Eli turned to me. "This is going to require teamwork. I'll hold the turtle. You grab the end of the rope."
I nodded. He subdued the turtle, gently cooing to it and telling it stories while I grabbed the end of the hammock string and began the process of freeing it from the snag.
The turtle kept kicking, splashing us while I worked. "I feel like I'm doing a Survivor challenge and this is some kind of puzzle."
"Survivor Oceania," Eli said in a deep announcer voice. "Rescue the sea turtle and win immunity."
I certainly wasn't voting Eli off the island.
He pointed. "It looks like it's twisted there. If you go around to the right."
I caught a spray of salt water in the face from the turtle's kicking legs. "This would be easier if the turtle stopped kicking. We're trying to help you, baby."
"Tell me about it! He's a strong bastard." Then he grinned at the turtle and cooed to it in baby talk. "But so cute. Aren't you? Yeah. Look at you."
I smiled to myself. Eli was such a sweet guy when he wanted to be. I got another length of the rope free. To get the next bit untangled, I had to slide around behind Eli and under his arms between the turtle and him. "I feel like we're playing Twister now."
"Water Twister. That's a new one. Got it?"
"Just about. Sounds like a fun game. Maybe we should market it." I pulled another length of rope free. "Almost there. Let me back through your arms."
A couple more maneuvers and I pulled the rope end totally free, wrapping the length around my hand as I went. "Okay. Now we just need to get our friend here free from the body of the hammock…"
"Easier said than done." Eli frowned.
It took some doing. And a lot of maneuvering. But we did it. The turtle was completely out of the hammock. And we were both drenched.
Eli was still holding the sea turtle by his large shell. "Want to pet him before I set him free?"
I looked up at Eli. "It won't hurt him?"
"No." Eli grinned. "Come on. It'll be your only chance. It's illegal in most places to touch an endangered species of sea turtle."
"Another life experience/bucket list thing?" I looked Eli in the eye.
"Yeah. Why not?"
Why was his grin and enthusiasm so infectious?
I laughed. "Vacationing with you is one unique adventure after another."
"I aim to please." He moved the turtle toward me. "Go slowly. Turtles have nerve endings in their shells. They can feel it when you touch them. Generally, they aren't wild about it. I'll hold him so he can't nip you."
I touched the turtle tentatively and very gently. "Wow." I couldn't keep the wonder out of my voice. "His shell is rough. Like a shot-oiled road or something."
Eli nodded, still grinning.
I pulled my hand back and nodded to Eli. "Okay. It's time. Release him."
"Ready?" Eli looked at me.
We were both grinning like we'd won the lottery or something. We had that sense of self-satisfaction and having done a good deed that's rare in this life. I nodded.
Eli took a deep breath and released the turtle, which swam off into the ocean without looking back. "There goes our little boy."
I laughed and waved at the retreating turtle. "Don't forget to write!" I turned to Eli and stared into his beautiful dark eyes. "How do you know it's a he?"
"He has a long tail for a turtle. That usually means it's a he."
There was a heady moment of connection between us. We'd just shared something special. His lips came down on mine. He pulled me into him as I put my arms around his neck and kissed him back.
There are kisses of pure lust. There are kisses that mean nothing. Pity kisses. This kiss was different. Slow. Gentle. Seductive. Special. It surprised us both.
When it finally ended, I thought we both felt a little shy. Something had happened between us. We'd really connected in a way that even the great sex of last night had been lacking.
We stared into each other's eyes until I finally looked away before I became too lost in him. "So. How about lunch?"
We walked back to the beach hand in hand. He shrugged back into his shirt. I put my cover-up on over my damp bikini top and wet bottoms. Eli slung the bag over his shoulder. We walked in happy, satisfied silence back to our picnic site.
As I opened the picnic basket, Eli caught my hand. "I'm never going to forget that. That was…something."
I hoped he meant more than simply rescuing the turtle, great as that was. Because I was never going to forget the moment and kiss that followed, either.
Five
Lunch was delicious—slow and lazy in the rustling shade of the palm trees on the edge of the white sandy beach. With a totally hot, incredibly sexy guy by my side. You can't get much closer to paradise than that. The food was good, too.
We talked and laughed. After we cleaned up, I decided to sunbathe. I took my towel and found a sunny spot in the sand. I spread my towel out and pulled my hair up into a loose bun.