Kat
The question I keep asking myself is, do I have a superpower for finding the absolute worst men, or does being with me turn great guys into shower scum? It’s got to be me, right? I have to be turning men into the crud that builds up on your drain. No human being could actually be that awful to begin with.
For example, no guy would ever sweep a girl off of her feet with flowers, and fancy dinners, and by constantly tell her how much he loves her, and then invite her onto a romantic vacation to the South Pacific, and then ditch her there without warning or a way of getting home, right? No guy would actually do that. Especially after giving her the impression that he was planning on asking her to marry him.
It would take a monster to do something like that. I can’t believe that I would see such a monster and say, “Him! Definitely him. That’s who I want to spend the rest of my life with.” No, I can’t believe that.
It had to be that I keep finding fantastic guys who were willing to give me everything I ever wanted and then I ruined it. I mix the wrong body scrub and perfume and it mutates them into the worst type of human being there is.
That’s got to be it, right? I just need to stop wearing ‘Curious’ by Britney Spears. I’m okay with that. It was a decision I made a decade ago and Britney hasn’t had a good album in years.
The problem is, realizing that now doesn’t help me out of my current situation. Because I’ve already dated the shower scum. I’ve already crossed international waters with him and he has already left me stranded on the most romantic island on earth without money or a way of getting home.
I will say this, though. If you were going to be heartlessly stranded anywhere, Vomo Island in Fiji is definitely the place to be. The island is so small that every bar is on the beach. The sand is a perfect shade of off-white. The water is a swirling mixture of aqua blues. The view is of nearby volcanic islands covered in a lush green. And most importantly, you can charge all of the drinks to your room. So, the more you drink, the bigger the ‘fuck you’ will be to the boyfriend who booked the room on his credit card.
I haven’t been able to speak a full sentence in days. Have I wanted to be this drunk for this long? No. But the friggin’ drinks are so cheap that I’ve had to I.V. drip the rum punches to even put a dent on the asshole’s wallet. Sure, my liver is 2 Mai Tais from exploding, but imagine the look on his face when he sees the bill. So worth it.
Don’t get me wrong, there is a practical side to all of the drinking as well. It’s not like I’m a complete idiot. The drinking helps me forget that I’m stranded on a tiny island halfway around the world with no way of getting home. It helps me forget that I’m a chubby loser who no one will ever love and is incapable of making good decisions.
Was it a good decision to quit my job because they wouldn’t give me the last-minute time off to fly to Fiji with the man who I thought was going to propose to me? Probably not. Was it a good decision to do that knowing that my bank account was empty and my credit cards are maxed out from the gifts I was buying the asshole? Clearly no. So instead I’m drinking like I’m a safecracker in need of an explosive device. See! Drinking my weight in spice rum is probably the best decision I’ve made in months.
And, I swear, I will only be making good decisions from here on out. For example, in the days since my boyfriend took off in the middle of the night, I haven’t agreed to leave my job to travel around the world with anyone. Hell, I haven’t even fallen in love with a complete stranger. It’s like I’m a new person. I barely recognize myself in the mirror… and it isn’t just because I haven’t been able to see straight in days.
Of course, what is there to see on this godforsaken island? Yeah, I know I just talked about how beautiful the place was. And it is. But nothing changes. Since I arrived on the island 3 weeks ago, everything has been exactly the same. The asshole and I were the only visitors on the island since we’ve arrived. Sure, the locals were friendly enough, but this island is their entire world. We don’t exactly have anything to talk about.
So, instead of talking, I’ve been drinking myself blind alongside all of the locals in the bar. Nothing changes. Every day has been exactly the same for weeks. So when I heard a voice I’ve never heard order a drink at the bar, it grabbed my attention.
“Give me whatever you’re good at,” the voice said whipping me out of my alcoholic stupor.
I can’t tell you how good it felt to again hear what had to be an American accent. I thought I’d never hear it again. This was someone from the place I needed desperately to return to. More than that, it was a man. From the sound of his voice, a large man. And the way his words rumbled past his lips, a hot one.
Lifting my head and forcing my eyes to focus, I turned and faced the bar. All I could see was his back. He had wide shoulders and a tapered waist. His wavy short dark hair looked like it had been styled at a fancy salon. And the clothes he wore screamed that he had money to burn.
Call me crazy but he could have been the sexiest man on earth. I know that was a lot to tell from staring at someone from behind, but he had an incredible behind.
What if everything I went through was to get me right here to meet him? That’s possible, right? Things like that happened. People go through the worst experience of their life and then when things seem at their lowest, the guy they’ve been looking for their entire life steps in and they live happily ever after.
What if he was the guy I’ve been looking for all along? What if this was it, the moment I’ve been waiting for? I can already tell that he’ll be the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. I don’t have to see his face to know that. And what will happen if his face matches the rest of him? It will be over. All of my painfully lonely nights will come to an end.
I watched as the bartender made the stranger’s drink. I kept hoping the bartender would look over at me and hint that this stranger was the one for me. Sure, the bartender didn’t know my name, but maybe there was a way he could tell. Sometimes you just know these things, right? You just see two people and can tell they were meant to be together.
Unfortunately, the bartender never gave me such a clue. Luckily, he didn’t have to. Because after the stranger took a sip of his drink and offered his approval, he spun around on his barstool and looked directly at me.
Did I mention my ‘seeing straight’ issue? Yeah, it was a real thing. Because although he seemed to be staring directly at me, I couldn’t quite make out the details of what I was looking at. I knew he wasn’t an ogre. I could tell that. But, was he Prince Charming? I couldn’t see that until the man got up from his stool and crossed the room to speak to me.
“There’s not much going on in here, is there?” The man said offering the most charming smile.
“No. Not tonight,” I said remembering the issue I had stringing two words together.
“Mind if I sit down?” He said blowing my mind.
“Go ahead,” I told him willing my eyes into focus.
For a moment it didn’t work. But when he reached out his hand and said, “Hi, I’m Angel,” everything fell into place.
Yep, this was the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen in my life. The man looked like a Helmsworth brother. And not the disappointing one. One of the good ones.
His steely eyes shined as he smiled. His rugged good looks and strong cheekbones were only matched by his large hands. I loved large hands because of what it usually said about other parts of a guy. I was all in on this guy. If he wanted me, I was his. There was no way I could ever do better than him.
“I’m Kat,” I told him as his hand swallowed mine.
“Kat? Is that short for something or was your mother not a dog person?”
“Hahaha,” I said exploding into laughter.
On top of everything else, he was funny. This really was the man I had been waiting for my entire life. And the way his thin shirt draped over his chest told me that he was built like a god. Yeah, Angel could definitely play Thor in a movie. I was in love.
“It’s short for Kathrine,” I told him pulling myself together.
“Katherine. I’ve always loved the name, Katherine.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because every Katherine I’ve ever met was beautiful.”
Wait, was he flirting with me? This really was happening. I was meeting the man of my dreams. I had to flirt back.
“I’ve always liked the name Angel,” I said with a smile.
He smiled. “Yeah, why is that?”
I froze. “Because… Angels.” Nailed it!
“Right. Yeah, my mother wasn’t really a devil person. Though, I’ve always been fond of the name Damian. Do you like that for a kid’s name? I’ve always like that. Damian.”
Was this guy asking me if I wanted to have kids? This is insane. I couldn’t be more aroused by Angel if I tried. I had to rub my thighs together to quell the itch that was quickly overpowering me. I was ready to get started on those kids immediately and needed to let him know.
“Damian’s cool,” I said nailing it again.
“Are you staying on the island?” He asked me making it clear where this was headed.
“Yeah, I have a room,” I told him with my face on fire.
“I’ve just arrived on my boat. I was looking for a place to stay. How are the rooms at your hotel?”
“They’re cottages.”
“Do they overlook the water? I always love that.”
“Yeah… You wanna see?”
I melted like butter from the heat of his gaze. His eyes dipped taking in all of me. If I weren’t drunk past self-consciousness, what he saw might have worried me, but that ship sailed forty rum punches ago. So, instead, I took a deep breath and rolled my shoulders giving him a full view of the girls. I was ready to fuck him on the table while everyone watched and my harden nips, poking braless through my sundress, said as much.
“Lead the way,” he said giving me the first orgasm of the night.
With Angel staring at me, I did the hardest thing I would do all day, stand up. Actually, I was hoping it would be the second hardest thing I would do, if you know what I mean. But to get the hardest thing, I was going to have to do the second hardest thing and this girl was in no condition to walk.
I couldn’t look like it, though. I didn’t want the first impression I gave the man I would spend the rest of my life with to be a girl stumbling across the room. If ever there was a time I would need to call on God to help me, it was now. So, I did and got proof that god existed. Because, as if I were the lead dancer in a ballet, I got up and crossed the room like a swan.
Stepping away from the cabana bar onto the sand, things got a little more difficult, but Angel was there to help. As I lifted my arm to balance, he took my hand. How hot was that? My pussy was pretty much on fire. He could have taken me right there on the beach with everyone watching if he wanted. He didn’t, damn it. And instead, I led him through the resort to my cabana.
“Beautiful,” he said as we approached.
I turned to him. He wasn’t looking at the room. He was looking at me. He could have taken me right there outside my room. And although there wasn’t anyone around, I was willing to go collect a few people. What I’m saying is that I liked it when people watched.
Entering my room, I couldn’t hold out any longer. With the door closed behind him, I spun around and pressed my breast against his chest lifting my lips. Angel didn’t wait, he grabbed me and kissed me hard.
His lips were strong and dominating. As close as I was to him, his ocean breeze scent overtook me. He smelled of freedom and adventure. My mind whipped away lost in the possibility of who he was and our life together. And when he pried my lips apart and sent his tongue in search of mine, I let go falling into his arms.
As if I were weightless, Angel swept me off of my feet carrying me to the bed. Placing me at the center of it, he climbed on straddling me. Grabbing my wrists, he drew them together above my head. Pinning them there with both of his hands, he bent down and kissed me more.
He didn’t release my wrists until he reached down and peeled off my blouse. Laying topless beneath him, my body ached for his touch. I didn’t have to ask for it. Because wrapping his large hand around my breast, that was what I got.
Sliding down my body, Angel pressed his lips onto my nipple. The warmth made my eyes roll. His power was beyond anything the asshole had ever managed. Angel controlled my body in a way that told me I was exactly who he wanted.
Circling the pink of my areola with his tongue, my mind swooned. Everything felt so good. The undulating pressure of his grasp. The weight of his muscular body on top of me. I never wanted it to end. So when he released one breast and took hold of the other, I slipped deeper into pleasure.
As he caressed the second breast, my chest heaved. I was having a problem catching my breath. The way he teased told me he had done this before. Pinching my erect nipple between his lips and then his teeth, my toes stretched telling me I wouldn’t be able to take much more.
It was then that his free hand traveled further south. Unbuttoning my cutoff jeans, my pants quickly popped open. I had worn underwear today and quickly they were all that remained. So, when he abandoned my nipple and kissed his way below my waist, it only took a second before he pulled those down giving him access to my buried clit.
Lost in the sensation he must have stripped me because my legs spread apart. It wasn’t me who did it, it was him. He now had his hands under my thighs making it clear what he wanted. With access to it, he buried his head between my legs sending me to ecstasy.
His lightly rough tongue penetrated my swollen flesh like a pigeon heading home. He knew where to go and what to do once there. Gliding his wet flesh over mine, the flicking drove me wild. There was a slow build to his movements. And when his tapping buzzed me like a vibrator, I lost control of myself and came.
“Ehhhh!” I squealed. Yet he didn’t stop.
Though I thought I had peaked, the sensation kept growing. I couldn’t breathe. He kept going. As he did, he pushed one of his fingers into my pussy. I had something to clench onto. It felt amazing. But as my inhales increased without release, my lungs felt like they were going to pop. I was about to die when, mercifully, his tongue left my clit giving him space to slip in the largest thing I had ever had in me.
Exploding into orgasm, his massive cock was choking my pussy. I needed to clench to release, but his girth stopped me. It wasn’t until his tool touched my depths like a hand in a tight leather glove that I relaxed, he groaned, and the two of us came together.
The sensation was so overpowering that I blacked out. At least I think I blacked out. I do remember my body endlessly twitching. It was like I was having some type of seizure.
It took minutes for my body to tire itself out. Then finally, when I could move without setting off another round of crackling, I wrapped my arms around the man I was going to love for the rest of my life. I was about to declare my undying love for him when I promptly fell asleep.
‘Dear God, please let him still be there in the morning. If he is, sleeping with a complete stranger after barely knowing his name is the last bad decision I’ll ever make. I promise,’ I prayed before succumbing to wonderful after-sex dreams.
Kat
The next morning, Kat’s mind slowly left the darkness and focused. Lying with her eyes closed, she thought about what she had thought about every morning since her boyfriend had left — why he could have done it.
Was she that horrible of a person? Did she deserve to be abandoned like she was? Had she caused him to leave or was he just an awful guy?
As her thoughts settled on it being her fault, she immediately looked for a way to wash it away. Alcohol was the first thing that came to mind. She would drink until she forgot. That was what she had been doing for days to escape her situation on an island that offered no other distractions.
She was about to open her eyes and run to the bar when her thoughts stumbled on something else. The day before, everything hadn’t been the same. Something had changed.
What had been different? She wondered.
There was a man. Something had happened with a man. He was beautiful. It had been like a dream. And the man had followed her back to her cabana. Why? Was he still there?
Dread washed through Kat as she quickly opened her eyes. The fear that the man had been real, and that she had been left again, overwhelmed her. The image before her was blurry and too bright. But forcing herself to stare until everything cleared, something came into focus.
There was something lying across from her on the bed. Whatever it was was big and flesh-colored. She squinted making the defused lines sharpened. What appeared scared her as much as it filled her with delight. There was a man with his eyes closed lying inches away from her. What had she done?
Unable to move, she scanned him. His tanned face and sharp cheekbones were slightly masked by strands of wavy, sun-kissed, dark hair. She couldn’t remember what she had done with him, but she was hoping it was a lot because he was gorgeous.
Good job! She thought before suddenly remembering something. Didn’t he speak with an American accent?
Nothing came to mind when she forced the image in front of her to speak. She couldn’t hear his words. That was probably because she couldn’t remember anything about him. Where had they met? How long had they spoken before ending up here? Did she have an orgasm?
When she asked herself that, she smiled. She had good thoughts surrounding that topic. If they had had sex, she had definitely orgasmed. She might have orgasmed multiple times. That would have been a first for her if it were true. It would have been perfect material for her spank bank if she could have recalled any of it. She couldn’t. For the first time, she understood the evils of drinking.
When the man in front of her suddenly opened his eyes, Kat froze. He was staring at her. Was he as drunk as she was? Was he going to be disappointed about what he found?
A large smile crept across his gorgeous face. “Morning?” He said in a rumbling tone that made the flesh between her legs tingle.
“Morning,” she replied with an increasing smile… before next getting a whiff of her alcohol breath.
Kat’s eyes popped wide as she put her hand over her mouth.
“Excuse me,” she said before bouncing out of bed and dashing to the bathroom.
Two things became clear as she did it. She was 100% naked. And, she was still drunk. She wasn’t sloppy drunk she didn’t think. But, yeah, she was feeling it.
Closing the bathroom door behind her, she rushed to the sink finding the little bottle of mouthwash supplied by housekeeping. Gargling, she then looked at herself in the mirror. There was no escaping it, she looked awful. There were dark circles under her eyes and her face was bloated.
This was what drinking non-stop for days will do to you, she considered. There’s no way she could let the hot man in her bed see her like this. But, she also didn’t want him to leave while she was gone.
Turning around, Kat cracked open the bathroom door and pushed her mouth into the space.
“Umm, I’m going to take a shower and stuff. Can you stick around?”
“There is nowhere I would rather be,” he said delightfully.
“Really?”
“Absolutely.”
“Ahh,” she said as her heart melted. “Then give me a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be here,” he said before she closed the door behind her and considered if she was still dreaming.
Dreaming or not, there were things she had been neglecting since the asshole had left that she had to take care of before her dream guy disappeared. She turned on the shower setting it to freezing cold. It was a trick she had seen in a movie. Actors would submerge their faces in cold water to tighten everything and get rid of signs of a hard night of drinking. She needed it for her entire body.
Stepping under the frigid water, she lost her breath. Slowly adjusting, she reached for her long-abandoned razor. It took some time to get herself back to presentable which meant that she had a lot of time to think.
His accent was definitely American. Did that mean that he would eventually be returning home? Could he be her rescuer? Would he be willing to pay for a damsel in distress?
It felt a little icky to think like this. But she couldn’t pretend. She needed help. And there was no way she was going to get it if she wasn’t willing to ask.
Again looking in the mirror she found someone mildly more acceptable than who she first saw. The cold water had also sobered her up. That was both good and bad. The good was obvious. The bad was that she was again herself and it was the same self that the asshole had felt necessary to abandon like a bag of trash.
For her, there was no forgetting that. So, unable to face her naked truth, she retrieved a dry towel and covered up as much as she could.
“You’re back?” The man said from her bed.
“Yeah, that took a while. Sorry about that,” she said rushing to her suitcase and finding clothes.
“Oh, we’re getting dressed?”
“You don’t have to. I just thought I’d put on something,” she said smelling every article of clothing and finding nothing clean.
“I was kind of hoping we would repeat what we did last night.”
Kat stopped and looked back. He had another broad, beaming smile. Was he for real? What had they done last night? And, what would it mean for them to do it again?
She had searched her body for signs of what had gone on. Past a very happy pussy, she hadn’t found any clues.
“Yeah, that was great, huh?” Kat said playing along. “I just really need something to eat. I’m still feeling a little off from the drink I had.”
“No worries, Kat. We will get something to eat,” he said jumping out of bed revealing his naked, muscular body.
Damn, was he hot! And no wonder her pussy was purring. The man was a show-er. And what he showed was a lot.
When he found his underwear and slipped them on, Kat was again able to look away. How could someone like him choose someone like her? And, hadn’t he said her name? They had to have talked beforehand. Did that mean that he had given her his name? His name would certainly come in handy about now.
Kat spun back around and picked out the clothes that were the closest to being clean. Putting them on under her towel, she was fully dressed before she looked at him again. Dressed, he was just another form of sexy. The man was perfection, which raised the question, what was he doing with her?
“Ready?” He asked crossing the room.
“Sure,” she said feeling her nerves kick in.
Exiting her cabana, they entered the grass-filled open space between the rooms. Staying on the stone path, they passed the line of coconut trees and the cabana bar to arrive at the cabana restaurant.
Taking a seat, Kat tried to remember the last time she had been there. She had chosen to drink her meals since the asshole had left. And, as she thought about it, expensive meals could have been another way to do damage to the asshole’s credit card.
“So, how long are you here for?” The hot guy asked.
“That’s a good question,” she said not sure how to answer.
“What do you mean? No plans on returning home? I assume you’re American?”
“I’m from Eau Claire.”
“Eau Claire?”
“Sorry. It’s a small town outside of Milwaukee,” she explained.
“Milwaukee?” He asked still befuddled.
“Wisconsin?”
“Wisconsin?” He asked.
She looked at him confused. “It’s a state in America.”
“America?” He asked with a look of confusion.
She stared back unsure of what else to say. How could she make it broader than that? “Earth?”
“Earth?” He let it go on for only a second longer. “I’m kidding. I know where Wisconsin is. At least, I’ve heard of it. I couldn’t actually point to it on a map.”
“Oh, thank god,” Kat blurted, relieved. “I was about to ask where you were from that you didn’t know where Earth was,” she said with a chuckle.
“I was just trying to break the ice. You seem a little freaked out about things.”
Kat stared at him wondering what she should do next. She didn’t have a lot of black-out sexual experiences and she certainly didn’t know how to curtail that into a ride halfway around the world.
“Okay, I need to be honest about something,” she finally said.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t remember much about last night. And I’m super bummed about it because it seems like I had a really great time.”
“You did. Twice,” he said with a smile.
“Wow! Okay. And I wish I could confirm that. But I can’t. I can’t remember what we did, what we talked about… I can’t even remember your name.”
“Okay,” he said with an amused smile. “Well, first of all, I arrived on the island yesterday. My first stop was to the bar we met at.”
“At the bar! Of course,” she said putting things together.
“Yeah. I ordered a drink, took a look around the place, and saw you staring at me. Since I liked what I saw, I walked over. We talked, although there wasn’t much talking. I asked you how the rooms were at this hotel. You offered to show me yours. I accepted, and we had a good time.”
“Twice?”
“Twice,” he said confidently.
“Okay. And, your name?”
He stuck his hand across the table. “Angel.”
She shook it. “Kat.”
“Short for Katherine.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry. I’m so embarrassed.”
“Believe me, you did nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“You sure? Because it feels like I should be.”
“Like I said, nothing,” he said with a sparkle in his eyes.
Kat didn’t know whether to believe him, but hearing it did make her feel better.
“Something we didn’t talk about was what you were doing on the island by yourself. Solo vacation?”
“It didn’t start out that way,” Kat explained.
“Oh. Your travel partner got called away?”
“Yeah. Something like that.”
“And now you’re here by yourself?”
“Unfortunately.”
Kat saw this as her moment to bring up the other thing. If she was going to ask him to help her get home, there would be no better time than right now.
Before she could get a chance, Angel became serious. “Did you ever have the feeling that you met the perfect person at the perfect time?”
Kat paused. “Actually, yes. Why would you be asking that?”
“Because I’ve recently found myself in an unexpected situation. And it turns out that someone exactly like you could really help me right now.”
Kat stared silently at Angel. She was intrigued.
“Someone exactly like me?”
“Yes.”
“What am I?”
“You know, unencumbered. Someone not traveling with a partner. Someone free to have a little fun.”
“Okay. What type of fun were you thinking of? Do you mean, like last night?”
“Potentially. But that wasn’t what I was referring to.”
“Okay. Then what?”
“This is going to sound unusual. Believe me, I know that it is. It’s just that I have a friend who is having a hard time letting go of the past.”
“Okay.”
“And I kind of said that I have a fiancé.”
“Okaaaay.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have but here we are,” he said offering another of his charming smiles.
“Here we are.”
“So, would you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Pretend to be the fiancé that I’m supposed to have? I know it’s an out-there request, and we just met. But I would owe you greatly if you did.”
“Would you?”
“Oh, definitely. And, ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I’m good to my word.”
Kat stared at Angel amazed. After having such horrible luck, how could she now be so lucky? Certainly, life owed her after everything she had recently gone through. But, in her experience, life was never so fair.
“I’ll do it.”
“You will,” Angel said surprised.
“Sure. I’d be happy to. And speaking of owing me one, there’s something I need that you might be able to help me with.”
“And, what’s that?”
“I need to get home.”
“Iowa?”
“Wisconsin.”
“Right.”
“When my travel partner’s plan changed, he left with the tickets and our travel cash. So, now I’m kind of stuck here.”
Kat decided that was close enough to the truth without having to mention all of the humiliating bits like her horrible decision-making. There was no need to give her new fiancé a bad first impression of her.
“That’s horrible!” Angel said distraught.
“Well, yeah. That’s Patrick for you, pretty horrible.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks.”
“I’d be happy to get you home. We can take my boat to the main island. From there it’s just a few connected flights to the mythical land of Wisconsin. You’ll be home in no time,” he said with a smile.
“I can’t tell you how much that would mean to me. Seriously, thank you!”
“Saving damsels in distress is what I do.”
Kat stared at the incredibly gorgeous man across from her. He had just become even hotter. It killed her that she couldn’t remember the fun times the two of them had had together. But with any luck, she would have another chance. Hell, if she was really lucky, their time together was only beginning.
He had asked her to pretend to be her fiancé to scare off a clingy ex. Wouldn’t that require convincing the woman that the two of them were together? Maybe there would be some hand-holding. Maybe they would have to retire back to his room. It might even require a few well-timed screams during the throes of passion to really give her the picture.
Whatever that was required, she was willing to do. And, maybe during all of that pretending, he might decide that he stumbled upon something real. It was a long shot, but, what if?
There was a niggling feeling in the back of her mind telling her all of this was too good to be true. But, was it? Coincidences happen. Sometimes they screw over your life. And sometimes it places the man of your dreams in your lap. She had had plenty of the former. It was about time she got the latter.
And, it made sense that there was a woman out there who was having a hard time letting go of a man like him. Angel was practically a model. It wouldn’t have surprised her if he was a famous actor or something. The man was perfection. So, needing people to pretend to be their fiancé was just something that guys like him sometimes required, right? I mean, it all made sense, didn’t it?
After a hearty breakfast of pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage links, and milk, Kat was soberer than she had felt in a long time. There were a lot of breakfasts she had to catch up for. And once she was done, she was full.
Halfway through, she had realized that she should have been dainty about things. But she couldn’t stop herself. During her liquid diet, she had forgotten how good food tasted. Staring at Angel embarrassed, he stared back at her amused.
“That… got away from me,” she said making Angel laugh. “You probably shouldn’t have seen that.”
“You were hungry.”
“Apparently. Hungrier than I thought. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t apologize. I kind of liked seeing it.”
“You liked watching me make a pig of myself.”
“I liked watching you be yourself.”
“I don’t know how much of myself I was being. I would love to say, not at all. But, I guess it was kind of me. But only a little bit.”
“Well, I liked it. The thought of someone being who they really are is… let’s just say, it’s refreshing.”
Kat wasn’t sure what to make of his statement and considering the food coma that had overtaken her, she didn’t have the mental energy to figure it out.
“I’m not sure I can move,” she said self-deprecatingly.
“You can stay here and relax if you want. I have to go take care of a few things.”
“No, I can come with you,” Kat said scared to have him leave her sight.
“That’s okay. It’s boring stuff. Besides, you should pack. You’re about to go home.”
“What about your thing? Don’t you need me to pretend to be your fiancé?”
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s get you squared away first. I need to take a little trip before I head back to the main island. I’ll be back tomorrow morning. Do you think you’ll be ready by then?”
“I could be ready in 15 minutes. I’m more than ready to get out of here.”
Angel laughed. “Yeah, there can’t be much to do landlocked on this island.”
“I think you saw me doing what there is to do when you met me.”
“You mean, looking beautiful?”
“Ahhh!” she said unable to hide how good that made her feel.
Angel was too good to be true. He really was the perfect guy. There was no way she was going to be able to resist falling for him. And the way he was talking, it seemed that he was having the same feelings.
“Okay. I’ll pack. It’ll also give me time to say bye to all of the friends I’ve made here.”
“You have friends here?”
“Sure, there’s ‘bartender,’ and ‘guy who always sits at the bar,’ and ‘woman behind the front desk.’ We’re all very close.”
Angel laughed. “You do that then. How about you be on the dock at 10?”
“A.M.?”
“What, too early?”
“I mean, it’s a little early…” Kat said jokingly.
Angel suddenly became serious. “I’m not sure I can push it any later.”
“I’m kidding. 10 A.M. is fine. I was just joking around. I could be there at 6 A.M. if it meant getting out of here.”
Angel smiled relieved. “Oh, I thought you were serious. We’ll keep it at 10.”
“No problem. I’ll be there at 10.”
Angel got up and Kat wondered if he was going to kiss her goodbye. He didn’t. What did that mean? The night before, they had twice had sex… she was told. Hadn’t the intimacy barrier been broken?
Kat tried not to overthink it as she sat regaining her strength to move. She had eaten a lot. Between that and what might have been an approaching hangover, she felt awful. There was a side of her that was glad her new fiancé wouldn’t have to witness what might come up next. That was no way to start a pretend marriage, or a real relationship for that matter.
After sitting there for an hour, Kat stood up and dragged herself back to her room. They had gotten up late and she had sat in the restaurant for hours. It was already lunch but there was no way she would be eating for the rest of the day. The way she felt she wasn’t sure if she would ever eat again.
Reentering her room she plopped herself onto the bed and looked around. This had been the last place she had seen her ex. Once she left it, Patrick would only be a memory. She was torn by that. She had genuinely loved him. But fuck him for doing what he had to her.
How could a man do that to someone? How could he take off leaving her there to fend for herself without money or a way of getting home? Sure, she hadn’t completely been upfront with him about her financial situation. But he shouldn’t have had to have known that she was penniless and jobless not to have taken off with the tickets and without being assured that she had a way of getting home.
What he had done had destroyed her already fragile self-worth. Luckily, waking up next to a man like Angel had done wonders for it. He really did seem to like her. And, in every way, he was twice the man Patrick had been. That had to mean something.
After a quick nap, Kat felt completely hungover. Had she still been drunk after breakfast? She didn’t have to ask how much she had drunk because she knew. The mosquitos would drink her blood and then fly into walls. This was the detox that she needed. It was the rightful end to her relationship and the best way to start fresh with a new one. After thinking that was when Kat jumped out of bed and took up her new residence on the cool side of the toilet.
For the rest of the day, Kat purged everything she had inside of her including the dreams she had for the man who had left her there. By the next morning, it wasn’t all gone, but for the first time in days, she was ready to re-enter life.
Patrick leaving her, and the drunk days that followed, all seemed like a dream. The only thing she knew for sure was that her angel was coming to rescue her, and she had to be ready for when he came.
“Shit, it’s 9:30,” she said remembering that she only had 30 minutes to pack and get to the dock.
Springing out of bed, she looked around her room and then got to work. The three suitcases she had brought on her vacation needed to be refilled quickly.
“How drunk was I with Angel?” She asked herself as she noticed for the first time how much of a mess her room was.
There were clothes everywhere. Things were draped across the back of the desk’s chair. Clothes were piled on the desk and the armchair. And an embarrassing amount of them was spread across the floor.
Angel saw all of this and still wanted to have sex with her? What was wrong with him? She asked herself. Shouldn’t this have told him that things were not alright with her?
As Kat tossed things into her suitcase, she began to realize that maybe, it had. Maybe his telling her to stay there while he took care of a few things was his way of making an easy exit. She certainly couldn’t blame him if that was the case. She was a mess. Her hotel room was just a reflection of what was going on inside of her.
Looking at the clock again, she realized that 15 minutes had passed while she considered all of the reasons he wouldn’t be coming back. She only had 15 minutes left to prepare for if he returned. She had to make some quick decisions.
Scanning the room, she asked herself something that had never crossed her mind before. Did she need any of this stuff? For what was supposed to be a two-week vacation, she had brought 3 large suitcases that were stuffed to the point of exploding. Why?
Why did she think she would need two pairs of black heels on a trip to an island that was smaller than her high school? And why did she own two pairs of black heels that were only a half-inch apart?
“No. I don’t need any of this. This is ridiculous. What the hell was I thinking? I’m not taking all of this back with me,” she said surprised by her realization. “I’m really not.”
Kat looked around the room again. Evening dresses, five pairs of shoes, two pairs of flip-flops, a hairdryer, a clothes steamer, it was all just the junk that she had accumulated from a lifetime of… what? What had her life been? What had her job been? And why was she so willing to leave it for a guy?
Kat wasn’t sure what was going on with her, but she remembered what she had to do. She had to get to the dock to return to her old life. But was returning to her old life what she wanted, either? She wasn’t sure. What she was sure about was that she needed to get off of this island. And, the only way she was going to do that was with Angel’s help.
Yes, it was possible that he woke up and decided to run for the hills. But, the only way of finding out if he had was to be there at the dock at 10 as they had planned. So, tossing a pair of jeans, a pair of sneakers, two tops, her toothbrush, and a brush, into a plastic tote bag, she put on her bathing suit, a pair of cutoff jeans, a light top, a sweatshirt, and a pair of flip-flops.
That was it. She was ready. There was nothing else that she needed. Everything else was a part of the mess of a life that she was leaving behind. If Angel showed up, she was going to start a new life. Maybe it would be with him. She hoped it would be with him. But, she didn’t know and there was only one way to find out.
Looking at the clock again, she saw that she was already late.
“Shit!” She screamed before running out headed to the hotel lobby.
Approaching she saw that her old friend was there, the person she knew as “woman at the front desk.” She was beginning to understand how awful it was that she had never learned her name. As she got closer, she realized that she hadn’t even had to ask. She wore a name tag with her name on it. All Kat had ever needed to do was look down. Kat had considered her so inconsequential that she hadn’t even bothered to do that.
“Good morning, Miss Shure. How can I help you?’
“Morning, Ella,” Kat said both proud of herself and embarrassed that it took her this long to say it. “I might be leaving the island today. So, can I leave my key with you?”
“You want to check out?” The stout dark-skinned woman said in her highly enunciated, almost South African accent.
“No. I want you to keep charging the credit card for the room. But, if you don’t see me again, I probably won’t be back.”
Ella looked at Kat confused. “Okaaaay.”
Kat handed over her key.
“Oh! And, ah, if you do have to check me out, can you charge a $100 tip for housekeeping and tell them I’m sorry.”
“Okaaaay.”
“Yeah. Well, wish me luck,” Kat told her before handing over her key and heading for the dock.
By the time that Kat arrived at the marina, it was way past 10. Either Angel was going to be there waiting for her or he wasn’t coming. Rushing through the dock’s station with her plastic tote bag in hand, her heart raced. Was he going to be there or was this island about to become her forever home? Kat felt increasing panic thinking about it.
Exiting the small building with the docks in front of her, she couldn’t breathe. Stretched before her were pine gangways that stood in crystal clear, aqua blue water. Attached to the docks were a dozen boats. All of them were open-top and empty. There was no one waiting for her.
Kat’s heart beat even harder as she scanned the area for Angel. Maybe he was somewhere around waiting for her. Kat saw a boat mechanic’s shop on her far left. She headed over to find only one other person. He was a young Fijian with grease smudges on his face.
“Excuse me. Have you seen someone arrive? He would be built, really good-looking. Great smile. Looks like he would be good in bed?”
The twenty-year-old turned around looking at Kat strangely. Kat wasn’t sure why.
“It probably would have been in the last hour?” Kat added.
“No, ma’am. No one has come during that time,” he said rolling his ‘Rs’ as he did.
“You sure? He said he was going to be here and I need him to have come.”
“There are no new boats at the dock, ma’am.”
Kat wasn’t sure what she was more disappointed about, that Angel wasn’t there or that, for the first time, a cute guy had just called her ma’am. She decided it was definitely that Angel hadn’t come.
“Okay, thank you,” she said wandering back to the marina’s small lobby.
Dread rushed through Kat as she realized that he wasn’t coming. Had he ever planned to come back? She sat on one of the chairs that lined the walls and replayed her exchanges with him.
She hadn’t made him up, had she? She had been very drunk when they had met and had remained drunk until after he had left. Was the answer that she had fantasized that the most gorgeous man she had ever met had picked her up in a bar in the middle of nowhere and had made love to her? As she thought about it now, it did seem too good to be true.
Kat looked down at her plastic tote bag and her curvy body. She didn’t recognize herself anymore. Was she the desperate fat girl who upended her entire life because some guy showed her a bit of attention or was she someone else, someone new?
With her mind swirling, she propped her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her palms. She couldn’t take any more. With tears rolling down her face and her body beginning to heave, she was about to lose it completely when she heard something far off in the distance.
It took a moment for her to realize she should look up, but when she did, she peered through the open sliding glass door into the horizon. Something was approaching. It was a speed boat and someone familiar was driving.
Wiping the tears from her face, she sprung up. She didn’t know if this was him, but she headed to the end of the dock to see.
The boat wasn’t slowing down much as it approached. The closer it got, the more concerned Kat got. When it was two hundred feet away, she considered backing off, but it was too late. It was going to slam into the dock.
Sure that she was going to meet her end, she braced herself against a piling. With fifty feet to spare, the driver threw his barreling boat into reverse and turned. Spinning, it came to an abrupt stop two feet from the dock.
The wave that followed slammed the other boats against each other. Water splashed everywhere including over Kat. With the sound of violent sloshing and chaos, she heard, “Quick, Kat, get on!”
Kat stared at Angel frozen. What the hell was going on? Was this some sort of escape? Was he being chased by the police or harbor patrol, or…
“Hurry, Kat! Get on!”
Snapping out of it, Kat shut off her mind and did what she was told. Rushing to the edge of the dock, she realized the boat was too far away.
“Where’s your luggage?”
“This is it?” Kat said holding up the tote bag.
“Toss it to me,” Angel ordered
Kat rethought things for a moment before tossing the stranger the only things in her life that mattered. The toss was bad, but Angel caught it and put the bag to the side.
“Now, you’re gonna have to jump,” Angel demanded.
Kat looked at the distance between her and the dock. It had to be more than four feet. There was no way anyone would make that jump much less a curvy girl like her.
“I can’t make it.”
“You can do it.”
“You need to get closer,” she begged.
“No time. Just jump.”
Kat was about to protest again when he yelled, “Just jump!”
That was all it took. Without thinking, Kat leaped. With her hands reaching forward, she entered the water with a splash. It was too far. Swallowing water as the wake from his arrival overtook her, she wanted to yell that she told him so but got a mouth full of ocean instead.
Kat was sure she wasn’t going to survive this. Flailing her arms, she was sinking. She was almost lost to the sea when someone grabbed her arm pulling her to the surface.
“There are stairs. Climb onto them.”
With one arm stretched into the air, Kat swung it out in front of her. It hit a pipe sending a wave of pain through her body. It had hurt, but she had found it.
Gripping onto it, Angel transferred her other hand to a parallel metal pipe. Steadying herself as the waves threatened to submerge her, she locked her fingers and pulled herself up.
Paddling her feet, her flip-flops touched the bottom rung of the ladder. Standing up, she pulled herself out of the water and took a deep breath.
Slipping his hand under her arm, Angel helped her. Stumbling across the 10-foot width, Kat plopped herself onto the cushioned seat. Pulling her tote bag into her arms, she fought to get a bearing on where she was.
What had she done by climbing onto his boat? What was going on? Before she could figure it out, the engine revved up and the two of them were off.
With the warm tropical breeze blowing against her, the nose of the boat lifted into the air. It wasn’t so much that she missed the changing scenery. They were pulling away from Vomo Island, her forced home for the last few weeks, and headed towards the open sea.
Seated at the back of the boat next to the engine, she could only hear its loud rumbling. Angel, who had his back to her as he drove, could have been explaining what was going on, but she couldn’t hear him. She should have probably wanted to hear but her tense muscles warned her that she might not like what he had to say.
The further they got into open water, the larger the mistake she realized she had made. What did she even know about her rescuer? His name and that he looked good naked? That was it. Was this yet another of her incredibly bad decisions? Was there no escaping the extent to which she could screw up her life?
When it got far too late to jump overboard and swim back, Kat did the next best thing, she got up and stood next to Angel at the wheel. Seeing her approach, he turned giving her a once over.
“You’re soaking wet,” he said much more focused on the drive.
“Yeah, I was in the water back there.”
Angel gave her another confused look and then let it go. “I’m sorry that I don’t have a towel to offer you.”
“Me too. Can I ask you what’s going on?”
Angel looked over at Kat taking a quick assessment of her state of mind before returning his gaze forward.
“Remember that situation I asked you to help with?”
“You mean, me pretending to be your fiancé?”
“Yeah.”
“What about it?’
“You’re helping me out with it now.”
“I am? How?” She asked confused.
Angel looked back at her with a hint of sadness in his eyes. It caught Kat off guard. For a brief moment, he looked vulnerable and scared. The look disappeared after he directed her gaze to something behind them.
Kat looked behind them searching for what could upset him so much. Was it something in the boat? It couldn’t be. His gaze had been a lot higher than that. But the only thing behind the boat was open sea.
“I don’t understand,” Kat said finding nothing.
“Don’t worry about it. Sit down. We’ll be heading to the mainland soon. We just need to take a quick trip first.” Angel forced a smile. “Get comfortable. It’s a beautiful drive. You can see it better from the front of the boat.”
Kat still wasn’t sure what was going on, but at least he no longer seemed like he would dump her dead body in the ocean. Relenting, Kat did what she was told. Finding a cushioned seat in front of the wheel, she sat facing the front of the boat. When she did, she realized she couldn’t see much. The nose of the boat was too high.
Angel must have realized it too because that was when he slowed down. Kat looked back to see if there was a problem. Angel smiled at her and pretended like everything was fine.
Kat again faced forward in time for something to come into view. It was an island. As they got closer she realized that it was multiple islands. Angel hadn’t been wrong. The view was beautiful.
The islands appeared like a mirage on a dazzling sea of blue. The sky behind it was painted with fluffy clouds, and the crisp smell of saltwater relaxed her more than she had felt since arriving at Fiji, if not for years.
She was about to conclude that everything would be alright when the boat turned. Instead of heading directly for the approaching island, Angel plotted a path around it.
Kat looked back for an explanation. Angel wouldn’t return her gaze. Looking past him, she searched the open sea.
That was when she saw it. There was a boat behind them. It hadn’t been there the last time she had looked, but it was there now.
Was this the person Angel had been trying to escape? Was this his psycho ex? Had Angel approached the dock like he had because she was dangerous and they needed to quickly get away? Did Angel know the boat was there?
“There’s someone behind us,” Kat said waiting for Angel’s reaction. Nothing. “Is that who you said was following us?”
“Who can tell? Don’t worry, you’re fine,” he said acting very differently than the urgency he had shown only minutes ago.
More than that, he now seemed happier. What the hell was going on? Was this woman a danger or not? Should Kat be afraid or not?
Keeping an eye on the approaching boat, Angel only let it get so close before he pulled down on the throttle lifting the nose of the boat into the air. She couldn’t be sure, but it looked to her like the other boat did as well.
Quickly past the initial larger island, what next appeared ahead were a chain of cays. The water around them was different. Instead of being the rich shade of blue, it was paler. That had to mean the water had become shallower, didn’t it?
Zipping between the islands, the boat following them did the same.
“She’s following us,” Kat told Angel making sure he knew.
“What?’
“The boat. It’s following us.”
“Oh. Yeah. Sit tight. Don’t worry. We’ll shake ‘em.”
For the next hour, Angel did everything he could to lose the boat behind them. She felt like she was in the boat chase in a James Bond movie. Her mysterious Bond was zipping in and out of coves losing the villain for a moment before returning to the open water only to be found again.
“She’s relentless,” Kat said losing herself in the excitement.
“Relentless, but not as skilled,” Angel said as cocky as James Bond ever was.
Almost as if he was showing off for Kat, Angel pulled the throttle down as far as it could go. Instead of frightened, Kat felt exhilarated. Angel knew what he was doing. She was sure of it. All that was left for her to do was enjoy the ride.
Her first impression of him had been correct. The man was sexy as hell and the whole thing was turning her on. Peering back at Angel, she saw that he was getting a kick out of it too. When Angel caught her staring, he winked. This was the man she had met at the bar. It was coming back to her now. He was charming and hot with a touch of danger.
“Do you think you’ll be able to lose her?” Kat asked after joining him by his side.
“You should sit down.”
“I got it,” Kat said feeding off of his confidence.
“If you insist. I don’t know if I can lose them. Their boat is faster than ours. How would you feel if I kicked this up a notch?”
“Do what you have to do,” Kat said with a smile.
She was definitely going to have sex with Angel again. This was all too arousing for her not to. She wanted him to fuck her right there on the boat. If he wanted to convince his crazy ex that he had moved on, what would work better than that?
With one of her hands gripping a safety handle, she slipped her other hand on Angel’s ass. Kat hoped that gave him ideas. When he turned back to her with a smile, it appeared it had.
With his eyes locked on her, he leaned over and kissed her. It was short but hot. And when Angel turned his attention back to the ocean, he drove with a fury that made her tingle.
Slowing down, Angel waited for the boat to get a few hundred feet from them. When the boat did, Angel spun the wheel and jammed on the throttle. In an instant, they were headed in the opposite direction. They whipped past the other boat confusing the driver. She adjusted.
Outsmarting her made Kat laugh. But there was something about what she saw as they went by that confused Kat. She had thought that they were being followed by his ex. But, there wasn’t a woman driving the boat. It was a man and he was alone.
Had Angel said that they were being chased by his ex? She searched her memories. He had said that this was how she would help him with his problem. But, if they weren’t being chased by his ex, who was it?
She pictured the man she saw when the two boats passed each other. Both boats were moving quickly so she didn’t get much of an impression. The other driver had looked at her with surprise.
She remembered the driver’s blondish hair was long enough that strands blew in front of his face. He didn’t look like a henchman. In fact, if Kat had to describe him, she would say that he looked more like James Bond than Angel did… if James Bond were blond.
What was going on here? Kat had thought she knew, but she clearly didn’t. What she did know was that Angel’s maneuver had worked. Not only had the move confused their pursuer, but while the other driver adjusted, Angel was able to escape behind a few of the smaller islands. He had opened a path to freedom.
Kat searched behind them again and again over the next 10 minutes. The boat never returned.
“Do you think we lost him?” Kat asked.
“We might have.”
Kat returned her attention in front of them. They were headed towards shallower waters where the blues turned pale. Ahead of them were two islands. One was on the left and the other was on the right. They were close and seemed to be connected by a narrow sand bridge. It looked like a natural occurrence and was the most unique thing Kat had ever seen.
“Where are we going?” Kat asked.
“Right through there,” Angel said confidently.
“You mean between the two islands. Doesn’t that look kind of shallow?”
“That’s just how it looks. We can do it. And once we get across it, I think we can head back to the mainland. I can get you on a plane home,” Angel said with a smile.
Kat had mixed feelings about what he said. Sure, it was great that they were out of danger, but she wanted to spend more time with him. What did she have to rush home to? Nothing. She would never meet a man like him back in Wisconsin. What was the use of returning to her life if her life wasn’t worth returning to?
Kat snapped out of her thoughts when Angel slowed the boat and directed its watery path over the sand bridge. The opening was only eight feet and didn’t seem deep at all.
“Are you sure we can make that?” Kat asked again.
Instead of answering, Angel leaned forward and squinted.
“It looks really shallow,” Kat emphasized.
“You know what? It does,” Angel finally agreed.
Instead of slowing down, Angel pulled down the throttle. Lifting the nose of the boat high into the air, they rocketed to their top speed.
Kat knew what he was trying to do. The sand bridge wasn’t very wide. He wanted to build up enough momentum to shoot them over it. The problem was that they didn’t have much time to gain speed. They were going to hit the opening traveling only half as fast as they could be if they turned around and started from further back.
“Um, Angel?” Kat said with a death grip on the safety rails.
“I got this,” Angel insisted.
“Angel?”
“We can do it. Hold on!”
As the boat cut through the air, the water below the boat went from blue, to clear, to yellow. It had become the color of sand. It was shallower than either of them thought. When the hull of the boat hit it, the two were jolted forward. The momentum of the boat had only carried them so far.
Coming to an abrupt stop, they halted at the very center of the sand bridge. And if that wasn’t enough, the boat fell to the side as if it were sitting on dry land.
Kat, who had unwillingly let go of the safety handles, fell face-first onto the cushion area at the nose of the boat. She was rolling to the side. Throwing out her hands she lodged one between two of the cushions and stopped. She was disoriented and no longer sure what had happened.
“Are you alright?” Angel asked from behind her.
Gaining her bearing, Kat slowly looked up. The boat was tilted. It had fallen onto its side. She looked back at Angel. He looked as confused as she felt.
“I think so,” she replied. “What happened?”
“I think it was a little shallower than I thought.”
“No kidding. What do we do?”
Angel looked at her with an amused smirk. “Get out and push?”
“Are you serious?”
“Unless you have any better ideas,” Angel said amused.
Kat didn’t reply. Clawing her way upright, she watched as Angel jumped over the edge of the boat and landed with a thud instead of a splash.
Sliding further to the side, Kat got a better look at him. He was staring at the boat perplexed.
“Angel,” Kat said when she saw someone walking towards them. He was an older, squat, sunburnt man. And more distinctive than anything else was that he was naked.
Angel turned grabbing the man’s focus.
“I saw what happened,” the man yelled as he slowly approached. “You thought if you sped up, you could make it over.”
“That was the plan,” Angel confirmed with a smile.
“It’s deceptively shallow,” the man said perfectly comfortable having the conversation nude. “You’re not the first person I’ve seen get stuck on it.”
“You hear that, Kat? We aren’t the first people he’s seen get stuck on it,” Angel said amused. “So, how did the last person get off?”
“They waited for the tide to come up.”
“Okay,” Angel said happily. “Do you know when high-tide is?”
“It was an hour ago,” the naked man confirmed.
“An hour ago? So, we have another eleven hours before we can get out of here?”
“Seems like it.”
Angel looked at Kat and then back at the man. “Okay. Can you tell us where we are?”
The man point to the island on the far side of the boat. “That island is Wayasewa. The one behind me is Waya.”
Angel looked at both. “I’m assuming that there’s a resort of somewhere on Waya.”
“There is. A nice one.”
“And a bar?” Angel added.
“It’s well-stocked.”
Angel looked back at Kat. “Then I guess I know where we’ll be spending the next eleven hours,” Angel said with a smile. “You up for that?”
She was not ready to leave Angel behind. To stay with him a little longer, she was willing to consider anything. That included turning her liver into a grenade.
Besides, there was something about the way Angel revved up as they approached that had made her think that he had gotten them stuck there on purpose. Could he have had the same idea about having another night together? Was he not ready to let her go, either?
“Why not? I could probably use a drink,” Kat said finding her tote bag and working her way over the side of the boat onto the sand.
Did Kat need a drink? She didn’t. During the past week, she had drunk enough for a lifetime. But if it meant getting to know Angel a little more, she was up for it.
“Where’s the resort?” Angel asked already headed up the beach.
“There’s a path that leads to a clearing. Just stay on the path and it will take you right there.”
With Angel leading, the two found the trail through the coconut tree grove and into the clearing. The end of the open area was surrounded by wooden benches and was spotted with sculpted stone ponds. One of the views from the benches was of the coconut trees to their left. The other view was of the resort. The beautiful ski chalet-inspired building sat on the edge of a cliff that overlooked the water.
“Wow!” she gasped.
Kat was born in Wisconsin and had never left. Before her ex had suggested a trip to Fiji, she hadn’t imagined places as incredible as these had existed in real life.
“It’s nice,” Angel confirmed. “What do you think, should we strip down and head up?” Angel said with a laugh.
With Angel immediately walking towards it, Kat couldn’t tell if he was joking. Why had he said that? Was he implying that the naked guy wasn’t just someone taking advantage of a secluded beach?
Kat’s heart pounded thinking about it. She was way too sober for something like that. Luckily, Angel’s laugh suggested that he was kidding. And, as she thought more about it, she was pretty sure that places like that only existed in the fantasies of fourteen-year-old boys. So, she was pretty safe.
The resort ended up being a lot further than it looked. It was also uphill. It took them thirty minutes to get there and the humidity didn’t let her forget that they were on a tropical island. Kat felt like she had been dipped in split pea soup.
“Can I help you?” A fully dressed woman said from behind the front desk in the lobby.
Angel put on his most charming smile and led the two inside.
“Yes. Can you point us to the bar?”
“The bar is accessible through the back door of each room,” the pretty, tanned woman said.
“And, if we don’t have a room?”
“I’m sorry, the bar is only accessible by guests.”
Angel looked back at Kat frustrated. He didn’t wait for Kat to reply. “Fine. I’ll take a room, he said pulling out a credit card from the buttoned pocket of his board shorts.”
“Very good, sir,” the woman said charging the card.
“How many nights will that be?”
“Just one.”
“Very good, sir. You will be staying in room 105. Here’s your key.”
“Thanks,” Angel said about to walk away.
“One more thing, sir.”
“What’s that?”
“This is a naturist resort.”
Angel turned back to her amused.
“What does that mean?” Kat asked.
Angel looked at Kat. “You know the term clothing optional?”
Kat’s heart sank. “Yeah.”
“Well, that doesn’t apply here.”
The woman spoke up. “No clothes are allowed outside of your rooms and designated areas.”
“I’m assuming that the bar isn’t one of those places?” Angel confirmed.
“It is not, sir.”
Kat could barely hear the rest of what either of them said over the thumping of her heartbeat in her ears. “Are there drinks in the room?” Kat asked starting to panic.
“You will find an assortment of alcohol in the mini-bar.”
Kat didn’t know if tiny bottles of rum were going to be enough, but they were going to be a start.
“I picked the wrong time to stop drinking,” Kat said to Angel with a shell-shocked look on her face.
Angel laughed. This time it was Kat who led them away.
Entering the beautiful white room, the only thing Kat saw was the mini-fridge. Charging to it, she swung it open.
“Yeah, this will definitely not be enough,” she said staring at the two tiny bottles in front of her.
Angel laughed again. “They probably don’t stock it fully on purpose. You’re at a nudist resort. There’s no view if everyone’s drinking in their room.”
“I picked the wrong week to stop making bad decisions,” she said opening both bottles and chugging them.
Angel couldn’t stop being amused. “I guess that means we’re out. What do you say, are you ready for this?” He asked before pulling off his shirt and relieving himself of his shorts.
Kat stared at the gorgeous naked man in front of him. She could barely believe how hot he was.
“Could we just stay in here and bang each other’s brains out?”
Angel laughed again. “And, that sounds amazing. But I need a drink first. Shall we?” He said holding out his hand calling Kat to her naked doom.
Kat
Kat stared at the beautiful naked man in front of her praying for the alcohol to kick in. Why had she stopped drinking? She couldn’t remember. All she knew was that she would give her left tit to be drunk now… and her left was her good one… as everyone at the resort was about to find out.
“Shall we, Kat?” Angel asked again.
“Of course,” she said trying to stop herself from shaking.
Without thinking, Kat turned around to undress. With only her bathing suit and something on top of it, it wasn’t going to take her very long. She quickly realized that there was no point in dragging it out. She wasn’t going to lose any weight in the next minute and he had already seen her naked.
The only thing that could change would be what Angel thought of her. She wanted him to think of her as courageous. That wouldn’t happen if she was acting like a coward.
In truth, Kat knew that she was a coward. Everything she had done for her asshole ex had been out of fear of losing him. She was so afraid of what everyone would say about her as a fat girl who couldn’t find love that she was willing to do anything to escape it.
She didn’t want to be that girl anymore. She wanted to be stronger than she was. She didn’t know how to do that. How do you stop being something you’ve been your entire life? She didn’t know.
What she did know was that, at this moment, she didn’t have to look like the coward she was. Despite what she knew everyone who knows her would say, she could pretend that she didn’t care now. It might not change who she was, but it would change the way Angel saw her, and that was something.
With a new purpose, Kat peeled off her top, her cutoffs, and finally, her one-piece swimsuit. She was twitching she was shaking so much. But she wasn’t stopping. Bare to the world, she turned around.
“Look at that,” Angel said giving her a pleased once over. “Wow! I’m gonna need to keep an eye on you,” he said with a devilish smile.
Kat had no idea what Angel was talking about, but she liked it. It might have just been him being nice, but it was working. His compliment made her blush and filled her with the strength to step forward.
“Are we doing this, or what?” Kat asked pretending she was someone she wasn’t.
“Let’s do this,” Angel said impressed.
Kat took Angel’s hand as he led the two toward the curtained sliding glass door. With his free hand, he pulled the curtain open. In front of them was a large circular space spotted with umbrella-covered tables, and a natural stone floor. At the far end of the space was a bar with a half-dressed male bartender. Behind him was the most beautiful cliff-top view that Kat could imagine.