Saltwater Kisses (The Kisses 1)

“Chasing the waves,” I said. I had completely forgiven him. When he looked at me like that, I think I would have forgiven anything. “What would you like to do?”

He smiled and kissed me softly. My hands pressed against his strong chest as the water swirled around our knees. “Walk with me?”

He grabbed my hand and led me out of the water. My skirt clung to my wet legs as we walked along the beach. His hand felt strong in mine, like he would never let me go again. I wished that he didn’t have to, that we could stay in this sunshine filled moment forever. We walked for a while, the sand feeling good under my feet. There were some locals in tents along the beach hocking their trinkets, bobbles sand treasures. Each tent held gems, jewelry, liquor and paintings in all shapes and sizes.

“A pretty necklace for a pretty lady?” A strongly accented local called out as we walked past a blue tent. He was another in a long line of tents strung along the beach. I giggled and kept walking as the merchants called out their wares

to us.

We stopped several times to look at the beautiful things for sale, but I never saw anything that I wanted until the last shop in the row. It was a simple silver pendant in the shape of a dolphin, but something about it called to me. I hadn’t seen another like it in any of the shops. Jack smiled as he saw me pick it up and admire it.

“The lady has excellent taste,” the shop keeper cooed as he saw me pick it up. “Put it on. See how it feels.”

Jack took the delicate chain from my fingers and deftly placed it around my neck. The dolphin fit perfectly in the hollow of my throat. Jack stepped back and smiled.

“How much for the necklace?” he asked the shop keeper. The old man frowned and looked at the necklace before answering.

“$100 American dollars. But for you, I sell it at $85,” he smiled, his teeth bright.

“$85? That is too much. Thank you though. It is beautiful,” I said quickly. I reached up to undo the clasp and return it to the jewelry tray. I knew that I could negotiate him down, but I had to act like I was going to leave it.

“No. The lady will have it,” Jack interjected, placing his hand on the back of my neck so I couldn’t reach the clasp.

“What are you doing? It isn’t worth that,” I hissed at him. He ignored me and fished money out of his wallet and handed it to the man.

“Thank you, sir. Enjoy the necklace, miss,” the shop keep said with a grin as he counted the money greedily. I shook my head slowly, but I the proud smile on Jack’s face kept my mouth shut. If I didn’t know for sure he was rich before, I certainly knew it now.

We stepped out of the merchant’s stall and were immediately swarmed by the neighboring tents’ merchants. Every single one of them called out in sweet voices, trying to coax us like sirens to their wares. Every stall we passed had a salesman trying to pull us into their shop. One physically grabbed my arm to pull me under his tent to look at his jewelry, making me squeak and stumble away. Jack’s face twisted as though he tasted something sour, and he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the water. The merchants still kept hawking their wares, but at least they couldn’t pluck at our clothing. We walked through the waves, still following the white sandy line of the ocean. I secretly hoped we would walk around the entire island instead of turning around.

“I buy one thing and they all go crazy,” he said, looking back at the tents like they might follow us out into the ocean.

“That’s because you paid full price,” I said with a giggle. He looked at me and furrowed his brows. “I willingly admit that I am not the best haggler, but I could have gotten him down to at least $30. You flashed your money and now they know you don’t haggle.”

“Oh, come on, $85 isn’t that much! It isn’t something to justify the feeding frenzy of salesmen. Now I know how chum feels when the sharks gather.” He glanced back over his shoulder like they still might be chasing us.

“$85 is a lot of money to spend on a necklace, no matter how pretty it is.” I couldn’t help but smile at the look on his face, his head tilted slightly as though I had said the sky was made of chocolate.

“It isn’t that much,” he said. If I didn’t know better, I would have said a pout crossed his handsome mouth.

“It is to them. It certainly is to me. $85 is almost a full day’s pay.” I shrugged like it was nothing, but he stopped walking and dropped my hand in surprise. I fiddled with the silver charm, sliding it up and down on its simple chain. I hadn’t meant to bring up how different our economic situations were. He stayed quiet for a moment and then cleared his throat. I had a horrible feeling that he was thinking of bolting. “Thank you for the necklace though. I really do like it, even if it is a little extravagant.”

Jack’s face relaxed and he smiled at me. His shoulders dropped from his ears and he reached out a hand to me again.

“You deserve even more. The charm suits you. I like it on you,” he said waiting for me to take his hand. I played with the cool silver charm in my fingers for a moment before grinning at him.

“It does look good, doesn’t it?” I reached for his hand. A spark of energy flowed through his fingers into mine. It made my heart speed up and my stomach do happy flips. He smiled and squeezed my hand and we continued down the beach and away from the shops. I felt like a princess wearing something sparkly, hand in hand with her knight in shining armor. A girl could get used to extravagance.

Chapter 6

The afternoon sun shone down on the two of us and we walked alongside the waves and giggled at stupid jokes. I felt more comfortable with him than I had with anyone in my life. He seemed to relax the longer we walked. I wished I could have more days like this, but both our vacations were going to have to end soon. I pushed the thought as far from my mind as I could.

“What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?” Jack asked as I bent down to pick up a seashell. I studied the shell for a moment before casting it out into the ocean.

“You are going to make fun of me,” I said, squinting out at the horizon before looking at him. He grinned mischievously.

“I’m going to make more fun of you if you don’t tell me,” he said, his eyes sparkling. I glared at him before answering.

“I went skinny dipping in Old Man Smith’s fishing pond. A bunch of us did it one night,” I said finally, a blush creeping into my cheeks.