I was silent as we hobbled down the beach. I turned slightly so that I could see what was on the other side, and my stomach dropped. There was nothing but jungle behind us.

“So do you think this is a deserted island, or are we at the edge of some primitive country?” I asked softly as I took in the lushness behind me.

It was beautiful, really scenic, and I knew that if I’d been looking at a photo of the setting, I would have been impressed. I might even have made a comment about wishing I could visit. Now that I was here, though, there was no place I’d rather not be.

“I have no idea.” He shook his head, and his ass rubbed against my back. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine.”

“So we have two options,” he said, and stopped walking. “We can venture into the bush and see what we find there, or we can go into the ocean.”

“You think we should drown ourselves?” My voice was loud with shock.“No.” He paused. “There may be rocks on the ocean floor.”

“Oh.” I stared at the ocean and nodded. “That’s true. I didn’t think about that. I should have though. The last time I went to the beach, I cut my big toe on a rock. I was so scared, because it started bleeding, and I was scared that a shark would smell the blood and come after me . . .” My voice trailed off as I realized that I was babbling. It was another negative trait of mine—oversharing when nervous. I felt my lips twitching in fear as I thought about how little I really knew about Jakob. This was not the time to let down my guard.

“So, Jakob,” I asked hesitantly. “You seem like you have a lot of knowledge on how to get out of ropes.”

“Yeah, I play with them a lot.”

“You play with ropes?”

“It can be fun.” His voice dropped. “Sexy even. The texture makes for a good way to—”

“I’m not asking about your sex life.”

“We learned a lot about ropes when I was in the Scouts and when I took sailing lessons.” He continued as if I hadn’t just embarrassed myself by bringing up sex. “Though, I’d be down to experiment with them in the bedroom.”

My body reacted involuntarily to his comment. I think the combination of the sun, dehydration, hunger, and closeness was getting to me. My legs trembled as we stood there pressed against each other. I didn’t bother responding to him. I had nothing to say, and I was scared that I’d say something too flirty. I didn’t want to flirt with this man. I didn’t even know who he was. I didn’t know why we were here together. I knew that while my guard was partially down, I couldn’t let it down all the way, not until I’d gotten to the bottom of why we were both here.

“So, yeah,” he continued. “We can either try the ocean or we can see what awaits us in the bush. I’m pretty sure I’m seeing some coconut trees. They have sharp husks that fall off all the time. We can try cutting the rope that way.”

“I don’t know.” I shivered as I stared at the deep, dark trees. “What if there’s something in there?”

“Something like what?”

“I don’t know.” I bit my lower lip, and my mind flew to the TV show Lost. Growing up with a father who was an inventor and becoming an avid movie watcher had helped me to have a very active imagination.

“Bianca, you can tell me what you’re thinking.”

“How do you know I’m thinking anything?” I burst out.

“I can tell.” His voice changed. “Now tell me.”

“I don’t want you to laugh or tell me I watch too much TV.”

“Fine.” His voice was sharp.

“Have you ever seen Lost?”

“Don’t tell me you’re worried that polar bears or smoke monsters are in there?” He sounded incredulous.

“Well, you never know.”

“So you want to try the ocean?”

“Well, I don’t know.” I stared at the calm water and sighed. “What if the current gets rough, or what if a shark comes?”

“We’re going to have to take that chance.”

“Let’s try the ocean,” I decided after looking at the mysterious jungle behind us. “I can kick a polar bear, but I don’t know what to do with smoke monsters.”

“Or hyenas, or wild boar, or monkeys, I assume.”

“Thanks for that,” I hissed, and shivered. He laughed then, and I felt my insides softening at the sound of his voice. “I’m glad I’m not alone,” I said softly as we walked to the ocean.

I was being only slightly honest. The other part of me was being calculating. I wanted him to think that I trusted him. I wanted him to think I was glad he was there. Once he thought my walls were down, he might lower his walls as well.

“I’m glad you’re not alone as well. Solitude is overrated,” he agreed, though, I couldn’t tell if he felt any closer to me. We continued shuffling along the sand and then stopped as we reached the water. “Okay, are you ready?”

“I guess so.” I nodded and then paused. “Oh, shit. I just realized we’re going to get wet.”

“And?”

“We can catch a cold if we keep wet clothes on. And we’ll be really uncomfortable in wet clothes—they’ll feel so heavy on our bodies.”

“It’s like one hundred degrees out, Bianca. I’m pretty sure our clothes will dry out quickly. And if they don’t, we can just take them off and let them dry.”