Page 66 of He Loves Me Knot
“Not the worst character in literary history to be compared to. He comes around nicely.” Callum stood and winked. “Unlike that Lydia character you seem to dislike so much.”
I might swoon, which is ridiculous.
“So I took the time to look up the hours of operation for Adventures and Escapes—the tour company Sergio works for—today. And it looks like they’re closed because it’s Sunday. But given that he probably got into town late last night like we did, it might be a safe assumption that whatever tour he’s guiding will be here all day into tomorrow. Either way, we can’t go scouring for that tour in a place as big as this. And even though I agreed to come here, I don’t know if I can take another day of craziness.”
Callum went over to the clothes he’d thrown over a chair and shook out his pants. “We’re stuck here until tomorrow anyway because we have to get your passport back from that soda. Would you be opposed to waiting to resume our search until tomorrow, when we can actually talk to the people at the tour company?”
She considered his words. They’d done so much to get here, but now they were just going to pause?
But why does the idea feel like relief?
Because she’d pushed herself like crazy the past couple of days. She needed a chance to recharge. “So we would . . . what? Just hang out here?”
“The room rental comes with admission to the hot springs area of the resort. And there are restaurants and the town to explore. If you’re feeling up to it, we can do something more adventurous during the day and a night hike later. You can still hear the volcano at night even though the lava trails aren’t visible like they were when I was a kid. But it’s still a fascinating hike.”
She chewed her lip. “I feel a little guilty. We’re both supposed to be here for Elle and Quinn, and we’ve sort of run off.”
“If Elle knew what you were doing to try to make her wedding go smoothly, there’s no way she’d be mad at you. Besides, hadn’t they written in one of those many wedding emails that the whole point of going a week before the wedding was for all of us to sightsee?”
True.
And she could use a break from chasing the wedding dress thief. They’d hit a snag in their search for him as it was.
“All right. Let’s take the day to explore. But I’m going to need clothes and a bathing suit. I can pay you back if you don’t mind lending me the money.”
“Sounds good. Not that I’m worried. I know where you work.” He cocked a smile at her.
I slept in a bed with my boss last night.
Yeah, no big deal.
And she was spending the day with him, just sightseeing. After they’d admitted to liking each other.
But liking each other wasn’t any huge admission. This wasn’t grade school where saying“I like you”meant you were halfway on your way to being a “couple” and sharing snacks at recess.
“Oh, this is a spa, isn’t it? Maybe I could book a massage or something. Or we could get a couple’s massage and split the cost.”
“You know, if I hadn’t been driving for twenty million hours straight, I’d laugh. But that’s not sounding so horrible now that you mentioned it.”
She smiled, feeling oddly excited.
A day of indulging and pampering would be amazing.
Even if she couldn’t quite shrug off the sisterly guilt.
ChapterSixteen
“This is so notwhat I had in mind when I agreed to stay for a day of pampering and relaxation,” Liddy said, looking down at the waterfall over the edge of the jungle canyon.
Beside her, Callum wore the same rappelling gear she did. “You’ll be fine.”
The idea had been Callum’s: go do something adventurous and sporty for the first part of the day, then spend the afternoon at the spa like Liddy wanted.
She’d grudgingly agreed, but mostly because he’d done a lot for her the day before.
Now that she was here, she completely regretted it.
She glanced at the carabiner on her rappelling gear’s belt.Is this thing supposed to keep me safe?The waterfall rappelling company had outfitted them after they’d arrived. Their guide,Carlos, had assured her several times that it was perfectly safe.