“Obviously you haven’t explored the cabana that your brother arranged for us. There is a private pool just outside.”
He pushed open one of the glass doors, leaving it to swish silently closed behind them.
“A pool?” she whispered, forgetting about trying to cover herself as the beauty of their surroundings hit her. There was indeed a pool. The water shimmered in the morning sunshine while dense foliage surrounded the edges of the stone patio. There were chaise lounges on the flat stones, but Goran wasn’t heading in their direction. He walked towards the pool. “You’re not…Goran, don’t you dare!” she hissed. But he continued walking.
Thankfully, he walked to the end of the pool where the stairs were located, lowering them both into the cool water slowly.
“Did you think I was going to throw you in?” he asked, still holding her as the water swished around them.
Calista sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck as she smiled in relief. “I had no idea what you were going to do,” she admitted. “You’re a horrible man and…” The water swished around her. Calista sighed, relaxing into his embrace. “Well, let’s face it. We don’t really know each other.”
He shrugged slightly, nodding his head as he moved towards the deeper end of the pool. “That’s true enough,” he replied, his tone conversational. “So why don’t we rectify that?”
She leaned her head against his shoulder, enjoying the cool relief of the water. “Should we?” she asked. “Goodness, this is really nice. Yesterday was…a nightmare.” He made a noise that Calista couldn’t translate. She looked up at him, her hands tightening. “Let’s just get through this nightmare,” she answered. “What have you heard from my brother? Any updates?”
“Nothing,” he replied, moving them around in the water. “I spoke to Astir last night and explained what we knew so far.” He looked at her with an admonishing glace. “You certainly were no help. You fell asleep on the big bed and didn’t even leave me much room.”
Calista rolled her eyes. “I don’t see dark circles under your eyes, indicating that you struggled to sleep.”
“I just pulled you into my arms and took over the bed’s real estate.”
She laughed, feeling carefree for the moment. “Okay, so what’s the next step?”
“Your brother already sent a team to come and retrieve the guards we left behind in the jungle. He’ll see what his men can get out of those guys. We’ll check in after the initial interrogation.”
He released her legs and Calista swam away, still facing him but lowering her body into the water. It felt incredibly good. As an added bonus, it was really nice to look at him.
“What’s for breakfast?” she asked.
He shrugged, moving his arms in a wide arc to push the water back and forth. “Well, we can’t eat in the resort dining room, and I don’t think it would be a good idea to have the wait staff coming into the cabana. But…we could go out into the small village nearby to get some food supplies. Or we could order food off of the menu and have it delivered, and just ask the wait staff to leave everything outside the door.”
She tilted her head. “Wouldn’t that seem suspicious?” she asked.
“I’m sure lots of people order room service,” he countered.
“True, but when I’ve ordered room service while traveling, I’ve always allowed the wait staff to push the cart into the room. I also have to sign the receipt.”
“As far as the staff are concerned, we’re honeymooners.”
Her eyes widened. “Is that what my brother arranged?”
Goran shook his head. “Yes. When he and I talked yesterday, we both agreed that a couple honeymooning together would be a good cover. It won’t appear strange to the staff who might normally come through the cabana to clean or deliver food. We thought it would be a good reason to keep everyone away. Also, the reservations were paid for from a distant account tied to a company that your brother owns, but it would be hard to track his ownership in that entity. We didn’t want anything directly or indirectly connected to either of our governments.”
“That’s good, but then how are we going to get food?”
“I think we should order room service this morning. I don’t know about you but I’m hungry enough that I’m not sure if I care who sees me.”
“Me too,” she agreed.
“Good. Then we give ourselves a break this morning and get room service. But after that, we go into town and get supplies.”
“Is that safe? What if someone recognizes us?”
“We’ll use hats and sunglasses to hide our features. And we’ll be careful. We’ll dress up to look like ordinary tourists.”
She grinned. “So we’ll be completely incognito?”
“Exactly,” he replied with a matching smile.