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have a special vegetarian menu, sir,” the waitress replied with a smile. I didn’t miss the way her eyes traced the bulges of his muscles beneath his baby blue T-shirt, but he was oblivious. “It’s there, on the bottom left corner.”
    Chase nodded. After perusing the small vegetarian section, he settled on a red curry vegetable soup. The waitress rounded the table and came to me last. I set my menu aside and ordered the Southwestern nachos.
    “Chicken or beef?” the waitress asked, her huge smile still in place.
    Smirking smugly, I cut my eyes at Chase. “Beef,” I said in a syrupy sweet voice. “Extra beef.”
    The waitress took up our menus and left, promising to come back with another Cosmo for me. I drained what was left of my first one.
    “Are you a vegetarian, too?” Kinsley asked Derek, who had ordered a pasta dish.
    Derek laughed. “No way, man. I’m all for organic and going green, but I’m not as dedicated as Chase. I could never turn down a good steak.”
    “I hear that restaurant, Andromeda, has the best steak on the island,” I said conversationally, nodding my thanks to the waitress when she set my second drink in front of me. “We’re having dinner there Friday night.”
    Chase mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like: “You gonna pay for that, too?” I couldn’t be sure, though, so I ignored him.
    “Don’t know if we’ll have time to hang out in town much,” Derek explained. “We’re only here a few more days, and our work is keeping us pretty busy. We’re supposed to be studying mostly threatened and endangered species, but we’ve been sidetracked by everything else Dasia has to offer. You could spend your whole life out there and still never uncover all its secrets.”
    Kinsley stared at Derek with wide eyes and parted lips … the conversation wasn’t exactly a panty dropper to me, but for her it pretty much sealed the deal. I had to admit, Derek was pretty cute, even if he was kind of nerdy. “It seems so fascinating,” she said, leaning toward him. “I’d love to see some of your research.”
    “What are you doing tomorrow?” he asked. “I could take you out there for a few hours. You can bring your friends, too.”
    I wrinkled my nose. “No thanks. I had my fill of the rainforest this morning.”
    “I’m sure the rainforest has had its fill of you, too,” Chase mumbled.
    “Okay, that’s it,” I growled, swiveling to face him. “What the hell is your problem?”
    Setting his beer bottle aside, he pierced me with his cool green stare. “I don’t have a problem, but you seem to.”
    “Only one,” I countered. “You. I was having a perfectly nice vacation until you came along, mister I’m so perfect and live in the woods with the snakes and monkeys, and ‘I don’t eat anything with a face’.”
    Chase shot to his feet, his chair scraping back from the table. Derek stood as well. “Dude, leave her alone.”
    Ignoring him, Chase never took his eyes off me. “Oh, I think daddy’s little girl can defend herself. Can’t you, princess? Miss prissy pants, scream at the sight of a harmless snake, spend daddy’s money, spoiled, pampered little brat!”
    My arm lashed out on its own accord, flinging the rest of my Cosmo and splashing him right in the face. Slamming the glass down onto the table, I turned on my heels and stomped off.
    How dare he call me a brat? He doesn’t even know me well enough to know that it’s true. Jackass.
    “Hey, wait a second!”
    Without stopping, I dared a glance over my shoulder and sped up when I realized it was Chase pursuing me. With the red-orange drink staining his shirt, he followed me from the restaurant and out toward the beach. His legs were way longer than mine, and he’d caught up to me in about five long strides. His hand caught my arm and I was forced to stop and face him.
    “What do you want now?” I demanded, jerking my arm from his hold. “You want me to stand here and let you