Page 15 of Forever Mine

Later in the evening, Scott sat across from me at dinner. His antics made me stifle laughter from time to time. He kept mouthing at me to hurry up, but wouldn’t answer when I asked why. He only shook his head and sighed as if I was being difficult.

A seat next to me opened up when a woman excused herself from the table. Scott waited a few moments before dropping into the chair she vacated. “I have plans for tonight.”

Eyebrows raised, I said, “Oh, you do?”

He nodded, and I wanted to swipe the hair out of his eye.

“I plan to take you dancing, but not tonight,” he said close to my ear.

Pulling away slightly, I asked, “Then why mention it?”

“To put you on alert so you can wrap your head around it.” He leaned in and lowered his voice. “Tonight, we’ll take a walk and I’ll show you some sights.”

“Sounds like a good plan. This hotel food will pack on the pounds if I’m not careful.”

Joey and Pete got my attention by waving across the table. “We’re going to the games room,” Joey said, getting to his feet.

“Don’t get addicted.”

They laughed and turned away from us.

“Have fun and don’t do anything I wouldn’t.” Joey, the more outgoing of the two, spoke over his shoulder. He looked at Scott before his gaze shifted to me.

I admired his bravery. We didn’t have that kind of relationship, but it was sweet of him to look out for me.

With a smile, I said, “I won’t.”

I didn’t care what he thought about Scott and me. After all, I was here to chaperone him, not the other way around.

“It’s pretty cool that he wants to protect you,” Scott said when they left. “It tells me that he cares for you.”

I assessed Scott for a few seconds. He saw more than I imagined he would.

“We have been hanging out together a lot,” I said.

“And it’s none of his business.”

“I agree, but I understand where he’s coming from.” A woman I’d met earlier in the day waved at me. I wriggled my fingers at her, then batted my eyelashes at Scott. “You could be a serial killer or something.”

Scott broke out laughing. “Where would I stash your body?”

“They wouldn’t find me for days if you hide me in your closet.”

He waved a hand under his nose. “Only until you started getting ripe.”

“That does it,” I said, hiding a grin. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Don’t tell me you’re a coward.”

His question made me think about what we were doing. We’re two adults enjoying each other’s company. That’s it. I shelved my thoughts and responded to Scott. “We have a saying in Jamaica. A coward man keeps sound bones.”

“I can’t say I disagree with that, but tonight I’m not taking no for an answer.” He held my hand and squeezed it a little. “Let’s go.”

It was good to get out of the confines of the hotel and breathe the night air. The energy of the city gave me a sense of adventure. Here, nobody cared who I was. Instead of feeling isolated, I was excited. As we strolled down the sidewalk, Scott pointed out places of interest and my hand somehow found its way into his.

Neither of us made reference to it. There was simply a rightness to us being together like this.

Looking up at him, I asked, “Where d’you live?”