Page 118 of Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds

My heart raced. “What?”

“It’s a surprise,” he said with a grin.

“I don’t like surprises.”

“You will like this one.”

Did everyone on the island know I was going out with Jason tonight?

“Don’t look so nervous,” he said with a chuckle. “You’ll have fun, I promise. I can’t remember the last time Jason had a date on or off island, and he’s pulling out all the stops.”

I had nothing to say to that—I didn’t know what Icouldsay. This whole week had taken on a surreal feeling. It was like watching myself eat, drink, and be merry without really being a part of the island life.

Henry stopped at the dock.

“There’s no boat,” I said.

“The ferry left ten minutes ago with our day workers returning to St. John.”

“But then why did Jason ask me to meet him here?”

“There’s more than one boat on the island,” he said.

I heard a motor before I saw it. But it wasn’t a boat that pulled up onto the shore; it was a Jet Ski.

“No.” I didn’t realize I had spoken out loud until I heard my voice.

Henry laughed and waved at Jason, then headed back to the resort, leaving me there. With Jason and a Jet Ski.

Jason jogged up the beach and took my hand. “Ready?”

“No. Not at all.” I needed an excuse. I looked down at my clothes. “I’m wearing a dress.”

“You have a bikini underneath, right?”

I nodded.

“I listen, Mia. You don’t like helicopters, small planes, hot air balloons, or hang gliding. Got it. The Jet Ski stays firmly on top of the water. It’s gassed up. You will love it, I promise.”

It terrified me. Jason’s ear-to-ear grin was contagious, though. He was excited, and that made me a little (very tiny bit) excited too.

I slowly said, “Oh-kay.”

He opened a metal box on the edge of the deck and handed me a life vest. I held it awkwardly.

“You’ve never put one on?”

“Never had the need to.”

He laughed, took it from me. “Take off your dress.”

I blinked and pictured us lying naked in the sand.

“What?” My voice sounded like a croak.

“I have a dry box. It’ll be safe and sound in there.”

Skeptical, I took off my bag, then my dress. I was wearing a neon-pink bikini and suddenly felt self-conscious. But Jason put my dress over his shoulder and then put the life vest on me like a dinner jacket. He expertly buckled me up in the front, testing each strap. He was standing very close, and when I looked at him, he kissed me. “Smile, Mia.”

---