Chapter Fifteen

Victor

Flustered and flushed from running to get off the ship, my Hawaiian shirt, which I'd remembered at the last minute for today"s trip, flapped about my body. I didn't dare look at Denton, who was keeping pace with me, when he smelled of the coconut cream he'd smeared all over himself and me before he'd let me get dressed. I might have had one of the best orgasms of my life but my body hadn't worried about that and had perked right up at the attention. It seemed my libido had woken up and was back to that of a horny teenager. I felt bad because I'd been so tempted to ditch the day, and with Denton was being so… restrained, I kept quiet.

Why was he being like that?

I'd never had a boyfriend who hadn't put their needs above mine… had I?

The sun was blinding as we exited the ship and rushed down the jetty. The glare was enough to distract me and I slipped my sunglasses on. I glanced at the busy port and found Leeson in the crowd waving at us, close to a big bus. On my returning wave, he disappeared into the bus.

I groaned at noticing a guy standing by the open door of the bus looking at his watch. Tall, toned, and good looking in a dark swarthy way, his navy T-shirt with the logo on the tour bus said he was our tour guide. When he smiled as we approached, his teeth were blinding white but the smile never touched his eyes.

"So sorry we kept you waiting for us," I said before I'd even stopped. We'd been an extra five minutes because Denton insisted on applying the sun cream before we left the ship. I didn't sigh at the guy"s obvious displeasure. Instead, I plastered a smile on my face.

"Your friend explained," he replied. "Now if you could get on the bus, that would be great."

It didn't sound like that would be great from the way he said it. It kind of implied the exact opposite. Denton placed a hand on my lower back, connecting us as he stepped closer in a protective stance. When I glanced sideways at him, I could see him scowling at the guide.

It was wrong, I know it was, but I liked how he was with anyone that wasn't nice to me. No one had ever cared enough to be bothered before.

I got on the bus, noticing first how full it was, giving those we passed an apologetic smile while enjoying the air-conditioning blowing cool air on my overheated skin. My sneakered foot caught on the strap of a bag when my gaze collided with the smug smile of Mr. Polished.

Was I ever gonna catch a break?

The fucking dude had to be worse than a creeper. There was an air about him of self-satisfied smugness that gave me the urge to hit him in his fancy veneers.

When I looked at the vacant seats right opposite where he was sitting, I cussed under my breath. The only two empty rows of seats left were so close by, it made it impossible to avoid Mr. Polished. And as I'd got on the bus first, there was no escaping him getting close to Denton. I would have to take a window seat or reveal that I was actually worried about the guy stealing my boyfriend.

He's my boyfriend, my eyes fired at him before I slid into the seats, not missing Denton's reaction. His cursing was loud enough for those closest to us to hear.

As I settled in my seat, Mr. Polished didn't take his predatory gaze off Denton and I got a heavy feeling in my stomach, figuring exactly how this day was going to go. We'd already pissed off the guide before even starting our day of sightseeing around Aruba, now this. What the heck would be next?

"Now everyone is on board," said the guy up front in perfect English. He even had a perfect, sarcastic tone over the microphone. "My name is Reinaldo, and I'll be your guide today. So let's get started on what you can expect to see and do today. If you have questions after I've finished, then just ask."

This time, as I looked forward to avoid looking at Mr. Polished, his smile appeared genuine and his eyes crinkled at the edges.

Doing my best to keep my concerns about Mr. Polished to myself, I stored my backpack under the seat and retrieved my bottle of water. The smile Denton gave me was reassuring as he settled next to me. I released a breath.

It's all gonna be fine.

I gave him a sunny smile and placed my bottle of water in the cup holder, acting like I didn't have a care in the world.

When Denton reached over and took hold of my free hand to place it on his thigh, I lost focus of everything else.

"Our first stop in Aruba is the Aloe Factory where you will learn about Aruba's long history of aloe vera cultivation. There, you'll be able to try some of their wonderful products and have an opportunity to purchase some."

I heard none of what Reinaldo said. It could have been total gobbledygook for all I knew, all my attention was on the flexing thigh warming the palm of my hand. The thin material of Denton's shorts was no barrier to the heat coming from his skin.

"Even in Hawaiian print, you look gorgeous," said Denton, leaning in to whisper directly in my ear.

I snorted out a giggle at his ridiculousness and shook my head as I faced him. "We look…"

I glanced at the others in the wedding party, all of whom were easy to spot as they were all wearing the bright pink hibiscus flowered shirts Leeson thought were cute. With my pale skin, I looked anything but cute. "We look like we have lost our suitcases and had to go to the same tourist shop to get clothes."

Reinaldo gave Denton a hard stare when he burst out into fits of laughter, getting most heads on the bus to turn in our direction.

"Shush," I whispered out the side of my mouth, offering Reinaldo an apologetic smile, paying more attention.

"Our next stop after California Lighthouse, on top of Hudishibana hill, is a visit to the unique boulders of the Ayo and you'll see the Casibari Rock Formations where you can climb them if you feel energetic. It's worth it, as is paying to go up into the lighthouse. The top gives you a 360 degree view of the whole of Aruba. It's also a great place to take pictures."

He continued on as the bus trundled off down the road. I glanced out the window when Reinaldo finished speaking and took his seat at the front. My excitement at spending the day with Denton grew.

At doing boyfriend things together.

I squeezed his thigh without thinking as I marveled at the color of the sea, which was a beautiful shade of green that made the sand appear white.

Everything looked so pristine. So stunningly beautiful, and I turned to Denton, grinning. The words died on my lips, along with my smile, at seeing Mr. Polished watching us, watching Denton too closely for my comfort.

"Don't let him bother you," Denton murmured next to my ear.

"Okay," I mumbled, averting my gaze from the guy who so far hadn't gotten with the programme that Denton was with me. The heavy feeling in my gut increased when I realized he probably wasn't going to, either. The guy had definite plans for his cruise, and they included Denton and not me.

When the bus slowed, I returned my attention to the window, My eyes widening at the sign that welcomed us to our first stop of the day trip. There were six stops from what I remembered, the last was at a beach where we'd get a late lunch and could try our hand at snorkeling.

When we came to a full stop, Reinaldo stood up. "We have thirty minutes here. The bus will leave at ten-fifteen promptly."

He clearly was aiming the last part at us when his gaze came in our direction. Men stood and blocked us from view, making me sag in my seat. "I don't think that guy is too happy we delayed him."

"You apologized. What more can we do?" Denton replied, reaching for my backpack, then retrieved his own. "We aren't going to let anything spoil the day."

It wasn't Reinaldo I was worried about and it appeared Denton got that. I nodded, saying nothing as Mr. Polished got up at the same time as Denton. Mr. Polished moved in a way that meant his body made full contact with Denton, who froze while Mr. Polished gave him a flirty wink.

I did my best to suck back the sob catching in the back of my throat when my eyes started to sting with tears.

I will not cry!

I will not cry!

Trembling, I got up, keeping my gaze down. I wasn't one to cause a scene or confront someone for inappropriate behavior. I'd learned the hard way that could end up with me being the one who got hurt. So I exhaled a shuddery breath and stepped out when Denton waited for me to move. He followed closely behind me, his closeness somewhat helping to allay the horrible feelings clawing at my raw throat.

"There you are. I think we need to get you some of the aloe vera, it's great for treating sunburn," Ollie said as I exited the bus, dragging me towards the shop rather than in the direction where everyone else was heading.

"How did you know I got sunburned?" I asked in confusion, my sneakers dragging over the ground as I resisted looking back to see where Mr. Polished was in relation to Denton. "And shouldn't we be going in that direction, with the others?"

Ollie didn't let go. If anything, he increased his hold, so I went with him, not wanting to attract any more attention when Ollie clearly had something to say.

"Denton rang Leeson last night to say you got sunburned and were sleeping, so you weren't coming down for dinner."

That got my attention. I'd not considered what Denton had done the night before with how shocked I'd been that I'd slept for over twelve hours straight. "He didn't come to dinner with you guys?" I asked, to be clear.

"Nope. Leeson said he was adamant he'd just get room service because he didn't want to leave you alone in case you needed him," Ollie answered, looking about furtively. "Is that why you didn't come for dinner…" he returned his attention to me, "or were you… bumping uglies?"

Shoulders shaking at his words, I couldn't stop my giggles as we entered the busy shop, scented solely with aloe vera. "No, we didn't bump uglies last night."

"You're blushing. Why are you blushing?" He searched my face, which flamed. "Oh my god, you did it this morning, didn't you? That's why you were late!"

"Keep your voice down," I hissed, looking around to see if anyone had heard him, only relaxing when I could see no one paying us any attention. "We did something…"

"Something? What does that mean?" he whispered.

"It means we did something, and I don't ask you to talk about your sex life."

"That's because I didn't have one."

It was his turn to blush. Something about what he said got my eyes narrowing on him as he fidgeted next to me. "Didn't… past tense. Does that mean…" My mouth dropped open when I put two and two together and came up with four.

"Beckett. You had sex with Beckett!" I exclaimed loudly, doing exactly what I'd asked him not to do.

"Don't tell the whole damn world!" Ollie snapped, his skin darkening further before he stomped off.

I gave chase. "Hey, wait up. We haven't finished this discussion."

"We have."

I kept pace as he headed to a large display of aloe vera products with signs saying in English what the benefits were.

"No, we haven't. I thought he was annoying you? I mean, you don't really know him. Not that I'm judging you. The cruise was all about us letting go and enjoying ourselves. I just didn't know you fancied him?" This time, I kept my voice down. "You knew I was interested in Denton. I never kept it a secret from you," I said, feeling a little hurt that he'd not mentioned anything other than his annoyance at Beckett's bossy behavior.

"I've met him before… online…" He didn't meet my gaze, which made my stomach lurch at how anxious he looked at confessing that.

"So, what's wrong with that?" I placed a hand on his arm, feeling how tense he was. "You know I'll never judge you?"

He deflated right before my eyes. "I know…" he dropped his gaze to his sneakers, "it's just that I like certain things some folks might think are weird and make me a freak."

I squeezed his arm gently, aware there were a lot of people that could overhear us. "Never," I stated vehemently. "I swear on my life. You can trust me." I kissed his cheek and came in to give him a hard hug. "You're my best friend, along with Leeson. I love you. That's all that matters to me."

I pulled away and gave him a wide, reassuring smile. "If you ever wanna talk to me, then know I"ll listen." I glanced away when his eyes sheened with tears, giving him a moment to pull himself together. "So, what should we get to protect my over sensitive skin?"