Page 8 of Room 810

He shook his head and chuckled under his breath, and the sound was so foreign that I almost didn’t realize it was coming from him. That was almost a laugh! It was over too quickly, but it was only a first step.

I could see Kaia, the dance instructor, waving the guests closer as the first notes of music spilled from the speakers. I stepped around in front of Gabriel and offered him my hand. “Shall we dance?”

“Um, I don’t think this is partnered dancing,” he said tightly, observing Kaia as she began to show the group the basic moves.

“Don’t be such a fuddy duddy,” I sassed. “There are no rules here. Let yourself go and dance with me!”

Instead of taking my hand, he folded his arms across his chest, and my gaze was drawn to the way the short-sleeved shirt stretched over his biceps. Huh, it seemed he was hiding a toned physique under that straightlaced geek persona.

I sighed dramatically. “Well, if you won’t dance with me, I guess I’ll just have to do it myself.” I started shaking my hips side to side, not at all to the beat, all while throwing my hands up in the air.

Kaia and the other guests laughed and cranked up the music, which only fueled my dancing mojo, and I shimmied even harder.

Gabriel groaned. “Please stop. You’re being ridiculous.”

“So?” I retorted, wiggling my eyebrows at him in a way that might’ve been suggestive. “What’s the worst thing that could happen by me shaking my rump?” I spun around and bent over to do a few twerks, and Gabe slapped a hand over his face, but I could’ve sworn he was peeking.

Finally, I sighed and forced myself to sober. “Okay, fine. I’ll play nice. Party pooper.”

He seemed glad I was no longer causing a scene and came somewhat willingly over to the group. He even followed along with a few of the moves, but his whole body was so tense that he couldn’t seem to get the smooth swaying motion down.

I stepped up behind him and grabbed his hips, and I could just barely hear his gasp over the music. “Like this,” I said, urging him side to side. If anything, my hands on his waist only made him tense him up further, but after a few moments, he seemed to relax. “There you go, that’s perfect,” I praised. “Just like that.”

“Really?” he asked, sounding both surprised and pleased. As he glanced over his shoulder at me, I saw that his cheeks were flushed and his eyes bright.

“Absolutely. I wish you could stay longer than the weekend. We put on a performance at the end of every month. We could’ve put you up on the stage.”

“Pfft, yeah right.” He knew I was joking, but I swore he added a little more sway to his hips.

The class wrapped up soon after, and I reluctantly took my hands off his body. When he turned to face me, his lips no longer had that tight edge to them. “What’s next?” he asked. He sounded almost eager.

“I’msoglad you asked,” I said with enthusiasm, rubbing my hands together. “We’d better go get some lunch in, and since we shouldn’t go swimming straight after eating, we’ll have time for a little siesta. Besides, you’ll need to rest up for what I have planned for you tonight.” I threw in a wink before I grabbed his hand again and led him back toward the restaurant.

Gabriel trailed behind me without a complaint. He seemed resigned to follow my lead. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t mind the handholding or if he was just placating me by following so obediently. Either way, I had no intention of letting go.

5

Gabriel

Mytripseemedtobe passing in a blur. Resorts typically had a lot of activities to offer their guests, encouraging them to stay for a week or longer in order to partake in everything, but the way we were going, it was like Toby thought I could fit it all in over just two days. Ridiculous, of course, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try.

At lunch, I was surprised to find the restaurant mostly empty of guests. I supposed it was the middle of the day, so everyone was off on tours or swimming or something, and if Toby was surprised by the lack of people, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he ordered a dozen different dishes, insisting I had to try the entire menu before I left and that I would never achieve that if I didn’t start getting creative. To be fair, he’d been right, the tilapia was fantastic, but it soon became clear there was no way we would finish all this food.

“I’m stuffed,” I moaned, leaning back in my chair.

“Wait! Just one more bite,” he insisted. “Here, try this one.” He scooped up a bite of pineapple cake, with a dollop of coconut ice cream, onto his fork and held it out toward my mouth.

My heart stuttered for a second. Was he…feedingme? It was clear he wasn’t passing me the fork. It was a major turnoff for me. This omega was far too flirty. I much preferred a man to be refined, reserved, which Toby was clearly not. I bet he had a dozen lovers from the guests who passed through—so why did I find myself leaning in? I couldn’t seem to stop myself from wrapping my lips around the fork, my tongue laving the tines to clean it of every crumb. I moaned at the flavor bursting across my tastebuds, and maybe it was my imagination, but I could’ve sworn I heard Toby moan too, his gaze zeroed in on my mouth.

Rattled by the whole dining experience, I quickly retreated to my cabin after lunch, my skin flushed and heart pounding. I wasn’t sure how Toby expected me to nap, but he kept telling me I would need my energy.

I laid back on the bed, stiff as a board. I was practically vibrating after my morning with Toby. I forced thoughts of him from my mind. I refused to think about the way the sun reflected a dozen shades of blond from his hair, or the way he’d gripped my hips during the dance class. The problem with banishing him from my mind, though… that left the door open to everything I’d put off in the meanwhile. I had momentarily forgotten about checking my email and tending to my blog, but now the familiar need was back with a vengeance. My fingers were twitching to reach for my phone, and it didn’t matter how pointless it was. I knew there was no service, but logic didn’t play a part in this urge.

Huffing, I flopped from one side to the other. “This is stupid,” I muttered, rolling to my back and staring up at the ceiling fan making its lazy rotations. “There’s no way I’m going to sleep.”

Except when I opened my eyes from a long blink, I found the sun had shifted position across the room. The tension was gone, my body slack.

Huh. Maybe Toby was right about the nap too. I felt surprisingly refreshed. I decided it had something to do with the island air. Whenever I had tried to nap before, I always woke up feeling groggy and queasy, but now, I practically hopped out of bed, ready for whatever Toby had planned next.

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