Taste: Beautiful Series, Book 6

by Anderson, Lilliana

  Taste

  Beautiful Series, Book 6

  Lilliana Anderson

  Copyright © 2020 by Lilliana Anderson

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Foreword

  1. Brad

  2. Dakota

  3. Brad

  4. Dakota

  5. Brad

  6. Dakota

  7. Brad

  8. Brad

  9. Brad

  10. Dakota

  11. Dakota

  12. Dakota

  13. Dakota

  14. Dakota

  15. Dakota

  16. Dakota

  17. Brad

  18. Brad

  19. Brad

  20. Brad

  21. Dakota

  22. Dakota

  23. Dakota

  24. Dakota

  25. Dakota

  26. Dakota

  27. Brad

  28. Brad

  29. Brad

  30. Dakota

  31. Brad

  32. Brad

  33. Brad

  34. Brad

  35. Brad

  36. Brad

  37. Brad

  38. Brad

  Epilogue

  Also by Lilliana Anderson

  About the Author

  Foreword

  We’re getting to the tail end of the series now. It’s the point where I had enough books under my belt to know what I was doing. As far as Brad and Dakota’s story goes, I didn’t have a lot that I wanted to change about it. I think they have always been two very scared people who wanted answers but were afraid of what those answers meant. And while I LOVED going through their story and revisiting their very tender relationship, I didn’t add a huge amount of content here. I just love them as they are, and I hope you do too.

  Also, if you’ve picked this up as your first book in the Beautiful Series, don’t stress. It stands alone, so you don’t have to catch up unless you want to.

  Happy reading.

  One

  Brad

  TEN YEARS BEFORE…

  “I think it’ll be strong enough,” I say, pulling back on the rope I’ve just tied around the tree branch I’m sitting on. “Hey, Elliot, swing on it. If it can hold you, it’ll hold us all.” I laugh, teasing him in a good natured way because he’s the biggest and most solid out of all of us, and I know he won’t take my comment to heart.

  “Aw, fuck off!” Elliot grumbles, before laughing as he walks toward the rope. He pulls at the oversized t-shirt that covers his slightly rotund build. I don't think he should care as much as he does. My Aunt Sara says it’s just ‘puppy fat’, and that he'll grow into ‘a very tall, very good looking man’. I think it's creepy that she's nearly eighty, and she's looking at a sixteen year old like that, but she reckons it's just an observation.

  “Just do it, Eli!” one of the other guys yells, even though Elliot is already preparing to test the rope’s strength.

  “Looks good to me,” Elliot says, hanging onto the rope and lifting his feet off the ground.

  “Bounce up and down,” I call down to him, and he does. The branch doesn't even move. I tap the smooth grey bark of the eucalypt and swing down. “Thanks buddy.” I slap Elliot on the back and take the rope from his hands, preparing to be the first one to swing into the water just in case it does break at the last minute – I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.

  It’s a stinking hot day in January, and I’m about a week into this summer program at the local kayaking club that my Aunt Sara enrolled me in ‘to keep me out of trouble’. I don’t know how effective that’s been, because as a group of sixteen year olds, we find plenty of mischief to get up to in our downtime.

  I stand as far back from the water’s edge as the rope allows, and everyone counts down from ten before they yell, “Go!” and I lift my feet.

  “Whooohooo!” I swing through the air until the rope reaches its apex then I let go and backflip into the water, feeling a great sense of joy and freedom in my actions.

  As the water envelops my body, it feels like heaven against my heated skin. When I surface, I pump my fist in the air and hear a cheer from the bank. Then the next person uses the rope and swings into the water, splashing in not far from me.

  There are eleven of us, and we spend the next hour taking turns with the rope and seeing who can land the farthest, or do the most outrageous flip into the water. Well, all but one joins in – the coach’s daughter, Dakota. She’s the only one missing out on the fun.

  “It’s awesome,” I say, tempting her bu holding my hand out to her as I smile and pull at my lip ring with my teeth. It’s a bit of a habit I’ve had since getting it when I finished school last year, and I notice her big brown eyes shift down to watch. Then she licks her lips, and I feel really good about that. I like the way she looks at me. I raise my eyebrows and glance at my offered hand then she slips hers into my palm. It feels comfortably warm against my cool flesh. “Come on, sweetheart, you’ll want to have a turn of this.” I pull her up from the dry patch of grass she’s sitting on then release her hand.

  “I’m not wearing my bathers,” she says, gesturing down to her denim shorts and the pink stretch tank top she has on.

  My eyes move slowly down her curvaceous body. “That’s no problem. It’s over forty today. You’ll dry in no time.”

  Her friend, Stacey, runs over to her, sopping wet and giggling. “Are you finally having a turn?”

  “Looks that way.” Dakota laughs.

  Stacey grabs her hands and pulls her toward the rope so they can wait their turn. I stand back and watch them as they talk and laugh to each other, while Elliot comes and stands beside me. “Was that a cock block I just saw?” he asks quietly.

  “Shut up.” I laugh, jabbing him in the side with my elbow. He grunts a little from the pain, but laughs along as well.

  “You sure you want to pursue the coach’s daughter? It seems like you’re asking for trouble to me.”

  “Who says I’m pursuing her?” I fold my arms across my middle and watch as she takes a hold of the rope then steps back cautiously over the muddy ground.

  “It’s pretty obvious you’re into her, dude. But if I’m wrong and you really aren’t, you won’t mind if I ask her out on the weekend.”

  I glare at him. “Don’t.”

  He grins and slaps my shoulder. “That’s what I thought.”

  Rolling my eyes, I turn away as one of the other guys calls out, “Yay, Cody!” as she leans back on the rope and lifts her legs to swing into the water. Then she loses her grip and lands in the centre of the mud with a thud.

  “Holy shit!” I race over to where she lies, stiff on the ground. I think she’s had the wind knocked out of her because she doesn’t react when the rope swings back to the bank and drags a long line of mud up the centre of her body. Most of the others laugh at her.

  “Stop laughing, you bastards. She might be hurt,” I yell, as I crouch down beside her. She squeezes her eyes shut tight and mumbles under her breath.

  “Wake up, wake up, wake up.”

  “What was that, sweetheart?” I ask with a smile, wiping away some of the mud on her face as I reach around to cradle her head in my hand. “Did you hurt your head?” I check for any noticeable bumps, and finding none, I help her to sit up.

  Finally she opens her eyes and looks into mine. “Your eyes are so blue,” she comments.


  I chuckle. “Yours are a pretty brown. Are you sure you didn’t bang your head?”

  She shakes her head, and I run my hand down her long brown hair using the pretence of looking for bumps again. But really, I just want to touch it.

  “I’m fine. I think I just need a shower.”

  I slide my arm around her waist. “Are you OK to stand?”

  She nods, and I help her up, although her legs are shaky so I ask again if she’s OK. She just looks at me.

  “Cody? Did you hear me?”

  “Huh?”

  “I asked if you can stand on your own.”

  “Oh, oh sure,” she stutters, placing her hand on my chest to steady herself. She leaves behind a muddy handprint. “I’m so sorry!” She looks stricken, but I just laugh.

  “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing a little water won’t fix.”

  She looks down at herself. “I think I’ll need more than a little.”

  “That, I can do,” I say, searching the ground. Eucalyptus trees are always dropping branches, and I spot a nice thick one and pick it up, breaking it over my knee.

  “What are you doing?” she asks, as I tie it into the rope.

  “Do you trust me?” She nods, and I smile. “Put your feet on that then hold onto the rope.”

  She does as I say, and I hold my arm around her as I walk us backward on the rope swing. “Are you ready?” I ask close to her ear, and she nods again. Then I reach one hand up to grip the rope above her head, and I hold tight to her waist before I let us both go, laughing as she squeals with delight. Together, we fly through the air, and I keep a hold of her waist until we hit the water and need to swim.

  As I tread water, I watch as she runs her fingers through her hair, wiping the water from her face. She has a massive grin as she swims next to me then glances back when she hears Stacey squeal and land in the water behind us. She looks back at me, still grinning. “Thanks,” she says.

  “Now you’re all cleaned up and as pretty as ever,” I tell her with a wink before I swim back to shore while she splashes in the water with her friend.

  As I climb back up the bank, I squeeze the water out of my black hair then turn back to watch Dakota and Stacey playing in the water as the hot sun continues to beam down upon us. Elliot moves to stand beside me. “Nicely done. No one will ever know you’re into her now.”

  Two

  Dakota

  “So what’s going on between you and Brad?” Stacey asks as we’re getting changed after training in the boatshed bathrooms. She’ll go home after this, but I have to stay here until either my mum or dad finishes work. You see, my family owns this whole complex and runs the club that supports the sporting team. It’s a huge amount of work that consumes almost all of my parent’s time. It’s why I have to do this summer camp every year, even though I’ve been paddling ever since I was old enough to fit in the cockpit.

  “Nothing, why?” I ask with a smile because secretly, I’ve had a crush on Brad since he arrived on the first day. He’s beautiful to look at–tall and fit with dark hair and clear blue eyes, and he has that streak of danger about him. Maybe because he has that lip ring he’s always biting, and he’s already quit school at sixteen. Mum says he’s got some sort of apprenticeship in a restaurant, and I know that’s true because he goes to work every night after training. He’s so dedicated, and he’s really good at kayaking too–a natural born paddler my dad says. Training seems to come easy to him, and he even has a gentle side because he helps out those who are struggling with training by encouraging them to push through. I watch him when we’re running, and he sticks with Elliot, helping to push him to keep going and get his fitness up. I think all the girls like him. I’d like to think he likes me though, but I don’t know. He could just be being nice to me because I’m the coach’s daughter…

  “We’ve just been wondering. You two seem to get along really well, and I catch him watching you.”

  A grin creeps over my lips as I push an earring through the hole in my lobe and secure the back. “Really?”

  “Yeah, and I heard one of the others say he’s thinking of asking you out.”

  I try to pretend I’m not bursting with hope and excitement by pressing my lips together.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” I reply. But when I’m sitting outside on one of the picnic benches not far from the car park, I’m on high alert, knowing that he’ll be ready to leave for work at any moment.

  This is always the time I get to spend with him on my own. Everyone else has gone home, and his bus arrives on the main road just after five.

  “Hey Cody, do you ever get to go home?” he asks as he exits the boatshed wearing his new chef’s uniform. He’s recently been promoted from dishwasher to kitchen hand, and as a result, instead of wearing jeans to work, he now wears black and white checked pants and a white cotton t-shirt. He makes a very unfashionable outfit look hot.

  I shrug, wrinkling my nose a little as I play with the end of the long dark braid that falls over my shoulder. “I’m pretty much always here. I don’t leave until mum or dad does, and most times, that’s never.”

  He lowers himself to sit beside me and places his bag on the ground. I feel a tingling in my thigh since he sits only a centimetre away. It’s like I can feel him, even though we aren’t really touching. “They don’t trust you at home on your own?”

  I shake my head in response, nerves swirling in my stomach, hoping that Stacey was right and he is about to ask me out. I want him to ask me out. I know that adults are always saying that teenage boys only want one thing, but I don’t get that feeling with Brad because even though I have a decent sized chest, he’s still looking at my eyes.

  “So what do you do once we’ve all gone home?”

  “Nothing much. Most of the time I help out in the office or something. You know, taking inventory and shit.”

  “Sounds fun.” He laughs, and I roll my eyes.

  “So what do you do at your job? Dad said you’re training to cook or something?”

  “I’m training to be a chef. But I started before Christmas, and they’re only just trusting me to peel potatoes, so I think I have a long way to go.”

  “It must be nice not to have to go to school anymore.”

  “Why? Don’t you like school?”

  “Not particularly. I’m not really the most popular girl in town.”

  He reaches out and gently tugs on my braid. The simple gesture feels amazing. “That’s just because you’re prettier than all of them.”

  I can’t help it when a giggle escapes my lips. “Do you really think so?”

  “Prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” he replies, looking at me with those beautiful blue eyes of his.

  A heat creeps over my cheeks, and I drop my gaze, the compliment feeling amazing and difficult to believe all at the same time. But I want him to watch me all the time, even though it kind of makes me feel embarrassed.

  He leans against me, nudging my arm. “Maybe you could come to the restaurant I work at some time? I generally work the dinner shift but maybe…”

  “Rae!”

  The gruff voice of my father causes me to jump then feel as though I want to crawl under a rock. Now I’m really embarrassed. “Can I speak with you?”

  Brad nods then turns back to me. “Hold that thought.”

  “Now,” dad commands, and my heart begins to thud heavy in my chest.

  Please don’t ruin this for me. Don’t embarrass me.

  “Ah, sure, Coach.”

  Brad leaves his bag on the ground next to me and jogs toward my father. “What’s up?” I hear him ask. My dad turns him so I can’t see his face. Then dad gives me a disapproving glare before he starts talking. This doesn’t look good.

  Three

  Brad

  Leaving my bag on the ground next to Dakota, I jog over to coach. “What’s up?”

  He glances over at Dakota and steers me so my back is facing her before he begins to speak so quiet I can barely
hear. “It’s nothing huge. But, I wanted to have a chat to you about how you’re going in the program. I’ve noticed you’ve become a bit of a leader among the group.”

  “I don’t know about that. I just get along with everyone, I guess.”

  “I’ve noticed, and I’ve also noticed that you’re one of the more mature guys in the program, and you’ve been really encouraging to everyone with their training. I appreciate that.”

  “Ah, thanks,” I say, looking at my watch and wondering where this is going. I have a bus to catch.

  “Sorry, I know you have a job to get to, and I know I'm holding you up. I just wanted to ask you a favour, because the others seem to listen to you. Do you think you could keep an eye on Dakota for me? I know she hangs around with you all a lot, and well, she’s only thirteen, and I was hoping you could make sure the others—particularly the guys—remember that she’s still a kid. So she’s off limits, OK? ” He looks at me pointedly.

  “Thirteen?” I glance back over my shoulder to where Dakota is still sitting and watching our interaction with concerned interest.

  “She didn’t tell you?”

  I shake my head. “We all thought she was the same age as us.”

  He chuckles. “In her mind she’s thirty. But can you do that for me? Can I trust you to keep an eye on her?”