After ten more minutes of the wild water fight, Klein laughed and held up his hands, pretending to give up.
"Okay, okay, I give up," he announced. "I'm going back to the sand before you three drown me."
He walked out of the cool water. The sun felt warm on his wet skin. He found a big beach umbrella with two empty chairs under it. He sat in one and watched the three women continue to play. Their happy shouts added to the calming sound of the waves. It felt peaceful.
He watched Audrey laugh as she dodged a splash from Fors, and a warm, happy feeling spread through his chest. He started thinking about what they could do when they got back to Backlund. They had already done a fancy dinner and the opera. What was next?
Klein pictured taking her to a quiet park in East Balam to have a picnic, just the two of them, without needing to hide. Maybe he could even teach her some card games from his old world. A soft, focused smile grew on his face as he got lost in planning their future fun together.
...
Even while they were splashing, Audrey was still watching Klein. She saw him get quiet and stare in their direction with a happy, faraway smile.
Her own smile faded a little.
From where she was, it looked like he was staring right at Fors and Xio.
Fors was laughing in her bold yellow swimsuit, which showed off her body. Xio looked just as eye-catching in her blue one-piece.
Audrey felt a strange, tight feeling in her stomach. She could tell he looked happy, but her own feelings gave her a bad idea.
Is he… smiling at them? she thought. The fun water games didn't seem so important anymore. He looks so... pleased...
A feeling of annoyance went through Audrey. Fine. If you want a good view, I'll give you one...
"I think I need a break," she announced, pretending to be tired.
She slowly walked towards the shallower water, making sure every movement was graceful.
When the water was just at her waist, she lifted her arms high above her head in a long, slow stretch. Her back arched beautifully, tightening the bare skin of her stomach and pushing her chest forward.
She held the pose for a moment longer than necessary. She then quickly glanced at Klein, who was still looking in her direction with that same soft, infuriating smile, his eyes still distant.
He hadn't reacted at all.
Audrey silently scoffed.
She walked out of the water with the slow, hip-swaying confidence of a model walking down a runway and made her way to the chair where Klein was sitting.
Just as she was beside him, she let out a small, theatrical gasp. "Oops!"
Her fingers seemed to slip, and a small seashell she'd been pretending to carry in her hand 'fell' into the sand right beside his chair.
Without a moment's hesitation, Audrey bent down to retrieve it.
Her back was straight, her legs were only slightly bent, and her frilled swimsuit bottom was aimed directly at Klein's face, just a few feet away.
She fumbled in the sand for a moment, 'searching' for the shell she had just 'dropped', giving him plenty of time to appreciate the view she was so generously offering.
Klein's daydreaming mind barely registered the movement.
He heard a soft sound and saw a blur of white and gold, but his thoughts were on whether Audrey would prefer strawberry or chocolate cakes for their imaginary picnic.
Finally, Audrey retrieved the seashell she "dropped" and straightened up. She turned to Klein, expecting him to be flustered by her actions, completely captivated by her body. Instead, she was met with the same gentle smile and unfocused eyes that seemed to look right past her.
Is he made of stone?! she screamed internally. Is looking at Fors and Xio that much better than looking at his girlfriend?!
Her patience snapped. "Klein!"
The sound of his name, sharp and loud, finally pierced through his daydream.
He blinked several times in confusion. He saw Audrey standing over him, hands on her hips, her face flushed with an emotion he couldn't immediately place. It looked a lot like anger.
"Audrey? Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice full of genuine confusion.
"I was just wondering what you found so...captivating... out there in the water," she said, gesturing vaguely behind her towards Fors and Xio.
He was completely lost.
"Captivating? Well, everything is. The sun, the ocean... It's a perfect day," Klein sincerely replied.
"Don't play dumb with me," she said, her voice trembling slightly with frustration. "You were staring right at Fors and Xio for the last few minutes with that stupid smile on your face!"
"Huh?"
Was I staring at them? That's when it clicked. Audrey's anger, him staring at Fors and Xio, his 'stupid' smile. A huge wave of understanding hit so hard that he almost laughed, but he caught himself when he saw how genuinely upset she was.
"Audrey," he began, his voice low, "I promise you, I wasn't looking at them. I wasn't even really seeing them."
"Then what were you staring at so hard that you were smiling?"
He reached out and gently took her hand, his thumb brushing against her skin.
"I was thinking about you and me. About future dates and the different things that we could do together. That's why I was smiling," he explained. "I must've spaced out, and I'm sure it looked like I was staring, but I wasn't. Sorry."
His words were so simple, so direct, that they cut right through Audrey. As a Spectator, she looked at him and saw the complete sincerity in his brown eyes. He wasn't making an excuse—he was telling her the truth.
A deep blush crept up her face.
She had made a scene. She had posed very provocatively and accused him, all because of a misunderstanding. She couldn't meet his eyes and instead stared at their joined hands.
"Oh," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the waves. "Klein, I'm… I'm so sorry. That was… foolish of me."
"I wouldn't look at any other woman. I only have eyes for you, Audrey," he assured her. "So," he said softly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "You were jealous?" he asked in a slight teasing tone.
Her blush deepened, if that was even possible. "I... might have been," she mumbled, her eyes avoiding his.
Klein grinned like an idiot. "Aww, how cute."
"Klein, stop!"
She looked up, a hint of suspicion in her embarrassed eyes. "Wait... so while you were... thinking... did you happen to notice anything?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper. "I feel like I was being rather clumsy, coming out of the water and… everything. Did you... see all of that?"
A mischievous glint appeared in Klein's eyes.
Klein raised an eyebrow. "Of course I did. How could I have missed all that?"
Audrey's entire body went rigid. Her face, which had been a deep pink, turned a shade of crimson so intense it was almost alarming.
"I-I... I think I've had enough sunlight for one day!" she stammered. Without another word, she turned around and practically fled up the sandy path toward the summer house without a single glance back.
Klein let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head.
He hadn't seen a single thing. He had been genuinely lost in a pleasant daydream. He didn't notice her provocative actions at all, but when she asked in that roundabout way, her voice full of hope that he hadn't noticed, he simply couldn't resist.
Seeing her flustered reaction was worth it.
Hmm, I wonder what happened though...
Filled with curiosity, Klein performed a Dream Divination without anyone looking. As a Sequence 2 Miracle Invoker, he was able to see the result of his divination without falling asleep—this wouldn't raise any suspicion from Fors or Xio.
The divination replayed the last few minutes from a third-person perspective. He saw himself sitting in the chair, smiling absent-mindedly at the horizon.
Then, he saw Audrey.
He saw her rise from the water, her white swimsuit clinging to her skin. He saw the slow, deliberate stretch, the arch of her back, and the way she glanced at him, her expression a mix of hope and nervousness.
The scene shifted. He saw her walk with that exaggerated, hip-swaying grace up the beach.
And then he saw the main event. The divination showed him the view he had completely missed: Audrey bending over, her butt aimed directly at his oblivious face as she "searched" for the seashell on the ground. He even saw the way she peeked back to check his reaction before straightening up.
The vision faded, leaving Klein sitting alone in the beach chair.
He was silent for a long moment, a hot feeling slowly forming inside him.
So that's what she was doing...
The usually elegant, composed, and dazzling gem of Backlund had just tried to clumsily seduce him on a beach out of jealousy.
A wide, genuine smile broke across his face, one filled with more warmth than any of his daydreams. How could he ignore her when she had just tried to seduce him? He had to go find her.
Klein got up from the chair and made his way inside the house.