The next morning Eva woke up and looked around the room blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the light and it took a minute for her brain to process where she was. Then she felt a warm breeze and saw the view of the ocean out of the french doors next to her bed and remembered that she was on her honeymoon with Paulo on a private island in the Seychelles and she smiled.

She rolled over and found that his side of the bed was empty, but that was nothing new. He always seemed to wake up before she did. She sat up and stretched her arms above her head and slowly got up out of bed, putting on some fluffly slippers and a bathrobe over her nightgown before walking into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Then she made her way to the kitchen, where there was a fresh pot of coffee so she poured herself some before walking out onto the balcony. She sat there in a wooden deck chair sipping her coffee and admiring the view of the beautiful sandy white beach and crystal blue, sparkling ocean for a while, listening to the sea gulls and the crashing waves. It was really peaceful.

She spotted Paulo running off in the distance on the beach coming around the corner and stopping to do pushups and situps for a while. Eventually he made his way back up to the house, shirtless with sweat glistening off of his chest muscles as he panted. Seeing him without his shirt on gave her butterflies in her stomach no matter how much she tried not to think like that.

"Hey," he said breathlessly when he spotted her on the balcony.

"Hey," she said, trying to avoid looking at his body, so she looked back out at the ocean. He wanted to just be her friend right now so there was no sense in looking at something she couldn't have.

"I'm gonna go hop in the shower," he said, walking up on the porch.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I think that would be a good idea stinky," she teased. He didn't really stink but she had to give him a hard time.

He shot her a flirty smile as he headed into the house.

After she heard the shower start up she went back inside and picked out something to wear and decided on a pretty, thigh-length, yellow sundress that was tight and tied behind her neck. It was really comfortable and easy to move in and that dress always made her feel pretty because it fit so well and gave her the illusion of curves. She was tall and thin and had always wished she was a little more curvy. She was a C cup so she wasn't tiny, but she wanted more.

It was hot and humid on the island so she tied her long brown hair up into a messy bun and then walked into the kitchen and started making them breakfast like she did every morning. Even though she had never had to do cleaning or laundry before, cooking was something that she always enjoyed. The castle could get very boring and she had been a very curious child that was always looking for something new to learn. She had wandered into the kitchen one day when she was about five and watched the chefs cooking some fancy pastries and was fascinated, so growing up she had spent a lot of time in the kitchen watching and learning when she had free time.

Her favorite person to learn from was a French chef named Gustav who taught her so much about French baking and cooking, like how to make baguettes, croissants, eggs benedict, coq au vin, bouef bourguignon, crepes, tiramisu, macarons and croque en bouche among many other things.

She decided to make eggs benedict today because it was fast and when Paulo came out of the bathroom wearing a pair of board shorts and a loose tank top that showed his chest muscles she had just finished making the hollandaise sauce and dropped two eggs in boiling water for their poached eggs. Paulo walked over and looked down to see what she was doing. He dipped a finger in the Hollondaise sauce and tasted it and said, "Mmmm. You know what? I'm impressed by what a good cook you are. Every breakfast you've made so far has been delicious."

"Why do you sound so surprised?" she asked, with a laugh.

He smiled and said, "Because princesses can't cook."

She scoffed and said, "Wow. I'm offended."

"Well not you obviously," he said with a smile. "I guess that goes to show you shouldn't stereotype people before you get to know them."

"That's right. I actually love to cook."

She pulled the poached eggs out of the boiling water and felt them with a finger to see if they had the consistency inside of jello. They did so she pulled both eggs out and sat them on top of the toasted and buttered English muffin that were covered with avocado spread and ham and then she poured the Hollondaise sauce over it and added some fresh basil sprouts and salt and pepper.

She held out a plate to him and he said, "This looks amazing. Thank you," as he took the plate from her and sat at the kitchen bar on a stool.

"You're welcome. I hope you like it. I was really surprised when I realized we had all the ingredients here for it. They did a really good job stocking up the fridge," she said, taking the stool next to him and sitting down to eat.

He took a bite and closed his eyes and said, "Mmmmmm. That's fantastic."

"Thank you," she said with a proud smile, taking a bite of her food.

She tried to focus on eating her breakfast and not on how good his cologne smelled or how smooth and strong and tan his arm and chest muscles looked in that loose tank top. She wondered what it would feel like to run her hands over them. She blinked and looked away, trying to block out those thoughts as she kept eating.

After breakfast he asked, "Hey, do you feel like going surfing? You said last night you've never done it before so I figured I could teach you."

She thought it was sweet that he had paid attention to that.

"Sure. I'd love to try it. Do you go a lot?"

"Yeah. Me and my sisters and Rosalie go surfing all the time. Well, we did. I'm sure Rosalie won't be going with us anymore," he said, looking down at his food as his smile faded.

Hearing him mention Rosalie's name was like rubbing salt in a wound. Even though she knew he wasn't in love with her and there was probably no way he would give her another chance after what she did, hearing her name always sparked jealousy in her.

They finished the rest of their breakfast in silence until he said, "Hey, ummmm. Why don't you go get your swimsuit on and meet me down by the beach so I can teach you how to surf?"

"Yeah. Sure," she said hesitantly, getting up and heading into the bedroom as she heard the sliding door open as he headed outside. She put on a little brown bikini that showed a lot of skin with strings that tied at her hips and under her chest. Then she headed outside towards the beach barefoot with her toes squishing in the soft white sand and she could hear the waves crashing in the distance and the sea gulls calling.

"You ready to learn how to surf?" a deep voice asked, and she turned, shielding her eyes from the sun to see Paulo approaching in a pair of swim trunks with a surfboard under each arm.

With his hair dripping with ocean water and the sunlight bouncing off of the smooth tanned skin of his broad shoulders and chest, he stopped her in her tracks and she stood there like a statue. He looked so gorgeous it made her heart start to beat faster, as he approached. With his strong arms, chiseled jaw line, six pack abs, and handsome face he looked like he just stepped out of a beach photoshoot in a men's magazine and she suddenly forgot how to breathe as she swallowed hard.

He walked up and dropped the boards into the sand next to her and she saw his eyes scan over her body for a second, making her cheeks flush as she looked away, burying her toes into the cold, squishy sand.

"It's a perfect day for surfing but for a beginner these waves will be rough. Are you a good swimmer?"

"I'm an excellent swimmer," she nodded. "No need to worry about that."

"Ok. Good. I need to teach you a few things before we get out there," he said. "The smaller surfboard is yours. Stand on it and I'll show you what to do," he instructed as he stood on the larger surfboard. "Just imitate what I do."

He demonstrated how to lay on the board on your stomach and paddle with your arms out to the wave and then how to hop to your feet really fast to catch the wave. She tried it a few times imitating how he was doing it.

"Close, but it's not quite right," he said, walking over and stepping onto the back of her board, standing behind her.

He put his hands on her waist and pushed down. "You need to crouch a little lower and bend your knees more."

With his hands on her waist he used his foot to nudge her feet apart and said, "put your feet farther apart and stand sideways on the board because it'll be easier to balance. Put your arms out like this."

He slid his hands down her arms and raised them a little, with one arm pointing towards the front of the board. "Also you're too far up on the board," he said putting his hands around her waist and pulling her back towards him. "Your dominant foot goes on the middle of the board and your back foot about two or three feet away from the back of the board."

Feeling his shirtless body so close behind hers with his hands on her waist while she was wearing a skimpy bikini made her feel hyper aware of every light touch on her skin, his arm grazing against hers and his breath tickling her neck as he showed her how to stand. It made her skin tingle and the hairs on her arms stand up.

She turned her head and saw his face right next to hers and looking at his lips made her want to kiss him again so bad she could hardly stand it.

"And that's everything you need to know," he said as he stepped off her board.

She was left standing there with her heart pounding, trying to catch her breath. She realized she hadn't even heard the last half of what he was saying because she was too distracted by his hotness. She was too embarrassed to admit she hadn't been listening so she just nodded.

"Ok. I think you're ready. Just make sure to keep your head up. Looking down will make you fall almost every time," he said, patting her on the back before leaning over and picking up his surfboard, tucking it under his arm.

"Ok," she said, trying to get her heart rate to slow down so she could focus on surfing and not on his six pack. "I'll try."

"Before we go in, fasten that velcro strap around your ankle so you won't lose your board. The waves are really high today so we have to be careful."

She fastened the strap around her ankle like he did and stood up.

"Let's go. Just follow me and do everything I do."