by Lexy Timms
Maybe a drink would help after all.
The bar was opening early and she was thankful for it. She gathered her things and headed to the Cabana, knowing that being around anyone was better than lying in her villa bed alone and depressed. She slid onto one of the barstools and dropped her purse at her side, and the young bartender behind the bar flashed her a charming smile.
Blond hair.
Blue eyes.
He was cute.
“Well hello there, beautiful,” the guy said. “My name’s Johnny. What can I get you?”
“Something strong,” Kallie said. “And preferably noncarbonated.”
“How does sex on the beach sound?” he asked.
“Like you might want to know my name first.”
“Then grace me with it, sexy.”
“Kallie,” she said.
“Kallie and Johnny. Kind of rhymes, if you think about it. One sex on the beach for the lovely Kallie, coming up.”
She watched his fluid movements as he tossed her drink around. He really made a show of it, and she was giggling as he threw the shaker in the air. He poured it into a glass and garnished it with fruit, then slid it her way with a twinkle in his eye.
“Why don’t people play poker in the jungle?” he asked.
“Why?”
“Too many cheetahs.”
Kallie sipped her drink and shook her head. The jokes were corny, but they had her attention. He delivered one after the other, even going so far as to pay her attention while he was fixing other people’s drinks.
“Hot bartenders must grow on trees in St. Barts,” Kallie said with a grin.
But the look Johnny gave her was a mixture of confusion and hesitancy.
One more stumble back into the world of singlehood. Johnny stopped with his corny jokes and started wiping down the bar, and Kallie was thoroughly embarrassed yet again. She sat her drink down and he quickly prepared her another, but this time not even a smile accompanied it. Had her comment really been that bad? She meant to compliment him on his good looks.
Had she insulted him in some way?
She sucked down her second drink and since she hadn’t eaten dinner, she was already feeling tipsy. She swiveled around on her barstool and left the empty drink behind, prepared to pick her bag up and go back to her villa. Ash was still surfing and the bartender had shot her down, and she was feeling lonelier than she’d ever felt in her life.
“What’s a nice girl like you doing with that frown on her face?”
The smooth tenor voice caught her ear, and she turned to look up into the face of a pretty attractive man.
He was thick. Buff. With broad arms and an expansive chest. He was brutish, with thick legs that throbbed with veins and a smile that could kill a flock of seagulls from a mile away. His brown eyes were kind and they pulled a smile across her cheeks.
“That’s better,” the man said. “It lights up your eyes.”
“You’re very kind,” Kallie said.
“No. Just honest. And my honesty toward you happens to be kind.”
“I’m Kallie.”
“Rhett. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” she said.
“Are you drinking alone?”
“I guess you could say that,” she said.
“That doesn't seem like a fun thing for a beautiful woman to do.”
“Probably not,” she said with a giggle.
“Mind if I join you?”
The moment had arrived. The moment where Kallie could jump in headfirst or head back to her villa filled with disappointment. She drew in a deep breath, calmed the shaking in her hands, and decided that if she was going to be single, she might as well make the best of it.
“I don’t mind at all,” she said.
As the man sat down beside her, she flitted her gaze over his shoulder. She saw Ash emerging from the ocean and heading toward the bar. His eyes connected with hers. Those beautiful hazel eyes she’d made flutter closed the night before with ecstasy. The world faded into the background as he approached the bar, and she could’ve sworn he was headed for her.
Until he veered off and walked around the Cabana, leaving her with nothing but a nod to acknowledge her existence.
Another drink was put down in front of her and she struck up a conversation with the strong man next to her. He was kind enough. Didn’t try to hit on her or smooth his hand along her leg. He seemed genuinely interested in getting to know a bit about her, but she knew what his ultimate goal was. It was to fuck her, and nothing else. And she didn’t really like that.
But what she also didn’t like was watching Ash interact with Johnny at the bar.
She looked over as the man talked her ear off and watched the two of them talk to themselves. Ash was so casually cool. Hip and with it. Him and Johnny were two peas in a pod. Sleek and suave to their core. Maybe that was why he’d left. Maybe she wasn’t cool enough for him.
Well, that was bullshit.
She could be cool.
She could be hip.
She could be with it.
Kallie turned her attention back to the guy in front of her and slowly sipped on her drink. She listened to his life story and how he was on leave from the military. Just gotten back from deployment and was looking to unwind before transitioning back into life in the States. He really was an intriguing guy and Kallie enjoyed talking with him.
But she couldn't help but catch a glance at Ash every now and again.
Was he looking at her? Was he jealous? Was he studying her the way she was studying him? She saw him laughing with Johnny while leaning against the counter, so she decided to up her game.
She decided to start laughing at the man’s lame jokes.
She giggled and smoothed her hand along his arm. She finished off her drink and held her hand up coolly to Johnny when he tried to get her another one. Rhett had her full attention, or so he thought. She could tell he thought he’d hit the jackpot with her. His body was turned toward hers. His eyes were lit up with excitement. He laughed along with her at his lame jokes and his hand fell to her knee. She crossed her legs and straightened her back, trying to ooze as much confidence as he could.
Kallie would show him exactly what he left last night.
His loss was another man’s gain.
And she was going to rub it in his face.
Chapter 13
Ash
Ash was doing his best to ignore Kallie, but it wasn’t working. As he talked with Johnny, he tried to listen to the conversation she was having with the guy at the bar. His idiotic jokes were insane, and he couldn't believe Kallie was laughing at them. He knew Kallie. He knew she wouldn't find something like that funny.
Well, he didn’t really know her. But he felt like he did.
“Earth to Ash, you there?” Johnny asked.
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. What were you saying?” he asked.
“I was asking you if it was true that you beat up some guy at the club. Everyone’s talking about it.”
“He was grabbing on my date and he gripped her so tightly he left a bruise. So yes. I slammed his head into the doorway.”
“Oh, ho, ho! Did you bust out those martial arts moves I see you practice sometimes?”
“Not that time. All I did was grab his wrist and use the momentum he propelled at me to run him into the wall.”
“Sounds like martial arts to me,” Johnny said with a grin. “Now, you wanna tell me why you’re staring at that girl down there?”
“What?”
“Seriously? Stop being an idiot. You’ve been staring at her for half the conversation, and every time she glances at you, you look away. You trying out some new cat-and-mouse game or something?”
“Not exactly,” Ash said.
“Then what gives? You’re obviously off today. I saw you crash those waves. You only nailed two this entire morning.”
“That’s the girl from the club,” I said.
“Wait, your date?”
“Yep.”
“Doesn’t look like things went very well if she’s already rubbing up on another guy. Usually you’re trying to knock them off after the first night.”
Ash threw him a look and Johnny cleared his throat.
“Did you get hooked on her or something?” Johnny asked.
“I think she’s married,” Ash said.
“She doesn't have a ring on her finger.”
“She had a bouquet of flowers sitting by her bed with a card that read ‘congratulations on your nuptials.’ From the resort.”
“Doesn’t mean she got married. No ring, she’s fair game.”
“Yeah, I saw you talking to her earlier,” Ash said.
When did his morality outstrip his friend’s? Was the lack of a ring really all it took for married women to get laid? Did mean really not find marriage that binding? Ash scowled at Johnny and he threw his head back, laughing while Ash took another glance at Kallie and the guy at the bar.
She was leaning in too close for his liking.
“Come on, it’s just some chick. If she’s married, you didn’t know. No ring. No husband anywhere, obviously, since you went back to her place and banged. A host of things could’ve happened. Maybe they have an open marriage. You don’t know.”
“Kallie doesn’t seem like the kind of woman to go for something like that,” Ash said.
“Yeah, because you know her after screwing around with her for one night.”
But he was no longer paying attention to Johnny.
Ash watched as Kallie slipped her hand into the crook of the asshole’s arm that she’d been talking to. She was stumbling a little bit on her feet, which meant she’d had too much to drink. And Ash didn’t like that. He watched as they headed out to the sand and his eyes fell to her ass. She was fucking sexy as hell in the tiny bikini she was wearing, and he felt a sick punch to his gut. That asshole had nothing on him. He was big, burly, and probably clumsy in bed. Men like him didn’t have the fluidity he had. Men like him didn’t give a shit about the woman’s pleasure. He could see it in the man’s eyes. He was looking for one thing and one thing only.
And Kallie didn’t seem to give a shit as she stumbled beside him out to the ocean.
Maybe it was better this way, Ash told himself. Maybe this was how it was supposed to end. Maybe she was in an open marriage, or playing her husband, or waiting on the island to get married. Maybe she really had played him as good as he thought she did.
But even though he told himself he didn’t care, he found his feet carrying him down to the beach.
Johnny called out behind him, but Ash didn’t listen. He grabbed his board and his wax, then set himself up next to where Kallie and the asshole were. He pretended to wax his board, setting it on his thighs as he sat back on his heels. He kept a close eye on her. On how the waves easily pushed her over into the man’s arms and how he caught her effortlessly. How she giggled and smiled up at him and how he looked at her with a predatory stare.
He waxed the same spot on his board several times as a small volleyball game was forming. She and asshole were on the same team, and it was clear to Ash that she wasn’t very good at it. And of course, that didn’t stop the brute from touching her any chance he could. Showing her how to hit the volleyball from her palm. Gripping her hips and raising her up so she could hit the ball coming over the net. He knew that game. That play. That ploy. He’d used it on Kallie when they were surfing.
Jealousy overtook Ash while he continued to watch.
Even the lame high fives made Kallie laugh. She was tipsy all right. On the verge of being drunk. Ash didn’t want to admit how annoyed he was by the entire situation, but he was. Pissed. Frustrated. Confused.
But the volleyball slapping the side of his surfboard brought him back to reality.
He stood from the sand and picked it up in his hands. He threw it up and smacked the ball, hitting it much harder than he should. Trying to prove himself to Kallie like some high school douchebag. He could hit that ball harder than anyone else out there could. And with greater accuracy. His eyes locked with Kallie and he expected to see her impressed. See her happy. Like it was a privilege he was looking at her.
Only he found that she simply shook her head and scoffed.
Instantaneous regret filled his body. It wasn’t worth it. What happened was what happened, and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. He dusted the sand from his board and waxed it well, then stood up to his feet. He wasn’t going to sit there and fawn over some married woman who wanted to blow her marriage vows out of the water. He jogged down to the beach, away from the volleyball game and away from her tantalizing curves.
Then he hit the water and paddled out to sea.
Ash was looking for a mean, nasty wave. One he could surf all the way in. He wanted to throw his anger and his energy into stabilizing his body. Into controlling what he could and letting go of what he couldn't. He wanted to take his mind off things. Maybe he would go surfing on the other side of the island tomorrow. Remove any chance of running into Kallie and conjuring the perfect passion they’d shared in her bed.
Her fucking marital bed.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as the water rocked against his ankles. He placed his body on the board and began paddling, feeling his body being lifted higher and higher. This was it. The wave he’d been searching for. He hopped up onto his feet and steadied himself, his knees bent and his arms out. He crouched down and began to surf, riding the curve of the wave. Making his way into the beautiful tunnel that wrapped around his body.
He held his hand out and pierced the mirror around him. Felt the soft water around the tips of his fingers. Wet. Warm. Luscious.
Like his tongue between Kallie’s thighs.
He lost his control and his train of thought and was quickly swooped underneath the wave. He tumbled and tumbled, his body being battered against the bottom of the ocean floor. His board was being tossed around, yanking his ankle as he cried out underneath the salted water.
He pushed himself up with his arms and came up sputtering, coughing up the salt water that had managed to get into his lungs.
He panted. Heaved. Felt sick to his stomach. He grabbed his board and supported himself on it, embarrassed to have been seen failing so epically at something he was skilled at. Ash rubbed the salt water from his watering eyes and gazed back toward the beach, wondering how many people were watching and laughing in his direction.
But there was only one set of eyes he locked onto. Those beautiful green eyes that had called to him at the Cabana that day.
Kallie was staring at him.
And he could’ve sworn she looked worried.
Chapter 14
Kallie
The liquor lowered her inhibitions, but watching Ash hit that ball as hard as he did made Kallie irrationally angry. He had no reason to prove himself anymore. She knew what he was doing. He was jealous. Angry that she was fawning over another man. Well, he was the one that left. The one that scurried out and subsequently avoided her at all costs at the bar. He didn’t get to be pissed off that she was flirting with someone else.
“Wanna get out of here? Maybe go get another drink?”
His smooth tenor voice ripped her from her trance. Kallie had enough alcohol in her system and the thought of any more turned her stomach. She hugged her new friend and politely turned down his offer, saying she needed to sleep off the alcohol she’d already had. He was disappointed, she could tell, but he was a gentleman about it. At another time, she might have gone for him. His thick arms and his barreled chest and his gentlemanly demeanor.
But it wasn’t his time.
It wasn’t anyone’s time.
The two of them said goodbye and Kallie stumbled over to the lounge chair where she’d dropped her things. She was angry at everything. James. Ash. The alcohol. The island. She was angry and letting the encounter with Ash get to her as much as it was. She was angry at James for ruining her plans. Her fut
ure. Her wedding. She was angry at Eris for supporting her idea on coming to the island and she was pissed at the island for shoving a beautiful man into her arms only for him to recoil in disgust.
Her emotions were in a whirlwind, and the alcohol in her stomach wasn’t helping matters.
She itched for a fight. Ready to confront Ash about everything. She wanted answers. She deserved them. And she wasn’t leaving until she had them. She whipped around, her hair blowing in her face as her eyes scanned the ocean.
If he was too much of a coward to approach her, then she would approach him.
Her eyes found him riding a wave just before he disappeared. But the wave collapsed and he didn’t come out of the other end and her breath caught in her chest. She saw his board pop up from the ocean. But Ash wasn’t anywhere to be found. She felt her heart stop. She took a step, ready to run into the ocean after him.
“Come up,” she said with a whisper. “Come up, Ash.”
She watched him charge from the waves like some kind of sea god and her knees went weak. She fell to her lounge chair, releasing the breath she had been holding. He was coughing. Sputtering. And even in his weakened state, he was beautiful. Kallie grasped onto her anger. Kept it at the forefront of her mind with all her strength. It couldn’t be washed away in a tide of sexual need. Not now. Not when she had her courage to confront him. Ash turned and his eyes locked with hers, and instantly her anger melted away.
He hefted his board underneath his arm and walked for the shoreline, dripping with seawater.
His eyes were bright with an emotion she couldn't register, but when she stood to her feet, he veered to the left. Away from her as their eyes disconnected and back toward the Cabana.
At least, that looked to be his trajectory.
But he wasn’t getting away this time.
“What is your problem?” Kallie asked.
