Free Entangled (Serendipity Adventure Romance Book 2) by Anna Lowe

chances in life.
    She’d glared at Tobin that night, urging him to finish the story.
Explain it, Tobin. Explain.
    But Tobin just shot her a bittersweet look.
They’ll never believe me anyway.
    That was Tobin: principled to a fault, even when he had to pay a heavy price. Resigned to his fate. Did he wear the shirt as a reminder of failure or of doing the right thing?
    She hung her head. High school wasn’t the only time he’d done the right thing, nor was it the only time he’d been punished for a crime he didn’t commit. The second instance, she knew all too well because she was the one who’d done the accusing when all Tobin had done was the right thing.
    She kicked a rock, sending it into the shadows. Tobin was Tobin. He hadn’t changed. The scary thing was how much she had — and how she’d never noticed until now. She’d gotten colder. Harder. Judgmental, like everybody else.
    The kids who’d tagged along chattered away at Tobin, and he chattered right back in nonsensical syllables that made them giggle and tease.
    She wanted to stop him there and then, scream and shout. At him, at herself.
    Tobin! Why did you let me go? Why didn’t you come back to me?
    That one, she knew the answer to. She’d told him she never wanted to see him again, that’s why. Yelled it at the top of her lungs.
    She was the one who’d ruined everything, not him. He was the one who ought to be asking her,
Cara, why didn’t you come back to me?
    It had all seemed so black and white, until everything faded to a thousand shades of gray.
    “Listen, Tobin,” she started, trying to get the words organized in her mind.
About us. About six years ago when—
    He held up a hand and gently shushed her. “Listen.”
    The sound of the waterfall broke through the trees, and a patch of sunlight pierced the foliage ahead. “We’re nearly there.”
    Her mouth closed. Opened. Closed again, and stayed that way.
    A minute later, they really were there, and even the straight-faced bushmen accompanying them stood in a reverent kind of daze.
    The waterfall fell from sixty feet above, scraping a half bowl out of a yellow-brown cliff. Somewhere above it were the upper two stages of the falls. Unobstructed sunlight filled the clearing with golden light, and rainbows played in the mist. Cara couldn’t resist turning her face up to the sky, soaking the sun in after nearly a week spent in shadows.
    “You don’t realize how much you miss something until it’s gone, do you?” Tobin asked in a hushed voice.
    She glanced over and found him looking at her, not the sun. His lips quivered, and part of her wanted nothing more than to lean toward him and find out what those unspoken words might be.
    Then he flipped a switch and went back to fun-loving Tobin. “Coming in?”
    He strode toward the edge of the pool, shedding layers as he went. He dropped the shoulder bag on a stone, spread his shirt across a bush. He’d changed into a pair of surf shorts back in the village — unlike her, the man had the foresight to bring a backpack of things. He stood before her, tan, tough, and bare-chested, and held out a hand. “Come on!”
    She folded her arms. “I don’t have anything to wear.”
    His eyes sparkled. “So don’t wear anything.”
    Click, zing. Caption:
The zest of life.
The man was one of a kind.
    “What about them?” She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder at their escort.
    “Who?”
    She spun around and found nothing. Their escort had disappeared into the foliage.
    “I think they’re off hunting. Just you, me, and the kids now.”
    She looked over to find the two little boys already making for the shallows.
    She blinked. If the guards were gone, maybe she and Tobin could make a run for it.
    “I doubt they’re far,” Tobin said, reading her mind. “Now’s not our chance to escape. Not yet. But it is our chance for a nice, refreshing dip. Come in, already.”
    God, the water was tempting.
    “It’s probably full of leeches,” she protested,