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“Okay, take those back to her and find something fun to do today. I think you two will have a great time. And I’ll make up your room special for you.” Kay winked, and Derek left, wondering what in the world that meant.
When he entered the suite, Nara was sitting on the bed, her wet hair in a towel, a leather sketchbook in her hands. She wore a yellow sundress that accentuated her slim figure. When she saw him she snapped the sketchbook closed. Was that a blush crossing her cheeks? “What’s that? More of your sketches?”
“No,” she said quickly, hiding the book.
“Then what is it?”
“Nothing. Just a diary.”
Curiosity peaked in him, but he wasn’t about to go reading her private thoughts behind her back. And she obviously wasn’t going to share it with him. He dismissed it and placed the now-mangled pamphlets on the desk and smoothed them out. He hadn’t realized he was crushing them.
Nara crossed the room, put away her diary, and pulled the towel off her head. Her long, black hair spilled down her shoulders. She used the towel to dry the ends of her hair. “Where were you?”
“I went to get some of these.” He held up the pamphlets. “Excursions. I thought we could look at them to decide what to do today.”
“Great idea.”
“You hungry for breakfast?”
“Starved.” She stood and crossed the room to the fridge, opening it and grabbing a Diet Coke.
“You’re drinking that before breakfast?”
“Yes.” She opened it and it hissed out the pent-up pressure. “Are you saying I shouldn’t? Huh? Wanna fight me?”
Derek held up his hands. “No way, sister. I wouldn’t come between you and your Diet Coke if I had an army behind me.”
Nara pointed at him after taking several long swallows. “You got that right.” She took another long swig and moaned.
“Should I go do something so you can have a private moment with your soda?”
She snapped her towel at him, and he ran to get out of the way. “Just you wait. I’m going to find your Achilles heel and use it against you.”
He clenched his jaw, unable to say anything back to her. If only she knew. She was his Achilles heel.
Nara finished her Diet Coke, then slipped into a pair of sandals. “Come on. Let’s go. My stomach has hit critical and you were gone forever.”
“It was nice of you to wait for me.”
Nara gave him a funny look. “Why would I have gone to eat by myself? We’re on our honeymoon.”
Derek didn’t want to admit he was afraid his wife hated him. In fact, she’d been insisting on calling this trip a vacation. Hearing her say the word ‘honeymoon’ made him want to smile, even though that was silly. This wasn’t a true honeymoon. And Nara wasn’t his real wife. He had to remember that, before he allowed himself to believe the fantasy. No matter what Kay said, this marriage was ending in two years.
Chapter 9
Strolling through the botanical garden was like walking through a rainbow. Pink flowers turned into red, then orange, then yellow, traveling through the full spectrum of colors created by the fragrant blossoms. Nara could smell the strong almost citrus scent of the orchids as the gravel trail crunched under their footsteps.
She watched Derek as he squatted low and clicked his camera. Had she ever seen him so happy? His lips pressed together as he checked how the picture turned out on his screen. She’d come to realize this was the beginnings of a smile for him. How had she never seen his tiny, almost smiles before? She’d always thought he was so serious. But spending the last couple of days with him had opened her up to new possibilities. Maybe he did smile a lot. Just in that I’m-an-Emperor-and-I-can’t-show-emotions kind of way.
“Let me see.” Nara craned her neck to try to get a glimpse of the back of his camera.
Derek moved the camera closer to her and shielded it from the sun. The photo of a wild banana orchid took up the whole frame. He’d caught it at a great angle, the contrasting yellow and purple colors almost more vibrant in the photo than in real life.
“Wow, that looks great.”
“Thanks.”
“How do you make your photos look so good?”
