name back at the hotel. One perk—one of many—to my job is being able to squeeze in a siesta if I had an early morning.”
“You had an athletic morning, too. You must be a pretty good surfer. Brendan said the surfing was good today, and if you were a total beginner he would have said it was okay.” I pulled my shirt back on.
I took her back toward her hotel. We walked along quietly for a few minutes, and then I turned to her.
“Morgan, I don’t mind helping out with your phone. I feel responsible.”
“You weren’t babysitting me,” she said.
“No, but I distracted you.”
“You think that I dropped my phone because I’ve never seen a guy without his shirt on before?” she asked wryly.
“Yeah. That’s definitely it. Shocked by the sight of my manly pecs, you lost all muscle control and dropped what you were holding. Your virginal eyes—"
“Buddy, I hate to be the one to tell you, but nothing about me is virginal anymore,” she laughed.
“I’m scandalized,” I said, deadpan. “I thought for sure you were saving yourself.”
“For the convent?” she said.
“Or marriage,” I teased.
“I’m more likely to go for the convent,” she snorted.
“Then whoever you were sleeping with was useless at it,” I said bluntly. “If you’d ever had really incredible sex with someone who knew what they were doing, the convent would never cross your mind.”
She stopped and stared at me. Her eyes were wide and startled that I’d been so direct. She blinked fast a few times and rubbed the skin just below her collarbone as if she could massage the flush off of her skin. All it did was draw my attention to her blush, to the tiny freckles scattered over her skin and the surge I felt of wanting to kiss them all.
“Sorry,” I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck a bit uncomfortably. She was a booked and paying client of my hiking business and I’d just said something really unprofessional and possibly creepy as well, “I guess I spend too much time with my brothers. I should never have steered the conversation in that direction with you. I apologize.”
“It’s fine,” she said, eyes still fixed on me.
“That’s exactly what someone would say when they were trying to minimize their discomfort. It won’t happen again, Morgan. And if you want to cancel your hike, I’ll issue a full refund.” Please say no, I thought.
“Afraid you can’t keep up with me on the back trails?” she said archly.
“Not really. I just don’t want to get sued.”
“I’m not the suing kind. I’d just shove you off a rock if you offended,” she said lightly. The flush had receded from her skin and I felt less like kicking my own ass for saying something so sexual to her.
“We should get you back to your resort. You don’t want to miss that nap,” I said lamely.
“Maybe you were right,” she said.
“About what?” I said, still off-balance, still relieved she wasn’t canceling our hike.
“About the sex. Maybe what I’ve had has been fine, but nothing that would change my life decisions. At least I can concentrate on my work and not worry too much that I’m missing something.”
“Wouldn’t you get lonely?” I said, intrigued. Was she really telling me she was lacking good sex? Was she the one steering conversation into naughty territory again?
“Kind of. I have friends and my job, and I’m too busy to get bored. But sometimes in the mornings, that’s when I feel lonesome with no one to curl up to,” she said.
Then she sighed, and it felt too intimate, like we knew each other too well all of a sudden. She seemed resigned to being alone. I understood it. I’d seen plenty of friends who would’ve been better off alone. I knew the dangers of letting someone get too close. But those things seemed too personal to tell her aloud. Not when we’d just met, when she was just a tourist, a client, some girl I was attracted to. She could never be anything to me besides a fling. So I kept my thoughts on relationships locked down and just nodded.
“What about you?” she asked. “Are you lonely? Or do you have a different woman every week?” Her voice was light and playful again, but I could tell she was baiting me.
“Neither. I’m fine with what I have. I love being outdoors and showing people the island. I love my family, my nieces and my nephew, my brothers. What else could a man