Picture Perfect (The Wilsons) (4 page)

"So, you run a hedge fund, huh?"

"Um, yeah. But not as exciting as what you do, obviously."

Lea stared at him intently, willing him to volunteer information about
his work, but he just shrugged. "How long are you here for?'

"A month,” she replied,
“How about you?"

"A month's a pretty long time. What're you doing for that long?"

She noticed he hadn't answered her question, but decided to let it go.

"Markets slow down over the summer," she explained, "And a friend of mine's getting married here on Tuesday, the guest
s'll all be here in a few days. And then there's a 10-day trading bootcamp thing I'm attending, and finally a few days off before I fly back to New York."

"Sounds exhausting."

She shrugged. "It's a holiday, wedding and refresher course all in one. It's practical."

Adam rolled his eyes and looked at her in amusement
. "And here I thought everyone on this island was spending their days getting tanned and sitting round in the spa."

She smiled back. "Well, maybe most people are. How
about you, how long are you here for?"

He grimaced. "My editor made me come out for a month, he had free tickets and stuff.
I just need my leg to get better so I can get back to work."

"And where's work?"

He shrugged casually. "I don't know, wherever there's a war or a famine or some crisis I guess."

Lea took the last bite of her croissant, and let the silence settle in for a moment.
War zones and famines seemed so far removed from this tropical bliss. "It must be hard," she said finally.

A quick smile lit up his face. "No, it's not really."

"How come?"

His eyes looked darker than usual and he said
lightly, "You get used to it. That sounds heartless, but… it's the way it is. You do what you can when you're there, you focus on taking great photos so the world knows and tries to do something. But what else can you do? Not much. I don't let it eat me up inside."

Lea looked into his dark eyes
and suddenly, for a split second, she felt like she had seen into his soul. Things weren't as bright and cheery as he'd said. She felt like she knew him, knew of all those anguished memories, the pain he captured as art. It was the strangest feeling, a fleeting moment, and that glimpse into his dark world was gone when she looked away from his eyes.

Adam
blinked and leaned back a bit - and she knew he'd felt it too. He was the strangest person she'd met in a long time, the complete opposite of all the men she met in New York. And yet, she felt like she'd known him for ages.

He swallowed a bit of his muesli and cleared his throat. "So, uh, have you visited
St Martin's before?"

She embraced the topic change happily, trying not to think about th
e strange feeling that had just passed through her, the sudden current that they'd both felt.

Lea had been to
St Martin's one time before, but just for a few days. As they munched on their breakfasts, she and Adam chatted about the island's attractions and lack thereof. Her coffee and Adam's muesli finished too quickly and they were forced to get up and pay their bills.

"Well, at least the food here is good,"
he said wryly. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah, I guess so."

She smiled and walked out, wondering what he'd be doing that day. Did she really want to see him again? Maybe. She felt a bit strange around him – jittery and completely at ease all at once. He was strange, she decided, and not just because he was cute and dangerous. It was something else, the way he smiled at her and goaded her and then seemed completely at ease wherever he was. He was different from everyone else she'd ever met, and yet it felt like she knew him intimately.

***

A few minutes after his breakfast was over, Adam found himself in the waiting room of a local GP. He hated doctors, and he mentally cursed the rebel
who'd shot him in the leg. This wasn't the first time he'd been injured on the job, but it
was
the first time he'd had to be airlifted to the nearest hospital and then shipped back home. Despite the difficulties of his job, he loved what he did and was impatient to get back.

"Adam Brenner?"

Adam stood up, putting most of his body weight on his good leg. "Yep."

"Dr Saltman will see you now."

He followed the nurse back to the doctor's room; she was young, pretty in a way, with dark brown hair and a slim, petite figure. Her hair color was kind of like Lea's. Immediately, an image of Lea, with her flashing eyes and pouting lips filled his mind. He grinned to himself, wondering when he'd see her again. Was she as passionate in bed? Well, it wasn't like he'd ever find out. She was spoiled, rich and was obviously the kind of person who had her whole life all planned out, who wanted to get married to a boring, "decent" guy. He should get her out his mind and find a couple of local girls or fun-loving tourists to spend time with.

Dr Saltman looked up from his papers when Adam walked in, smiled and stood up to shake his hand. "I'd ask what brings you here, but I can already see," he said, glancing at Adam's bad leg. "I've gone through your records from the
New York hospital."

"And here are the original x-rays." Adam handed over the envelope with his medical documents and sat down while the doctor rifled through the papers.

"I'm surprised you're walking without a cane."

Adam shrugged. "It doesn't hurt that much. And I was told it would heal faster with exercise."

Dr Saltman looked up and rested his chin on one hand. "It says in here that you might need to see a psychiatrist due to the traumatic nature of your injury. Do you want a referral?"

Adam grinned. "I don't need a shrink, it wasn't much trauma and not something I haven't seen before." When the doctor looked skeptical, Adam explained, "I'm a war-zone photojournalist. I got hit by a stray bullet. No biggie." Why was he having to explain this to everyone?

The doctor shook his head and said, "Well, it's up to you. Let me know if you ever change your mind. Let's have a look at the injury and see how it's healing."

Adam changed into a robe, and the doctor undid the dressing to see how the wound was healing. It was impossible to tell from his face what he thought, and he called in the nurse to clean the area and re-apply dressing. After it was done and Adam had changed back into his clothes, the doctor asked him what kind of exercise he was doing.

"Swimming, walking, that kind of stuff."

"Well, I'd advice against swimming for the next few days, keep the area mostly dry. Maybe try to go for walks, don't over-exert yourself."

"What do mean, over-exert?"

"You know, mile-long runs and that kind of stuff."

"Oh, ok. And how about, um… you know, activities with the ladies?"

The doctor smiled. "You should be ok to do that, just try not to put too much pressure on your bad leg."

"Sure thing." Adam smiled and wondered why he'd bothered to ask. But he knew the answer to that - he'd always been confident about being able to have a good time with any girl, and he didn't want to disappoint Lea in case anything happened between them. And that knowledge angered him a little - nothing was going to happen between him and Lea, so he didn't need to worry about it.

A few minutes later, he walked out of the doctor's office with a prescription for painkillers, "Just in case he needed them," and the knowledge that he was thinking far too much about Lea.

He'd only just met the girl, and he should use this one month off from work to have fun. Adam had never been a serial one-night-stander, but he figured that maybe now was a good time to start.

He spent the day walking along the more popular Coff's Point beach, where he knew he was unlikely to run into Lea again, and when he finally sat down to do some reading, he had more than one slim, bikini-clad tourist ask him to keep an eye on her things when she went for a swim, "because she'd come there alone." That last line was always said with a certain inflection and the hint of a seductive smile.

He sighed to himself - what was wrong with him, why didn't he just ask one of those girls out to dinner or drinks?
They were conventionally attractive in their tiny bikinis and they'd probably be happy to stay on with him after the dinner. Unlike a certain brunette who didn't seem all that interested in him.

The paperback he'd brought with him grew tiresome after a few pages, and after a solitary lunch on the promenade, Adam found himself driving down to The Rocks, "to get away from the crowds." Ok, and maybe because he wanted to see Lea a little. But she wasn't there, and after walking along the sand for a little while, Adam decided to give up, and spend the rest of the day sorting through the photos on his laptop.

The next morning, Adam made sure he was at the hotel's breakfast bar in time to catch Lea. Thankfully, she was there, and didn't seem too displeased to see him when he went over and joined her. She was wearing shorts and a green top that brought out her light tan, and her hair fell around her face in loose waves. Her eyes were the color of chestnuts flecked with gold, and when he looked at her, he felt a jolt of electricity pass through his body.

They chatted about innocuous topics for a while, and then he asked her what she planned to do all day. She reeled off a list of girly things - visiting a cafe, going to yoga class, checking up on the markets, checking her Facebook, going to The Rocks for a quick swim and then heading back
to the hotel after watching the sun set.

He raised an eyebrow. "Wow. You really don't know the meaning of 'holiday', do you?"

Lea smiled and he felt a ripple pass down his spine. "I can holiday. I just like being organized."

"Now why am I not surprised? Do you have a list for everything you're going to do today, like a written one?"

She blushed, looking cute and embarrassed all at once. "No, of course not, silly. It's electronic."

They laughed, and Adam said, "You really are nuts. Do you ever do anything impulsively?"

She sobered down and shrugged. "It's always worked out better for me when I've got a plan."

"And your plans always go off perfectly?"

She looked at him and something in her eyes dimmed, and when she spoke her voice was a little quieter. "No, of course not. That never happens for anyone."

Adam wondered what had gone wrong for her. Did she miss being a party girl and all the craziness she used to get up to?
The image of an electronic-agenda-toting Lea didn’t quite mesh with that of a wild nightclub-loving party girl, but there was obviously something about Lea that he'd missed the first time round. Whatever. She was probably a little too nuts for him, a little too spoilt and a little too much of a socialite.

Adam realized suddenly that he shouldn't be wasting time with her - he really needed to forget her and have some fun during the rest of his holiday.
He reached for his coffee hurriedly, accidentally brushing her fingers and feeling a shiver of electricity pass up his fingertips and down his spine. He glanced at her in surprise and knew from her wide eyes that she'd felt it too.

He finished his coffee in a gulp, and excused himself abruptly. After he paid his bill and left, he headed out to Coff's Point and decided he was better off having b
reakfast in his room tomorrow.

Adam stuck to his resolution to stay away from Lea and the next day, he headed out to a cafe away from the hotel. He spent the day taking shots of the beach, and then went for a walk along the rainforest, where he captured images of dark green leaves and tropical birds.

But despite the nice weather and the decent photos, he just couldn't stop thinking about Lea, her slim figure, her dark hair, and the way her eyes had dimmed at the mention of plans. What was wrong with him? He felt like kicking himself, but thoughts of her still popped up in his mind.

At around 5 o'clock, he remembered that Lea had mentioned going for a swim and then watching the sunset
yesterday, maybe she’d also go today. Would she be wearing a bikini? What color would it be? He imagined Lea with long, bare legs and tiny scraps of fabric covering her pert, round breasts. The image made him immediately aroused. He had to see this, he decided, unable to think straight for a moment. He imagined her turning away from him and walking away from him, her ass barely covered by her bikini bottom.

Somehow he found himself parking at The Rocks
, grabbing a folding chair to sit on, and then hurrying along the beach, trying to find her. He didn't have to talk to her, he reminded himself, nothing was going to happen between them. He'd just say hi to her and then go somewhere else to watch the sunset.

After a few seconds, he spotted Lea and almost dropped the chair.

She was stretched out on a beach towel, lying on her back and soaking up the sun. A sage-green bikini covered her breasts which rose up softly, domed and perfect. Her skin glowed from the sun and her hair looked slightly damp. Even her feet were sexy, he decided, her toenails painted a bright pink.