"You try it," Mrs. Swenson said to her husband. He shook his head. "How about you, Mr. Weaver?"

"Oh, no." Still laughing, Paul shook his head and grabbed for his glass of water, wincing at getting caught watching Rhees again.

"Are you going to marry Miss Williams?" Asher asked Paul. Paul choked on the drink of water he was in the middle of taking when the boy asked.

Everyone stopped laughing and turned to stare at Paul, putting him on the spot.

"No, we hate each other, remember?" Rhees jumped in to put everyone back at ease, but mostly, Paul. He didn't understand why she did that-or why she felt the need to rescue his feelings. "You can't marry someone you hate. You have to be in love."

"My daddy married Heather and Matthew's mommy, but he didn't love her. He loved my mommy."

"Asher," Mrs. Swenson snapped. Mr. Swenson cleared his throat.

"Heather told me," Asher said innocently. Heather guiltily covered her face with her hand.

"It's rude to ask such personal questions," Mrs. Swenson finally scolded and then glanced down.

Awkward silence ensued and only grew more uncomfortable when Imogen climbed onto Paul's lap, put her little hand on his cheek, and stared into his eyes. Paul noticed how everyone worried how he'd react, expecting that someone with his reputation would freeze and wait to be rescued from the horror.

He smiled back warmly at the little girl, and welcomed her with a kiss on the top of her head, but then he grabbed her and held her up as high as his arm could reach, jostling her in the air with a playful growl. Imogen squealed with delight.

"'Gain," she said, bracing herself for a repeat and he obliged.

"I'm glad," Asher continued. "Because I'm going to marry Miss Williams when I grow up. She's pretty."

Paul set Imogen back on his lap and reached over to mess up Asher's hair.

"Yes, I guess she is, but no worries. I'm sure Miss Williams will still be available when you grow up. No one else will want to marry her difficult ass . . . sher." Paul did his best to save his slip in front of the family.

Heather laughed aloud and Matthew followed suit. Mr. and Mrs. Swenson smiled, but apparently still felt embarrassed by the personal information Asher had shared.

"I love kids," Paul declared. He really did, but he knew everyone thought he was teasing because of the awkwardness of the moment. He tossed Imogen in the air again.

When the conversation finally moved on, Paul thought back to the moment Rhees looked so sad. He wanted to know why and wished he could read her mind. Maybe that's why he winked-with his left eye, the one that meant it. She avoided eye contact the rest of the night, which gave him more opportunity to study her, and except for that one brief moment of sorrow and Asher's awkward question, she seemed to be having such a good time with the children.

He almost forgot how much he was supposed to hate her.

The next morning, the Swensons, Paul, and Mitch headed out to dive again. Rhees stayed with the kids. During the surface interval, Mrs. Swenson pulled Paul aside.

"Am I making a mistake, leaving my kids with Miss Williams? She seems a little hostile. You know-her comments to the kids, calling you Mr. Meanie-Head, and telling them she hates your guts?"

Paul chuckled. "Mrs. Swenson, I think I am the only hostile bone in Danarya's body." He suddenly looked embarrassed. "Shit, that sounded dirty. I just meant that . . ." He paused for a second and sighed. "I guess I shouldn't be saying shit around my guests either." He frowned, thinking about what he was trying to say. He'd stopped trying to check his foul mouth in ninth grade so he wondered why he suddenly felt self-conscious about his word choices. He knew why-Rhees.

"I can't think of anyone else on the entire island I could recommend to watch your kids. She's only hostile to me. I seem to bring out the worst in her." The liar in her, he thought, reminding himself why he shouldn't be feeling so in awe of her.

"Why does she hate you so much?"

Paul smirked. He wasn't about to tell her the truth. "It's a mutual sentiment."

"Why do you call her Danarya? I thought her name was Rhees."

"Because she hates it."

"What a strange relationship you two have." She chuckled. "But you're sure that, as a mother, I have nothing to fear?"

"Mrs. Swenson, there is no relationship between Rhees and I." He turned to finish setting up the gear he was working on. Now distracted, he continued, "If there was, I might do something stupid like make that girl the mother of my chil-" He stopped dead, mid-word, wondering where that had come from. He turned to catch Mrs. Swenson staring expectantly, waiting for him to finish his sentence. Her expression changed and he realized it was because of the horrified look on his face.

"Your kids are in good hands. You have nothing to fear," he rushed to cover his mistake.

Randy, Rhees' new cousin and Paul's friend, overheard the conversation and whistled between his teeth. Paul turned to see the shocked look on Randy's face-the same one on his own, but Randy quickly acted like he hadn't heard a thing.

Paul mumbled a long string of cuss words under his breath.

Chapter 9.

Rhees had three more days left, but once again, the boat left without her. She walked into the office. "I'm going home without my C-card."

"Oh, Rhees. I tried. I fought with him, Dobbs fought with him. I'm so sorry." Claire sympathized, though she still had the feeling Rhees wasn't really too broken up about it.

Rhees watched the boat headed in after the morning dives and readied herself to work when it docked. About fifty yards out, Mitch jumped ship and yelled. "Man over board!"

Several people on the boat scrambled, but Shanni made it into the water first to save him and dragged him back to the shop because the boat didn't wait for them. It was a training exercise and Shanni needed the rescue to finish her dive master course. Rhees had seen them run the drill several times and felt secretly relieved to know she wouldn't have to do it. When she first arrived, Paul had tried to convince her to become a dive master after getting certified. He had told her she would have time. She almost laughed out loud at the memory.

With the gear all rinsed and put away, everyone settled in for a typical afternoon of leisure. Rhees sat down on the edge of the dock and dangled her feet over the edge. The deck sat too high above the water for her to soak them but she didn't mind. She wanted to enjoy every last second she had at the shop.

It appeared the Coitus Club had called a meeting, without Shelli. Rhees definitely wouldn't miss the ongoing, flagrant details of Paul's sex life, and all the drama between the girls with whom he played. She wished she hadn't chosen to sit so close to where they called their meeting, but she was too comfortable to move.

"I don't know what happened, but Shelli is really pissed."

"She said she'd tell us when she got here, but that she's going to be late on purpose. She wants him to know how pissed she is."

"What do you think he did?"

"I wish she would get here. Do you think he's even noticed she isn't here yet?"

"She thinks she has more power over him than she really does. Paul could replace her in a second."

"Maybe he should." They all giggled, surely thinking they would be in the running for the open position.

That was enough for Rhees. She rolled her eyes and finally got up to move to the other side of the deck. Just as she stood, she noticed Shelli, Ulla right behind, marching down the Plank toward the group of girls who claimed to be her friends. As she walked past the office, an arm reached out the door and grabbed Shelli by the elbow. She turned and slapped whoever had a hold of her. They had words-fierce words if Rhees read Shelli's body language correctly.

It was all so theatrical, Rhees couldn't help but watch. Shelli's free arm flailed about and pushed at whoever had a hold of her. Her face burned red with anger and her anger only escalated, instead of getting better. Shelli glanced down the length of the deck and saw the other girls watching. It seemed to fuel her acting abilities and she became even more animated. She looked again, but this time, she saw Rhees, and she froze.

The rage in Shelli's expression was palpable. She pulled herself from the hand holding her and marched directly toward Rhees. The hand followed her, tried to regain its grasp, but when it missed, it floated out of the office and happened to be attached to Paul. He saw Rhees too and stood unmoving, dreading what he could only assume Shelli planned to do.

Rhees moved away from the edge of the deck as the thought crossed her mind that Shelli planned to push her off. She prepared to defend herself.

"You're going home soon, right?" Shelli screamed like a woman scorned. "Good riddance. You should have never come here-if you're so high and mighty, you don't belong on this island. There are other islands better suited to snobs like you. You think you're so much better than the rest of us."

Rhees stood stunned, not knowing what Shelli meant. "I don't. I'm sorry, for whatever you think I've done. I don't know what I've done."

"You're trying to show all of us." Shelli waved her hands at her friends, the Coitus Club girls. "You've been rubbing it in our faces. 'Look at me. I've got Paul wrapped around my little finger. I'm driving him wild with all my look-but-don't-touch moves-bet he's never worked this hard for any of you'. He can't think about anything but you, and it's ruining it for the rest of us. Everything was fine until you got here."

Heat radiated from Rhees' face.

Everyone at the shop gathered around to watch, listening to the dramatic episode. Even Claire poked her head from the office because of all the shouting.

"Shelli, that's enough!" Paul boomed. Shelli turned and looked like she would murder him with her eyes if that were possible, but Paul persisted. "Leave her alone. This is between us."

"Us?" Shelli shrieked. "Is that why you cried out her name last night while you were losing yourself inside of me? 'Oooh, Danarya'!" She changed her voice to imitate him in the throes of passion.

Rhees' gaze shot to him in disbelief. His mouth dropped open, and he went as pale as she was red.

"Shell, I'm sorry." He ran his hand around to the back of his neck. "I'm sorry." He seemed bewildered, unbelieving he could have made such a mistake. He'd been doing that too often lately.

Shelli wasn't having any of it. She turned back to Rhees. "Were you planning to ever let him get you out of his system? You're leaving in a few more days. Why don't you just stop playing hard to get and just sleep with him already, so we can all get on with our lives!" she screeched.

Tracy jumped in, about to cry. She couldn't stand conflict and this was as bad as it could be. "Shelli," she screamed. "You've got it all wrong. Rhees isn't playing hard to get."

Regina saw it all in her head and tried to stop it, but it was a hopeless cause. Tracy, determined to help, to clarify the situation for Rhees, her roommate and friend, blurted out, "Rhees isn't playing hard to get. She won't sleep with Paul because she's a virgin!"

You could have cut the air with a knife. Everyone-Shelli, Rhees, Claire, and Paul-stood with some uncertain look on their faces . . . enlightenment? Understanding? Horror?

Rhees glanced around for support, but they were all stunned. She was on her own. Paul turned and slinked off, needing to find space to think.

Everyone else slowly turned to each other and started discussing the situation as if Rhees wasn't standing right there to hear it, as if she no longer existed as a person, but rather a topic.

Shelli started laughing incredulously. Brita and Ulla nervously followed suit. People said they should have known. Everyone buzzed, almost mocking Rhees, in a roundabout way. The floor seemed to fall out from under Rhees-she had no choice but to run.

As she ran past the first room, the extra room that had no purpose, an arm stretched out and grabbed her, dragging her into the room as another hand cast across her mouth to muffle her scream.

"Shh . . ." Paul hissed. "If you leave now, you know you'll never come back."

She stopped fighting him.

"Rhees . . . I'm so, so sorry."

"Let. Go. Of me," she snarled.

He stared at her, completely helpless-they stared at each other, still able to hear most of the conversation raging outside. She would have preferred to run but she couldn't deny it. He was right. If she left now, she would have to lock herself in her apartment, not daring to come out again until her flight in a few days.

When Shelli had ranted until she couldn't rant anymore, and everyone else finished discussing the scene, they slowly dispersed.

"If I get the schedule up, they'll all start to leave." Paul shifted smoothly between licking, biting, and puckering his lips. "No one comes in here. You'll be okay in here . . . are you okay?"

She refused to answer, refused to speak to him. She stared blankly at the corner of the room. He guided her to sit down on the bench.

"You'll be okay. You're tough as nails, right?" He put his hand to his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You stand up to me all the time-you can stand up to anything."

She gave him a dirty look. "Danarya?" she whispered furiously. "Even in your sleazy fantasy world, you still have to piss me off!"

He frowned and closed his eyes. He had nothing to say in his defense. "I'll get rid of everyone." He hesitated briefly, and then ran out the door so he could change the schedule. Once everyone knew what the next day's schedule would be, they would all leave and he would be able to think. He needed to think.

Rhees waited a few minutes, but she finally walked out of the room and up to Shelli.

"I don't play hard to get. I am hard to get! Paul only wants what he can't have, and it's not my fault you played your slut card so soon." That got everyone's attention.

Completely out of character, Rhees had said her piece, and she walked off the deck and headed back to her apartment. Paul heard it all, and didn't try to stop her. He rubbed the back of his neck again, wondering how she managed to amaze him time and time again.

Tracy and Regina walked into the apartment less than an hour later.

"I'm sorry, Rhees. It just slipped out." Tracy held back tears but barely.

"You and your stupid, loud mouth, Tracy." Regina went to the fridge and grabbed two of her beers. She handed one to Rhees, sitting stoically in the recliner. Rhees wasn't about to pretend she was ready to forgive Tracy at the moment, and she took Regina's beer without saying thank you.

"You are on the boat tomorrow," Regina said, watching for Rhees' reaction.

That was the final straw. "What?" Rhees yelled. "All this time and now? Now, he decides to put me on the stinking boat? Arrgh!" she screamed. "That man is so infuriating!"

"Do you remember that picture? You asked me what Paul was looking at. It was you, Rhees. Paul was looking at you in that picture."

"What? No, that isn't possible." Rhees was taken aback a little, remembering his expression and watching Regina nod to confirm what she'd said.

"That man cannot get you from his mind. He might have been with Shelli, but you are the one on his mind," Regina said. The sadness in her voice rang through, but being reminded about him with Shelli sent Rhees back to her angry place.

"You think that's a good thing? I know you're in love with him, all right? So, I understand how, in your mind, this sounds flattering-but it's not. It makes me sick."

"Why do you think I am in love with him?" Shock and fear registered in Regina's expression.

Rhees closed her eyes and shrugged.

"Do you think everybody knows?" Regina asked quietly.

"No one knows." Rhees finally gave up on her own feelings for a minute to soothe Regina's. "I just figured it out when I saw all the pictures you keep of him on your computer. No one else could possibly know, except Tracy now."