Page 54 of Meet Me in Tahiti

Someone clinked a fork against a glass, and they all toasted, laughing.

After the meal, Jules emerged from the galley with a small cake, topped with a flickering candle and dusted with coconut. “I hope you don’t mind, Tessa, but I made you something for your big day.”

Tessa’s hands flew to her cheeks. “Oh, my gosh, Jules!” she said, too surprised for words.

Her heart warmed again as they all sang to her in a slightly off-key but enthusiastic harmony.

She laughed. The cake was beautiful—vanilla with coconut frosting. Tahitian-style.

Tessa blew out the candle. “And happy birthday to all of us with birthdays this year!” she said, and everyone raised a glass.

She looked around the table, her heart full. What a trip this had turned out to be. They’d gone big this year, and everyone seemed to be having the time of their life. She, too, had come a long way since last Sunday when they’d arrived. A part of her never wanted to leave.

“This is so sweet of you, Jules. Pun intended.” She smiled. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Tess’,” said Jules as they all applauded her work. “Malik got me the vanilla from the farm yesterday, but the cake was Russ’ idea.”

Eight heads spun to Russ. Tessa turned to see him smiling for the group, but to her, his eyes looked… sad.

“Yeah, but it was all Jules.” He was playing it down, she could tell, because the group was listening intently. “We always celebrate when someone has a birthday on the trip.”

He didn’t want the attention for it, of course, but he’d arranged this. The cake, the moment. He’d done it for her. It made her heart swell.

She thanked Jules again, but she wanted to go to him. Throw her arms around him. Tell him she knew, that she saw him. That she missed him, even though he was right here in front of her.

But she couldn’t do that, of course. She tried to gethis attention again, but he just sipped his drink and glanced away, laughing dully at something Drew said at the other end of the table. As if he were forcing himself to pretend.

Her chest ached.

Something was wrong. And he wasn’t telling her what it was.

Tessa twirled her fork through the last bite of Jules’s vanilla cake, laughter and voices surrounding her, but her mind still half-caught on the hike that morning.

She could still feel Russ’s hands grabbing her, steadying her like she mattered more than anything else on that mountain.

She hadn’t meant to slip. Hadn’t meant to need saving.

But the way he’d moved—without hesitation, without a second thought—it had shaken something loose in her chest.

He cared. More than he wanted to.

And that… terrified her.

Not because she didn’t want him to care. But because she did.

Chapter

Sixteen

The sun was just beginningto dip behind the edge of the lagoon as Russ helped Malik prep the dinghy for the night’s outing. They were heading to a private beach party, held weekly for charter groups like theirs. He’d ferried plenty of guests to this event before, where a thatched-roof bar was strung with fairy lights, dancing in the sand under swaying palms. It should’ve felt festive, with tiki torches lining the edge of the beach, and the smell of pineapple and lime filling the air.

Just yesterday, he’d imagined how romantic it would be to spend the evening with Tessa there, even if he had to pretend they were just friends the entire night.

But he sighed. Because all Russell felt now was the press of regret.

He should’ve been looking forward to it. They could be laughing and having fun like everyone else wouldtonight, even if he’d have to keep his distance most of the time.

Instead, he was locked into the decision he’d made—stay back. Keep her at arm’s length—both publicly and on the inside, where it hurt like heck.

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