Day Three

I’ve been nervous all day. It’s not like me to get nervous, but I’m finally about to get something that I’ve always wanted, and an opportunity as good as this will make even the cockiest and most confident of men get nervous.

I take a deep breath as I look myself over in the mirror one last time. My hair is slicked to the side, I’m wearing the button-up shirt that always gets looks from the ladies, and I’m wearing my lucky underwear. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.

My heart starts thumping in my chest as I turn off the lights and head for the door. Tonight is going to be perfect. Julia won’t know what hit her.

I spent the day driving around the island, getting everything ready for the best first date in the history of first dates. First, I booked us a luxurious staffed catamaran all to ourselves. We’ll be dining on expensive champagne and fresh seafood hors d’oeuvres as the Captain sails us out to sea while the sun sets in front of us. I can already see it perfectly. Julia’s silky black hair will be flowing in the wind as I make her smile and laugh. She’ll see a new side of me that she’s never seen before, and we’ll get along great.

Next, the catamaran will sail up to a secluded and uninhabited island that I heard is spectacular. There’s a gorgeous white sand beach in front of thick lush rainforest. There will be a beautiful table for two set up next to a roaring fire. Julia will be thrilled and awed as we walk barefoot through the cold sand up to the table where three waiters in tuxedos will be waiting to serve us. We’ll have a 1998 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay waiting in a bucket of ice. We’ll sip on the wine and enjoy each other’s company as the chef lights up the barbecue on the beach and starts grilling the fresh marlin and preparing the live lobsters that I ordered. We’ll slowly fall in love as the violinist I hired begins playing softly to us as the stars come out overhead. Julia’s beautiful face will be lit up by the candles, and her smile will take my breath away as I gaze into her eyes.

Once we’re done with our delicious dinner, we’ll have chocolate truffles that I flew in from Colombia, and to wash it down, we’ll have another bottle of champagne. We’ll probably walk over to the water with the champagne and sit on the sand, drinking it straight from the bottle as we talk and talk and talk. Once Julia starts getting sleepy, I’ll have the catamaran pick us up, and she’ll fall asleep on my shoulder as we sail back to the main island.

When we arrive back, she’ll be refreshed from her short nap and will want to continue this amazing date. We’ll head to Kanamana, the best beach bar on the island. I reserved a table for us, so we’ll continue with drinks and conversation and probably some dancing in the sand.

I grin as I step into the hallway and close the door. It’s going to be perfect.

There’s a lightness in my chest as I walk up to Julia’s door and knock three times. Adrenaline courses through my veins when I hear her footsteps approaching on the other side. I can’t believe this is finally happening.

My knees nearly buckle when she opens the door. She looks absolutely stunning.

Her silky hair is up, showing off the smooth curve of her neck and her sexy shoulders. I swallow hard as my eyes slowly wander up and down from her painted toenails sticking out of her sandals, up her smooth tanned legs, to her tight black dress that hugs her thighs, to her breasts that are showing just a hint of cleavage that is enough to make me want to groan out loud, and up to her gorgeous face that is looking at me shyly.

“Wow,” I say as I try to catch my breath. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Did you say that to Stephanie too on your first date with her?”

My shoulders slump forward as all the excitement is yanked out of me.

“Sorry,” she says as her eyes drop to the floor. “I didn’t mean that. I’m just nervous, and I don’t know how to act around you yet. My old way just kind of comes out like an old habit.”

“I get it,” I say, with a nod. “Let’s just be ourselves.”

“That’s the problem,” she says with a grin. “Myself hates you. She has since you stole my purple popsicle in grade one.”

I smile. “Just let me try to make it up to you. I’ll buy you a thousand purple popsicles if you forgive me.”

She raises her eyebrow and smiles. “I’m listening…”

We chat about the wedding and the resort as we walk to the car I rented. She’s a bit stiff and looks uncomfortable, but it’s not as bad as it could be. I mean, I did torture her for over a decade. It’s natural for her to have her guard up.

But this night is all about seeing me in a new light. Hopefully, she’ll let go of the past and we can start on our future. Together.

“Nice car,” she says as I open the door for her. My eyes are all over her body as she steps in and sits down. She’s so beautiful. I can’t get over it.

“I should have written in the contract that we have to stay on the resort,” she says with a laugh as I get in and start the car. “Where are you taking me?”

I grin at her as I throw it into drive. “It’s a surprise.”

She sucks in a deep breath as she takes one last look at the resort as it disappears behind us. “I’m definitely getting murdered.”

Julia frowns as we pass the security guards at the gate, mumbling something about Home Improvement.

I pull onto the road, and she starts playing with her watch. “All right. You get one hour.”

“One hour?!?” I ask, looking at her in disbelief. “I saved your life and all I get is one hour?”

“One hour,” she repeats. “If you do a good job, we may be able to extend it to two.”

“Wow, thanks,” I say with a laugh. “Does the driving part count?”

“What do you think?” she asks me with a smirk on her lips.

“I think you’re going to be begging me to keep the date going once you find out what I have planned.”

She chuckles. “We’ll see.”

I take a deep breath, enjoying the delicious vanilla scent of her perfume as I drive. She’s silent for a while as she looks out the window at the lush scenery. The resort that we’re staying at is in a very secluded area of the island. There’s not much around here but rainforest and more rainforest.

“And you didn’t save my life by the way,” she says, turning to me after a minute of silence. “I was totally capable of swimming back to the rocks.”

“Oh, really?” I say with a laugh. “Is that what you think?”

She nods. “That’s what I think.”

“Well, I think you’d be having a date with a lobster on the bottom of the ocean right now if I hadn’t rescued you.”

“Too bad nobody cares what you think,” she answers with a laugh. “I was just about to get my second wind and swim to the boat.”

“Right,” I say, smiling as I turn off the main road.

“Okay,” she says, looking out the window at the even thicker vegetation around us. “Where are we going? Is one of your real estate investments a tiny shack in the rainforest where you murder women?”

“Yes, but unfortunately that one is in the Bahamas.”

“That’s a relief,” she says. She leans her head back against the seat and starts to relax. After about forty minutes of driving through secluded back roads, she looks at me with a raised eyebrow. “Your hour is almost up. So far, I’m not wooed. Where are we going for real?”

I’m about to tell her when the steering wheel starts shaking under my hands and the engine starts making a loud clunking sound. “What the hell is that?” I mutter as the gas pedal stops working.

“No way we’re getting stuck out here,” Julia says, looking around in panic. There’s nothing along this road but huge green plants with leaves the size of coffee tables and trees that stretch up to the clouds. We haven’t seen another car since we turned off the main road about thirty-five minutes ago.

“It’s not dead yet,” I say, cursing this stupid car under my breath as it shakes and groans like a goat in labor. “We might make—” Before I can finish the thought, the car dies.

It dies a horrible, noisy, smoky death.

“So far, this date gets negative five stars,” Julia says, watching with horror as white smoke pours out of the hood of the car.

I turn to her with a grin. “So, I guess this is a bad time to try and kiss you.”

“You can try,” she says with a straight face. “But I might bite your tongue off.”

“Ouch.”

“On the bright side, it might win you back a star if you’re tongueless and can’t talk for the rest of the night.”

We sit there looking around, not knowing what to do next. “How long do you think it’s going to take for a taxi to come pick us up?” she asks.

I shrug. “Let’s find out. Can I borrow your phone to call?”

She looks at me with wide eyes. “It’s back at the room. Tell me you have a cell phone on you.”

I gulp.

“Are you kidding me?!?” she snaps, throwing her hands in the air. “We’re stuck here?”

“If it makes this situation any better, I had planned to have lobster for dinner.”

“We’re stuck in the freaking rainforest!” she screams, looking around in panic. “Do you know what comes out of the rainforest at night?”

“No,” I say, shaking my head.

“Me neither!” she shouts, erupting like a furious volcano. “But we’re fucking going to find out! It’s going to be a thousand degrees in this car!”

“We’ll open the windows,” I say as my mind races for available options. Available options that aren’t coming to me at all right now.

“Great!” she says, crossing her arms as she stares straight ahead. “We’ll get eaten alive by rainforest mosquitoes. I’ll look like I have chicken pox for Cynthia’s wedding.”

“Okay, calm down,” I say, trying to bring her down a couple of notches. “It’s not that bad.”

“I’m stuck in the middle of nowhere with the one guy on the planet I least want to be stuck with.”

Her words are like a punch in the heart. I didn’t think she hated me that much.

“Fine,” I say, letting my emotions get the best of me. I charge out of the car and slam the door. “Then you can stay by yourself if that will make your night better.”

My blood pressure shoots up to dangerous levels as I charge down the road with my hands clenched into fists. I wanted this night to go perfectly, and I’m so frustrated that it got all fucked up before it even got started. All my planning and attention to detail is just… gone.

Maybe Julia and I weren’t meant to be together. Maybe we’re just too different. Like a yin and yang, but instead of completing each other, we’re just meant to be kept apart for all eternity.

I glance back at the smoking car and shake my head. This is probably the universe’s way of telling me that it’s never going to happen, and I should stop trying.

You win universe. I’m done.

“Wait,” she says, calling out to me as she steps out of the car.

I take a deep frustrated breath as I stop and wait for her to catch up.

“I can’t stay there by myself,” she says when she arrives.

“Are you going to be able to stand being around me?” I ask with a roll of my eyes.

“Probably not,” she says with a grin, “but it’s better than staying back there and being forced to go to the bathroom in the woods.”

“All right,” I say with a huff of breath. “Let’s just start walking.”