"Clean slate?" Jace gave me a nervous look.
"Ah, here we are." Dr. Z led us down a pathway to a large hut. "You'll find a change of clothes inside. Please hurry. As you were dropped off later than expected, we do not want your dinner to get cold."
With that she closed the door, leaving Jace and me alone in the hut.
After a few moments of silence I said, "I think we were played."
"You think?" Jace snapped.
"Don't try to pin this on me!" I stomped over to him. "Besides, it's not like we could have made an escape, what with you grabbing at your chest like you had fleas or something. My necklace, a curse, a curse, a curse!"
"Not funny. I was cursed!" he argued.
"Yeah, with a nervous breakdown, and now we're at some mental institute for unhappy couples! Screw you and your advice on the boat. I want the fairytale, you hear me!" I pointed up at the ceiling. "I want the fairytale, damn it!"
"Who are you talking to?"
"God."
"Why?"
"So he can tell Grandma I want a do-over."
"Nice." Jace smirked. "And I'm the one with the nervous breakdown."
"Don't push me." I pointed at his chest and held up my fingers. "I'm this close, this close to snapping."
"Well, we don't want to see what that would look like, you snapping. Hurry up and hide the cookies."
"Aghhh!" I pushed him against the bed, causing it to move against the wall. And then I realized I was on top of him. Straddling him. And he was warm. And great gods of Asgard, my body savored it.
"Nice thighs." He smirked. "They're strong. Mind unleashing me before I have to get both legs amputated from blood loss?"
"Please, like it's your legs you're worried about."
A knock came on the door. "Five minutes!"
"She's just going to keep coming back." Jace grunted from underneath me. "I say we hurry up and change, get some damn food in our bodies, and then call Grandma. We can take the next flight out of here and still have time to have a nice quiet vacation."
"How brave! You're running away with your tail between your legs."
"Are you saying you want to stay here?" Jace lifted his arms into the air and turned around in a circle.
"No, that's not what I'm saying." I put my hands on my hips. "What I'm saying is I can handle staying here. I have balls of steel. What do you have?"
"Balls. Normal ones. Ones I'd like to keep intact, and if I stay here much longer, they're going to pull back up into my body and render me a eunuch. You want that to happen? You want that on your conscience?"
"Three minutes!" Dr. Z shouted.
Beth threw a set of white clothes at me. "You're ball-less, just like I'm chargeless!"
"Excuse me?" he shouted, reaching for his pants.
Was he going to show me? Was this a pissing contest? Seriously?
"You heard me!" I peeled off my shirt and threw it onto the floor. "You don't want to stay because you know you couldn't take it!"
"Is that a challenge?" He took two steps toward me. "Hmm, Beth?"
"It's only a challenge if the other person stands a chance."
"What do I get if I stay?" His eyes roamed greedily over my chest.
I crossed my arms and glared.
"Not that."
"Like I'd have to ask."
"You're an ass!" I hissed, pulling the white linen shirt over my body and following with the white linen pants.
"I'm a politician, sweetheart. I've been called worse."
"Time's up!" Dr. Z said, knocking on the door again.
"So what do you say?" I held out my hand. "We have a bet?"
"Wager."
"Dare."
"Deal," we said in unison.
"You stay for six days, and I help you with the whole I'm a prostitute situation. I'll say whatever I need to say to those nice little cameras. I'll even kiss you on national television."
"And I'll…" Jace frowned.
"You'll give me six days." I licked my lips out of nervousness. I hadn't meant to ask for that, but the more I thought about it, the better the idea became. After all, it was his kiss I hadn't been able to get out of my head for twelve years; his touch I'd been thinking about every single time another man put his arm around me. If anyone in that godforsaken hut was cursed, it was me. Cursed with memories of a man that made me wish for the fairytale. I'd been feeling sorry for myself for too long. And Jace was probably right. Maybe the fairytale wasn't real, but I wanted to experience it just for a little while. And he was going to be the one to deliver it.
"Pardon?"
"A real six days. No strings attached. Six-day vacation with food, drinks, fun, and…" I felt heat rising to my cheeks, "just six days. Six days of being a normal girl in a normal relationship with a normal guy." If the normal guy happened to look like you could break boulders off his abs.
"Stop saying six." Jace swore. "It sounds like sex, and I just watched you take off your shirt."
I felt my cheeks heat.
"And it makes me want to slam you against the wall and rip it from your body, so when you ask for six days, know that you're asking for a real six days. I'm not going to keep my hands to myself."
"Fine." My lower lip trembled. "I just want to be romanced."
"You want the fairytale," he said in a low voice.
"Yeah. I do."
"I can do six days," Jace whispered. "Just don't hate me on day seven, because I will walk away."
I snorted. "Easy, Jace. You aren't that irresistible. It's a risk worth taking. I want to put Boring Beth away for a while." Besides, he'd walked away before. What's one more time?
"Beth." Jace sighed. "You're not boring. Look maybe this isn't—"
A whistle sounded, and then Dr. Z opened the door. "Ready?"
Jace held out his hand to shake mine. I touched it, feeling the sizzle all the way down to my toes.
"Ready."
Chapter Twelve
"This ship captain, did you pay him to curse the senator?"
"Of course not!" Grandma shook her head. "No money exchanged hands."
The agent took a long sip of coffee.
"However," Grandma paused, "there are other ways for payment."
The agent choked. "Ma'am, prostitution is illegal."
"I would never sell my body." Grandma shook her head vehemently "Besides, the captain's already tasted the goods. Past lover, you understand. He was only too happy to… aid me in my quest."
"Your quest for love?" The agent's eyebrows narrowed.
"Yes. Let's call it that. It has a certain ring to it!"
Jace
I'd just made a deal with the devil. I'd signed the contract in blood, and now all I had to do was live through the next six days. The good news? I could save my career. And Beth was right. She was the answer. I'd send a text to Rick as soon as I could.
As for giving her six days of a fairytale? I imagined it would be like babysitting, more or less. Lavish her with gifts, feed her, give her enormous amounts of wine, and wait for her to fall asleep at night. Okay, so maybe if I wanted to get arrested, it would be like babysitting. I just needed to keep her happy, repeat for six days, and home free. How hard could it be? To woo a woman? I wooed people on a twenty-four-seven basis. Then again, most people I wooed weren't ones I'd been pining for since I'd gone to my first dance.
The other issue would be that damn curse. I wasn't an idiot. I didn't believe in curses, but the man had been right. Thirty-two minutes ago we'd gotten to the island. And for thirty-two minutes, I'd done nothing but stare at Beth's mouth, watched her hands as she gripped her silverware, and closed my eyes when the breeze carried her scent into my personal space.