically hear my character Meira’s voice in my head rattling off serial killer statistics. But there was something about Colton that made me feel safe and my intuition was rarely wrong. And besides, this was just a vacation fling. Even if it ended messily, we were each going back to our separate lives.

A half hour later, we were pulling off the side of the road under a makeshift wooden sign with the name of the beach scratched onto it. I carried the towels while Colton carried our bags. The sand was warm under our feet from the mid-morning sun and I quickly kicked off my sandals. Several leafy palm trees provided ample shade and we found a spot underneath one to stow our things.

“I’m not really a sit in the sun type of person,” I admitted when Colton went to spread out our towels in the sun. “I’d rather walk along the beach and explore if that’s okay with you?”

Colton paused his movements and looked up, a relieved look on his face. “Okay by me. Truthfully, I’m not really either but I wasn’t sure if you might enjoy laying and doing nothing.”

I cringed and he laughed. I rolled my eyes. “I know, I know. It’s probably something I need to learn but later.”

“Of course,” Colton said, his eyes still dancing with laughter.

We folded the towels back up and Colton pulled his shirt off, leaving him in just his swim trunks. I almost swallowed my tongue at his chiseled ab muscles. Guys like him were only supposed to exist in books, right?

I suddenly felt shy about taking my coverup off. My parents were big exercise people, waking up at ungodly hours of the morning to get their workouts in but that gene seemed to skip me. I enjoyed walking but hated most formal workouts and my body showed it. It was definitely much softer than Colton’s own hard muscles.

Colton didn’t seem to notice my hesitation and turned to grab the sunscreen out of his bag. I took the chance to whip my coverup. I had packed one of my favorite swimsuits, a high waisted navy blue bikini bottom that covered my stomach and a patterned navy blue and white halter top that didn’t call attention to my broad shoulders. Still, I braced myself for Colton’s reaction.

He turned around and I could see his eyes widen from behind his sunglasses. “Damn,” he breathed. “You look beautiful.” He repeated his words from earlier.

I looked away at the glimmering blue waves before looking back at him. “You don’t have to say that,” I teased, “I’m already spending the day with you.”

Instead of responding to my teasing like I expected with some flirty quip, Colton’s eyes darkened. “I’m serious, Riley, you’re a knockout.”

I brushed it off, not ready to process my body’s reaction to his words. “Flirt,” I teased. “Come on, I want to see if I can find any shells.”

Colton thankfully let it go and we started walking along the beach. There were a few people off in the distance and some surfers out on the waves but we generally had the beach to ourselves.

“I promised Ryan, my assistant, some shells to prove I actually went to the beach.” I admitted as we walked.

“I bet he doesn’t know you can buy them in the airport gift shop just as easily,” Colton grinned.

I laughed. “No but I have a feeling he would be able to tell and make me take another vacation to find him some.”

“You’ve mentioned him a lot but haven’t talked about your family much,” Colton observed. I sighed. “You don’t have to,” Colton continued.

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