I turned my head and saw that we were at a clearing on the ocean. We were parked on the edge of a private dock that overlooked a grassy mountain range—low enough to feel the soft sprays of the sea.

There was a shoreline a few feet behind us, with a row of wooden villas that were slightly secluded by overgrown trees.

Where are we? I’ve never seen this side of—

“Tell me something that I don’t know about you.” He moved closer and held my hand.

“I think I might be attracted to you...”

“Something that I don’t know.” He smiled. “I knew that the first day we met.”

“You’re so full of yourself...I wanted to be an actress when I was growing up.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I was in every play in high school and I was in drama clubs all over the city. I just knew that that was what I was going to be...My classmates even voted me ‘Most Likely to be Famous’ in the yearbook.”

“Why didn’t you pursue that when you went to college?”

The flag charms on my necklace suddenly felt heavy and my heart began to ache. I could feel a lump rising up my throat but I pushed it back down.

“I...” I couldn’t talk about that. Not today. Not ever. “I just didn’t have the heart for it anymore...Tell me something I don’t know about you.”

“I used to be fat.”

I burst into laughter. “I don’t believe you!”

“It’s true. I don’t know how it was possible since I starved for half my childhood, but I was chubby up until my first semester of college...Then I was forced to change.”

“Why?”

He put his arm around my shoulders. “I really needed a third job because the hours I was getting at the car wash and the coffee shop weren’t cutting it...The one place that was always looking for new talent told me they’d take me on if I lost weight and got in shape.”

“What type of job makes you lose weight?”

“A high paying one with lots of desperate women...”

“You sold yourself for money?”

He laughed. “No. I danced.”

I was quiet for several seconds. I guessed it made sense that a theater company would want its dancers to be thin and fit. Although, men appreciated the art of dance too so I didn’t quite understand the “desperate women” part.

“You did ballet?” I asked. “Was it hard to—”

“Seriously? No, I did not do ballet. I was a stripper. In a strip club.”

I blinked. I knew my cheeks were on fire but I tried to put on my best poker face anyway.

“I don’t know if I can believe that...” But I want to...

He pulled his phone out and scrolled through a gallery of pictures, stopping on one that featured a group of men dressed in various costumes—postal workers, policemen, Indians, cowboys.

“That’s me in the back—in the fireman costume.” He smiled. “I had to pay a lot of money to make sure none of these photos resurfaced...Do you believe me now?”

I didn’t say anything. I just smiled.

“Tell me something else, Claire.”

“Um...” I paused. “My ultimate dream...After I quit Statham Industries and start my design company, I want to sail the world on a luxury liner. I want to rent one for a whole year and stop as many places as I can.”

“By yourself?”

“With my friends—my female friends.”

“Duly noted.” He grinned.

“It’s your turn to—”

“You’re a vision. Do you know that? Do you know how beautiful you are?” He trailed his fingertips across my lips. “I don’t think you fully understand that sometimes... I could gaze at you all day.”

My heart started fluttering and I wanted to say “Thank you, you too,” but the words locked themselves in my throat.

“You’re not thinking about anything right now are you?”

I shook my head.

“Good.” He slid off the hood and pulled me up. “Leave your phone there...I’ve always wanted to do this to someone.”

“Do wh—” Before I could get the words out, he was picking me up and my body was free falling in the air. The next thing I knew, I was hitting the cold waters of the ocean and sinking down below.

I frantically swam back up to the surface, splashing all around and gasping for air, looking for wherever he was so I could kill him.

He came up to the surface a few feet away, laughing. “Did you like that? Corey claims some water from the Fountain of Youth was poured in here centuries ago. If he’s right we’ll wake up ten years younger tomorrow.”

“Are you crazy? What if I didn’t know how to swim? You can’t just throw people into the ocean!”

He shrugged. “I guess you would’ve died...But since you told me you knew how to swim weeks ago, I’m glad that wasn’t a lie.”

“Do you record our conversations?”

“Every single one.”

“Whatever. You expect me to drive home wet?”

“Not this type of wet, no.”

“I’m serious!”

“It’s taken care of. Greg will be here soon. In the meantime...” He gave me one of his ‘I’m about to fuck you’ looks and moved towards me.

I swam away from him as fast as I could, heading towards the beach.

As the cool waves lapped up against my skin, I realized that I’d never felt so free, so alive.

Once I made it to the shoreline, I stood up and tried to run, but Jonathan grabbed me from behind and pulled me down to the sand.

“I don’t think sand and sex go together.” I laughed as he pinched my nipples through my wet shirt.

“Who said anything about sex? Is that always on your mind?”

“Is it always on yours?”

“Of course.” He laughed. “Come on, we need to get out of these clothes.”

He helped me up and walked me along the beach, to one of the small wooden villas. He entered a code on a small keypad and the door glided open.

He waited for me to walk inside and motioned for me to sit on a white loveseat.

I looked all around, in genuine awe of the place. It was fitted with a beautiful brick fireplace, a state of the art kitchen, and I could see a large bedroom across the hall.

“Is this your vacation rental?”

“A rental?” He opened a closet. “No, I own this. I own all of them.”

“Why do you need so many?”

“I had them built last year. One of the members on my board asked me to invest in a similar project in Florida. After seeing how profitable it was, I decided to open my own here. They’ll be available for people to rent in a few months. Would you like one for yourself?”

“Oh, no...I probably couldn’t afford—”

“You wouldn’t have to pay for it.” He handed me a stack of towels and a small white box. “You should know better than that by now.”

I opened the box and saw silk panties, a pair of gray sweats, a pink T-shirt, and matching flip flops. “You’re always prepared aren’t you? How many sets of these do you—”

“I bought everything in that box just for you,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I’d planned on bringing you here after our first date at Michel Mina’s, but I believe you stood me up.”

“You’re still not over that?”

“I’m getting there. You can go change in the bedroom. Would you like a sandwich?”

“Yes...Thank you.” I walked over to the bedroom and closed the door.

This is beautiful...

The room was set up like a dream suite: The satin canopy that hung from the ceiling was swaying back and forth in the wind. The elegant bed was covered in a sea blue duvet that complemented all the white furniture.

I ran my hands across the sheets and knew that their thread count was in the thousands. I drew the drapes completely open and gasped at the breathtaking view; I could see the ocean waves lapping up over the shore, the seagulls circling around the dock above.

Sighing, I pulled the drapes closed and peeled out of my wet clothes. I bent over to pick up the stack of towels and froze—Jonathan had walked into the room.

He wasn’t wearing anything but a towel around his waist, and I was pretty sure he couldn’t see me from where he was standing.