Page 43 of Date and Switch

“Have you ever considered a job in the tourism industry.” I barely withheld the laughter pushing up my diaphragm. “I feel like you’ve really missed your calling.”

The pilot jogged to greet us and waved us to our seats, strapping us in, and outfitting us with headsets and microphones.

“It’s going to be great!” I told her, screaming into our headsets assuming I needed to do so over the sounds of the blades.

“You can speak in normal tones,” Beau, our pilot, chimed in. “These are the best noise cancelling headsets out there. Nervous?”

He glanced at Sera who didn’t respond and looked as if she couldn’t decide if she wanted to faint or puke.

“I promise it’s not scary, and very safe. We’ve got sunshine and blue skies as far as you can see! Just sit back and enjoy.”

The weightless feeling as we ascended at least won a tinkle of laughter from Sera, and once we were airborne, I think she forgot her abject terror all together. It was a toss-up as to who knew more Lord of the Rings trivia, Sera or Beau. Beau would give us information on a filming location, and my encyclopedia of random facts would entertain both of us with random tidbits.

“What?” She turned to me after a monologue of information that even had Beau raising his eyebrows and whistling in her direction.

“You’re such a nerd. I didn’t know that I was on vacation with the foremost expert in elfin etymology or the authority on the influence of war in middle earth.”

Every time she smiled. Every. Single. Time. It was as if each atom of my body knew she did. I found myself craving them. Needing to see her this joyful as much I needed food, water, or sleep.

“Oh, sure, Mr. I want a G &T only if it’s Hendricks and only if you have Fever Tree tonic. Or is that the ninety-four or the ninety-seven Malbec because I heard the ninety-seven wasn’t a good year for Rosehill.”

“That is called discerning taste.” I pulled her into my side and placed a kiss at her temple.

“That’s call obnoxiously picky.” She pressed a sassy little finger into my chest. “But it’s pretty nerdy to know that much about grapes and barley and whatever the hell else is in these drinks you make.”

“It’s not the same.”

Sera craned her neck so she could plant a seductive kiss on my lips. Feeling that sensual promise, experiencing her light and tenderness, had me responding in kind. We existed in a Newtonian loop of action and reaction, turning and twisting our desire until the only thing that kept us from becoming horizontal were the headset wires that chained us to our seats.

“This is bordering on pornographic,” I whispered against her lips.

She held my neck and kissed me again. She kissed me with such force I could practically feel her soul. Rather than feel sexualized and needy as the others had, it felt oddly tender and intimate. I wanted more of those.

“Folks we’re about to come around Trollshaw Forest, which will be the end of our tour.”

Good thing because I didn’t think we could make it back to the ship fast enough.

twenty-eight

Every day I felt drawn further into Bryce’s confidences. Knowing he wanted to know my thoughts on any number of things, was equally as intimate as what we did almost every night…or sometimes morning. I quickly careened past casual infatuation towards the one word I knew Bryce didn’t want to hear. I’d almost said them in New Zealand. I had to physically affix my mouth against his and just breathe them into my head instead of giving them voice.

“Rise and shine sleepy head.” Bryce pushed aside my hair and kissed my neck.

“Someone has already risen, I see.” I felt the wet tip of him pressed against my thighs.

“We have exactly forty minutes before we leave for the Great Barrier Reef. I need to make sure you are fully covered, head to toe, in sunblock. I know I personally could not handle the emotional distress of having you burned and blistered a second time.”

His fingers teased across my rear end, tickling down to where I already throbbed for him.

“Well, I think I’ll need your assistance in being very thorough in my sunblock application.”

Rather than risk even the chance of a sunburn again, I opted to wear swim shorts that practically went to my knees, accompanied by a surf top that covered my arms to the elbow.

“I feel like there aren’t enough adjectives to describe every color of ocean blue we’ve experienced. They need to invent more words or colors.”

We sat on the snorkel ship with the Meyers as we waited for our group to be given the go ahead to jump in.

“Every port Bryce and I say, ‘this was definitely the most beautiful ocean we’ve seen.’ And then we come to the next one and we’re like nope this one is the most beautiful.”

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