Page 51 of The Blonde Who Came in from the Cold
“Like the dead.” He didn’t take his eyes off Alex.
“I hope you’re ready for a cupid-filled day! Did you remember to wear your swimsuits?”
“Yup!” Alex waited for Flora to turn and head for the dining hall, and then she inched closer to King. “Come on. Let’s get out of here—”
“You can’t come with me.” He jerked back so fast, he almost sounded afraid.
“Ihaveto go with you,” she reminded him.
“No. You have to go”—he waved at Flora’s retreating back—“ignite your inner goddess or whatever. And I need to go find a way into that compound.”
Alex was aware, faintly, of other couples walking down the path, filing out of bungalows and toward the smells of breakfast.
“No,” Alex said simply, and King pinched the bridge of his nose.
“We have to figure out how to get to the other side of the island, remember?” he whispered.
Alex cut her eyes at the other guests disappearing into the main building. “And we’re supposed to be heretogether, remember?”
“But we’re not supposed to get along. Remember?”
“Oh. How can I forget?”
“Oh, David! Donna!” Flora called. “You don’t want to be late. We have a big morning. We’re doing trust falls!”
“Trust falls.” It was almost adorable how annoyed he sounded. “Please. Please just go with the others. Keep them busy and out of my way—”
“No.”
“Why does everything have to be a fight with you?”
“Why does everything have to be your way? IfIhave to do trust falls, thenyouhave to do trust falls.”
He was already shaking his head. “You don’t need me for that.”
“I literally do! Who do you think is going to catch me,David? No one. No one will catch me when I fall. I literally—”
“Don’t act like you’re not capable of catching yourself.” King looked like he didn’t know whether to scream in frustration or hang his head in shame. “Don’t act like a part of you doesn’t prefer it that way.”
Didshe prefer it that way? For the first time, Alex honestly wasn’t sure of the answer.
She’d slept with him. She’dslept. But the biggest twist was: so had he.
“Why do you get to go climb a mountain and I have to do the touchy-feely crap? Is it because I’m a girl?”
“It’s because you’re better at it than I am!” He hadn’t meant to say it. She could tell by the look on his face, but the words were out and he couldn’t pull them back so he didn’t even try. “You’re better, okay? People like you. They trust you. They want to be in your orbit because you have the gravitational pull of the sun. Becauseyouare good atpeople, and I’m good at...” He pointed toward the dense forest and jagged cliffs and the millions of ways there were to die on that island. “Anything but people.”
He was the most entitled, arrogant man she’d ever known, and he was standing there, looking sheepish and embarrassed and guilty.
“Please...” He inched forward and lowered his voice. “Please don’t make me do this.”
Alex was still staring at him. She wanted to say no, but he so clearly wanted her to say yes that she found herself wondering—wavering. Did the great Michael Kingsley III actually need her?
“Very good! Now come along!” Flora was saying as she led the group back down the trail. They were getting closer. It was almost too late.
“I can do it,” he whispered. “Buy me some time, and I can find us a way to the other side of the island.”
“Now everybody stay together!” Flora called. “Strictly speaking, we aren’t supposed to be going there, but—”
