Page 48 of Shielding Lexi (Temptation)

“Cool,” Brad says. “We can take you guys to this beach bar called Buddha’s Shade, on the north side of the island. It’s pretty this time of night with all the torches lit.”

At least they aren’t taking us to some unknown beach in the middle of nowhere.

A light breeze flutters through the open bar and the squall of tropical birds sing in the distance as waves crash into the nearby shore. The chatter of people laughing and enjoying drinks is causing a low rumble around us. One bit of laughter in particular draws my eye to the straw hut bar. A man’s sitting hunched over the wood block overhang gripping a short glass of dark liquor.

My eyes squint. It couldn’t be him, could it? Or couldn’t it?

The silver hair, that Cheshire grin, the five-thousand-dollar watch wrapped around his wrist… it’s him. I squint even more and lean forward hoping my eyes are playing tricks, but they’re not. It’s really him. It’s Dr. Kemp, and I have no clue why he’d be here.

“Everything okay?” Brad asks, noticing how I’ve affixed at the man at the bar. “You know that guy?”

I look back at Brad, my eyes wide, my heart thumping hard against my chest as my stomach begins to turn.

“I need to get out of here.”

Chapter 2

Brad

Ilook around the bar and fixate on the man that Sara is now trying to avoid. He’s older, in his late forties, maybe early fifties, and he carries himself as though he has old money. The kind that’s been handed to you over the ages. Though, when he twists to the side, and flashes his bright white teeth to a woman at the bar, I get the feeling he’s some kind of doctor. Like one of the one’s you’d see in some high-end office by the beach in Miami giving girls that don’t need boob jobs, boob jobs.

“I need to get out now,” Sara says, her hands cupped around her face, her eyes wide.

“You both want to get out of here?” I ask, trying to interject Margo who’s in the middle of a full-fledged dissertation on single versus double hulled catamarans and which one is better for deep sea diving.

I glance back at Sara, her big honey brown eyes dripping tears, her lip quivering.

What the hell is going on?

She stands from the table and her legs wobble. I can’t let her run off alone.

Moving to her side, I grip her waist.

“Where are you guys headed?” Colin asks, standing with me.

I look toward Sara and gauge her expression. I’m not sure what she wants me to say.

“I just need some air,” she says, a quiver in her voice. “We’ll be back in a second.”

Colin eyes me as though he wants an out away from chatty Margo, but I beg him with widened eyes to give me a minute.

He relents and sits back on the stool, crossing his arms in hesitation to Margo’s long-winded thesis as my attention goes back to Sara.

“So who is that guy?” I ask, as we step outside the tiki hut.

She lets out a sigh and wraps her arms around her body, trying to keep herself from shaking.

“Is he your dad? Do you guys have a bad relationship?” I’m throwing out wild suggestions, but I can’t imagine why she’d be so scared of some old rich guy.

She shakes her head. “No, he’s not my dad.” She steps down onto the sand and tucks behind a grape bush. “It’s just… he’s a guy I know from back home. I wasn’t expecting to see him here.”

I nod, and lower myself onto the sand next to her, my arm still around her shoulder. If she doesn’t want to tell me, that’s okay. I can just hold her here until she feels better.

A warm breeze pushes past us and a hint of whatever floral perfume she’s wearing surrounds us. It’s hibiscus, or maybe honeysuckle. It’s definitely something sweet.

“Thanks for coming out here with me,” she says, “Sorry I—”

“I have this rule about apologies,” I say, sweeping her hair from my vision as a light breeze passes. “Never apologize for anything that makes you feel good.”

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