Page 70 of Beach Bodies

No, stupid!a sensible though annoying voice in my head pipes up.These soft nice feelings? It’s 100 per cent booze! This man is still a threat!

But… is he? Really? He’s so…nice.

And since I’m not killing anyone this year, he won’t have anything on me.

‘I was just getting to the beach when I saw you jump down from the chair,’ says Daniel, looking at me intently. ‘I watched the whole thing.’

‘Well.’ I pick up my whiskey and give Daniel a long look.See? I’m a good person.‘I was just doing my job.’

His lip lifts in the familiar subtle smile. ‘Yeah. I know. It was actually really cool to watch you in action.’

I raise an amused eyebrow. Contrary to the sensible voice’s possibly valid concerns, I’m feeling really good about this interaction. He’s looking at me differently, I can feel it, and maybe there’s some wishful thinking involved, but I’m daring to hope I’ve fallen right off his suspect list in one fell swoop. Which would mean our cat-and-mouse game is over, and I don’t have to grill him any more or be grilled… just enjoy him, and his newly refreshed vision of how good-hearted I am. Maybe tonight could end in his arms. Maybe soon we’ll be laughing about him ever suspecting me…Yeah, remember when I thought it was you?Oh, it’ll be so funny…

‘Excuse me, young lady,’ says a wavering voice, and when I turn to see who’s talking, I nearly swallow my whiskey down the wrong tube. I come up spluttering.

‘Oh– hi Mr Tulaine! I’m so happy you’re back from the hospital!’

It’s the man I saved, looking pale and tired, but alive. It’s great to see him upright. He thrusts out a hand and I grasp it. He keeps hold of my hand, sandwiching it between both of his.

‘I can’t thank you enough.’

‘It’s what I’m here to do.’

‘I would be dead if it weren’t for your quick actions on the beach.’

‘It’s just my training,’ I say. ‘It’s what any of us would have done.’

‘My family thanks you too. In fact, they insisted I get you on FaceTime…’

Before I can object, he’s pulling out his phone and dialling and holding up a screen that pops suddenly with a bouquetof happy faces. At the centre is a round-faced woman with sparkling dark eyes.

‘I want to reach through the screen and hug you!’ she cries through a smile. ‘Thank you for saving Pappy’s life! You have our eternal gratitude! Anything we can do for you– anything– you tell us, OK? You want a place to stay in Tampa, you’ve got one.’

‘That’s so kind,’ I say, smiling back at all the faces. I can feel their genuineness, even through the grainy picture. ‘But it was nothing. I mean, I was just doing what I’m here to do.’

‘Well, it wasn’t nothing to us,’ says the woman, with a tone of kind reproof. She puts a hand on her heart. ‘It was everything.’

After Herb hangs up, we exchange a few more pleasantries, and he insists that we exchange numbers so that we can stay in touch. Finally, he retreats.

Daniel leans in. ‘Can I confess something?’ His arm goes around my waist, and his voice is soft in my ear. ‘I think I may have misjudged you.’

‘Oh?’ I say, my heart immediately picking up its pace. Does he mean what I think he means? Is this confirmation that I’m off the hook in his mind? But before I can enquire further, Serena comes crashing into me with a vice-like embrace, forcing Daniel to step back.

‘Let me steal you!’ she says, and leads me without much choice to a table where the remains of her dinner are still sitting– a salad, it seems. She indicates the chair opposite her, and I sit.

‘Listen, Lily, I love what you did this morning, and I totally want to do a TikTok with you tomorrow!’ She frames herhands in the air like she’s seeing the shot already. ‘We’ll do a quick recap of what it felt like to save the old guy’s life, and you can be all humble like you’ve been this whole time– Ilovehow you keep saying, “It’s just my job,” that’ssoappealing to people—’

‘His name is Herb—’ I try to interrupt.

‘And I’ll post it to my account. Of course, if you’re on TikTok I’ll totally tag you. You’ll get a huge boost in your followers, trust me. This is going to be one of those win-win-win scenarios—’

As if I cared about any of that.

‘I don’t know, Serena. I think I’d prefer not to, if that’s OK with you? It just seems... I don’t know.’ I wince. ‘Exploitative? Of his privacy?’

She reels back as though I insulted her. Which… maybe I just did?

‘It’s an uplifting, sweet story, Lily. Anyway, this is your final year at the Riovan. Why not leave one last mark, you know?’

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