Secret Surrender (The Forever Book 2) Page 9

  “And you know what you’re doing?”

  “Most of the time, anyway.”

  As I wondered what that meant, he kicked the throttle up, and the boat raced off toward the main island.

  I didn’t know anything about boats, but even I could tell Vincent’s was the nicest by far out of the half dozen I saw in the small marina we navigated into. The water was clear down to the sand below as we walked down the long pier to the beach. I could even see some fish congregating around the wooden pillars of the pier. A few dozen people were milling around the strip; it contained a single restaurant, a general store, a surf shop, and not a lot else. Past the palm trees and vegetation there were some houses further inland, and the occasional car or truck drifted by.

  The warmth of the white sand between my toes was a pleasurable contrast to the ocean spray moments earlier. Vincent seemed to be surveying the beach as we stepped off the pier, but after a moment he turned to me.

  “I hope you like seafood,” he said, “because that’s all there is to eat here.”

  I looked around. “I’m guessing it’s fresh.”

  He smiled. “Just caught. Let’s grab a table.”

  We walked over to the restaurant, Isabela & Antonio, and took a seat at one of the two tables on the covered patio. The establishment was owned by a husband and wife, both of whom were in their fifties and appeared to live on the second story of the building. Isabela took our order: I got the mahi mahi with mango salsa and Vincent asked for peppercorn crusted swordfish.

  “Do you eat here often when you’re down on your island?” I asked, once she had gone back to the kitchen.

  Vincent nodded. “Antonio keeps it simple, but he’s a great cook, and you can’t beat the quality of the fish. I also buy from the local fisherman and cook myself at the cabin, but I like to support them any time I come over.”

  “It doesn’t look like they have much competition.”

  He looked back toward the kitchen. “That’s true, but people here tend to take pride in their work for its own sake, especially people like those two who weren’t born here. You don’t try to make a life in a place this remote because you’re lazy, that’s for sure.”

  I knew enough about Vincent’s background to know he valued people who worked hard. You didn’t get to where he had gotten without that kind of work ethic. I was the same way, though I wasn’t quite as adventurous about going out on my own. “So far you’ve had very good taste. I’m excited.”

  He smirked. “Good. I like it when you’re excited.”

  I blushed. He had been showing his affection a lot lately. “I’ll bet. So how long have you been coming down here?”

  “Years and years. I was coming here way before I bought the island. Surfing is good on the other side of the island. Too calm on this side.”

  Calm was good from my perspective. “I like this beach.”

  “Sure, and the conditions on the water are usually great for the boat.”

  “You’re always looking for a little extra excitement, aren’t you?”

  “Usually. Not so much since I met you, though. You’re a handful.”

  I laughed.

  A minute later, our food came. Vincent was right: the preparation was simple but the ingredients spoke for themselves, which was the opposite of a lot of the food at restaurants in New York. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was after our morning activities, but as soon as I smelled my food I realized I was starving. We both inhaled our meals. Isabela came with the check, Vincent paid, and we were soon making our way to the convenience store.

  “We just have to pick up some odds and ends for the cabin,” he said. “It’s hard to get used to not having the basic necessities right around the corner when you’re used to the city, but around here you have to.”

  I shrugged, contemplating the food in my belly. I wasn’t ready to get back on that boat just yet. “No problem. I bet you’re already thinking about flying around in your boat.”

  “I’m thinking about doing something in the boat, that’s for sure.” He winked.

  My cheeks warmed. Could he really be in the mood again after yesterday and this morning? We’d certainly be exposed on the boat. But the rocking from the waves would be an interesting element. At this point, I knew if he came onto me, I would probably end up going along with it. He hadn’t been wrong when it came to finding ways to pleasure me so far. I was still contemplating as we walked into the store.

  The general store was surprisingly packed with merchandise, all at an eye-popping markup. When you’re the only store in town, I guess you can charge what you want. Vincent picked out some toiletries and other necessities while I followed behind. He was a very efficient shopper. Within minutes we were at the checkout line. I was spacing out musing on the color labels of the liquor collection behind the counter—there was a very heavy rum focus—when a stunning blonde woman came in wearing a red bikini and stopped at the edge of the counter.

  She had long, wet blonde hair and the definition of a beach tan—there was even sand still clinging to her torso. She had ample breasts, curvy hips, and a flawless complexion. Her six pack was so defined I wondered whether she was a fitness model. In fact, the more that I looked at her, the more I thought she must be an athlete of some kind.

  When I turned my attention back to the counter, I saw the effect she was having on the men in the store, the clerk behind the counter included.

  And Vincent. He turned his attention toward her like a shark smelling blood.

  Jealousy stirred in my stomach. Working at a desk in the city didn’t exactly let me compete on the body front with a woman like that.

  The man at the counter cleared his throat. I thought he was going to point out some version of “no shirt, no shoes, no service,” but he just said, “Hello, Ariel.”

  She had a model’s smile, and she used it here. “Hello, Emilio.”

  Then she caught a glimpse of Vincent and beamed. “Vinny! Oh my gosh, you’re here.”

  “Ariel, what a surprise.” He smiled.

  “I can’t wait to straddle your newest board.” She laughed.

  Vincent shifted. “You’ll have to let me know what you think. What are you doing in St. Lucia?”

  She pushed her hair back over her shoulder and tossed her head. Every movement she made irked me. “Surfing is doing a photoshoot on this side of the island. You know, because of the sand. Not that I need to remind you how nice the sand is over here.” She winked.

  I looked up at Vincent’s face. He appeared slightly flustered and he averted his gaze. Calm and collected Vincent losing his composure? How could she have such an effect on him? My jealousy worsened.

  Ms. Photoshoot stepped closer to Vincent. I put my arm around his waist to remind him that I was still here. It made me angry he was ignoring me in front of this gorgeous woman. Didn’t he realize he was making me jealous?

  Vincent shook his head as if he were in a trance. “Sorry, bad manners. Ariel, this is Kristen. Kristen, this is Ariel Diamond.”

  He didn’t even introduce me as his girlfriend. Reeling, I felt I should speak. “So are you a model?”

  Ariel laughed in a way I found patronizing. “I’m mostly a surfer, but I do some modeling work, as well as riding Vincent’s board every chance he gives me.” She turned head and shoulders toward Vincent, as if I didn’t exist. “Which, again, hasn’t been enough lately, Vinny. When am I getting my personalized new toy.”

  He laughed. “I’ll look into making sure you get it when I get back to work.”

  Another perfect smile tore its way through my ego. Who was this woman that was expecting a personalized surfboard from Vincent’s company? Did she and Vincent have some kind of past he hadn’t told me about? She was acting super familiar with him, and he wasn’t shy around her either.

  “Good,” Ariel said. “Done any surfing lately? Or have you been hunkered down in that awful office of yours?”

  My mind recalled the surfing lessons Vincent had given me o
n our first date. I hadn’t been very good, but it had still been a fun day, especially in the showers afterward. That had been an important day for our relationship.

  “Not really. We’ll have to get together some time to do it properly.”

  I couldn’t believe this.

  Ariel continued. “Good, I’m holding you to it. You’re always so much fun. Anyway, I have to get back to the set soon. Let me know about that board.”

  “Will do.”

  She left us to finish her shopping and Vincent checked out while I continued feeling invisible. It was unbelievable how small he’d made me feel. The way he interacted with Ariel made it seem like he didn’t want me there. There were some ways I just didn’t fit into Vincent’s lifestyle, and one of those was doing extreme sports activities he loved.

  We were both quiet on the walk back to the boat. I wondered whether I would ever be enough for Vincent. We were barely into our relationship—or whatever it was we were doing—and already I was seeing holes.

  As he untied our boat, his shirt slipped exposing more of his torso, including his diamond tattoo. It couldn’t be a coincidence the symbol coincided with Ariel’s last name. Was that for her? I decided I needed to ask him about his relationship with her, whatever that was, but the boat ride back to his island wasn’t the place to do it. As the wind blew against my face, I thought about how I was going to broach the subject.

  Chapter Seven

  By the time we returned to the cabin and unpacked the items we bought, it was almost four o’clock. Vincent and I spoke little from the time we left the dock until we had finished putting away supplies. He seemed distant in a way he hadn’t been since we’d been seeing each other, and it worried me. I took a seat at the dining table as he was beginning to busy himself in the kitchen.

  “Vincent. We need to talk.”

  He looked up from the vegetables he was chopping and squinted. “Is something wrong?”

  His obliviousness was amazing. The anger that had been bubbling up under my skin was ready to spill over. “That wasn’t okay.”

  “What wasn’t?”

  “Don’t play dumb. Every second you were talking to Ariel Diamond you were wishing I wasn’t there.”

  Vincent took a deep breath, put down his knife, and sat next to me at the table. “That’s not true. I’m very glad you’re here.”

  I crossed my arms. There was no way he was getting off easy on this one. “Don’t try and smooth talk your way out of this. Who is she?”

  “She told you, she’s a surfer. She’s a world-class surfer, actually. Big name in the industry.”

  “Okay. And?”

  “My company sends her free products for testing and endorsement. So that’s what you heard when she was talking about sending her the new board.”

  “Okay, that explains that. How about ‘Vinny?’”

  He said nothing. His thousand yard stare reminded me of the way he looked in the store.

  “Well?”

  “You’re getting way too upset about this.”

  I hated the way he was deflecting. The more he stalled, the more I realized something was up. “Am I? Have you had sex with her?”

  He flinched. “Why would that matter?”

  “Because I’m asking. You have, haven’t you? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  He threw his hands up. “Because it’s not important! Do you really want me to run down a list of every woman I’ve ever slept with?”

  Thinking about the length of that list made me nauseous. I was sure he had slept with many, many more people than I had. Still, that wasn’t what this was about. “No, I’d rather not think about that. But were you going to wait for me to bring it up before you told me anything about your relationship with her?”

  His jaw worked, but he remained silent. I could tell he was going through the options of what to say in his mind. After several minutes of waiting for him to speak, I felt like I needed to move the conversation along.

  “Okay, you’re clearly not being forthcoming about this, so I’m just going to ask you: is the diamond tattoo on your chest for Ariel? Or is that just a weird coincidence?”

  His mouth formed a thin line. He took several deep breaths, then put his hand on the table. “I should start at the beginning: it makes me feel old to say this, but I’ve known Ariel Diamond for thirteen years. Since I was a teenager.”

  I nodded. That was longer than I had known anyone except my parents.

  He watched me for a minute, but I wasn’t saying anything. He continued. “We met while I was in college. She was part of the crew I surfed with in California while I was in school and then after. You could say we kind of came up together. So I’ve known her for her whole career, and she’s known me for mine.”

  “And you guys dated?”

  He nodded. “Yes. Eventually we started dating. I got the tattoo for her when I was twenty.”

  “How long did you date?”

  “A few years. It was up and down. We aren’t really compatible, though I fought against that at the time. The only thing we really have together is surfing.”

  “So you loved her?”

  “I definitely thought so at the time.”

  The next question was one I wasn’t sure I would get an honest answer to. “Do you still love her?”

  He shook his head firmly. “No. We still have a friendship, but I moved on a long time ago.”

  I had my doubts. He had a tattoo devoted to the woman. She was more than just a flame he had moved on from. “Really? Why didn’t you get the tattoo removed?”

  “Why would I? It’s not like I’m on bad terms with her. We’re just not right for each other as romantic partners. That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.”

  I thought about my only real ex. Marty. We weren’t exactly on the best of terms. The idea of being friends with someone you were once romantic with seemed pretty foreign to me, but it worked for some people. “So when was the last time you guys were intimate?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know, five or six years?”

  The way he was so casual about sex was often a turn-on, but right now it made me feel pretty insignificant. I had to keep the conversation going or I knew I’d dwell on it. “So all that innuendo from her was just joking around?”

  “She was probably trying to get a rise out of you. I’m sure she knew we were together so she was probably testing you by seeing how you would react if she flirted with me.”

  Did he just say we were together? It didn’t feel like it, especially after he’d let Ariel test me like that. Did I want to be with someone who would let me squirm?

  “Are we together? Because I felt invisible while you were talking to Ariel, and it’s even worse if you were conscious of the fact she was trying to do that.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Felt invisible?”

  “Please. You didn’t even introduce me as your girlfriend.” Granted, I wasn’t sure whether I was his girlfriend. We hadn’t talked about what our status was as a couple, or even if we were a couple.

  He let out a deep breath and grimaced. “Sorry, that was an oversight. I was surprised and not really thinking.”

  That was a non-answer. “But you knew she was testing me and you just let her keep going. Why did you do that?”

  “What did you want me to do? The way she was doing it, I would’ve had to say something very awkward and it would’ve made things uncomfortable for everyone. What she was doing was pretty harmless.”

  “It wasn’t harmless to me! And why did you disregard the surfing we did on our first date when she asked?”

  He blinked. “I didn’t. I said ‘not really’, which was true given what she asked. From what I remember, I was a lot more focused on you than I was on the surfing during that date. ”

  “So you can’t actually have fun surfing with me because I’m not good enough?”

  “I had a great time and I think we could have fun doing it again.”

  If we ever went surfing again. “You�
��re not bored with me?”

  He looked up and shook his head. He was getting frustrated. “What have I done that makes you think I could possibly be bored with you?”

  I started to tear up. I said something that had been in the back of my mind for a while. “You can’t surf or do a lot of the other thrill-seeking stuff you love so much when you’re with me.”

  “Kristen, I’m a big boy. If I didn’t think we were compatible, or if I was getting bored, or anything like that, I would just tell you. The fact is I don’t feel that way. Compatibility is much more complex than shared hobbies. And a relationship is much deeper than thrilling moments. We haven’t been together long, but you and I both know we have great chemistry. I’m still crazy about you, and you’re still the only woman I want or need.”

  Warmth spread from my face around my entire body. It felt good to hear those words. Even after the day before and that morning, seeing him with Ariel had shaken my confidence in how attracted Vincent was to me. If you had shown me a picture of Ariel Diamond when I was doing my initial research on Vincent, I would have said they were a perfect match. But that was before I knew him. There was more to him than he let on to the public.

  “Promise?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he said, smiling, “I promise.”

  I beamed. Vincent, as if coming to a sudden realization, jumped up and went to the counter. By the time I turned around to track him, he had a camera up and snapped a picture.

  “Perfect. I’d been meaning to get a good picture of you as a keepsake.” He looked at his handiwork on the camera’s screen. “Take a look. I think it’s a great shot.”

  He came over and handed me the camera. He had caught me smiling wide and staring right at the camera. I was a little teary-eyed but I still looked happy. He was right, it was a perfect shot. Candid but well-framed. A professional photographer would be proud.

  “I’m getting two copies. One for the cabin and one for my condo. You don’t mind do you?”

  I shook my head. I pondered the significance of my portrait sitting next to his cherished photos including the one with his sister. Mine would be the only one with a single person in the photo.