“Absolutely! There is a place in Bora Bora that Simone and I keep talking about going and checking out. Yes, they have all the great things you hear about doing in Bora Bora like boating, snorkeling, etcetera, but their spa—their spa is like the best in the world. People choose this resort to go to this spa. It’s not a ‘hey, since we’re here, let’s get a massage.’ Certainly, there is some of that, the walk-in traffic. But it’s not the only traffic it gets. They have a tea room...a tea room! They offer six different types of massages. Different body wraps and scrubs, and they have a custom cool pool and multiple hot tubs that are each a different temperature. Some of their treatment rooms even have a glass floor so you can look into the ocean as you’re getting your massage or whatever.”
“Wow. Sounds…intense.”
“Just think about the potential!” she said, getting animated. “If we invested in creating that kind of atmosphere at the Indigo Royal, and we could make ourselves the place on the island to go for these kinds of treatments, it’d be huge. St. Thomas doesn’t have anything like that right now. Right now we rely mostly on the people deciding while they’re here that it would be nice to get a massage or something. The amount of traffic we could bring in from girls’ trips and honeymoons could be massive, not to mention if we open it up to non-guests. It should be fairly easy to fit it into the ‘grownup playground’ marketing we have going. Indigo Royal, where you go play and relax.”
“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” he commented.
“Yeah, it’s been a secret little dream of mine for a while.”
“It’s not such a little dream, sweetness. But I think it’s something that could be amazing. Why haven’t you brought it up to your uncles?”
“Are you kidding me? They’d never hear me out.”
“Sure they would. Their world revolves around you and the resort. If you brought them an idea that could be their next big move, then I think they’d be all in.”
“Their world revolves around me as if I were still twelve. You know better than anyone how they can be. They would never, ever take my idea seriously. I’m still a little girl in their minds.”
“This could be your chance to prove you’re not.”
“Yeah, right. You see how they talk about me like I’m not even there while we’re at dinner. I love them—they are amazing and they have given me everything. But I know how this conversation will go. I’ll bring it up, and then they’ll proceed to debate it like I’m not even in the room. And if they do even acknowledge my presence, it would be to say that I’d never be able to do it.”
“You really think they’d say that?”
“Well, maybe not in so many words, but I think that would be the basis of their thought process.”
“I think you need to at least try. I think they believe in you more than realize.”
“Make you a deal,” she said. “I’ll float my spa idea by them, if you tell them we’re a couple.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The silence that passed between them seemed to skip a beat with each wave that rolled beneath the catamaran. The words still echoed in his head, as if she had thrown down a gauntlet.
“Did you just issue me a challenge?” he said playfully. This was the Drea he was used to, the one who loved to challenge him and never shied from an adventure.
“Not just you, both of us,” she answered proudly. “We both apparently have things we want to say to them, but are afraid to do so. Didn’t you say that Uncle Gray told you to stop being a chicken?”
“Chickenshit, actually.”
“Well, this is our chance. We do this together.”
He looked at her face as she finished, seeing in her eyes a brightness that hadn’t been there a moment ago. She was making plans for them, and he loved it. For the first time in a while, he was starting to feel optimistic about the whole thing. Maybe it could be as simple as she made it out to be. In all his overthinking and analyzing, he hadn’t considered what having her support would actually mean to him. Man, could he be a dumbass.
“Together. I like that,” he answered, gazing into her eyes.
“Just you and me against the world,” she whispered in response.
“I love that.” He leaned in and kissed her, taking her mouth slowly.
She responded by scooting closer to him. Never breaking the kiss, she positioned herself so their bodies were facing each other head-on, her legs spread, draping over each one of his, straddling him. He reached around her body, running his hands up and down her back. As he came upon the little strings, he took them in his hand and played with them for a moment, before tugging on them lightly. He’d been toying with the idea since he saw her come up from below deck this morning wearing this suit, and he figured now was as good a time as any to make his move.
When he tugged with a little more purpose than before, the strings quickly came undone and the suit top went slack around her breasts. He could feel her smile against his lips, and her body shook a little as she giggled. Leaning back, she broke their kiss and looked down at the fabric loosely hanging from her neck. The top fluttered a little bit in the breeze, teasing her nipples and giving Kyle a glimpse of the beautiful breasts that it had barely contained to begin with.
“Oops,” he said, shrugging one shoulder, a mischievous smile spread wide across his face. It was taking every bit of restraint he had not to reach up and yank it off her neck.
“Nudity isn’t a problem, is it, Captain Kyle?” she replied impishly, mocking Staci’s words from the other day.
“Oh, it most certainly is not!”
