by Alexa Davis
“Well, I’m glad,” I practically whispered back. “Justine deserves to be happy.”
“You’ve made her that way, honestly.” He stared at her thoughtfully. “My mom would be proud.”
That was the first time he had really mentioned his mother to me, and it stunned me. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah.” He twisted his neck and smirked at me. “She would love you. You’ve managed to kick us both in the ass. She tried to do that the whole time, and we refused to listen.”
“But what’s different about me?” Those words flew out of my mouth before I realized. I parted my lips trying to think of the right words to take that statement back, but it was too late, it was out there now.
“Oh, there are so many things different about you. I can’t even begin to list them.” He laughed a little and shook his head as he shared a joke with himself. “You honestly have no idea.”
That was definitely weighted; it wasn’t me at all. I had made the decision that I would keep out of Mark’s room the entire time that we were here if I could, to keep things as simple as possible between us, but it felt hard now. I wasn’t sure that I could do it. Did he like me? Was it possible? Had I read anything wrong?
“Oh well…” My words trailed off; I felt useless. “I’m just glad that I can help.”
“You’ve been more of a help than you realize. I don’t think I can ever thank you enough.”
“I…” The compliments felt a bit overwhelming. “I don’t expect thanks; it’s fine. It’s my job.”
“I know that you’ve done more than the job requires, and I’m grateful.” Something about the party atmosphere made his lips much looser, and he said things that I didn’t think he would normally. “So, thank you for that.”
“Oh, right, well…” Why did I feel so awkward? “You’re welcome.”
The chemistry sizzled between us again; it was undeniable. I knew that if I looked at Mark right now, I would be in real trouble, so I kept my gaze focused on Justine instead. I watched her dance, trying my hardest to ignore all the butterflies and birds flapping about in my stomach, turning and churning like crazy. We weren’t touching; I kept trying to keep the distance between us, but to be honest, it felt pointless. We might as well have ben naked, straddling one another, writhing as if there was no one watching for all the good it did. Everyone in this whole place probably knew how we felt about one another; there was no ignoring it for anyone.
I just needed to keep away from him until I knew how we both felt, that was all. There couldn’t be anymore fooling around; it had to stop or become something. That was the only way. Easy.
God, I hope it doesn’t stop…
Chapter Thirty-Three
Mark
Friday
Waking up by myself wasn’t what I wanted. After last night, I thought that things were going really well between us. I kept the image of her in that sexy-as-fuck bikini in my brain, planning for a night of fun, but it didn’t happen. We got back from the Luau, and she slid into her room, closing the door behind her even before I got Justine settled down, making her feelings very clear. She didn’t want to hook up with me again.
I got it, in a way; it made sense that she found it very hard because of Justine, but that didn’t make it easy for me to take. I needed her; I craved her; I wanted to feel her everywhere. I was incredibly frustrated.
“Urgh,” I muttered to myself while swinging my legs towards the ground. “Fucking hell.”
I felt pissy as I walked across the room and I tugged the curtains open. Even the image of the beautiful beach that stretched out in front of me wasn’t enough to cheer me up. There was a deep itch inside of my body that needed to be scratched. If I could have gotten Olivia in here right now, then I would have. But I couldn’t.
Maybe she’s worried about her feelings too… I pondered. Maybe she’s as confused as me.
But she didn’t have a friend like Hudson wrecking things by getting married and weirding her out. Or perhaps she did, I supposed; I didn’t know everything that was going on inside of her brain. Anything could be going on. Maybe she didn’t want to have sex anymore; maybe she needed so much more from me… and there was a chance that I could need more from her as well. I guess I just needed to wrap my head around that first.
I left the bedroom and wandered into the sleek, modern-looking kitchen where I had the breath sucked out of me by the sight of Olivia standing there in a tee shirt so small that I could see a little glimpse of her black panties sticking out underneath. My heart fluttered, my cock stood at attention, my whole body reacted violently to her. It made it even more agonizing that she hadn’t spent the night in my bed. It made me cringe internally.
“Oh, morning.” She gave me a serene smile, clearly not as tormented as me. “How are you?”
“Hmmm, yeah.” There wasn’t any point in showing my anger. “I’m good. How are you?”
She nodded slowly but didn’t say anything. Okay, maybe she wasn’t pleased either. I guessed we were both in a less than ideal situation that we just had to get on with. Even if we wanted each other, it was probably better to keep away for the time being. I hated it, but I had to accept it. Unless her feelings changed…
“So, yesterday was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?” Olivia handed me a coffee. “Justine enjoyed it.”
“It wore her out as well. She fell asleep almost right away. She’s still in her grass skirt.”
“Aww, bless her!” Olivia took a massive sip of her drink. “So, what’s the plan for today?”
“There’s a big market square nearby which I thought would be fun to go to. Do some shopping.”
Olivia looked surprised by my suggestion. “Oh, right, okay! I bet Justine will love that.”
I nodded, proud of myself. If it was up to me, I would probably visit some sort of cultural site, but since Justine wasn’t old enough to enjoy anything like that at the moment, I wanted to do whatever she did. If that meant splashing the cash and spoiling her, just like I used to but this time while spending time with her as well, then so be it. I needed to see that gorgeous smile on my daughter’s face again.
“Are you talking about me?” I spun around as I heard Justine speaking. “I heard my name.”
“We are,” I replied smilingly. “I thought we could go shopping today. What do you think?”
“Can I get a new dress? I want one like Esmeralda had on last night. That red one.”
I couldn’t remember what she had on, but I agreed. “Sure, we’ll see what we can find.”
Olivia pushed back from her chair and smiled thinly at us both. “I’m going to get dressed, okay?”
“Yeah, me too!” Justine squealed. “We can go out for breakfast, can’t we?”
“Sure,” I chuckled. “Why not? We can do whatever you want today.”
As Justine raced away, I glanced down at my own outfit, figuring that it would do. The tee shirt was scruffy, my shorts a little crumpled, but who the hell cared? I didn’t need to look smart and in control right now. It was fine. I smoothed myself down and smiled. It felt good not to be so uptight about everything anymore. It wasn’t just Justine who was better now; Olivia had cured something in me too. A darkness that I couldn’t shake off.
“Oh wow!” I couldn’t keep my opinion in as Olivia came back out. “Nice dress. You look beautiful.”
She was in a very impractical, due to her sunburn, but beautiful yellow summer dress. I felt those bolts of lightning again. God, she looked good with that little bit of cleavage showing and those long, lovely legs. The material clung tightly to her curves, reminding me of what lay underneath. She was utterly amazing. I felt my lungs deflate with glee. Especially as an adorable blush filled her cheeks. I liked to think that she had gotten specifically dressed just for me. That wasn’t the case, but who cared.
“Thank you, but I do think I need to get something for my sunburn while we’re out. It’s stinging!”
I let out a little chuckle. “Okay, sure. I’m positive
that we’ll be able to find something.”
Once Justine was ready, we started the long and lazy walk to the marketplace. The sun wasn’t quite so powerful today, and there was a little breeze in the air, which felt good. It was the perfect weather for today.
Predictably, as soon as we got to the market, Justine lost her shit. She immediately found about ten things that she absolutely needed in her life, ranging from a nice dress that was apparently exactly like Esmerelda’s, to jangly bangles that she swore she would never take off her wrist again. Knowing her, she probably wouldn’t!
“You’re spoiling her,” Olivia told me teasingly as Justine moved on to stuffed animals, grabbing about three that she needed for a specific game she was playing at home. “What are you playing at?”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that; I’m going to spoil you as well.” I grabbed a summer dress that was similar to the one that she had on and flashed it at her. “I’m going to buy you this dress. How’s that?”
She blushed again. “Oh, don’t be silly. You don’t have to do that. I get paid very well…”
Olivia liked it, I could tell, so I paid for it instantly. As I handed her the bag, Olivia rolled her eyes at me, but she took it fairly happily. Well, if I ignored the funny little snort that flew out of her nose.
“You don’t have to buy me anything, honestly. I’d rather you spend the money on Justine.”
The thing was, she really meant that, and that made me like her even more. She certainly wasn’t a gold digger; she had no interest in my money at all. I wouldn’t ever have to worry about that with her… if we were to go there. I still wasn’t convinced that we should, however much I wanted to.
“Look, there’s a glass blowing display. Shall we go and watch that?”
Justine didn’t look convinced, but I dragged her along with me and got her to watch it. In the end, she loved it just as I thought she would, and of course, she wanted me to buy her something afterward. I got Justine a little fish, and then I purchased a delicate orange necklace for Olivia. This time she looked even more impressed with my gift, which was awesome. I loved to make her smile too.
“I’m hungry!” Justine finally blurted out once the glass blowing was over and she remembered her stomach. “We haven’t had anything to eat yet. Why didn’t we have any breakfast?”
“Because you raced straight into the shopping!” I chuckled. “But come on, we can go right now. Then, we can go and have a look at the rest of the island if you like? Maybe have a start on your wildlife project?”
“Yeah, sounds great!” She swung my hand excitedly. “Thank you, Daddy! I bet they have some awesome birds here.” He tummy rumbled loudly, making her laugh. “But I definitely want to eat first; I’m starving.”
I threw my arm over her shoulder and started to walk towards the nearest café. I was hungry too! As the scent of food filled my nostrils, that only got worse. Thank God there was everything that we could possibly want here!
***
Somehow, we didn’t end up exploring the island after all. We ended up rocking back towards the beach for another play in the water. Justine was disappointed, but we were all tired and needed the rest. I hoped that my promise to help her tomorrow was enough to cheer her up. Right now, she looked okay.
This time, Olivia had a tee shirt over her bikini, which was disappointing, but I could see the necklace hanging from her neck, which made me smile. It made me realize that I truly did love any connection between her and me, and I only wanted it to grow. Even if it was scary to think about diving head first into anything with her, it was much more terrifying to consider letting her go. I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like without her.
Yes, it was going to be complex explaining things to Justine, but I had a feeling that she would take it very well. Seeing the way that she reacted to Olivia made me believe that she really did love her and she would accept her. Olivia wouldn’t step fully into the mother role, I believed that she would always have respect for Justine’s biological mother, but if a relationship started and it got serious, I had a feeling that their relationship would be perfect. The great balance of mother-style figure and friends.
Yep, better than you have been, I could almost hear my mother scolding me. You need that girl. She kicks you in the ass and sets the pair of you on the right path. Do not let her go, no matter what.
Honestly, I did mean what I said; my mom would have loved Olivia. I just wished that she was still around to meet her. Maybe if she had been, then I wouldn’t have been questioning my feelings for so long. She would have just told me to stop being an idiot, and that would have been that.
It was a nice image to have in my brain, and I felt very confident about it. Now, I couldn’t wait to get Olivia alone again to explain this to her. She was holding back, and I felt like it was because she didn’t know how I felt. If I told her that I actually wanted to be with her, then I hoped she would be back in my bed in no time.
She turned her head as if she could sense my eyes upon her, and she shot me a smile. It made my heart flutter painfully. Yep, what was I thinking? Why didn’t I realize that I wanted to be with her sooner?
At least I knew now, that was the main thing, and I could do something about it.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Olivia
Oh God, my skin is on fire! As I peeled the tee shirt off, I regretted every single second of being out in the sun today. I was so much redder, in a lot more pain, and now my head was aching under the strain of it all. I felt dizzy and sickly. I didn’t feel like I could do anything. Everything hurts now, so much. I hate it.
I collapsed face first onto my bed and whimpered pathetically. This was my own fault; I’d inflicted it upon myself. I shouldn’t have gone out, but I didn’t want to miss out on anything.
“Olivia, can we go out now?” Justine burst into my room and begged me. “I want to go for a wildlife walk.”
For her, I so desperately wanted to do it, I would have given anything to be in a position where I could go with her, but I was just too ill. “I’m so sorry, Justine,” I rasped back. “I don’t think I can. Maybe you can go with Dad.”
She pouted out her bottom lip, clearly not liking that plan. “But I want you to come. I like you, Olivia.”
“Oh, I like you too, sweetheart.” My heart bled, I felt like I had just become another person to let her down. “I think if I get an early night, I’ll be much better in the morning. We can go then if that’s okay?”
I could almost feel the pain radiating off of her, which only heightened the guilt. Her eyes swam, but in my mind, this was the perfect chance for her to spend some one on one time with Mark. They needed it.
“Why don’t you and your dad start by walking around the area and looking for wildlife? See what you can find, and we’ll do a much bigger search when I’m better. I promise you I’m trying my best.”
I reached out my hand to grab hers, but she wasn’t in the mood. She gave me a cold look, which reminded me of when I first came to work with her and she clearly hated my presence. If I had any energy at all, I would have moved to hug her, but I just couldn’t do it. I felt like I was burning brightly, badly flaming.
Mark peered in behind Justine and he gave me a sorrowful look. “Are you okay, Olivia?”
“Nuurgh,” I grumbled back, barely able to even look at him. “Not really. It really hurts so bad.”
“I want to go out,” Justine whined. “I want to do my report for school. I need to see some wildlife.”
“Oh, Justine, we can’t leave Olivia like this; she’s in agony. We need to take care of her.”
“I’m just going to sleep,” I insisted because I didn’t want Justine to hate me more. “You guys go.”
“Please, Dad, please?” Justine fluttered her eyelashes, wrapping Mark around her finger. “Just for a bit.”
I tried to give him a reassuring look, and soon he agreed. “Okay, just for a little bit. Not for long.”
I could tell t
hat Justine wasn’t too happy about that, but she nodded and agreed. I half watched them out the corner of my eye as they left, and once they were gone, I peeled the material of the dress off my body. It was killing me; anything touching me ached. I slathered as much after sun on me as I could manage and I rolled over to finally get some sleep. They would be gone for a while now, which gave me time to get some rest.
My eyes fell closed, and it wasn’t long before the dizziness turned into blackness and peace came for me. It was heavenly; it was the first time that I hadn’t been in pain since I first got burned by the sun.
***
“Olivia?” All of a sudden, I jumped as I heard Mark’s booming voice. “You okay?”
I peeled my eyes open and turned over onto my back, but that hurt too much so I moved back onto my front. Realizing that I was still stark naked, I climbed under the softest cotton sheet that I could find before I answered. They would come in, I knew it, and I certainly didn’t think it would be a good idea for anyone to see me nude.
“Erm, yeah, I’m okay,” I answered in a gravelly voice. “Are you okay?”
Justine burst through the door, making me glad that I had covered up my body, and she bought me in a tiki cup, which was absolutely. “I got this for you to have your water in.”
I took it from her and sucked back the water as if I was in the middle of the desert. “How was your walk?” I gasped afterward. “Did you manage to get everything done? I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there.”
“It’s okay,” she answered glumly, not giving much away. “I’ll finish it tomorrow. I’m tired now anyway.”
“Yes, and that’s why it’s bedtime!” Mark yelled. “Come on, sweetheart.”
I said goodnight to Justine and winced as she kissed me. Then I listened intently as Mark put her to bed. I wondered why he hadn’t come in to speak to me, to check if I was okay. He seemed really concerned earlier, so it was strange. But I guess he had to focus on Justine first. I was okay anyway; I could survive this.
