Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

***SIMON***

S imon wandered up the beach, wondering if the morning could get any worse. After embarrassing himself with Cindy, he'd forgotten twice that he didn't look like himself anymore and had been laughed at when he approached a group of women. It stung more than he'd realized to be judged solely on his looks, and he'd left the village hoping that he'd find some peace on the beach. Now, walking along with his feet in the water, he felt adrift. He had no idea how to fill the hours that stretched out in front of him; not looking the way he did.

He was trapped in a body that wasn't his own, stripped of everything that made him who he was, the good looks gone, the money just a memory, and he had no idea how to cope with the world the way he was. No amount of charm was going to overcome his common looks. Dropping his name wasn't going to open any doors when he looked the way he did. All the power he'd had was gone, he was just like millions of other men in the world.

For a second, he felt a sense of liberation. He was free to do what he pleased, free to live his life the way he wanted, not the way his parents wanted. Then he remembered the money, and his heart sank. He'd never been forced to earn a living, and he had never had a job in his life, and the prospect was daunting. He wasn't even sure how to go about finding a job, let alone applying for one, and the little bit of euphoria he'd felt quickly evaporated.

Feeling like the situation was hopeless, he started to turn around to go back to his cabin, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Kira and kept going. She was sitting in a beach chair, a cooler by her side, talking to a man, and to his surprise a feeling that he could only describe as jealousy welled up inside him. He staggered a step, absorbing the feeling for a second, then looked back over at the two of them, groaning when Kira smiled at the man and sensation only got worse.

Too shocked to move, he stood in the surf, the ocean lapping at his feet and watched as Kira got to her feet and gave the man a hug, then not sure what his plan was, started for them. Unable to control the jealousy, having never felt the emotion before, he was breathing hard, the urge to punch the man raging through him as he stomped toward them. When the man released Kira and stepped back a couple of feet, the feeling eased a little, and he was able to breathe again, but he didn't stop, couldn't fight the urge to be near her.

A second later, Kira looked over and saw him coming toward them, at first it looked like she was relieved, then a strange look appeared on her face, and even from a distance, he could see her cheeks turning pink. Unsure what the blush meant, he hesitated, unsure of himself for the first time in his life, suddenly understanding how other men must feel. He didn't have long to think about it though, because Kira started waving her arms and pointing over his shoulder at something .

He turned just in time to see the football coming straight for his face, but not soon enough to duck or get out of the way in time. The ball slammed into the side of his face, and the impact knocked him to the sand. His head bounced a couple of times, then came to rest, and he lay there his vision filled with stars, the world suddenly spinning. He felt Kira crouched next to him before he could see her, and tried to smile, but pain radiated from the side of his face, and he groaned instead.

"Oh, my God, Simon, are you okay?" Kira asked, gently brushing the hair back from his face. "Is anything broken?"

It took him a few seconds to focus on her face, "I don't think so," he finally managed to say. "It might be a good thing if something was. I might not be so ugly then."

"Oh, Simon, you're not ugly," Kira said, with a sigh. "Do you think you can sit up?"

"Here, let me help," the man Kira had been hugging offered. "You took quite a hit, man."

The jealousy was back, raging deep inside him, waiting to spill over, "I'm good. It'll take more than a football to take me down," he said, struggling to his feet, ignoring the way his head was spinning. "Who are you, anyway?"

Kira gave him a look, "Simon, this is Corey," she said. "We met the other day in the village. He was just telling me there might be a crab boil tonight."

"Kira's going to sit with me," Corey said. "We're going to meet there."

"Is that right?" he asked, a frown on his face. "How nice for you."

"Simon, that wasn't very nice, behave yourself," Kira said, then turned to Corey. "Thanks for telling me about the crab boil. I will see you tonight."

The man looked like he wanted to argue, then let out a long sigh, "Are you sure you don't need any help?" he asked. "I don't mind."

"We're okay," Kira said. "I'm just going to get Simon some ice for his eye. I don't think he's hurt otherwise."

"Well……okay then," Corey said. "I'll see you tonight."

As soon as Corey was gone, Kira turned to him, opened her mouth, then shook her head, "Come on, let's find you some ice," she said, starting for her cooler. "I don't know why I put up with you. Corey seems like a nice guy. You didn't have to be so rude."

He started after her, feeling a little guilty now that the jealousy had faded, "I was jealous. I've never been jealous before," he admitted, surprising them both. "I didn't know how to handle it; I was thinking about hitting him until that ball got me. Isn't that crazy? I've never wanted to hit anyone in my life."

***Kira***

Kira froze, wishing Simon had kept his mouth shut, hating the way her body was reacting to his words, "I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that," she said, her voice a bit shaky from the thrills rushing through her. "Your lines won't work on me, Simon. They didn't before and they won't now."

"Kira, that wasn't a line," he said, catching up to her. "I swear I was telling the truth."

She looked over at him, saw the sincerity in his eyes and let out a long sigh, "Alright, I believe you," she said. "But you still can't say things like that to me."

"Why not?" he asked. "I mean, I thought women wanted men to be honest with them."

"We do, but this is different," she said, walking faster to get away from him. "I need to get you some ice. "

"Why is this different?" Simon persisted. "I'm really trying to understand, Kira, for once I'm not just thinking about getting you into bed. Give me a break."

Instead of answering, she started making him an icepack, hoping that he'd give up if she didn't answer. "Here you go," she said when she was finished, holding it out to him. "Put this on your face. It should help with the swelling, but you should take a pain reliever too."

Simon took the icepack and put it on his face, "It doesn't hurt that much," he said, plopping down in the sand. "Since you're clearly not going to answer me, I'm just going to sit here and feel sorry for myself for a while before I go back to the village and make a fool of myself again."

Kira rolled her eyes at him, "It can't be that bad," she said, sitting down in her chair. "It's not like you're a monster or anything."

"No, just pathetic," he said, then gestured to his clothes. "I don't even know what this tee-shirt means. These shorts look ridiculous, and don't even get me started on my hair. I have no idea how to relate to other people now. I scared Cindy in the coffee shop. She thought I was some gross old guy coming onto her, and you know what, she was right. I don't know how to do this; I don't know the first thing about being me without all the……extra stuff. I've been laughed at today and beaned with a football. I don't know how much more I can take."

She looked over at Simon and he looked so miserable, she couldn't help but feel bad for him, "You do understand that you deserve everything that's happening to you?" she asked. "I just want to make sure you're clear on that."

"You don't have to rub it in," he said, pulling the icepack away from his face. "How bad is it?"

"Well, you might have a black eye," she said, then grinned at him. "But at least you still have all your teeth."

"Very funny," he said. "Way to kick a man when he's down."

"I was trying to get you to look on the bright side of things," she said. "Stop being such a gloomy Gus. If you're unhappy, do something about it instead of sitting around complaining."

"I'll take any advice you have," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not exactly enjoying myself over here."

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, but if you want my advice, start with the things you can control," she said. "Stop worrying about how you're going to get the old you back, and make the most of what you've been given."

"You mean this?" Simon said, gesturing to himself. "It would take a full-blown makeover to fix this."

"I don't know about that," she said, studying him. "A good haircut and some clothes that fit might help a lot. I bet we could find everything we need over on the big island."

Simon perked up, "Are you going to help me?" he asked. "I mean, would you help me, please?"

That hadn't been her intention. She had her day at the beach to finish and knew it was dangerous to be around him too much, but she couldn't refuse when she saw the hopeful look on his face. Looking back out at the ocean, she let out a long sigh, sure that she was making a mistake. The man both infuriated her and intrigued her, which was a dangerous combination, and she realized that she was probably playing with fire.

"I'll help you on one condition," she said. "We have to be back in time for the crab boil, and no flirting or coming onto me while we're together today."

Simon jumped to his feet, "That's a deal," he said. "I'll be on my best behavior, I promise."

She studied him for a second, "You'd better be," she finally said. "Come on, let's go find Max and see if we can get a ride off the island."

"I'll help you carry your stuff," Simon said, rushing over to help her pack up, then stopped and looked over at her. "Thank you, Kira. I know I've been a huge jerk to you most of this week and I don't deserve it, but I want you to know how much I appreciate you helping me. You're the only person on this entire island who has treated me nicer since this happened. Well, except Max, but he's supposed to care about me, he's, my friend."

"I meant it when I said we were friends, Simon," she said. "You've wormed your way into my life, and I can't seem to get rid of you."

He grinned at her, "Good, I like being in your life," he said, grabbing her chair and cooler. "I've got this stuff if you can get the rest."

Before she could move, he started down the beach toward the village, leaving her standing there watching him, a warm spot in her middle. Groaning because she knew she was in trouble, she grabbed her bag and started after him, knowing she was making a mistake but unable to stop herself.