Part 9 (2/2)
”I was going to say, let's go get your suitcase.”
She frowned at him, as if she didn't believe a word of it. ”No, you were going to say, Let me clean my gla.s.ses my own self.” She walked over and held out the gla.s.ses. ”Here. Clean them however you want. I'm sorry I threw them in the sand.”
That reminded him of why she'd done that. She'd seen a shark coming after him and she'd leaped right into the water to try and save him, risking herself in the process. Besides that, she'd had the presence of mind to toss his gla.s.ses up on the sand first instead of wearing them into the surf where they would have been lost forever.
He stood. ”I'm the one who's sorry. I should be thanking you for coming out to warn me instead of biting your head off about the gla.s.ses. That was a brave thing you did.”
Her chin lifted. ”You think I'd let you get chomped by a shark while you were fetching my suitcase? That would be mighty ungrateful of me.”
Ah, the grat.i.tude thing. Maybe that was what made Gen stand out from the crowd-that deep sense of appreciation for whatever good things came her way. The women he'd known had grown up in suburbia where deprivation meant having their allowances docked or being grounded for a week.
He'd never thought of them as spoiled, but compared to Gen, they were. They'd had their choice of Reeboks or Nikes, while she might not have worn shoes until she was a teenager. His other girlfriends had taken their safe, middle-cla.s.s lifestyle for granted. With her background, Gen never would. Not that she was his girlfriend.
”Well, thank you, anyway,” he said. ”Not everyone would have jumped into the water like that.”
She flushed, almost as if his praise embarra.s.sed her. ”No problem. I reckon we need to take care of one another while we're marooned, right?”
”Right.” G.o.d, but he loved to listen to that down-home speech of hers. He supposed once they were rescued she'd quit talking like that, and he'd definitely miss it.
”Now take your gla.s.ses.” She wiggled them at him. ”They're scratched, but they're better than nothing.”
”No, you take them. You're the one who will be going through your suitcase, not me.”
”You have a point.” She put on the gla.s.ses again. ”I still can't get over the coincidence that we have the same prescription. I mean, what are the chances that two people, stranded on a deserted island, would have exactly the same thing wrong with their eyes?”
”It must mean we're soul mates.” He said it with a smile, to let her know he wasn't serious. Given his admission that he was attracted to her, she might think he was serious. He wanted to show her he could kid about it, so that when this was all over and they were back to being polite friends at the office, she wouldn't feel sorry for him.
”I thought Nick was my soul mate.” She started walking toward her pink suitcase. ”Which tells you I'm about as psychic as a jug of mola.s.ses. Mama, now, she's psychic. She told me not to go on this trip. I should've listened, but I thought I knew better.”
Jack wondered what would have happened if Genevieve had listened to her mother and refused Nick's offer. Nick would have asked another secretary, if there were any left who would fall for his act. Jack could have been stranded here with someone else. He didn't really believe in Fate or premonitions or any of that mumbo jumbo he couldn't quantify. However, having things turn out the way they had seemed exactly right to him.
”Mama must be worried sick by now.” Gen knelt by the suitcase and snapped open the clasp. ”I promised to call when we landed in Maui. She knows I wouldn't forget, considering she was so petrified of me flying.”
”Then she's probably the person who will see that we get rescued.” If she had half the determination of her daughter, they'd be out of here in no time. He was happy about that, of course. They had no shelter, no water, and nothing to eat but those d.a.m.ned guavas.
Furthermore, if they wanted to go beyond this little crescent of a beach in search of food and water, they'd have to scale a very high cliff, and that scared the daylights out of him. They were in a tight spot, so he should be looking forward to being rescued. But he also knew that he couldn't expect to be this closely involved with Gen once they were saved. Logic told him they'd go back to the status quo.
She flipped back the top of the round suitcase. ”Well, everything's soaking wet, of course, but we can dry this beach towel and use it.”
”South Park? You like South Park!” It didn't fit that she would, but he was thrilled that they might share something as simple as a TV show.
”No, not really.” She pushed the soggy towel aside. ”My brother, Lincoln, loves it, though. I've watched it a few times with him and he gave me this towel, probably hoping I'd get hooked even more.”
So she wasn't an addict. Too bad. He hated to admit that he'd begun weaving fantasies of the two of them cuddled in front of the television with a bowl of popcorn. Okay, he could watch South Park with her brother, then. It was a start. ”How old is your brother?”
”Fourteen.”
”It must be nice to have a brother.” His only family was his grandmother, and he'd ended up moving away from her.
”Mostly it is nice, although sometimes he's a pain in the b.u.t.t.” She rummaged through the suitcase.
”Oh, look! Mama must have tucked these in here!” She held up four energy bars, two in each hand. ”She's always afraid I won't get enough to eat.”
Jack's mouth watered, but they were her energy bars. ”Now you won't have to depend on guavas.”
”Now we won't have to depend on guavas. I say we eat two now and save two for later. Which do you want, the chocolate or the peanut b.u.t.ter?”
Chocolate. Oh, G.o.d. His stomach rumbled, but he tried once more to be n.o.ble. ”You keep them. We're not sure how long it'll take for help to come, and you might need them all.”
She grinned. ”I heard your stomach growling, Jack. And if you think I'm eating these myself after you saved both me and my suitcase, you've got another think coming.” She waved two different packages at him. ”Take your pick. On the house.”
”Okay, I'll take the chocolate.” He did his best not to rip it out of her hands, but he had the wrapper torn open and half the energy bar gone before he thought to take a breath. He felt a little better when he glanced down and she was gobbling hers just as fast, but he'd totally forgotten his manners. ”Thank you,” he said.
She answered with her mouth full. ”You're welcome.”
He finished the bar and was ready for another one. But she was right. They needed to pace themselves. He also wished they had some water, but it looked like guava juice would be the drink of the day.
She held out her hand. ”I'll take the wrappers and tuck them back in my suitcase. I wouldn't want to litter.”
He smiled as he gave her the empty wrapper. ”Too late. We've already dropped a big old piece of metal out in the water.”
”Which we couldn't help. That doesn't mean we have to add trash strewn around on the beach.” She tucked the remaining two energy bars back in the suitcase. ”I sure hope my green suit will be okay once I get it washed. Everything smells offish, but that'll probably come out with a good soak.”
”Probably.” He thought it wasn't important what happened to her suit, but obviously she did.
”You know, it's hot sitting here in the sun.” She closed the lid and latched it again. ”Let's take the whole thing up into the shade and go through it. We can hang things over the rocks to dry, and I'll rub sunscreen on your back.”
”That's okay. I can put on my s.h.i.+rt now.”
”No, because then you'll get a farmer's tan on your arms, and when you take off your s.h.i.+rt, the rest of you will be lily white. You have a nice build, Jack. You should get a good tan to showcase it.”
”What about skin cancer?” He'd noticed her comment about him having a nice build, though.
She gazed up at him, looking so earnest in those gla.s.ses. ”I'll tell you something. My uncle Rufus was brown as a berry and he never had a lick of skin cancer. What gives you skin cancer is getting all burnt in one sitting. So slop on the sunscreen and work up to the tan slow and natural.” She smiled. ”See? This mess isn't for nothing, after all. You can get a great start on your tan, which is something that will help you get dates, especially in Honolulu.”
So they were back to the makeover discussion. He didn't want dates. He wanted Gen. Obviously that wasn't a possibility if she was still h.e.l.l-bent on transforming him into 3. guy other women would want.
She stood, brushed the sand from her knees, and reached for the handle of the suitcase.
”You'd better not pick it up by the-”
Too late. She pulled on the handle and it came off in her land. ”Tarnation.”
”Never mind. I can carry it without the handle.”
”It broke clean off.” She stared at the pink leather strap n her hand. ”I can't believe it.”
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