For a good part of the boat excursion to now, there had been two things battling for attention: Bane and the fact that Sejal was still so close to my parents that they’d called her. Not me. That was a painful twist of the knife already thrust into my chest. But at least Sejal hadn’t announced Bane, for whatever reason. Maybe she wanted to isolate her from the group or purposely ignore her. Maybe she knew better than to assume my parents would know about a new relationship if my friends hadn’t known.
“Hey.” Bane elbowed my side as we walked toward a new restaurant to try at the hotel for a late lunch post boat excursion.
“Hm?”
“Are you okay?”
“Why?”
She brushed a finger over my brow and my gut clenched. “That frustrated wrinkle between your brows.”
“I’m not that easy to read.”
She cackled, drawing curious looks from my friends ahead. Bane clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Almost ruptured my eardrum.”
She flicked my ear. “Big baby.”
I grabbed her hand. “You seem to like touching me. Careful.”
“Or what? You’re always threatening me. Talk so big and never follow through—”
I stopped dead in my tracks, spun Bane into me so that she hit my chest, moved one hand to her waist and the other to her jaw, and leaned down toward her mouth. I let out a rough breath, every muscle in my body tight. Every concern and pain caused by my ex vanished. Bane incinerated Sejal’s presence as if she’d never existed, as if she’d never hurt me, as if she’d never left a trail of ashes in her wake. More than that? Everything and everyone around us melted into oblivion.
Bane grunted, gasped, some sort of soft, surprised, sexy noise that had me wondering what she’d sound like beneath a flurry of kisses. That sound, whatever the hell it was called, made me want to make her make those sounds again. And again. Tiny puffs of breath that slowly unraveled me.
“Who never follows through?” I asked, my voice dipping low.
She gulped, staring at my mouth. Her nostrils flared. She clutched my hips, digging her nails into my sides. And if she wasn’t careful, I might just toss her back into bed.
Damn. It. Bane was really out here tempting the hell out of me without even trying.
“You keep touching me, Bane, and we might get into some trouble.”
She sucked in a long, deep breath so that her breasts rose up my chest. Fuck. My gut clenched and I nearly, almost, pushed her into me. I wanted to feel more of her, all of her.
She whispered, almost labored, “Still talking, I see…”
“Does me touching you like this bother you?”
“No,” she said on a breath.
“What about now?” I ran a thumb across her bottom lip. Bane never moved away. She never told me to stop. Her body always reacted, like these little pants escaping her right now, and the way she imperceptibly tilted toward me. Was she…into me? Did she feel a fraction of anything I was feeling with her?
I yearned to know. But what if she didn’t? What if she was simply playing the part because my friends were nearby? That seemed to be the only reasonable conclusion.
“Ya’ll going to make out right here in public, huh?” a voice announced to my right.
Bane jumped and stepped back, and I dragged my eyes away from her to see who the hell had interrupted us, but softened when I saw it was Diya.
Diya was standing a few feet away, a tablet clutched to her chest, and a dopey grin on her face. “You have a whole villa for that.”
“Oh my god,” Bane grumbled, her cheeks turning a delectable rosy glow.
“I can crash at my place, don’t worry.” Diya double-clucked her tongue.
“Okay, bye.” Bane walked after the group, who’d been seated and had probably been watching our interaction based on the approving winks from Sam and Aamar and the expression of unfettered glee on April.
“I have a favor to ask,” I said.
“Oh?” Diya replied.
“Bhanu loves ube, right?”
“Like it’s the only dessert in existence.”
“She’d mentioned this place had ube cheesecake, but I noticed a couple of other ube items as well. Which one is her favorite?”
“She loves them all, trust me.”
“But which one is the most amazing? The one that will…make her ditch my friends with me?”
I didn’t imagine Diya’s smile could get any wider, but it had. “Ah! Now that’s an entire mood! Let me see what I can do.”
I went to our table and dropped my backpack on the floor, taking a seat beside Bane, somewhat proud of myself for creating a hopeful escape. I enjoyed my friends, I truly did. But I saw them often, and this lunch wasn’t a mandate like the excursions. Right now, I just wanted to be with Bane in this bubble of pleasantness we had before it broke.
“What was that about?” she asked me.
“You’ll see.”
“Hmm. Very suspicious, you talking to my sister alone and her wicked little devilish expression. I saw that.”
Draping an arm around the back of her chair, I promised, “I think you’ll thank me for what’s coming.”
I watched her get quiet as conversations rose around the table. She imperceptibly glanced at the others, who were busy perusing the menu and recapping the boat adventure. Bane had seemed a bit drained since we left the marina, quiet. Even now, she stared into the distance, uninterested in the untouched menu in front of her. I’d seen these signs in my mother to know that maybe she needed a recharge.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yes, why?”
“You seem bored.”
“Being ‘on’ for so long wears me out.”
We’d been with my friends for hours now, and even I was tired. “Do you want to get out of here?” I whispered.
She ran a hand down her neck, letting her arm hang, and nodded.
“Okay. Give me a few minutes?”
The waitress arrived and took drink and appetizer orders from everyone except us.
“Are you not eating?” April asked.
“No. I think I’m okay for now,” Bane said right on beat, patting her stomach over her cover-up. She’d crossed her legs and my knee tilted to touch hers. Magnetic. Automatic.
“Are you sure?” Sam asked, and I nodded.
Right as the drinks arrived, Diya appeared at the bar. I told Bane, “Be right back.”
“On the house,” Diya said with a wink as she handed me a drink.
“I appreciate it.”
“Just so you know…I won’t be back to the villa until late evening. Or…not come back at all?”
Heat flushed my face. “Um. That’s okay. It’s really not…it’s fine.”
She raised her brows and lowered her chin as if saying, “Yeah, right. I got you anyway.”
I took the tall to-go cup of light purple drink topped with whipped cream and a cherry with a pineapple wedge on the lip. I returned to the group, but I hadn’t even made it to my seat when Bane’s look of wide-eyed surprise, perhaps awe, stunned the others in our group into silence.
Standing over Bane, who had been eyeing April’s tray of sampler mai tais like she wanted to try them, I asked, “What are you doing?”
Bane stuttered, fixated on the drink in my hand.
“Babe, I already got the good stuff.”
She squealed! “You brought the ube?”
Bane jumped to her feet like a kid on the last day of class and took the drink, slurping up sweet, purple goodness.
“What’s ube?” one person after another asked.
“If you gotta ask…” Bane said around muffled slurps, waving them off. “You don’t even know. You’re not ready.”
I grinned triumphantly.
“Oh!” Bane offered me the drink, looking up at me with those big brown eyes, so willing to share. “Did you want to try it? You have to try it!”
“It’s for you.”
“You already tried it!” She held up the drink, noting the lowered quantity.
“How could I give you something that I already drank? That’s all you.”
“Not like we haven’t exchanged spit.”
I gave a sheepish smile. “Fine. Let me try and see what all the damn fuss is about.”
I lowered my mouth to the straw, keeping our gazes locked, and sucked.
“Don’t drink all of it!” She poked my side. “And?”
“And…” I gestured with a hand as if a gesture explained it all, but very little could explain the smooth, creamy, subtly sweet, robust flavor of an ube smoothie. There were notes of pineapple and banana and maybe strawberry?
“If you tell me you’re not in love with this, then you have no taste buds…much less a soul.”
“It’s amazing,” I said, deadpan.
Bane gently slapped my chest. “Amazing? That’s all. I knew you had no soul.”
I took another sip and handed the drink back to her. “You already know I love ube ice cream. I am an instant ube fan.”
She took another sip as I swung my backpack over my shoulder and handed Bane her purse before draping an arm around her shoulders and leading her away with a wave to the group.
“Where are you going!” Sam called after us.
“Ube!” I called back, but we were already out the door and spilling into the gardens.
When we were surrounded by flowering shrubs far enough from the restaurant, Bane said, “Saving me from having to spend more time with people I don’t know and feeding me ube? I’m not mad. Was this what you and my sister were plotting?”
“Yes.”
“Scary how well you’re getting to know me.”
“Is it?” I reluctantly retracted my arm.
We didn’t slow down until we’d passed the pools, making our way to the cove and beaches.
She offered me the drink every once in a while, and as tempted as I was to partake—damn, I really should’ve asked for two—I let her enjoy it. “Thanks for the drink.”
“I didn’t know you had so much nice in you, Bane.”
“What? Are you still calling me that!” She shoved me.
“I meant babe!” I chortled.
We meandered in the direction toward the villa. “I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to a shower and a nap. A nap. Wow. Haven’t had one of those in years.”
“Yeah.” She slurped. “You stink.”
“No. Because I actually got into the water, smart-ass.”
“Because you stink.”
“Because I was doing my part to save sea turtles.”
She inhaled the last of the drink surprisingly fast. “I appreciate that. Look at this straw. It’s already deteriorating. It’ll be mush before it hits the trashcan and never stand a chance of hurting honu.”
“You care a lot about an animal that comes from a place you hate getting into.”
She nodded.
“Maybe we should change that?”
“I’ll always love honu!” she said, appalled.
“I meant the water…”
She stopped. “No. Don’t you even dare think it.”
I glanced past her at that glistening ocean surface. “Seems fair.”
“I’ll bite you.”
“I look forward to it.” I leaned down and snatched Bane off her feet, throwing her over my shoulder as she half screamed, half laughed, and half kicked, half punched.
“Stop! Sunny! No!”
I dropped her feetfirst into the water. “There.”
Bane glared at the water lapping at her ankles. “My shoes are wet.”
“They’re sandals. They’re fine.”
She rolled her eyes, and we walked along the shoreline as long as possible before having to cut across lawns to get to the back of the villa.
“Since you threw me into the ocean—”
“Not quite what happened.”
She went on, “So tell me: Have you heard back about the PM position?”
I arched a brow. “Sounds like a breach of confidentiality.”
“Why?”
“A conversation with direct competition? Are you trying to get intel? Sabotage? Spy?”
Bane scoffed. “Please. It’s in the bag for me.”
“So sure?”
She nodded. “Skills, education, years of experience, seniority. I’m just trying to plan for my future and make plans if this doesn’t work out.”
“Am I your biggest threat?”
“Aren’t I yours?”
I frowned. Did she see me as the enemy?