Page 12 of River
“No, who’s she?”
“She’s a South African lady who lives in Ireland. Quite famous.”
“Never heard of her. Do you two know each other?” Maximum’s eyes darted between Noah and me.
I frowned. “No, we don’t.”
“I just spotted your girlfriend and saw her about to make a cultural blunder, so I offered her a warning.”
Maximum smiled and opened his mouth to answer. Knowing that he would tell Noah we were siblings and not a couple, I hurried to cut him off. “Thank you. It was nice of you. I’m certain you have places to be.” My dismissal was polite but clear, but either Noah didn’t get the hint, or he didn’t care.
“Are you here on your honeymoon?” he asked, and that made Maximum laugh.
“No, we volunteer at a local orphanage. River is staying for a month while I plan to hang around a little longer. What about you?”
“I’m here for the surfing.”
“Oh, so you’re a surfer?”
“Yup.”
“Professional?”
“Nah, I’m not that good. I started late, but these past six months, I’ve lived as a beach bum in Australia, New Zealand, California, and now Bali.”
“Gotta follow your dreams.” Maximum smiled. “You know, we’re taking the children to the beach this weekend. Come say hi if you want. Maybe you could give the kids a lesson in surfing if you’re up for it, or just help us keep an eye on them. I’m not sure they know how to swim, so…”
“Then you want to take them to the area in front of the monkey statue. It’s right in front of the Venus Hotel. The water is calmer there and not as deep.”
“Good to know.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” Noah said with a nod to the stack of towels between Maximum and the shopkeeper.
“See you around Parker,” Maximum said in a happy tone and turned back to negotiate.
With a charming smile, Noah looked into my eyes and bowed his head a little. It perplexed me that my stomach did a little jump. Noah was in the same category as Maximum’s rugby friends, and there was no logical explanation for my body reacting to the charm of someone like him.
“See you around, River.”
“Yes, see you, Noah.” My smile was like an involuntary cramp because I knew better than to encourage a beach bum. Still, my eyes followed him when Noah walked away with a confident swagger.
