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My conversation with Kara on the rooftop was illuminating, like looking at a twin. If I can be so confident in Kara, why can’t I be confident in myself? I’ve taken big risks in the past. They’ve almost always worked out. With every passing moment, I find myself more and more convinced that I want to take my next one on Evie.
I change into a different set of dark Parisian clothes and head downstairs.
The fires in Evie’s note refer to a grouping of private beach cabanas with fire pits, perfect for both an end of the night drink and a beginning of the night power hour.
Everyone’s there, with the noted exceptions of Brent, Cheryl, and Dax. Even Kara beat me there. She’s sitting next to Dalton and raises a beer to me as I approach.
My name is called from all sides in greeting, but I only have eyes for her. She’s wearing a sheer cover up over a turquoise crop top and jean shorts. Her blonde hair is up with tendrils escaping here and there, and her eyes are dancing with laughter. There’s no sign of the crying girl I’d left in the hotel room a couple hours ago.
“Nick!” she says. I still haven’t gotten used to how much I love hearing her say my name. “You just missed the funniest story.”
“I never found my bra or my other shoe,” Tori confirms. “But what’s important is that those field mice were saved from a short life in the lab.”
“Sounds like it was a winner,” I reply, sliding into place beside Evie. She melts against me, her hair once again right beneath my nose, her scent once again filling me with anticipation and hope. Hope for the future. Hope that I can be different.
Then Evie half turns to look up at me, her blue eyes sparkling with light reflected from the fire, and I know. I know instantly. I’m in love with this woman. I’m in love and there’s not a goddamn thing on this planet that’s going to get in the way of that. Especially not my fears, especially not myself.
The rest of them have gone back to laughing about Tori’s story, but Evie continues to look up at me. “What’s the matter?” she asks quietly. She’s noticed a change in my expression, a shift in my eyes. The quiet intensity of my feelings changing the very makeup of my face.
I open my mouth, the truth about to slide from my tongue. But then something stops me. I’m not a man who does anything in half measures. If I’m going to confess Feelings to a woman for the first time in my entire life, I’m doing it the right way. A nice dinner. No! A hot air balloon ride. No, not that either. But something. Something big. Thankfully I have plenty of time to think on the flight home.
Evie is still looking expectantly at me, so I shift gears. “I spoke with Kara,” I say.
“It looks like it worked,” Evie says. “She apologized for freaking out at me but didn’t elaborate.”
“We bonded a bit,” I admit. “But I’ve got to plead the fifth on the details. What’s important is that she said that we could head home tomorrow.”
The exciting news has the exact opposite effect I’d expected. Instead of thrilled at getting to go back to New York, a flash of disappointment crosses her beautiful features.
“Oh,” she says. She recovers quickly though. “Wait, this isn’t because she’s bailing on the Seafarer, right?”
I shake my head. “The opposite. She’s agreed to sign on. We’ve more than proven ourselves.”
Evie nods, but her eyes are suddenly far away. They drift away from me, out to the ocean where the black waters pulse with waves. Not-so-distant club music is already pounding.
In a flash I realize I’ve messed up. Not knowing where we stand, Evie thinks that once we get home we’ll go back to our old roles. Me the tyrannical boss, her the spit-fire in red-soled heels. But I also can’t come right out and say my plans. Why ruin the surprise?
So instead I pull her back against me and whisper in her ear, “It’s all going to be okay. I promise.”
She tenses slightly but then relaxes fully into me, and doesn’t comment on my words again.
The rest of the evening is the perfect send-off for Evie and me. We toast with champagne to our successes and our newfound friendships. We listen to Kara’s playlist, some of her favorite songs and some hotly contested choices that lead to a lot of arguing by the younger members of the entourage. Food is brought from the resort on giant platters and we eat and dance and enjoy the quietest night so far.
There is one episode of excitement: when a slightly intoxicated Dax appears at the back of the cabana.
His appearance makes the entire party freeze. Dax approaches the group like nothing’s wrong, like he thinks if he just strolls up he’ll be welcomed back, no harm done. At all of our expressions, that winning smile breaks across his handsome face.
He gestures for Kara to come to him. She doesn’t, staying seated on the couch like a queen on her throne.
With a scorching look that would send a less arrogant man sprinting, Kara says, “I have no idea what you could possibly have to say to me.”
Dax isn’t shy about giving his forgive-me speech in public. He’s ballsy, I’ll give him that.
“Look, babe,” he says. “I fucked up. I know that. I promise you, it didn’t mean anything. You know you’re the only girl I have feelings for. She was just physical, a distraction.”
“I don’t know why you think I care,” Kara says. She looks back down at her phone and continues to scroll her playlist for the next song she wants to hear.
“You’ve been so busy,” he says. “I was just horny and that bitch was throwing herself at me. Can’t we just agree that I fucked up?”
