Forbidden Depths

Chapter 3: Clean Break

The caramel-eyed woman wanted to kick herself again.

“I can't believe I just ruined my life for that a*shole. It may not have been a great life, but at least…" Her tirade was cut short when she heard someone behind her, the concierge, beckon to her.

She just picked up the edge of her maxi dress and ran down the wooden plankway.

However, her nose had finally gotten wet, and her eyelashes couldn't keep the tears at bay any longer.

There was no way on God's green earth she was going to let any of them see her cry. She doubted the concierge was 'in on it' but it didn't matter. She zigzagged through the main hallways, tears streaming across her temples as she passed startled guests in Hawaiian shirts and tropical sarongs until she reached the lobby.

Lewis at the front just put down his phone.

“Lewis, I...." Lucy went to the front desk and paused.

She actually didn't know what to do now.

“Miss, Mr. Wooten just informed me that if you wish to stay at the Wooten Tucunia, your stay would be comped along with any expenses for as long as you want to say, for your…" he trailed off, handing her a box of tissues.

The sympathetic look in his dark eyes told Lucy that he knew exactly what had happened. She wondered if he knew what Colton was up to, and that's why he hesitated to give her the key.

Maybe he wanted her to find out the truth but knew it would hurt her.

“I can't stay here," Lucy immediately responded.

The idea of a free stay at a five-star resort sounded great and getting revenge on Colton by racking up a head-spinning bill sounded tempting, but she knew two things.

One, she couldn't be anywhere near him, or anywhere near what their life was supposed to be.

Two, this was his way of absolving himself of guilt, of not feeling like 'the bad guy'. If she took him up on it, then he could say at least he gave her a free stay for as long as she wanted.

“Okay, miss, um, I can call around to see if there any other hotels on the island that have availability…" Lewis picked up the phone, and the soggy freckle-cheeked woman silently blessed him for being so nice.

“Tucunia has two islands, right? We're on Grand Tucunia, what about the other?" Lucy asked.

“Little Tucunia has some hotels, but they aren't as nice as the resorts here. They're more the local style, is that all right?" The fresh-faced teenager behind the desk paused dialing the number and Lucy nodded.

“Yes. I had some boxes shipped here, and some luggage, so is there some way…"

Lewis smiled. “Yes, we have them. Don't worry, we can arrange a private speedboat and concierge to take you to the hotel and help with your luggage," Lewis reassured.

She shifted her foot and looked around the resort lobby. She saw one woman loop her arm around a man, pulling him close, engagement ring sparkling. She watched another tall man lace his fingers into his partner's, both men looking at a travel brochure. Another tear trickled down her cheek when a man leaned down and kissed a woman on the lips as if she were the only person in the world.

“Great news, I got you a great deal on a sea view room at the Pink Dolphin Inn," Lewis announced, beaming.

“Thanks… thanks a lot." Lucy took a deep breath to calm herself.

Lewis then guided her to the dock where four pristine speedboats bobbed, their varnish glistening under the noon sun. She had fished her sunglasses out of her purse a while ago, to hide her puffy eyes and to protect from the glare.

The concierge who she saw in the room with Colton was the one wheeling her boxes and luggage out to the speedboat, placing them into the back with care.

“I have to go back to my post, Lucy, but I hope you enjoy Tucunia…despite all that happened. This is really a magical place," Lewis reassured, waving.

“Yeah…" She managed a tepid smile back that didn't reach her eyes.

If this place was magic, all it did was confirm she was cursed.

The bottle blonde was guided into the speedboat by the concierge, and she had to admit, it was nice; the interior felt like butter. As the driver tossed off the anchor and picked up speed, and the breeze whipped through her hair, the first thing she thought when she got to Little Tucunia was that she was going to dye her hair back to its natural color.

If Colton liked blondes, he could have them.

“So, what is Little Tucunia Island like?" she asked the concierge, trying to snuff out the awkward silence and learn a bit about where she was going.

“Little Tucunia Island is the place where everyone goes for watersports, including snorkeling, scuba, and surfing. We have these speedboats so we can take our resort guests for those activities. I prefer Little Tucunia Island myself," the concierge admitted, and she looked at his name tag.

Clark.

She snorted a chuckle. Lewis and Clark, like those historical explorers in US history.

“What is so funny, miss?" The concierge looked puzzled, and she waved a dismissive hand.

“Nothing, I was just thinking that my grandmother came here decades ago to go exploring with her colleagues, and maybe now I can too," she said. “You're a great concierge, Clark, and for what it's worth, I agree with you. The marine life here should be protected, like the endangered Tucunia Pink Dolphin."

His eyes lit up. “Yes! I wish my boss saw it this way." Clark's face got tight and glum, but before she could say anything the speedboat reduced speed.

They were already there!

The smaller island had more wooden buildings that gave the island a much more laid-back feel. Fishing boats, small sailboats, and one large catamaran populated the wharf, rather than grand yachts, and she saw more local Tucunians walking to and fro, selling tropical fruits or cycling around.

It then occurred to Lucy that there weren't any traditional cars on the island, just little motorcycles with sidecar compartments and mopeds.

As she got off the boat, she tried to bask in the salty breeze and the chirping bird song, willing herself to feel any sort of bliss.

It didn't come. Her insides rattled together like fragile fine china, and a dark, sickly melancholy still draped around her like a heavy shawl.

Sure, she had a place to stay, but she really had nowhere to go.

Colton and the Wooten Tucunia was her plan. She and Colton had stayed up, looking at stars at a mountain chalet, talking about how he'd run the resort, and how if she wanted, she could become a scuba instructor taking people on underwater adventures.

Not once had Lucy expected anything was amiss. He really spoke as if he believed every syllable that poured through his lying teeth.

Was she really this easily fooled? The caramel-eyed diver had thought of herself as the smart one.

“Miss, coming?" The concierge had already loaded her boxes and luggage into a motorcycle sidecar, and there was a second one behind it awaiting her.

She clambered in and the rattling motorcycle took her down barely paved, bumpy roads, dodging roadside carts selling all sorts of touristy items to a wooden three-story building with a wooden sign with a pink dolphin painted on it.

“We're here!" The concierge hopped off the motorcycle, and she numbly followed, everything finally beginning to crash down around her.

What was she supposed to do now?

Lucy couldn't get her old job back. She'd have to move back in with her parents until she could find a new job. Could she even afford a car now?

How could she even show her face to her parents? Her sister? They'd never let her live this down. She'd be forever seen as the woman who fell in love with a scam artist and followed him halfway around the world, burning her life to the ground and ruining everything in the process.

She wanted to get out her phone and text her best friend, Brittany, but she just had a baby, and it was early in her hometown. She didn't want to bother her right now.

On autopilot, she checked in and followed the concierge up the stairs, carrying one of her pieces of luggage to the top floor. The hotel room was plain, but clean, and had a big window to face the ocean. She could fall asleep to the sounds of the waves and clanking of pans from the bar next door.

She looked behind her to see that Clark was on his way out, her boxes and luggage neatly stacked in the foyer of the room.

“Wait!" She fished out a tip for Clark, and a second for Lewis. “Thanks for your help. Please give this to Lewis too."

A genuine smile spread across the young man's face. “Thank you, Lucy! We won't forget this. You are a very good person; good things will come," he said, and the urge for her to say her name was 'Seeley' sprung up again just like it did for Mandi.

Too bad Mandi would never be her resort friend now.

Her stomach rumbled. The toffee-eyed, freckled woman had forgotten how ravenous she was! She didn't even eat on the flight.

After Clark left, Lucy attempted to salvage her makeup, only for her to break down into tears again, so she removed all of it and headed down to the bar to order the largest thing on the menu.

The bleary, freckled twenty-four-year-old dodged a few tourists in tank tops and ducked into an open-air bar called 'Charm Bar'. She took a seat at the bar, completely ignoring that almost every table was made up of couples, and ordered a pina colada and a cheeseburger with the works.

When eating out with Colton, they only ate 'clean' and the portions at Michelin-star restaurants were notoriously small. She couldn't remember the last time she allowed herself to indulge in something as greasy as a bacon cheeseburger, with fries no less.

The juicy cheeseburger and sweet pina colada combination was the best thing she'd ever tasted. After she practically inhaled the entire thing, swirling the last fry in ketchup, she looked up and saw they had a billiards table.

And no one was playing.

She hadn't unpacked her cue yet, but she could use a distraction. She walked over to the billiards table, unaware of a pair of forest-green eyes watching her pick up the triangle and rack the balls.

She may be a little rusty, but billiards always put her at ease.

Growing up, she didn't make friends easily, so she'd either play imaginary games, or do things that only needed one person, and as soon as she could reach the top of the old pool table in the rec center near her house, she fell in love.

The clack of the break, each ball going where it belongs, in proper sequence. Calculating the perfect shot, having everything completely in your control. It soothed her.

She leaned over, primed her shot, and broke and potted two stripe balls. Not bad for a worn table and warped cue!

When she leaned back up, Lucy noticed a man standing at the other end of the pool table. She could've sworn he had not been in the bar when she first arrived, she would've noticed someone as tall, dark, and handsome as him.

Her breath caught.

He had dark brown, almost black wavy hair that was pushed back gently from his bronze skin. His deep green eyes pierced hers as if reading her soul. A mischievous smirk danced on his chiseled face as he swung the pool cue loosely in his well-toned arms.

His pecks flexed slightly under his tight green and black rashguard and his aura exuded a sense of 'laid-back bad boy'. He even had some five o'clock shadow and a woven necklace around his neck.

“Does that make me solids?" he asked, circling to her side of the table, his voice sounding like river rapids.

Their arms brushed as he maneuvered fluidly past her for a shot, and a buzz of lightning sparked through her bloodstream, awakening something new within her.

“Yeah, I think it does," she agreed, and a sly smirk reached her eyes, igniting them back to life.