CHAPTER 282: CHAPTER 282 SIGNAL

The signal needed bright colour, so Ashton told me to coat the exposed sides of the stones in red.

Make-up was useless on the island, so I wasn’t upset by the request. In fact, I was almost excited, glad to be useful again. My mood was ridiculously cheerful.

When the lipstick was ground down to an unrecognisable stub and the final ‘S’ was in place, I stepped back and admired the result.

[SOS]

As I stood there, arms folded, sea breeze in my face, a thought struck me. I broke into a run, back to my suitcase, and began rummaging again.

Ashton, busy tying bark over the cone-shaped frame, glanced my way. ‘What are you looking for?’

‘You’ll see,’ I said, still digging.

Seconds later, my triumphant voice rang out. ‘Found it.’

He looked over to see a camera in my hands.

I carried it to the lipstick SOS and began snapping photos.

Ashton, meanwhile, kept working with his usual cool detachment.

I narrowed my eyes, then shouted suddenly, ‘Ashton!’

He jerked his head up at once.

Click.

The shutter snapped, catching him full on.

Eagerly, I flicked through the camera’s screen to check. A candid shot like that had to be priceless.

The man in the photo stood bare-chested, his lean, sculpted muscles catching the light, shorts hanging low on his hips, a strip of bark in his hands. His cropped hair framed a sharp, clean face.

Even caught off guard, every angle of his features was flawless, the unposed moment making him look even more natural, more alive.

The photo alone could outshine half the idols plastered across billboards.

But it was his eyes that undid me.

Those long, deep blue eyes held a warmth I couldn’t ignore. A warmth he had failed to hide.

I stared at the screen, expressionless, my grip on the camera tightening.

Footsteps approached, and his voice came with them.

‘What is it? Did you make me look like a horror villain?’

‘It’s nothing.’ I shoved the camera into my suitcase. ‘I’ll help you. It’ll be faster with two.’

***

We spent two days on the island, living on fish from the stream and olives from the trees.

By now, the cruise would be almost over. Ashton and I were still marooned here. Was anyone even looking for us?

I lay inside the tree-bark shelter, staring up at the dark roof overhead.

Outside, Ashton was dismantling my camera lens to start a fire.

He sat on a flat stone, laying dry grass and twigs across the sand with one hand while angling the lens in the sunlight with the other. His movements were practised, almost instinctive.

I stepped out of the shelter and sat down on a stone beside him. With a twig, I prodded the tiny sparks flickering in the grass.

Silence reigned, broken only by the crackle of burning twigs.

I poked the embers a little faster, just to look busy.

Ashton kept tugging at the diving glove on his right hand.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed it. I thought back and realised he had worn it every day since we landed.

‘You’ve had that glove on for a long time, haven’t you?’ I said.

His lashes gave the faintest flicker, though only for an instant.

‘It’s easier to work with,’ he replied evenly.

I nodded. With so many poisonous plants and insects around, it was sensible.

I must have dozed off for a while.

These past few days, I hadn’t slept soundly. To avoid danger, we had been taking turns keeping watch.

At first, Ashton insisted on looking after me. He let me sleep at night and caught what rest he could in snatches during the day.

But I refused.

I couldn’t keep letting Ashton shoulder everything while I took advantage.

We argued about it. In the end, we reached an agreement. When it came to sleep, each of us took half the night.

That meant our afternoons were spent foraging together.

I was fortunate Ashton was a survival expert, or I might have starved before anyone ever found us.

I had no idea what was edible.

Once, I reached for a bright, pretty fruit, only for Ashton to smack my hand away.

He told me it was a well-known poison in the wild, so toxic you could pick it up on your skin just by touching it.

That lesson stayed with me. From then on, I obediently followed behind him.

When I woke, Ashton had already packed his bag, ready for another round of foraging.

I stretched, looked out at the endless sea, and then at the man next to me, solid and reliable.

He reminded me of an ancient tree. Just a glance at him wrapped me in a deep sense of safety.

A rare calm stirred in me, a peace I hadn’t felt for a long time.

I wanted to hold on to it, to linger in it.

A reckless thought rose up inside me.

Maybe staying on this island for a while would not be so bad.

So long as Ashton was with me.

That day, we pushed further inland than before. The trees thickened and shadows deepened around us.

I slowed my pace until I ended up behind him.

It wasn’t that I was afraid; Ashton wouldn’t let me take the lead.

I studied the man who held his arm out, keeping me sheltered behind him.

He still wore the light grey T-shirt from earlier, with sturdy trousers and the pair of leather shoes salvaged from his suitcase.

The outfit was plain, unremarkable.

Yet the way he stood in front of me, guarding me with such quiet care, struck me as irresistibly manly.

My heartbeat skipped several times. I blinked hard and almost stepped back. I knew all too well how strongly this man drew me in.

But sense told me I must not get too close.

‘Stop staring at me and watch your surroundings.’

His voice was flat, as always, but heat rushed to my cheeks.

How did he always know? It was as if he had eyes in the back of his head.