Wash

He leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees as he breathed heavily in and out. “I only planned on stalling it for a second to give you two a head start. Trust me, I woulda been right behind you, but if worse came to worst, I had a trick up my sleeve.”

“Don’t tell me you’re carrying around some croc repellant in that bag of yours,” I snapped.

“No, but there’s a pouch in the croc’s throat that keeps it from drowning. I knew if I stuck my arm down there and punched it, the thing would have no other choice but to let go or drown.”

“Yeah, if its teeth didn’t tear you to shreds first.” I touched his face. Tears were sliding down my cheeks, but I almost hoped he’d just think it was river water. “Thanks for saving my life, but please, no more stunts like that.”

He wiped one of my tears away and gazed into my eyes. “When it comes to protecting you, Ashly, there’s no length I won’t go to.”

His words truly touched my heart. From the tone in his voice, I believed every word. I rested my head against his strong chest, and he softly stroked my hair. “Thanks, Jake. I feel the same way. I’m sorry I got so upset, but the thought of losing you to that thing….well, I was scared to death.”

He held me close. Jake had risked his life to save mine, the kind of thing that only happened in books and mushy movies. Or maybe in dreams too, I thought with a smile and a sniffle.

After our croc escapade, our camping trip was over, and we headed back to the Royal Malewane. The staff was so friendly and greeted us with glasses of champagne and cool towels.

* * *

The next day, I woke up early and smiled when I saw that I’d caught another beautiful sunrise. I wrapped a robe around me and walked out onto the deck to take in the pink and orange swirls that had painted the African horizon.

“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” Jake said from behind me.

I spun to face him “Yes, just breathtaking.”

He grinned.

“Thank you for all of your bravery back there with that croc,” I said.

“That’s what I’m here for.”

“You’re very brave. I just want you to know that.”

“I’ve been thinking,” he said.

“Aw. Does it hurt?” I said, laughing.

“Very funny,” he said, smiling back at me. “Anyway, I know things aren’t the best between us, but I’m more than willing to work on our friendship. We can start out as friends and see what happens.”

I bit my lip hard as I pondered. “That’s great, Jake, but you need to know that it won’t make up for the past.”

“I made mistakes, and I’m sorry, but you said yourself that we need to leave the past in the past. Is there any way we can both forget about that and concentrate on what’s right here in front of us? I think we could have something really good.”

I shook my head. “You can’t just come back and suddenly jump in where you left off.”

“I really think we still have something very special,” he said.

I stared into his eyes, then purposely drifted my gaze to the sunrise. “We’ll always be…friends.”

“Maybe I want more.”

“Jake, I—”

“Only you can decide if I’m worthy of a second chance. Just because things went horribly wrong the first time around doesn’t mean we should never try again. Let’s start out slow, as friends, and see what happens. It can’t hurt to try.”

“You’re an ex for a reason, Jake. I won’t deny that part of me wants to jump into those familiar arms. I mean, maybe the timing was off between us. We were both so young and naïve. Then again, I see no reason why I should get back together with an old flame who shattered my heart and humiliated me the way you did.”

“I thought you were a huge believer in giving people second chances.”

“Excluding my love life, yes.”