Throb (30 page)

I’m here, you’re there.

Same time, same place,

Yet a million miles apart.

One last cry, let it go, release the pain of the past.

Feelings change, people change

I want your tomorrow, not your yesterday.

Feelings change, people change.

Take my hand, let me lead your way.

Standing beside you, lost in the forest.

Shadows of past bury you deep.

The sun glimmers in the distance

Mending broken dreams.

Feelings change, people change

I want your tomorrow, not your yesterday.

Feelings change, people change.

Take my hand, let me lead your way.

Sacrifice the past, give me today.

Walk to me, don’t walk away

Hear the music, my words are a plea

Open your heart and let love sing.

Feelings change, people change

I want your tomorrow, not your yesterday.

Feelings change, people change.

Take my hand, let me lead your way.

The crowd goes crazy as the last note fades. Then the band picks back up with a song that has the mesmerized crowd grinding with heightened sexual appetites. I finish my drink and stand, but the sky begins to spin and my feet grow unsteady.

Flynn catches me as I wobble. “Woo … you okay?”

“I’m great.” I fling my arms around his neck.

He smiles.

“I liked your song.”

“I’m glad.”

“It was sexy.”

He chuckles, amused.

“Just like you.” I push up on my tippy toes and lean into him, pressing my lips to his. He doesn’t kiss me back.

“You’re drunk,” Flynn says when he pulls his head back.

“So? If Jessica tried to kiss you when she was drunk, I bet you wouldn’t say no.”

“That’s because Jessica would kiss me when she’s sober.”

A little while later, I fall asleep in the SUV on the ride back to Sugar Rose, my head resting on Flynn’s lap. He helps me out of the car and into my room.

The door closing behind us is the last thing I remember in the morning when I wake with a pounding in my head. I’m snuggled into Flynn, his arms tight around me.

“Morning,” he says with a broad smile.

I’m quiet for a moment as I wrack my brain trying to remember what happened after we came into my bedroom. But my mind is completely blank. “Did we?” Too embarrassed to say the words, I motion between the two of us.

He responds with a devilish glint in his eye. “Did we what?”

“You know.”

“Yes, but I want to hear you say it.”

I roll my eyes. It’s enough movement to cause my headache to worsen.

“Sweetheart, trust me, if we did, you’d remember it.” He kisses my forehead and hops from the bed.

“Well, then, thank you. For … being a gentleman.”

“Better look under the sheets before you call me a gentleman,” he says sheepishly.

My eyes go wide and, hesitantly, I lift the sheet and look down. I’m wearing a t-shirt and underwear. I look up at Flynn and he shrugs and smiles.

“I might have helped you change.” He winks and disappears.

“How you feeling?” Flynn asks with a knowing smirk on his face after he returns from an hour-long beach run.

“Like death,” I groan. I’m lying in a lounge chair near the water’s edge, oversized sunglasses blocking the rays of light that cause the pain in my head to worsen. It’s nearly five o’clock, yet I feel as queasy now as when I woke up this morning.

“How can you run after last night?”

He shrugs and takes off his shirt. “I’m better at partying than you.”

“My idea of partying is drinking two glasses of wine in sweatpants after studying for four hours.”

“Wild woman.” He balls up his shirt and tosses it at me. “Come on. I need to walk to cool down.” He extends both of his hands.

“The last time I took those hands, I wound up in the water against my will.”

“You’re safe with me today. I’ve had my share of hangovers. I feel your pain. I won’t add to it. Just a walk.”

He’s sincere, so I take the hand he’s offering. The first fifteen minutes we’re both quiet, but I’m uneasy. “I’m sorry about last night.”

“About what?”

“Kissing you.”

“I’m not.”

“But you didn’t kiss me back.”

“Only because you were too drunk.” He halts. “You wanna try it again now, sober? See if I hold back?”

I smile and take his hand, tugging him forward. “Underneath that tattooed bad-boy exterior, you’re really a good guy.”

We walk some more in silence, hand in hand. Finally Flynn asks, “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Did I do something to turn you off?”

“What? No. What makes you say that?”

“When the show first started, I thought we had a connection. And then I kissed you and I felt it. I could swear you did too. But then things changed. We still had the connection, but you keep me in friend territory.”

I sigh audibly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. If it’s not there, it’s not there for you. I just wondered where we went wrong.”

“
We
didn’t.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There was someone else in the room with us whenever we were together. Not physically. But I couldn’t really be with you, when my heart was involved with someone else.”

“
Was
involved. Not is involved?” He’s astute.

“It’s over now. I’m sorry. It should have never happened to begin with. What you felt when we first met … when we first kissed … you weren’t alone. I felt it too. Then things got complicated and I could never move forward after that.”

“And now? Are you available now?”

“Technically, yes. Honestly, you’re a great guy. But my heart’s broken. I wish we’d met under different circumstances at another time.”

“Why don’t we start over?” he says, taking my other hand and turning to walk backwards.

“How can we do that?”

He shrugs and smiles. “Easy.” He lets go of my hands and extends a handshake to me. “Hi, I’m Flynn Beckham.”

I shake my head, but play along. “Kate Monroe.”

“Nice to meet you, Kate.”

“Likewise.”

“Listen. I hope this doesn’t sound too stalkerish, but I’ve been stealing glances at you every chance I get. Would you go out with me the day after tomorrow?” We’re already scheduled for our one-on-one date on Wednesday.

“I’d love to,” I say and, for the first time since my eyes landed on Cooper Montgomery, I mean it.

The invitation that was delivered to my room this morning gave only a hint of the date that was to come this afternoon. The card read,
You make my heart soar,
although there was a bikini delivered with the gold-embossed invite.

I slip on the white bathing suit. It’s simple, yet sexy—alluring long strings hang from the tie closures, almost a flirty invitation to anyone to tug and see what lies beneath. My skin is deeply tanned to a golden bronze after the last four days of lazily soaking up island sunshine. The image that bounces back at me in the mirror is pleasing—a flutter of hope that I won’t be stuck in sadness forever finally starts to peek through.

Wardrobe outfits me with an almost see-through white cover-up dress and an incredible pair of high-heeled sandals. The only color in my ensemble is from the aqua bow on the brim of my straw sun hat. Mercedes and Jessica eye me angrily when I walk through the living room to answer the door for my date. It validates what I saw when I looked at my reflection.

“Wow. White’s your color.” Flynn’s eyes pore over me and then he kisses my cheek.

“I don’t think white is actually a color.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s the absence of color.”

“Well, then the absence of color looks hot on you, smarty pants.” We both laugh.

“Likewise, your absence of color looks mighty handsome.” Flynn’s dressed in all white too. Well, except for the splash of color artistically running down his left forearm. All of his tattoos are black and grey except one. I’d never noticed it until now.

My handsome date leads me to the car and opens the door for me. “Is it a coincidence that we’re both dressed in white?”

“Nope.” He closes the door and jogs around to the driver’s side. “It’s symbolic. We’re starting over. Remember? Today is our first date.”

“Please tell me you don’t expect me to go up in one of those?” We pull into a beach parking lot and a shack offering parasailing rides makes me suspicious. There are a few people floating around in the sky tethered to colorful parachutes above them.

“I do.” He parks and smiles at me.

“I told you I was afraid of heights.”

“We’re starting fresh today. Remember? What better way to start off than to live a little.”

“I’m all for living, it’s the opposite of living that scares me and keeps my feet on the ground.”

He opens my car door. “They set us up for a double harness. I’ll hold you through the whole thing.”

“Even when we splatter on the ground?”

He chuckles. “We won’t splatter on the ground. Besides, there’s water underneath us.”

I look around and find the cameras already rolling. Taking a deep breath, I finally give him my hand. “What’s your greatest fear?” I lean in and whisper to avoid my voice being picked up.

“Rejection.” He kisses my cheek. “See, we’re both conquering our fears today.”

I’m still on an adrenaline high from our afternoon date as I get ready for dinner. Flynn was right, facing one of my biggest fears was somehow freeing. Leaving me to feel like today really was a fresh start.

As promised, Flynn held me the entire way. My body secured in a harness clipped to his, his muscular thighs straddled me, long legs wrapped tightly around my waist from behind the minute we lifted into the air. One strong arm fastened around my middle in a bear hug left me feeling secure as we soared high above the ocean. Even when I had finally relaxed enough to enjoy the breathtaking view of the crystal-clear aqua water below, his hold on me never loosened. Eventually, I found myself leaning into his embrace instead of clinging to it.

After parasailing, the boat took us to a sand bar in the middle of the ocean and we hand fed giant sea turtles and snorkeled amid schools of colorful fish. Today was a day made for reality television, yet I was so completely enraptured with everything we did, most of the time, I didn’t notice the cameras.