“I can teach you sometime, if you like.”

“Yeah maybe.” He grinned at me. “You have any more hidden talents?”

“You’ll have to wait and see,” I said, not really knowing what I meant by that. My flirting techniques were a little rusty. And I didn’t usually bust out the cherry trick unless it was at the end of a long, drunken night and I was trying to impress someone. Maybe I was a little hung up on the “younger women ogling Josh” thing.

He flew across an ocean to see you, Sarah.

While I wrestled with my insecurities, Josh seemed content to drink his cocktail and take in our surroundings. I took his cue and leant back against my lounger, taking another sip of my Mai Tai. “It really is beautiful here. Thank you again for organising the resort—and the hotel in Waikiki.”

“Oh, no problem. It’s nice to be able to spoil you.” I liked that. “And maybe even impress you a little.” He smiled shyly. I liked that too.

“Well, I do feel spoiled and I am impressed, so let’s drink to that.” I lifted my glass and he touched his against mine.

“What are you reading?” he asked, pointing to my Kindle.

“Oh, uh, just chick lit.”

“Chick lit?”

“Yeah, you know, literature for chicks.”

“Ahh. Like romcoms, but books?” I nodded. “But why is it ‘just’ chick lit?”

“I don’t know. Some people think it’s frivolous.”

“Well, you know I’m a fan of romcoms. Maybe I’d like it. What’s it about?”

Uh oh. Danger. Danger, Will Robinson.

“Uh, it’s about this woman …” Not surprisingly, I was having a hard time articulating that it was about a woman who thought she was in love with two men. Not wanting to open that can of worms, I lied. “And, she’s just moved to this new city and she meets this guy, who’s kind of a jerk at first. You know? Typical romcom stuff. I’ve just started … so, uh, yeah …”

“Oh, sure.” From the look on his face, he seemed to buy the lie. I sipped my drink and pretended to be very interested in my book, re-reading the same paragraph four times.

“I’m going to take a dip,” Josh said a little while later and before I could reply, he did a running dive into the pool.

I caught the young women across the way giggling over him again. Then they looked at me, smiled very unfriendly smiles, put their heads together, and sniggered. It was overtly mean. I know I’m not what anyone would call conventionally beautiful—sure, I’m fit and I’m attractive, but I get that I’m not to everyone’s taste. Even so, having two younger women covet my boyfriend and laugh at me, was shitty.

I took a big sip of my drink and tried to concentrate on my book, but I couldn’t. I looked for Josh in the pool, which had curvy edges, an island in the middle, and a bridge. It was so large, it took me a while to locate him it, but when I did, he was looking my way and waving at me to join him.