Saltwater Kisses (The Kisses 1)

“What?” he asked with a grin. “Do I have something in my teeth?”

“No! No...” I scrunched my face and shook my head. “I am having a hard time believing that you are actually here, that today actually happened.”

Jack looked at me a little strangely, tensing up noticeably. I realized that I sounded a little crazy and quickly added, “It’s not every day you save a man from a heart attack. On top of that, I had an amazing four-hour long conversation with a complete stranger. This doesn’t exactly happen in my normal life.” With that, Jack seemed to relax back into his chair.

“Isn’t that what vacations are for? To have experiences that you don’t usually have in your everyday life?” he asked putting his menu down. I bit my bottom lip before answering.

“I suppose so. Vacations are for experiences we don't usually have in our everyday lives. Most people don’t get to lounge around and eat bonbons all day, so that is a vacation for them. I don’t usually save people’s lives and meet handsome strangers who take me to dinner, so that’s my vacation,” I said.

“Ah, so you think I’m handsome then?” He grinned impishly at me and leaned back in his chair. I felt my cheeks heat again and I hoped the lighting was dim enough so it wasn’t too obvious. I could feel his eyes searching my face, waiting for some reaction.

“I should have known better than to stroke your ego,” I said, shaking my head. I hoped he would find it coy and not see the embarrassment all over my face. He laughed, a boyish sound that made me want to laugh too.

“You have a magic about you, Emma. I believe every word you say, and I rarely believe anyone,” he said as he leaned forward. His eyes caught the light from the small candle on the table and reflected in a million shades of brown and green. I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t want to. He leaned back and released me from the spell of his eyes. “So, tell me why you want to become a veterinarian,” he commanded.

I relaxed, glad he had changed the subject. “It’s something I have wanted to do since I was a kid. I love animals,” I answered automatically. It was the answer I gave everyone who asked.

“There is more to it than that. You have something more driving you than simply ‘I love animals’,” he said.

My smile faded from my face. “When I was a kid, my dog got hit by a car. He ran out in the street to chase a ball I had thrown. I held him in my arms as he died, and I didn’t know what to do. I promised myself that I wouldn’t let that happen again.” The words came out of my mouth before I had time to take them back. I never told anyone that story. Ever. It was too personal, showed too much of my weaknesses. Somehow, he had gotten it out of me without even a hesitation.

“That is a much better reason,” he said quietly.

“No one believes that I’ll be able to do it. I’ve always gotten good grades and done well in school, but for some reason, no one thinks I’m ever going to be good enough,” I said looking at my napkin. He was somehow drawing answers out of me like water from a well.

“No one thinks I am going to be able to run my father’s company as well as he did. I’m afraid they might be right,” he answered almost more to himself than to me. For a brief moment, the facade of complete control and confidence he emanated faltered.

“That's exactly how I feel,” I whispered. Our eyes met and we both smiled. We shared a secret now. Only it didn’t feel like a secret. It felt like us saying out loud the truth we both knew in our hearts. As I looked across the table at him, we had no secrets. I knew I could tell him anything.

“Tell me a secret,” I said. He blinked twice and then frowned slightly.

“Why?”

“Because we’re strangers. Haven’t you ever noticed that people can tell a complete stranger something they would barely admit to themselves? It’s because there is no judgment and no life consequence. I can tell from your fancy phone and nice clothes that you belong in a place like this.” I waved my hand around at the expensive decorations of the resort. “I don’t belong here, and when this week is over, I will be going back to my boring, discount-brand life. When we go back to our real lives, we won’t accidentally run into one another on the street or at the supermarket. You can tell me anything, and there will be no consequence.”

“I wish I could believe you,” he said. His lips pressed together and he aged in the dim light. “There is always a consequence. Always.”

“I give you my solemn promise to never breathe a word of any of our conversations to anyone without your permission,” I said smiling. I wanted to know more about him; anything and everything. He eyed me carefully, obviously weighing my promise in his mind. He wanted to trust me, but something was keeping him in check.

“What would you like to eat this evening?” a young waitress interrupted politely. Jack kept looking at me, trying to decide if I would actually keep my promise.

“I’ll have the jerked chicken please,” I told her, handing her my menu. She wrote it down on a slip of paper and turned expectantly towards Jack.

“The special please,” he said handing her the menu. He smiled up at her before asking, “Can I borrow your pen and paper?”

The waitress frowned for a moment, surprised by his request, but she shrugged and gave him the next blank page from her small notebook and the pen. He thanked her and she smiled and went to place our order.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he began scribbling on the paper. He finished quickly and handed me the now full page and the pen.

I, Emma LaRue, hereby swear never to reveal any part of this conversation with Jack Saunders to anyone without his direct, written permission.

The words were hard to read in his messy handwriting, but I understood the message.

“With handwriting like that, you should have be

en a doctor,” I said as I examined the words. “I want to clarify the conditions first. It only applies to things said at this table and you have to sign the same promise on the back of this paper.”

Jack grinned and nodded. I bent over the tiny paper and signed it, then turned it over and duplicated the words on the other side before handing it to Jack. He signed it with a flourish and stuck the paper in his pocket.