Page 18 of Finding Cory

Chapter Seven

On the way back to the resort, everyone was quiet, tired from their exertions. Olivia sat staring vaguely out over the blue water, her mind whirling with plans. She barely noticed when Cory sat down alongside her, but when he casually put his arm around her shoulders, she flinched with sudden pain.

"Ouch!"

Startled, he pulled back. "Olivia? Are you okay?"

His arm had really hurt when it pressed against her, and now that she was thinking on it, the skin all over her shoulders and back felt sore and tight.

"Oh my God. I'm such an idiot."

He leaned back and looked at her, at the T-shirt she was wearing over her bikini. The white T-shirt, which was drying out now and was no longer quite as alluringly transparent as it had been earlier.

"You forgot to put sunscreen on under the T-shirt, didn't you? Forgot that you'd burn through it once it got wet."

"I'm such an idiot," she said again, tears starting in her eyes.

"Shush, it's okay. It happens. Look, when we get back, go straight to your cabin and take a cool shower, okay? I'll help Jodie clear the boat and I'll come straight over with a bottle of aloe. We'll get you through it." He pressed a light kiss to her brow.

"Olivia?" Cory tapped gently on her screen door. The glass door to the inside of the cabin was open, but the drapes were drawn behind it. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," came the soft reply, and he opened the screen to enter, pushing aside the drapes.

She lay facedown on the bed, wearing only a pair of cotton bikini panties. Cory sucked in a breath at the state of her back, broken by the white lines where her bikini had covered her. The sunscreen had done its job on the backs of her thighs, and she'd obviously worked it up onto her shoulders as well, but her lower and upper back were an angry red.

"Oh, honey. You're gonna be really sore for a few days."

"Don't rub it in." She turned her head to the side, resting her cheek on the pillow, and stared at him. "Or rather, if that's aloe you've got in that bottle, do rub it in. Lots of it."

"Certainly is." She was in the middle of the bed, so Cory had plenty of room to sit down on the edge, crack open the bottle, and pour a generous amount of aloe into the middle of her back. "This isn't exactly the way I'd hoped to get my hands all over your beautiful body," he teased as he gently smoothed the thick gel over her burned skin.

"Wasn't what I had in mind either," Olivia griped, "but since it feels really good, I'm not complaining." She smiled crookedly up at him, and he couldn't resist leaning down to kiss her. "You'll need to do it at least a couple of times a day until I'm all better too," she added cheekily when he straightened back up, and Cory couldn't help but laugh. God, she was a delight; he'd been attracted to her from the moment he saw her, but in getting to know her, he realized she was so much more than just an admittedly very pretty face.

"I am your willing slave," he jested, pouring on some more aloe when he saw that her skin had already soaked in the first application. "You should really stay here under the air conditioner for tonight at least; can I get you something to eat? More water?" He saw an almost empty water bottle on the night stand; at least she was drinking. She'd need to.

"Both, please. I skipped lunch because I was worried about getting seasick and I'm starving," Olivia confessed.

"No headache?" A headache could indicate sunstroke as well as the burn, but she shook her head.

"Honestly, I feel fine apart from an extremely sore back."

He finished smoothing the thick gel into her back, then went into her bathroom to wash his hands. "I'll be back in a bit with some food. Anything in particular?" He recalled that she had a good appetite, having seen her eat lunch yesterday. He wouldn't skimp on the portion.

"Anything, I'm not fussy." Olivia shrugged and winced as the movement tugged at her sore skin. "Could you get me some more water? There's a jug in the fridge in there." She waved a hand vaguely at the door that led into the lounge.

"Gotcha." Cory picked up the near-empty bottle, headed into the next room, and came face-to-face with Suzannah. She raised her eyebrows, looking past him at Olivia lying facedown on her bed in only a pair of panties.

"Well, you certainly move fast, surfer boy," she drawled, looking amused and highly entertained.

"It's not like that. She's got a sunburn."

Suzannah's smirk vanished at once. "Merde, on her first day? How did you manage that, Olivia?" She pushed past Cory and bent over Olivia with a concerned frown. "Oh, that is going to hurt."

"Already does, but Cory's been generous with the aloe." Olivia gave her roommate a wry smile. "My fault. I forgot I'd burn through my T-shirt once it got wet, and didn't put sunscreen on my back before I went snorkeling."

Cory came back in with the water bottle and set it down on the nightstand. "I'm gonna go get her some dinner," he said. "Are you working tonight, Suze?" He suspected he knew the answer; the restaurants were just about to open and the chef would have already been in action for quite a while if she were on duty.

"No." Suze shook her head. "My night off. Which is good, I can keep Olivia company and we can get to know each other, yes? In fact, if you are going to be room service waiter, Cory, you could bring me some as well." She grinned at him, and he threw his hands up in surrender, laughing.

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