Escape (10 page)

After finishing her A-levels, she’d gone on to get a biology degree at University College, London. She had taken the degree because she hadn’t known what the hell she was going to do with her life. At her father’s advice, she decided to get a science degree because, after all, ‘no one employs an arts graduate’ (her father’s words, not hers). But then she had graduated and was still clueless. A year working in the pathology lab at Guys Hospital, taking cultures and analyzing bacterial resistance to antibiotics, only made her realize she wanted more. She knew a few people studying medicine and thought, why not? She was certainly clever enough and she liked people, well, most of the time anyway, so she went for it.

Being a doctor was never something she dreamed of doing. It had just seemed like a sensible option.

Besides, plenty of doctors weren’t anything sp
ecial. Some of the people she’
d studied with were little more than morons who played drinking games every night. It scared her how those types of people could be responsible for the lives of others.

“So, am I right in thinking that you don’t like your job very much?” he asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Why do you think I’m here?”

“Well, I’m impressed.” He stared at her with wide-eyes and raised eyebrows.
“A doctor?
A real
doctor?”

She shoved him playfully on the shoulder. “Stop looking at me like that. This is the exact reason why I didn’t tell you, because I didn’t want you to look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you don’t see me anymore.
All you see is a doctor.”

He laughed and then saw her face and stopped. “I’m sorry, but I don’t see you any differently,” he paused. “Okay, well maybe I do a little,” he admitted. “But only in a good way. You’re beautiful
and
incredibly smart.”

She couldn’t help but smile.

He thinks I am beautiful.

That was the compliment she hung onto. She had been told all her life that she was smart—she
knew
she was smart—but it wasn’t often someone told her she was beautiful. Had Max ever told her? If he had, she couldn’t remember. He had told her that she looked great before they left the flat for a night out, and told her he loved her, but beautiful? She didn’t think so.

“I’m so sorry your evening was ruined like this,” said Rudy.

She shook her head. “Don’t be silly. It wasn’t your
fault. Anyway…” She smiled. “I
t wasn’t all bad.”

“Now I know you’re lying.”

Their ride arrived, pulling up in front of them. One of the local boys who worked at Turtle View stuck his head out the driver’s window.

“Hey, boss,” he called. “I hear you need a ride.”

“You took your time, Tai,” Rudy said, getting to his feet
. “We were starting to think we’d
be spending the night out here.”

Tai clocked Lucy and gave Rudy a wink. “I think you would be fine.”

Rudy opened the door for her and then climbed in beside her.

“Let me take you out tomorrow,” he said. “I can’t help but feel like I owe it to you after what you did today.”

“You don’t have to keep making things up to me.”

“Yes, I do. And anyway, I want to.”

The
thought of spending more time with him
sent a thrill racing through her
. “Well, if you’re sure your boss won’t mind you
taking
the time off.”

From the driver’s seat, Tai snorted with laughter. “Yeah, make sure you ask the boss. You know what he can be like.”

Lucy raised her eyebrows in question.

Rudy leaned forward and punched the boy on the shoulder. He gave a shout of protest.

“Just ignore him,” Rudy said. “It’ll be fine. I’ll come pick you up from the restaurant at nine.”

She hugged herself in excitement.
Was this really happening to her
?

Rudy turned up the
next
morning on the back of a Yamaha.

As the bike roared into the
resort, everyone turned to look.
Lucy had to bite her lower lip to stop herself from squealing with excitement. She was so proud to be the one he was here for and she could feel the jealous glances on her back as she picked up her bag and made her way over. On the back of the bike was a s
pare helmet. As she walked up, he picked
up
the helmet
and handed it to her.

“I’ve never been on a motorbike before,” she admitted.

He looked at her in surprise. “You’ve got to be kidding me? What have you been doing all your life?”

She lifted her hands in a shrug. “I guess you found that one out last night.”

“Oh, yeah.”
H
e grinned. “Well, you don’t have to do much. Just sit on the back and hang on.”

She eyed up the bike doubtfully. “What am I supposed to hang onto?”

“You can hold onto the side of the seat, or if you think you c
an stand it, you can always hold
onto me.”

“Maybe I’ll hang onto you then,” she said. “After all, this is my first time.”

“So I’ll be your first.”

They stared at each other, the obvious connotation joining them in a heated moment. The faintest hint of a smile played on his lips, but his dark eyes read something deeper, something more intense.

Rudy patted the space behind him. Lucy gave a thankful prayer that she had chosen to we
ar shorts instead of her usual
favored
skirt, and climbed on behind
. She pulled on the helmet he had given her. The helmet fit snug and tight around her head, almost pressing on her skull. It was a strange feeling to be so confined, but she was glad to be wearing it instead of doing what many of the tourists did and race around unpro
tected. Motorbike accidents made
up
the largest category of tourist
s
’
injuries.

Of course Rudy wasn’t a tourist; he was practically a local
.

She hid her smile against his back as she wrapped her arms around his waist. His stomach rippled hard beneath her hands and the warmth of his skin radiated through his t-shirt.

“Ready?” he asked her over his shoulder.

“As I’ll ever be.”

He kicked the bike to life and the engine roared around her ears. Rudy put the bike in gear and slowly let out the clutch. As soon as the bike started moving
,
Lucy instinctively
held on a little tighter. S
he was so aware of his body and her own
,
she couldn’t relax against him and she held her body stiff and upright.

Quickly, the bike picked up speed and they rode back up the hill and away from the resort. Lucy wondered where they were going. Rudy had told her they were going diving, but she couldn’t help notice he didn’t have any scuba equipment strapped to the bike.

They raced across the island, the steady thrum of the bike beneath her
. She
leaned with Rudy as he artfully gu
ided the bike around potholes and t
he sun warmed her back.

Would she ever want to be anyone else in the world?

They didn’t head through the middle of the island, toward the port, but instead seemed to follow the coast road around the island.

After twenty minutes, they drove down a hill toward a tiny deserted cove. Pure white sand edged the cove and a small wooden dock stretched out into the ocean. At the end of the dock, a white, fifteen foot motor boat lifted and dipped with the gentle swell.

The question was in the widening of her eyes, but of course Rudy couldn’t see it. Was he going to take her out on that?
Just the two of them?

Excitement bubbled up inside her. The presence of the boat might be a coincidence, but she d
oubted it. The bay was deserted
.

She couldn’t help her body pressing up against his as they rode down the hill, toward the ocean.

How it would feel being so close to him if clothing didn’t separate their skin?

The ingrained scent of the ocean clung to him and his dark hair was shorn close to his nec
k, and she knew it would feel a
soft beneath her fingers. Something inside of her seemed to soften and it was all she could do to resist pressing her lips against the muscle where his neck met his shoulders.

Rudy pulled the bike to a standstill and climbed off. She followed his lead, hoping he wouldn’t read her thoughts in her eyes.

“What are you waiting for?” he asked her, gesturing down to the boat. His smile was wide and white in his suntanned face.

“Are you kidding me? Are we going on the boat?”

“Sure. I wasn’t going to make you swim out to the reef.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure it’s safe taking me back out? Have you put out a warning to the coral?”

“The coral will be fine. I’ll make sure I give you my full attention this time. I promise you, I won’t let anything happen.”

“And if it does?” she pressed him.

“It won’t.”
             

They smiled at each other for a moment and a frisson of excitement raced through her stomach. Lucy wasn’t stupid. She knew what that look meant.

They walked up the dock to where the boat waited for them. The name, Patience, was painted on the side in turquoise.
Rudy climbed on board and held
out
his hand. She reached out and placed her palm in his. His strength s
upported her as she climbed on
the boat, having the obligatory wobble as she did so.

The boat was fairly simple, with a small wheel house, the dive gear stacked up just inside.

“Where did you get a boat from?” she asked him, still amazed, expecting him to say he had borrowed it from the resort.

“Oh, I stole it,” he said with a dead
-pan expression
.

She nudged him in the ribs.
“Really?”

He laughed. “She’s mine.”

“Really?” she said again, but this time more out of surprise than doubt. How did a dive instructor afford his own boat? Even small ones like this still cost a lot of money to buy, and they were even more expensive to keep them running. But then she remembered that he used to be a banker and figured he must have had money saved from his previous life. Still, she couldn’t help but be impressed.

Rudy got the boat started and then jumped back onto the dock. He lifted the rope off the pi
er, freeing the
boat,
and leapt
back on again. The boat thrummed beneath them, smoke pouring out the back of the boat, but it quickly subsided once the engine warmed up. The water sparkled, clear and blue beneath them. The bow of the boat cut through the waves with ease. With Rudy at the helm, they headed out into the ocean, leaving the island behind.

“Did you name the boat yourself?” she asked, remembering the name:
Patience.