“Oh, I still enjoy the spas, Shane. I just love all of this time one-on-one. I’ve never felt this satisfied and this happy in my life. A spa definitely can’t satisfy me in the areas you do.” She walked up to him and pulled his head down, kissing him deeply.
When he came up for air, he smiled. “Well, not the reputable spas, at least.”
It took her a second to understand his meaning, and then she burst out laughing. “Which ones have you been hanging out in, Shane Grayson?” she asked with mock anger.
“Well…”
“Shane Grayson!” she said, horrified.
“I’m just kidding. I would never even think of entering a house of ill repute,” he assured her a bit too earnestly.
She glared at him for a moment before deciding he’d only been trying to get a reaction from her.
“You’ve been all over the world. I’m sure you have done things that would shock most people,” she said, worried about the women he had been with. One of the reasons she’d been so leery of starting up with him again is because he was a known playboy. What if he did have women waiting for him in every port on every continent?
She knew she couldn’t handle that. Lia didn’t share well with others.
“Hey, it was a stupid joke,” he said as he lifted her chin. “I promise you that my life is a lot more fictionalized than everybody believes. Yes, I’ve dated a number of women, but not as many as you might think. I’ve never been in love before — never even thought about getting married. That has always terrified me. Now, it doesn’t so much.”
Lia looked up at him in shock at his words. He wasn’t actually proclaiming his love or offering marriage, but it looked as if he was setting the groundwork for just that.
It was too soon. She felt panic rise. What if he wanted too much too fast? She knew she didn’t want to lose him all over again, but she couldn’t just jump in blind. They needed more time.
“Lia, where’d you go?” he asked softly.
“I’m here. I just — this cave — well, yeah, the cave is starting to suffocate me,” she said, her chest feeling compressed. Maybe this was her first panic attack. She hoped it was nothing worse than that.
“Lia…” She knew he didn’t believe her, but she couldn’t talk about this now.
“Let’s just go, Shane. I’ll feel better when we get back out into the sun,” she said, her voice unusually high as she tried to mask her growing agitation.
He looked at her for several heartbeats, then gave her a soft, almost sad smile, before turning around and looking at the cave once more.
“I hate to leave, but I do want to get back to the beach. We need to prepare a large area where we can light a fire that can be seen from far away,” he said in a falsely happy tone as he tried to hide his confusion. Then he walked over, bent down and nuzzled her neck.
“Thank you, Shane,” she said. She was grateful he’d let the subject drop. This was where she needed to be with him for now, right in his arms, where she felt safe and cherished. They didn’t need to worry about tomorrow or the next day — not yet. The sun would set and then rise again, bringing them a new day. It was inevitable. There was plenty of time to worry when there was something to worry about.
“I will cook you a spectacular seafood dinner on the beach with a nice fire and all-you-can-drink fruit juice,” he said, trying to pull her from her funk.
“A romantic seafood dinner on the beach. Why, Shane Grayson, you just earned some extra brownie points,” she said, giving him a kiss before moving through the entrance of the cave and walking outside.
Lia looked back, having to fight a slight tightening in her throat as the cave got farther away. She wasn’t a crier, and she wanted to kick herself for feeling that weak emotion right then. It was just that she couldn’t remember ever being happier than she had been during the past few days. Shane was incredible, and their time together — interruption free and distraction free — had been just what her soul had needed. It felt different being with him now. But even as they moved toward the beach, a little of that feeling was beginning to fade.
She was frightened that the farther they moved away from their special place of bliss, the less chance they’d have of making it together once they were saved.
She knew they needed to get rescued, but she really did hope it would take just a little more time. Selfishly, she wanted Shane all to herself. She’d been such a fool to waste so much energy on fighting him. It was unbelievable that it had taken a shipwreck for her to see what she’d been missing these last couple of years.
The two of them walked down the path back to the beach, reaching the white sands in about half an hour, since they were now familiar with the island, and knew the fastest routes to take. The sun was high in the sky, and as they scanned the water, there wasn’t a boat in sight. Lia felt a bit of relief, but a little panic as well.
Her feelings were seesawing wildly. What if they weren’t ever found? The past few days it hadn’t seemed so frightening, but she’d heard stories of people being lost for ten years before a rescue, their families having moved on, burying the memory of their lost loved ones on the assumption they were dead, and continuing on with their lives.
She knew her parents and her siblings wouldn’t give up, but the thought was rather daunting.
“They will find us, Lia.” Shane wrapped his arms around her.
“I know. It’s just easier to forget we’re stranded when we’re by that pristine pool of water. Being here with the vast ocean before us makes our circumstances that much more real,” she said, holding on to his hands as they rested on her stomach.
“You know your brother. He will move heaven and earth to find you. If he has to call out the Italian Coast Guard to search every island out here, he will. Hell, he’d try to hire the United States National Guard to do it. There won’t be a single expense that he will spare. There’s no way he will think you are resting at the bottom of the ocean. He can’t give up. It’s just not in him to do so.”
Shane’s words were helping to calm her.
“Thank you, Shane. I know I was teasing about us staying out here forever, but seeing the ocean is quite frightening. It just seems like it would be so hard for anyone to find us, especially since nobody knew you were coming here.”
“That was stupid of me, and selfish. I’m sorry that I put you in so much danger,” he replied, his tone full of remorse.