My skin prickled but I ignored it, heading directly for the shower. Maybe Jendan wouldn’t even stick around. I saw a teeny tiny bar of soap on the counter and grabbed it, unwrapping the paper and giving it a sniff. Oh wow, even soap smelled good. “Mmm.”
As I sniffed the soap, Jendan entered the bathroom behind me and leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Was he…going to watch me shower? “So where’s your room at, Jendan? I—oh God, is that shampoo? And toothpaste? This is heaven, isn’t it?” I clutched the bathing products to my chest with glee.
He laughed, watching me race around the room. “I’m a few doors down. I thought we could hang out for a bit, though, if that’s okay with you?” His gray gaze followed me as I went around, grabbing toiletries.
“Of course,” I said, glad he probably couldn’t see my blush under my grime. Neither one of us seemed ready to lay it out in the open.
“Great. I’ll just wait out here while you clean up, then.” He slid out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
Well, that made things slightly less awkward. I turned on the water and gave my reflection a quick glance…and then stopped in horror.
Lord have mercy, I looked awful. My face was a nice shade of brown, but bug bites and scratches covered almost every inch of my arms and legs. My hair looked like dirty straw, my eyebrows like caterpillars. My body was skinny, my boobs deflated, and my butt was non-existent. My fingernails had half-moons of grime under them. I gave a small moan of horror, leaning in close to look at my pores in the mirror. Clogged. Gross.
I looked like I’d been sleeping under a bridge. Why on earth had I thought Jendan would find this sexy? No wonder he was rushing me to the shower. I climbed in under the hot water and immediately began frantically scrubbing.
A half hour later, my hair was deep-conditioned and repeatedly shampooed, my nails were as clean as I could make them, and I’d shaved, soaped, and scrubbed every inch of my body. There was a killer ring at the bottom of the tub, but when I got out, I felt so much better.
Human, even.
Toweling my hair dry, I slathered on some lotion before wrapping a towel around my body. Next, teeth. I think I brushed them for a good twenty minutes before I decided to call it a day. They just felt so clean and delicious. That done, I stepped out into my room, and found Jendan stretched out on one side of my bed, remote in hand as he watched TV.
“Anything good on?” I teased, pulling out my bag and grabbing an old t-shirt and a pair of panties to sleep in.
“Nothing, actually,” he said with a smile at me. “The TVs aren’t hooked up to a satellite so we can’t see the news. All we have are DVDs. Old ones, at that.”
I eyed the TV. “Is that…”
“Ernest Goes to Camp? Yeah. Don’t ask. It was either this or Leprechaun II.”
I laughed, grabbing my clothes and heading back to the bathroom to dress. I don’t know why I felt weird about it, but I did. We were in that bizarre neutral zone where we weren’t quite friends, but weren’t quite anything else, either.
I quickly dressed and returned to my room, dragging my damp hair over my shoulder. It smelled so fresh and clean that I couldn’t help but touch it. Ditto my teeth. I ran my tongue along their surface again. “I don’t know how you kissed me earlier. I was gross.”
He tilted his head, watching me from my bed. “You’re never gross.” Jendan patted the side of the bed. “Want to join me?”
“Sure,” I said, feeling nervous. This was just Jendan. There was no reason to feel skittish. I climbed into the bed and snuggled up against him, like we had in our shelter so many times. It felt weird to have all the clothing separating us, and I remembered all the sessions of skin to skin, limbs wrapped around each other.
He tugged me closer, and my cheek rested against his pectoral. His scent enveloped me - soap and clean aftershave, and underneath that, the faint smell that was uniquely Jendan. He always smelled good to me, but tonight, he smelled heavenly. I buried my face against his shirt. “You smell incredible.”
“That would be deodorant,” he chuckled. “I hear it’s all the rage.”
“Mmm.” I sniffed again, and then closed my eyes, cuddling close. It was so nice to just lay in a soft bed here with him and not feel sand grit between my toes. “Can we just lie here for a minute and appreciate the finer things in life, like a real bed and air conditioning?”
“We can do that for as long as you like,” he said softly, tone amused. “I’m still in awe of food. Real food that’s not coconut.” His fingers played with a lock of my hair. “And water I can drink that hasn’t been boiled first.”
I stretched a hand over his stomach. He was so warm, my own personal furnace. The sleepiness I’d been fighting returned full-force. “You know what’s nice? A bed that isn’t infested with hermit crabs and sand fleas.”
“And I promise nothing at all will rain on you here,” he said, fingers tracing along my cheek. “You’re safe and sound.”
Safe with him. That was exactly how I felt. Like I could suddenly relax after six weeks of tension and scheming. My fingers curled in the soft, clean fabric of his t-shirt. “I like being safe with you,” I murmured sleepily. “You make me feel good.”
“The feeling’s mutual.” His fingers continued to skim and caress my cheekbones, the soft touch soothing me.
I really needed to wake up. This was my last night in Fiji, and Jendan was here and didn’t hate me. We were both clean, and I was pretty sure there were plenty of condoms in the bathroom. And I’d spent six weeks longing for this man.
But, warm and clean after six long weeks, my stomach full of something besides coconut, I couldn’t help it.
I fell asleep.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Any regrets? I’m not the kind of guy to focus on regret. Things play out how they’re meant to.” — Jendan Abercrombie, Juror Number 2, Endurance Island: Power Players
God, I’d slept so well.
I stretched an arm over my head, my eyes still firmly closed. Sunlight was streaming in through a nearby window, and I was so deliciously comfortable that I didn’t want to wake up and ruin the cocoon of bliss I was currently ensconced in. There was no need to wake up anytime soon. The game was over, after all. I rubbed my foot along the strong leg wedged between my own and burrowed deeper against the warm body. There’d be plenty of time in the morning to find Jendan…