He glanced up from his phone. “You don’t wanna swim?” he asked her.
She nodded. “Yeah. I don’t want to.”
“Why not? Swimming is the only way to stay cool. You said you were hot”
Savannah slid off her sandals. “Actually, I’m not that hot.” She lied.
A sardonic smile touched the corners of his mouth. “You look hot to me.” He said. Leaving that ambiguous comment floating in the air, he leaned across and passed her a glass of chilled lemonade. “What was wrong with the selection of bikinis Rosa bought you?”
“Nothing was wrong with them.”
“Then why aren’t you wearing one of them?” he asked
Abandoning subtlety in favour of honesty, Savannah glared at him. “Because there is no way I’m wearing a bikini in front of you!” she said.
He frowned. “Why not?”
“Is that a serious question?” Judging from his blank expression, she decided it was. “Matt, there are basically two types of women—the padded version and the unpadded version. You hang out with the unpadded version. I’m the padded version. You know that already”
“The padded version?” he repeated, nodding his head.
“I’m designed with extra cushioning,” she muttered, “built for comfort, not speed. And now can we please talk about something else?”
“That’s why you won’t wear the bikini?” he asked. A slow smile spread across his face. “Because you’re worried about your body?”
Savannah rolled her eyes. “Call me vain, but I don’t want to spend the whole day sucking in my stomach.”
“So don’t.” he said. Smiling, he leaned back against the lounger and closed his eyes. “Women have such a distorted view of what a guy finds sexy. And you are right, I do know you. And I have always thought you have a very sexy stomach… And body. I know it’s been a while, but I still think so. Put the bikini on, and I’ll give you my verdict.”
Her gaze drifted to his wide shoulders and hard chest. He looked as he always had… Sexy. “I’d rather boil alive than let you see my stomach.” She said.
“Sweetheart, if you’re going to spend two weeks on a tropical island, fully clothed, then you will boil alive.” He grinned then added. “And besides, it doesn’t matter, I can see your stomach anytime I want”
Savannah gasped. “what?” she asked him, wide-eyed.
Matt laughed. “Yeah” he said. “It’s one of benefits of being your ex boyfriend. I can see you naked anytime I want… All I have to do is close my eyes”
The fact that he was laughing at her doubled her tension. “Don’t make fun of me.” She said. “And stop it. I don’t want you thinking about me like that anymore”
He kept grinning. “Sorry. But there is nothing you can do about it.” He paused, raised a finger, closed his eyes and added. “Oh now, in my imagination, there are thousands of you in bikini and I’m the king”
Savannah gasped. She reached out and hit him on the shoulder. “Oh, stop it Matt.” She said. “You are making me uncomfortable”
“Fine. Fine” he said, and opened his eyes. “But seriously, you have to relax, Savvie.
And for what it’s worth, I think you’re extremely pretty. I always have” he drawled, “So all this insecurity about yourself is misplaced.”
Savannah didn’t know what to say to that. This wasn’t the kind of conversation she wanted to have with him. They made certain memories flood back into her head. Memories she had tried so hard to put behind her.
Her fingers tightened on her lap. She decided to change the subject. “So…. How long until dinner?” she asked.
He stared at her for a few seconds, and for a while she thought he wouldn’t listen and keep taking, but she was relieved when he got up and said, “Let’s find out”
When Savannah woke the next morning, she struggled to make sense of her surroundings. Then she remembered. She was in a beautiful island—with Matt.
After dinner with Matt, she had retired to bed almost immediately. She was tired from the trip and spending that much time with Matt again after all this while was a bit hard. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, she knew she still felt something for him. It had reminded her too much of their time together back then, and she didn’t want to remember it.
Once again, she’d been reminded of how much of an idiot she was to come here with him.
But this morning she felt resigned to her fate. After a quick shower, she dressed and padded into the living room where Matt was already sitting typing on a laptop. He looked up when he heard her come in.
“Breakfast is ready. I wanted to wait for you but I was so damn hungry”
“Fine,” she said. “That’s okay. I’m sorry I woke up so late”
She went into the kitchen. Taking a platter off the warmer, she carried it over to the table and began spooning healthy portions of eggs, toast and ham onto her plate.
As she sat down, she was forced to admit that she felt better than she had in weeks. She felt relaxed and she had certainly gotten more rest in the past hours than she had in a long time.
She concentrated on the delicious food in front of her and when she was done, she wandered aimlessly back into the living room, she stopped in front of the large window offering a view of the skyline.
“Hey” Matt said from behind her.
She sighed and turned around, shocked to see him in just a towel. She swiveled back to the window, but the image burned in her eyes. His broad chest rippled with well-defined muscles and his lean abdomen was sculpted like a fine work of art. She used to spend hours exploring the dips and curves of his body. This was one of the memories she was trying get rid of.
“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you,” he said in a low voice. “I guess I didn’t give it a thought considering our past relationship.”
She had the ridiculous urge to laugh. Embarrass her? The only embarrassing thing was how her mind was currently wandering way below the makeshift waistline of his towel.
And of course, in his arrogance, he would assume —considering the “nature of their relationship”—that he could cavort about in the nude.