Page 12 of Beauty and the Beach

Shaking her head, she smiled at him. “No, we’re all filled up.”

“What happens when your contract runs out?” he asked.

“Then I go back to being plain old Ana Simpson instead of a Merry Mermaid.”

“Will that make you sad?”

“Depends on what’s next."

“I think I’m going to like plain old Ana Simpson. Not that I don’t like you as a mermaid.”

“That makes things a little easier,” she said. “I’m glad we met.” She squeezed his hand and wished he would kiss her again.

“What time on Thursday?” Makoa asked.

“Whatever the first show is. I don’t care what we see as long as I’m with you.”

“Roger dat.” Makoa kissed her quickly and swam back to shore, leaving her bobbing in the waves.

Ana floated on her back and touched her lips dreamily.

Chapter Six

Makoa thought Thursday was never going to get here. He spent the entire rest of the week binging watching mermaid films on Netflix. If it had a mermaid in it, he was watching it. He even scared the shit out of himself watching Sirens. That wahine’s eyes and teeth. Makoa had to have a few shots of Uncle Uffe’s prime hooch to get to sleep that night.

“No,” Joely said, when he waved the DVD at her. “I’m not watching the rest of the season with you. It’s creepy.”

“Do you think real mermaids are like that? That people are hunting them?” Makoa asked. Maybe that's why Ana's boss, the Don—or whomever he was— wanted her existence kept a secret. But she started out as a human. It was the contract that turned her into a mermaid. He would have to ask her more about it. Luckily, he dodged a bullet when he wished he was a merman. Wiggling his toes, Makoa was glad to see they were normal and not webbed.

“Real mermaids?” Hani snorted, throwing popcorn at him. “There’s no such thing.”

“It’s like the unicorn,” Amelia said.

Joely paused the video and turned to her. "What?"

“Okay, have you ever seen an okapi?”

---