Pieces of Me (3 page)

Chapter 4

Nicole gradually started to wake up and all the events of night before started flooding back. Feeling nauseous, she slowly opened her eyes and tried to sit up. She must have moved too fast because she threw off the tarp, put her head over the side of the boat, and threw up. Nicole’s body stayed half thrown over the side of the boat until her stomach settled down. After a while, she wiped her mouth and sat up to assess her situation. Nicole looked around and all she could see, for as far as her eyes could see, was the ocean. Everything was so calm which was completely the opposite of the night before. The only sound she heard were the waves butting up against the boat guiding it to who knew where. If Nicole hadn’t been in this situation, she would have been in sheer awe of the beauty before her. The sky was so clear not a cloud anywhere in sight. The sun was beaming down on them warming her skin. She touched her head where she felt a dull ache and felt the gauze. Davis must have wrapped it for her. Nicole’s mind immediately switched to thinking of him. Where was he? She looked frantically for him for just a second before seeing him on the opposite side of the small raft. Davis was laying so still with his eyes closed. Nicole crawled over to him and was relieved when she saw the rise and fall of his chest. She tried to wake him but couldn’t. She gave up trying and just hoped he’d wake up on his own.

After a few hours of drifting, the sun was starting to get hot so she took off her jacket. There hadn’t been enough time for her to put on her life preserver. Her eyes landed on something that looked like a radio. She crawled over to it and prayed that it worked. With trembling fingers, Nicole tried it but it didn’t work. She tried it several more times and each time nothing. Nicole could only hope that the missing flares in the case were because Davis had managed to fire them off last night. She prayed that the pilot was able to send a mayday and that someone would find them soon. Finally, she gave up and sat for what seemed like hours before she fell back to sleep.

*****

“Nicole….wake up.” Davis shook her. “Nicole…wake up, there’s land up ahead.”

Somewhere in the background Nicole heard someone calling her name. She bolted upright hoping that she was home in her bed and this was just a bad dream. Fully awake now, she realized she was still on the raft.

“Nicole, there’s land up ahead. I’m going to need you to help me get this raft over to it.”

Not yet fully alert, but her mind was clear enough for her to understand what Davis was trying to say. She whispered “What do you need me to do?”

“Do you think you can swim from here to there?” Davis pointed toward the island.

“That seems like a long way away? Do I have a choice?”

“We don’t have anything to navigate this raft to the beach. I can’t pull it with you in it. It’ll be too heavy and we can’t stay out here.”

“Maybe we should just leave the raft behind and swim for the island.”

“We don’t know if anyone is even on that island. If there isn’t, there are things on this boat that could save our lives.”

Nicole hadn’t thought for one second that the island could be deserted but she understood. They needed to get the raft to the beach.

“It looks like it’s getting late in the day so if we are going to do this let’s do it. I don’t want to be caught in this water at sundown.”

They jumped into the ocean, each grabbing a hold of the rope that was tied to the end of it and used it to pull the little boat.

The current was strong and they were swimming against it. However, this time it wasn’t raining. They had that going in their favor. It took them just over an hour to reach the shore. They were so exhausted that they just dropped onto the warm sandy beach not able to move another muscle. As much as they wanted to stay put they couldn’t languish too long. Time wasn’t on their side because the sun would be setting soon. Davis was the first to get up.

“We’ve got to get moving.”

He reached out his hand to help her up. Stubbornly, she grabbed it and stood up. Her legs felt like jelly but Davis held onto her until she was steady. Nicole couldn’t ignore the beauty of the island. If ever there was a paradise this was it. There were lush greens and trees everywhere with coconut, bananas, papaya, and who knew what else on them. The sand was still warm from the heat of the sun beating down on it all day. Although the sun was going down the sky still had an orange purplish hue.

“We need to find a spot and get a fire going.” Davis pointed to a tree he thought they could sleep under. It wasn’t too close to the jungle but gave them a little bit of covering. Neither spoke as they made their way over to it.

There was no telling what dangers lay ahead in that jungle. “We can’t explore this island until tomorrow because it’ll be nightfall soon and I don’t want to get caught in there at night. We almost certainly shouldn’t go anywhere without each other at least until we know what we’re dealing with here. And, we should probably sleep in shifts.”

Nicole was barely listening to Davis. She was looking past him toward the jungle “Do you think anyone else is on this island besides us?”

Davis couldn’t be certain if Nicole was talking to him, or thinking out loud. He tried to follow her gaze and that’s when he noticed her eyes. They were simply incredible. He couldn’t tell if they were brown, grey, or green but they were stunning. And her hair, which had escaped the bands of her pony tail, was starting to dry. It hung wildly over her shoulders. She stood there with the sun setting behind her and the water from the ocean glistening on her caramel skin looking ethereal. If he’d been a photographer he didn’t think he could create the beauty that stood before him if he tried.

Davis continued to study her. He couldn’t ignore the wet dress that was clinging to every single curve. Nicole wasn’t stick thin like the women he dated. No, she had a figure made for a man to worship. From the arc of her neck, to the fullness of her breasts, to her slim waist that curved into a firm round ass. Yes, she was made for a man to devour. Simply stated,
she
was quite gorgeous.

Davis caught himself ogling her before she noticed him. He reminded himself that beautiful women were all just like his ex and were nothing but trouble. He just hoped this one could at least be somewhat useful and tough enough to deal with this situation.

They didn’t have much time and needed to get set-up for tonight. “I don’t know if there is a resort on the other side of those trees or if no one has ever been here. I’m just hopeful the pilot was able to get off the distress signal. Since it’s too late to explore, we need to get set up for tonight.”

Nicole understood. She hoped this was an island getaway, but so far, unless there was something on the other side of those trees, they were quite likely the only people on it.

Nicole started walking towards the jungle “I’m going to need a little bit of privacy.”

“What are you doing? I just told you we shouldn’t be caught in that jungle when the sun goes down…
and
we shouldn’t go anywhere alone. Were you not listening? I have no idea how fast the sun is going to set and we still need to gather some wood for a fire. The jungle is a no until tomorrow.”

Anger bubbled up inside of her. She was tired of men treating her as if she were a child that disobeyed her parents. Before she spazzed out on him, she took a couple of deep breaths, then calmly responded to him. “Davis, as a woman, I need some privacy. That means that I’ll need to go into
that
jungle. However, I’ll stay very close to the beach.”

It dawned on him what she meant. Women always seemed to be more trouble than they were worth. He looked up at the sky. “Well damn. I guess that means I’ll have to go in there with you.” Davis looked around and found a big stick. “We’ll need this as we walk through it. Follow me and stay close.”

They headed into the jungle careful not to stray too far from the beach. Nicole pointed out a spot. It wasn’t too far from Davis but gave her some hint of privacy. As she walked towards it, she heard him in the background, “Make sure not to give some snake a golden shower.”

Her earlier assessment of him still stood. He was an asshole. A gorgeous asshole but still…an asshole.

After a few moments, Nicole emerged from the spot and started walking back towards Davis. She stopped short “Do you hear that?”

Davis heard it too. Nicole turned and quickly walked around him...which was even further away from the beach. Davis wanted to throttle her. What the hell was she doing? “Nicole!” She ignored him and kept walking faster toward the sound. After a few moments, they broke through a clearing to find a small waterfall that pooled out into a crystal clear lagoon. You could see straight to the bottom. Nicole went to dip her hands into the water before Davis stopped her. He wanted to make sure it was safe first. He looked around before dipping down to drink the water. “It’s fresh.”

Nicole bent over and grabbed handfuls. After drinking her fill, she started taking off her shoes “You think it’s safe to get in?”

Davis looked up at the sky. He didn’t want to risk it. What part of it’s going to be dark soon did she not understand. She was exasperating. He didn’t know what kind of wild animals, if any, were on this island. “No, drink your water and let’s get back to the beach. We can come here tomorrow.”

Nicole said nothing, but the alpha male thing was going to driver her crazy. However, he had a point. They didn’t know how much daylight they had left. That was why she laced her shoes back up. They headed back towards the beach.

Chapter 5

After making their way back to the beach and picking up wood pieces along the way, Davis dropped his load next to the tree he’d pointed to earlier. He threw over his shoulder “Just drop the wood over there.” before stalking off to the small raft.

He grabbed the emergency kit and the tarp from the boat. When he returned, he ignored Nicole. Davis went through the box again looking for the gun he’d found earlier. He took out the gun and walked back over towards their camp. He needed to get the fire going.

Nicole had never met Davis before today and she didn’t crash the plane. There was no need for him to take his frustrations out on her. They were in this mess together. If anything, she should blame him after all it was his plane. She hated the way he continued to talk to her...like a child. She sat there watching him trying to start a fire “Do you always do that?”

Again, sounding like he needed to placate a two year old he responded “Do ‘what’ exactly? I’m afraid you’ll need to be a little more specific.”

Nicole’s eyes blazed and she put her hands on her hips. “First, how about at least giving me the courtesy of addressing me while you’re speaking to me. And, secondly, stop throwing orders around like I’m a child because I can assure you, I’m a full grown woman. As a matter of fact, I’m the woman who helped you bring that raft onto these shores. We should be working together as a team.”

All women were just alike. No matter what the situation, they found a way to make it all about them and add more drama to it than necessary. Davis turned around and exaggeratedly peered into her eyes. “Look, I’m just trying to make sure we make it until the morning. Or, at least until we’re rescued, whichever comes first.”

“I get that but I want you to know that I’m not some damsel in distress. I think
both
of us are in distress. As you can see, I’m not some wilting flower who is breaking down and falling apart. I can help us get through this nightmare. All I’m asking for is a little respect.”

Davis glared at Nicole for what seemed like forever as he appeared to be making up his mind how to respond before he muttered to himself “not worth it.”

Nicole ignored his snide remark. “So, how about
I’ll
take the first sleeping shift and you take the second?”

“If giving me orders will make you feel better, fine.” Davis turned back around to tend to the fire. He hoped they were rescued soon because he did not want to have to be stuck on this island with this woman. She talked way too much. Who did she think she was talking to him the way she had anyway? He was Mr. Davis Chatham and she might do well to remember that.

It was a small victory for Nicole but she’d spent her entire life allowing men to dictate to her. That life ended the moment she’d stepped foot onto that plane. She’d allowed her ex, Todd to ‘take care of her’ and that ended in disaster. No, she needed to set clear boundaries right now. She didn’t care who
he
was,
how
much money he had, or even how
sexy
he was…there was no excuse to be disrespectful and just plain rude.