Page 44 of Anyone But You

Victoria pursed her lip and pushed herself up. That inch of space between us made me anxious. I felt like a fool when I realized she was repositioning so that we could be nose-to-nose.

“And you don’t see each other often?” she whispered as if we were telling secrets that should be taken to the grave. Shockingly, it made me want to open up more.

“What can I say? Work got in the way. Finding work-life balance is hard when you’re at the top.”

“You probably should’ve paid attention when viewing the work-life balance module—”

“Fuck the modules,” I interrupted. Victoria snickered at my disdain for the stupid training videos.

I felt her fingers gently caress my face, and just like that, I was bewitched by her all over again. The tender moments between us had increased since sleeping together. Every morning began with sensual wake-up kisses that eventually led to passionate love-making. We held hands on our daily trip to the falls and languidly washed each other with no sense of hurry. Despite the sex, the physical gratification, and the lessening of threats against my life, the best thing Victoria gave me was a warm, welcoming smile when I returned from fishing. I felt as if I redeemed myself in her eyes—that she’d truly forgiven me for intentionally acting like an ass towards her.

I’d been doing some deep self-reflection during my daily alone time, and it took a few sessions for me to realize that I didn’t purposely get under Victoria’s skin because I loved her feisty reaction.

Don’t get me wrong, I love it when we engage in intense banter, but…

I purposely mistreated her because I was insecure. I thought there was no way she’d consider me anything but herdomineering middle-aged boss—nothing more, nothing less. So, instead of being a gentleman and asking her out, despite some outdated fraternization policy, I was a dick because I feared rejection.

“Do you think we’re going home?” Victoria asked.

“Do you want me to tell you the truth or a lie?”

She smiled weakly. “Lie to me, Knox.”

“A few more months, and we’ll be back in civilization.”

She laughed and buried herself back into my embrace.

“I wonder what life will be like when we return,” she mused thoughtfully.

“Hectic. There will be constant requests for interviews from the media. The deceased crew members’ families will try to sue me.”

“For what?” she questioned, voice rising an octave from disbelief.

“A fucking money grab, what else?”

“You’re right. Would you settle to get it over with?”

“Absolutely. It would probably cost less for me to settle than to have my lawyer fight a class action lawsuit.”

“That’s fucked up. I can’t wait to get my settlement check.”

“Seriously?” I groaned, rolling out of the hammock. She laughed and followed suit.

“I’m going to be thefirstone in line for my check for emotional distress—not because you forced me on this trip and the plane crashed, but because I’m subjected to seeing you walk around in my caftan dress. Take that shit off, Knox.”

“Sorry, no can do. It feels so soft. Plus, I can let my dick and balls breathe without being obscene.”

Victoria

“I have a question,” I said, handing Knox a half-melted candybar for his dessert after we indulged in a dinner of fruit and turtle soup: turtle meat floating in a seaweed and coconut milk broth.

“I might have an answer.”

“I have two questions, actually.”

“Hit me.”

“First, why the hell do you have my bonnet on?”