Chapter 557
Chapter 557:
While Ashton finished setting up camp, I was sent to the beach to arrange a rescue signal.
This time, it was my lipstick that paid the price.
The signal needed a bright color, so Ashton told me to coat the exposed sides of the stones in red.
Makeup 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 lifted, ridiculously cheerful.
When the lipstick was ground down to an unrecognizable stub and the final “SOS” was in place, I stepped back and admired the result.
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 p>
“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 made him look more natural, more alive.
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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 p>
“It’s nothing.” I shoved the camera into my suitcase. “I’ll help you. It’ll be faster with two p>
We spent two days on the island, living on fish from the stream and olives from the trees.
By now, the cruise would have been 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 practiced, 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.