“This is impressive artistry,” Azmir murmured. For a second I believed he actually liked it. It excited me. But I also knew he must have wondered about the concept behind me giving it to him.
“This is going to sound corny.” That first sentence sounded corny. My stomach was in knots. I wasn’t used to this sentimental thing with men. But since our first date Azmir made me think—a lot—and outside the box—a lot. I congregated the courage to continue. “When I saw this I thought about you…about our…developing friendship.” Shit! This was getting cornier by the second. Get to the point, Rayna! “First off, I think it’s apt for your travel. I know you do a lot of it in your line of work. Secondly, I find it uncanny that we’ve come from relatively the same metropolitan area on the East Coast and although we’ve traveled to other states, we ended up meeting across the country. I don’t believe in kismet or fate per se, but something has to be something about that bizarre occurrence.”
I shrugged my shoulders noncommittally to offset the thought of this being some deep romantic attempt to jump off our trip. It wasn’t. I didn’t do romance or sappy affairs. It was just an observation of a strange fact about us.
Azmir’s gazed found mine with his irises flickering as if he agreed to that odd fact as well. He gave an inspired grin. And I melted in my seat. Like a damn tween, I melted inside at the mere sight of his approval of my gesture. You have to get it together, Rayna!
His eyes went back to the crystal figurine. This time he sat it in his right hand revealing the loop at the top.
“Oh! That hook is there in case you want to attach it to your pocket watch.” My words were quick and unpremeditated, pouring out without thought.
Damn! I’d just revealed that I stalked his personal accessories.
“I mean, I’ve seen you pull it out a time or two is all.” I gave a faint smile before I turned my attention back to the window in pure embarrassment.
“I like it.” His husky voice could awaken every cell in my body.
My head shot over to him. “You do?”
He flashed that panty-snatching smirk. “Yeah. It’s very thoughtful and apropos. Thank you.” Azmir planted his soft and warm lips against my forehead and my body shivered. Like a fucking kid, my body reacted to his mere touch. It took the rest of the flight to calm my overly-sensitized body.
The resort was absolutely gorgeous! The wind blew serenely pushing cool air against the sun’s heat and the leaves from the trees flapped peacefully. There was calming Caribbean music flowing throughout the resort enhancing the experience of paradise. The plush property was right on the water and I was dying to get in it.
Azmir invited me into town with him to pick up a few things he couldn’t fly in. I wasn’t all that tired so I did. In the downtown district there was music playing, children running in the streets, the motors of cars roaring and horns beeping, and shop owners calling out to Azmir and me seeing that we were obviously tourists. While shopping I bought a pocketknife, a can of mace, and a calling card from, what I figured was, a hunter’s shop. I, too, needed a few things I couldn’t board the plane with. Not for nothing, I didn’t really know Azmir Jacobs or his friends. He was traveling with thugs and I didn’t know if they were crazy or not.