Broken Wide Open: A Stand-Alone Romance

by Susan Griscom

  “It’s really no trouble at all. We are neighbors, after all. Here alone, staying in the over-the-water bungalows. All we need to do is step into the water off our decks with our snorkeling gear. The fish around here love it.”

  Leo beamed with an enthusiasm that I wasn’t entirely sure I shared. But we were only talking. He’d probably forget all about it—and me—by tomorrow anyway.

  “You must really love the ocean, being a marine biologist and all.”

  “I suppose I’ve always loved it. I grew up on the west coast and took up surfing when I was eight,” he said proudly.

  “I bet your mother had a fit.”

  “By that time, she wasn’t around much to care.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “No need. She left my dad when I was about six. She sent birthday and Christmas presents every year, called once a week when she first left. Then she moved to Italy after her father died to run the winery her parents owned.”

  “Wow. That’s pretty extreme.” I felt bad for him, but secretly I had to admire a woman who could take off to another country on her own without her husband. But leaving a little boy behind…I didn’t think I’d be able handle that part. “Did she remarry?”

  “No. How about you? Do you have a good relationship with your parents?”

  “Oh, um…my father died when I was four. I don’t remember him very well. I have his picture and all, and I remember a few things about him, but everything is very fuzzy.” Aside from the little bit of Italian he’d taught me. For some reason, that had stuck with me. “My mother never liked talking about him. My stepfather adopted me when he married my mother. I was six at the time.”

  We finished eating and strolled back to our bungalows together. Leo talked more about the ocean and how he’d come to fall in love with it at an early age since he grew up in a beach town.

  We stopped walking when we reached my bungalow. Leo took a step toward his and then turned back around. The moonlight filtered down through a palm tree, giving him an ethereal glow. He looked somewhat godlike, and I sucked my lower lip in between my teeth.

  “I’ll be around most of this week. Even though I’m here on business, that doesn’t mean I can’t engage in a little fun. You’re here alone, I’m here alone. You love chocolate fudge, I love chocolate fudge. We might as well make the most of it, right? I could show you around the island, take you snorkeling. And afterwards, who knows, we could have a party with chocolate fudge pudding cake.” He waggled his eyebrows at that last part, and my cheeks heated at the vision of him licking chocolate off parts of my body.

  But it was the word “engaged” that squashed any and all ideas of engaging in anything with this man. As much as I wanted to take Leo up on his offer, I had to remember, I’d just been wed to another man yesterday, and I wasn’t the type of person to have a fling with a stranger I’d most likely never see again. No matter how much revenge I wanted.

  When I didn’t say anything, he added, “Okay, then. I guess I’ll see you around. Thanks for letting me join you for dinner.”

  I tried to smile and come across appreciative, but I really didn’t want to encourage him further. “Yeah. No problem.”

  “Well, let me know if you’d like some company to explore the island. Just knock on my door. It’s always open for a beautiful woman who loves chocolate as much as I do.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say, and just let silence settle between us as he took off toward his place, and I wrapped my hand around the knob of my door. I looked up to wave goodbye to him, but he kept walking and had his phone to his ear. Whoever it was had his complete attention. He’d probably already forgotten about me. I had a fleeting thought that I wished I’d been here under different circumstances and was open to something new. Leo was someone I wouldn’t have minded getting to know better. I wasn’t looking for any type of relationship. God, I was barely out of the one I was in. The legalities of it all had my head swimming faster than that barracuda.

  Chapter Four

  I sat out on the small deck, lounging in one of the chairs, basking in the sun. It was just as I’d thought: Leo had forgotten all about me. I hadn’t seen or heard anything from him yesterday. And this morning, the bungalow next door was quiet. I even thought maybe he’d left the island without so much as a goodbye. I had to admit, I had sort of missed his company last night at dinner. Sitting at the table alone felt stranger than I’d thought it would. I knew it was my imagination, but I constantly felt as if I were on display, feeling all the eyes of the other people on me the entire time. Wondering if people questioned why a young woman was in Bora Bora alone.

  After witnessing yet another leaping barracuda yesterday, and then hearing someone else say that there had been sharks sighted across the inlet yesterday morning, it was going to take a lot to get me in that water. Maybe Leo leaving wasn’t such a bad thing—and all that talk about snorkeling with me gone with him. Admittedly, I was kind of glad about that.

  I slathered more sunscreen onto my arms and legs since they were already a nice tannish-pink from the other day. I used SPF 30 on them and SPF 12 on my tummy so it would have a chance to catch up. This was the start of my third day lounging around on the deck. I really couldn’t wait until the beach cottage was available so I could actually sink my toes into the sand and take some walks along the water. I supposed I could have taken a walk yesterday, but the beaches seemed so private, and I was afraid of disturbing the other guests who were staying in the cottages.

  I lay back and closed my eyes. Then I had a horrible thought. What if something had happened to Leo? What if he’d been in the water when those sharks were around? Oh, no! Was that why I hadn’t seen him? He could be hurt, lying in some foreign hospital, alone, and here I was, giving the man grief for not living up to his word of taking me snorkeling. An adventure I was reluctant about in the first place and had pretty much turned him down for. I hardly knew Leo, and it wasn’t like I really wanted to go snorkeling.

  “Hey, beautiful. You trying to set a record for how much sun you can handle?”

  I sat up, startled by the male voice, and glanced over to see Leo smiling. I took in his relaxed posture, his forearms resting on the ledge of the guardrail of the deck. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and…oh, my. Talk about tan. Bronzed muscles to be more specific. He looked godly with his glowing, golden skin.

  “Hi,” I squeaked. I was glad to see that he hadn’t been eaten by a shark—not even a scratch on him. So what was his excuse for disappearing for almost two days? I shouldn’t be upset, I hardly knew the guy, and it wasn’t like we’d actually set a date. A date. I had no business having dates anyway. I was, after all, still married. A problem I needed to deal with immediately, if not sooner. A call to Oliver today was absolutely necessary. “I thought maybe you’d left the island.”

  “No, still here. Sorry for disappearing. The other night while walking to my door, I received a phone call with a request, or rather an order to fly over to another island in the morning. I didn’t want to disturb you so early, so I left you a note.”

  “A note?”

  “You didn’t see it? I slipped it under your door. I tried to be quiet about it so I wouldn’t wake you. It was around five yesterday morning.”

  “No. I never saw a note.”

  “Hmmm…maybe it blew under something. I’m sorry you never saw it. I had to go check on another species. I just got back.”

  “Oh. No.” I waved his apologies away. “Don’t give it another thought. I was busy most of yesterday also.”

  He laughed. “Really? Doing what?”

  “What?”

  “Well, I’m having trouble picturing you going off exploring by yourself, so what kept you so busy yesterday?”

  “Oh. You know…I had this book to finish and all.” I laughed, holding up said book with a bookmark somewhere toward the beginning.

  “Slow reader?”

  I glanced at the book. “Yeah, you might say that.” My cheeks burned with chagrin
since he caught my lie. Then, I had to ask, “What makes you think I wouldn’t go anywhere alone?” He didn’t know me, and I wondered if I came across as timid or something.

  “Just something you said the other night about nerves and all.”

  “Oh.”

  “Are you ready to try some snorkeling?”

  “Oh. Listen. About that. I don’t think I’m up for—”

  “You can’t come all the way to French Polynesia and not go snorkeling.”

  “Why not? I didn’t come here to look at fish. I came here to relax and take in the sights.”

  “The sights?” He laughed. “The only sights you’ve seen are the first few pages of that book you’re pretending to read.”

  He was right, but damnit, I did not want to go into that shark-infested water. “Well, that might be true, but yesterday I heard someone say that they’d seen sharks out there.”

  He laughed. “Yeah. I did hear that there were some black tips around yesterday.”

  “See?” I raised my hands, palms up, thrilled that he’d admitted there were sharks.

  “Those sharks are so well fed, they wouldn’t have the slightest interest in you. They’re harmless.”

  “They’re still sharks, and besides, I don’t have any snorkeling equipment.”

  “I have some you can use. I always have a spare set.” His lips twitched up into a sexy grin. The one that made me think I should run the other way to ward off all the thoughts of kissing them.

  I shook my head. Clearly, I had a screw loose. What was wrong with me? I’d just been cheated on by my husband of three hours with my best friend. Shouldn’t I be proving how much better I was than them? “I really don’t think snorkeling is for me.”

  He shrugged. “Suit yourself.” Then he disappeared inside. Two minutes later, he came out wearing dark blue swim trunks with white flowers. His arms were full of fins and snorkeling equipment. He placed it all down on the deck and proceeded to put on the fins. I opened my book to read, but I couldn’t keep my eyes from roaming over to catch a glimpse of his tanned and well-toned thighs. I didn’t think Craig’s thighs had ever been in the sun long enough to get tan. The soft, light brown hairs on Leo’s legs glistened in the sun.

  He positioned a mask onto his head and let it rest on his forehead then looked at me. “I’m no expert, but you might get more out of that book if it weren’t upside down.” He laughed and stood with his back to me. I looked down at the novel in my hands. Yep, it was upside down. How embarrassing. Did he think I was checking him out? Well, I was, but he wasn’t supposed to know that. I watched as he pulled the mask down over his eyes and nose then stuck the mouth part of the rubber tube between his lips. He carefully stepped onto the ladder off the edge of his deck, and then jumped into the ocean. He was on his stomach with his face in the water. His feet barely moved, but he floated with very little effort. It looked rather peaceful. Then he began slowly kicking his feet and quickly disappeared under the deck. I jumped up; worried that something might have grabbed him. What could have possibly pulled him under, I had no idea. I loved the ocean, but being over it in this part of the world was a bit scary. That’s why I wasn’t very excited about spending time in a bungalow suspended above it.

  I ran to the railing and leaned over, searching for Leo, but I didn’t see him anywhere.

  “Hey, Grace. Did you change your mind?”

  I whirled around to see his head bobbing in the water on the other side of my deck.

  “You scared me when you disappeared.”

  “You were worried about me?” He grinned. How the man could look sexy even wearing a snorkeling mask was beyond me.

  “No. Well, maybe a little.”

  “Nothing to worry about. I have experience.” He winked. “Would you mind handing me that bag of food? These fish are hungry.” He pointed to a bag that lay in the middle of his deck.

  I looked at the plastic pouch. His deck was about three feet away from mine. I shook my head. “I don’t see how to get over there.”

  “My door is unlocked. Just walk in and come out to my deck. I wouldn’t ask, but it would require me to take off my fins to climb up the ladder. Besides, you’re getting burnt just sitting there.”

  I looked at my pink legs. He was right. I watched him swim back toward his deck as I got up and went through my bungalow and over to his. As I hurried through his place, I couldn’t help but glance around and at the suitcase he’d left open on his bed. There wasn’t much in it, but then he’d probably only taken enough stuff for one night. His other clothes were probably put away. I stepped out onto his deck and picked up the bag. Stooping down and leaning over close to the edge of the deck, I held it out to him. I was wearing nothing more than my red bikini, and I couldn’t help but notice the subtle way his eyes skimmed up my legs and settled briefly on my breasts before he made eye contact with me. Even with the silly snorkeling mask on, that small action had me thinking about what it would be like to have his hands and mouth all over me.

  “Thanks. Could you reach in and grab a handful? I don’t want to bring the whole bag out here.”

  I stuck my hand in and fisted some of the food, which consisted of small squares of cheese and crumbled crackers. I held my hand out to Leo a few inches above the water, and a fish jumped up and nibbled at my hand. I screamed and jumped back.

  “Oh my God! Did you see that? It tried to bite me.”

  He laughed. “No. It just wanted what you have in your hand. They won’t hurt you. If you hold a piece of that cheese between your fingers above the water, the fish will come up and get it.”

  “Really?”

  “Trust me. They won’t hurt you. I promise. Try it.”

  I really needed to be a little more adventurous. He was right. How could I come all this way and be afraid of something like this? I took a piece of the cheese like he’d suggested and held my hand over the water. Within seconds, a fish came up and nibbled at the morsel, and I let it go as I giggled like a seven-year-old.

  “See? Try some more.”

  I did, and more fish came to the surface, looking for a handout. Blue fish, yellow fish, so beautiful at the surface and so close. I couldn’t help the laughter that escaped me.

  “You should try it from in the water.”

  I looked at Leo. None of the fish were around him. They were all swimming around where I’d had my hand above the surface with the food. Maybe snorkeling wasn’t so dangerous, after all, but I liked feeding them from above the way I was. I wasn’t quite ready to take that leap. “Maybe tomorrow.”

  I slowly stood, wiping my hands together to remove the crumbled pieces of cheese and crackers. Leo treaded water a few feet out, facing me. I was in nothing but two small pieces of red material and felt very self-conscious. I wanted to get in out of the sun. “Actually, I think I’ve had enough sun for the day. I’m going to go in and take a shower and rest a bit before dinner.” I slipped back into his place and headed back to mine. I came back out to the deck and picked up my pareo, wrapping it around my waist and pulling it tightly before tucking an end inside to secure it. I turned to him.

  “See you at dinner,” he said then dove under the water before I had a chance to object. A shower, rest, and dinner with Leo sounded like a good plan. But first, I needed to send Oliver another text to see if he could do anything about getting my annulment started. The sooner, the better. I didn’t want to encourage Leo, but I liked knowing he was next door and wanted to spend time with me. Not that he’d made any advances or anything like that, not really, but I didn’t want to seem like I was up for something like that either and give him the wrong idea. I was too vulnerable, and he was too good-looking. I knew that if I’d stayed out there any longer, I would have wanted something more from him. And I knew I’d use him just to make myself feel better. But I wasn’t that type. I’d never slept with anyone other than Craig. However, the more I looked at Leo, the more I felt longing stir within me. I went inside and shut the sliding glass door, locking i
t. I wasn’t sure why since you’d need to swim to my deck in order to break in, but it was a habit. As I headed toward the nightstand to grab my phone, something caught my eye: a white piece of paper sticking out from behind one of the two large potted plants flanking the front door. I picked it up and opened it.

  It was the note Leo had said he left.

  Hi, Grace,

  Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you early this morning, but I wanted to let you know that I had an emergency call last night to fly out this morning and examine some species of jellyfish over on the island of Manihi, so I won’t be able to take you snorkeling today. I’ll be back tomorrow sometime in the afternoon. Maybe we can go then if you’re not busy.

  Later,

  Leo.

  So, he had left a note, and hadn’t blown me off as I’d originally thought. He was a nice guy, after all. Had I really had any doubts? No. Not entirely. But then I’d always thought Craig was a nice guy, too and look how that had turned out. I took the note and placed it on the nightstand, then picked up my phone and typed in a message to Oliver.

  Hi, Oliver, I’m having a nice, quiet time, but I wanted to see if you could do anything to expedite the annulment. I don’t think I can stand being married to Craig for one more moment.

  I had barely placed the phone down when it buzzed back with a response.

  Grace, it’s Mom. How are you, baby?

  Crap, Oliver must have been visiting her and left his phone lying around. Of course, my mother, being the nosey ex-wife that she was, had to pick it up. I didn’t think I could deal with her at that moment, but I typed back anyway.

  Oh. Hi, Mom. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I’ll see you in a week. Is Oliver around?

  Less than two minutes later, my phone buzzed again.

  I’m here, Grace. Everything’s already been fixed. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. Since the Officiate was still at the reception, he never had a chance to file the certificate. With Craig’s agreement and my coaxing, he tore it up. So it’s as if the marriage never happened. Of course, it helped that John Lightfoot is a friend and took my word as yours. But I did need to tell him what happened.