Safari Island Shifters: The Complete Collection(8)
“Sure. They just seemed cool, is all. I’ve never met a crocodile shifter before.”
They walked in silence for a while. They were on the public beach and it was very crowded. Addison was glad they had won the luxurious vacation package. It would have been impossible to get a spot on the beach without waking up extra early. Even worse, it was packed with exactly the kind of men she was trying to avoid. She did want to have fun and meet someone, but not that kind of man. Lily was right, Chet was incredibly handsome. Possibly the hottest guy she had ever seen. He was tall and had a deep golden tan like most of the workers on Safari Island. He had deep black hair and grey eyes. He was also incredibly tall and wide. He was so broad-chested that he was at least twice as wide as Addison was. She wondered if she would even be able to get her arms all the way around him. Not that she would ever want to find out now.
The way he had acted was completely out of hand. She had just met him; he didn’t have some kind of claim on her. Neither did Shane, for that matter. It was all so ridiculous. That hadn’t even been the worst news that day. She had called to book a reservation for a safari and had found out that they were booked solid for the rest of the month. There was no way she and Lily were going to be able to book one.
She had been looking forward to seeing all the animals up close, but it hadn’t occurred to her to book it so far in advance. The lady on the phone had tried to make her feel better. She’d said the tours had sold out weeks before Lily had won the prize, so there was no chance they would have been able to book a safari. Even the private tours were all booked up. Safari Island was going through some growing pains. There was more demand than tour guides to go around. She had offered them discounted tickets to Safari Park as a consolation.
Addison had taken the amusement park tickets but also asked to be put on the wait list. There was still a slim chance of getting tickets if someone canceled.
The beach walk was much needed and very nice. It made her feel better about the whole safari tour debacle. There was a faint breeze over the ocean and they could smell the salt as they walked. Even Lily’s whining and the crowds didn’t take away from the beauty of the ocean. She was going to do this every morning even if Lily didn’t want to come. Maybe she’d even start walking when she got home.
Addison was so engrossed in her thoughts, she almost slammed into a man with a camera standing in their way.
“Watch it,” Lily hissed as she sidestepped the man.
He looked at the display screen and smiled wide at the two girls. “Hang on. Could I talk to you ladies for a minute?”
He was tall, with jet-black hair and pale white skin. It was warm and humid on the beach, but he was wearing a pair of slacks and a nice shirt. He looked completely out of place, and that put Addison ill at ease. She shook her head. “No. We’re just out for a walk. We don’t want anything you’re selling.”
He followed them. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I work for Safari Island. I’ve been looking for women to do some modeling for our website. I’m trying to find amateurs so the shots don’t look so staged. Even better if you ladies would be willing to tape a quick video talking about your stay on Safari Island.”
They girls exchanged glances before dissolving in laughter. Lily put her arm through Addison’s and they continued walking. She looked at the man over her shoulder. “You want us to be models? Uh-huh. So original. We haven’t heard that six million times from creeps on the internet. Kudos to you for trying it out in real life.”
“I’m not an internet creep. I’m Ward Langston and I work in PR here on the island.” He pulled his card out of his pocket and handed it to Lily. “If you don’t believe me, call the front desk at your resort and have them connect you to my office.”
Lily handed the card to Addison, who studied it. It was on heavy card stock and looked legit. “I don’t know. The card looks real, but I still don’t believe you.”
“If you ladies are even a little interested, I would really appreciate you giving me a call later today.” He showed them his camera. He’d taken a few shots of them walking. “I love these and would love to get you two on an empty beach. I’m way past deadline on this project and you guys would be doing me a big favor. Just think about it.”
“Sure.” Lily indulged him. “See you later.”
The two women walked away giggling.
“I haven’t heard that pitch since middle school,” Addison said.
“What if he was serious?” Lily asked. “It couldn’t hurt to call the front desk.”
Addison looked at her, surprised. “You can’t be serious. How do you know he isn’t in cahoots with the front desk people?”
“What would he do? The worst would be that he’d try to get us to take our tops off. At best, he is who he claims and we get to be models for a day. Paid work while on vacation. Pretty sweet deal.”
“The worst would be he lures us to an abandoned warehouse and cuts us up into little pieces. This is exactly the kind of thing they warn you about when you’re vacationing.”
“Well, I’m going to call. You can stay in the room if it’s legit. If I get hacked up, you can call the police.”
Addison didn’t push the subject. There was no way the guy really worked for the company. They had a big night in front of them, anyway. They were going to a dining experience. By the time the first course was served, Lily would have already forgotten about the creep.