Chapter 8

Tina vanished into the crowd. Alyssa sat stunned. What could she do? Mason told her to ignore Tina’s threats. He said his parents wouldn’t believe Tina if she exposed him, but what about Alyssa herself? Tina could make serious trouble for Alyssa.

She would give anything to spill her guts to Mason right now, but he was nowhere in sight. She had no reason to doubt Tina’s word. Tina wielded much more power to destroy Alyssa’s life than Mason’s. No one could touch Mason.

Even if his parents believed Tina and disowned him, he still had his company. He still had respect and money and cars and God knows what else. What did Alyssa have? She had fifty thousand dollars in the bank. That wouldn’t go far if she couldn’t get a job when that money ran out.

She sat still for a long time. The crowd swirled and ebbed all around her. Voices rose and fell until a strange man sat down in the chair opposite her. Alyssa snatched up her plate and bolted. She didn’t want to talk to anybody right now, much less try to explain who she was and what she was doing here. She couldn’t bear telling one more person she was Miguel’s wife.

She hurried down the hall to her room and slammed the door. Everything about this place that once enticed and relaxed her now sapped her strength and frazzled her nerves. She hated the fragrant breeze blowing through the window. She hated the salty sea air and the sun on the sand. She wanted to hop on the first plane back to the States and never see this God-forsaken resort again.

She paced around the room for more than an hour until she couldn’t stand the sight of the place a second longer. She had to get out. She changed into her shorts and tank top and went out on the beach alone. She walked all up and down the shore, retracing her steps over and over as she tried to come up with some solution. The warm waves lapped her bare feet.

What should she do? She couldn’t face Mason with this secret weighing her down? She couldn’t do it with him or even kiss him with this between them. If she ever cared for him, this secret would ruin their romance better than anything the devil could devise.

Tina must be the devil incarnate, to come up with something like this. Jealousy and hatred burned up her soul for twenty years. She wanted to rob Mason of the success he worked so hard to win, and now she found a way to do it.

Alyssa walked all the way down to the caves and back. She didn’t come up with any solution but at least walking calmed her down a little bit. Once Tina blew the lid off the whole thing, Alyssa could come clean to Mason. She could explain why she couldn’t tell him. She could only hope and pray he understood and would forgive her.

She didn’t want to go back to the hotel. She wanted to wander the golden seaside forever. The water washed her troubles away, but she had to go back sometime. She turned away from the waves hissing over the sand to see Mason coming toward her. He wore his board shorts, and his brown chest shone in the sun.

He smiled at her. “I thought I’d find you out here.”

“Did you get your picture taken?”

He snorted. “We’re one big, happy family.”

“Not with Tina around.” She didn’t mean to say that. It just sort of slipped out.

His head whipped around, and he fixed his flashing eyes on her. “Did she bother you again? I swear I’ll smash her face in if she says another word to you.”

Alyssa shook her head and turned away. What could she say? She’d overstepped by giving him even that tiny hint of warning. She better watch her step from now on.

She caught him gazing out to sea. If he was half the businessman she thought he was, he would read between the lines and see this disaster coming.

All at once, he shot her a wicked grin over his shoulder. He ran to the water’s edge and plunged into the foaming ocean. He dived under the waves and struck out into the deep.

Alyssa retreated up the beach and sat down on the dry sand to wait for him. She watched him body surf in the breakers. The white bubbles flowed off his rounded shoulders and through his hair. He flung his bangs out of his face when he came up for air.

He stayed out a long time, but Alyssa didn’t mind. She enjoyed this moment of respite. She was with him. No one watched over their shoulders or schemed of ways to bring them down.

He came charging up the beach dripping wet. He caught her in a bear hug and laughed when she tried to push him away. They both wound up gasping with laughter. He shook his hair out like a dog to spatter her all over with droplets. Then he took her hand and they walked the rest of the way back to the hotel.

Mason paused at the ripple for one long, last look at the falling sun on the horizon. The sea breathed and murmured. Another perfect day in paradise came to an end. He squeezed her hand and tugged her arm. “I don’t want to go inside yet. Sit down here next to me.”

He pulled her down on the sand and put his arm around her. He lightly stroked her shoulder with his fingers and kissed her gently on the check. Then he muttered into her mouth, “I can’t tell you how nice it is to spend this time with you. I wouldn’t trade this time for a million dollars.”

She guffawed at him. “A million dollars is nothing to you.”

He didn’t laugh. “I mean it. I wish we didn’t have the reunion to distract us. I wish we were here on our real honeymoon.”

Alyssa blushed. “Listen, Mason….”

He shook his head to cut her off. “Don’t say it, okay? I know we’re not a real couple. Even if I am fooling myself, just let me enjoy this a little longer. Don’t shatter the illusion. Let me think you care about me before you dump me.”

“I do care about you, Mason,” she replied. “I care about you a lot, but it’s you who will dump me. You don’t want a relationship with me. You want a fake wife. That’s what you brought me here for.”

He started back. “What makes you think I don’t want a relationship with you? Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Well, we can’t have a relationship here, can we?” she countered. “We’ll go back to New York. You’ll go back to your company, and I’ll go back to….whatever. We wouldn’t be doing this back there. We would be getting on with our real lives, and we’re not together in that.”

“What if we could be?” he asked. “What if we could keep doing this back there? What if we went together and stayed together?”

“But we won’t do that,” she pointed out. “We lead totally different lives. You’re a frickin’ business mogul. I’m nothing.”

“Don’t say that about yourself. You’re the woman of my dreams.”

She shook her head. She couldn’t explain what she meant, but she definitely didn’t see her future with him. She wouldn’t go back to the New York to be the future Mrs. Harwick. That did not exist.

He stared out to sea. His spirit wandered there, beyond the limit of thought. “I want to. That’s all I’m saying. If you decide not to, don’t kid yourself into thinking this is anything mutual ‘cuz it isn’t. I want to keep going with this. I want to take it all the way. I want you, and I want to keep you. That’s all I’m saying.”

Alyssa didn’t reply. What could she say? She could barely look him in the eye with Tina’s threat weighing heavy on her mind.

He turned away from the ocean to kiss her, and his eyes found hers. His black irises occupied her whole field of view. She had no choice but to look at him. Their lips lingered closer, and his arms folded around her.

He held her tight, and they kissed for a long time. Nothing existed in the world but that kiss. Alyssa rested her head on his shoulder, and her tongue mixed through his mouth. He gripped her shirt and tugged him in closer. His presence enveloped her in delicious sweetness.

She looked up at him. Everything came together in that gaze. Electric magic joined them for all eternity. How could she think of separating from him back in the States? How could she let him go after everything they went through together?

He drew away and took her hand.  “Come on. Let’s go inside.”

She leaned back one more inch, but when her eyes left his face, she caught sight of a familiar figure standing some distance away. Tina watched them from the beach. Her eyes gleamed, and she clenched her teeth. She’d seen their whole romantic kiss.

Alyssa gave her only the briefest glance before she looked away. Mason didn’t see Tina watching them. He took Alyssa’s hand and raised her from the sand. They turned their backs on Tina and went back into their own room.