Tropical Tryst: 25 All New and Exclusive Sexy Reads

by Nicole Morgan

  “I was just going to text him.”

  “No, promise me you won’t do that, it’s so impersonal and things can be taken in the wrong context that way. Just wait til your lunch, promise me.”

  “Okay fine. I think I’m just going to bed now though. I don’t want to think about it anymore.”

  “Will you call me tomorrow and check in? If you don’t you know I’ll hound you.”

  “Yes, I’ll call you, promise.”

  The line was disconnected and Bree threw her phone on the coffee table. She rolled off the couch and crawled to her luggage, grabbed the handle and pulled it to her bedroom where she threw it in the corner on her reading chair. She closed the blinds on the windows, pulled the covers back and crawled in. Covering her head, she shut out the world until she woke again tomorrow.

  HUNTER HAD no idea driving away after leaving Bree on the sidewalk at the hospital would be so hard. He’d wanted to ask her if he could come back to her house and spend a little more time with her but she’d been acting skittish since they arrived in New York and he was afraid to push her.

  He had an ache in his chest that got worse the longer he was away from her. He loved her, he knew he did.

  “Dumbass, why didn’t you just tell her? What did you have to lose?”

  If she didn’t love him back, he’d have to live with it. They were far enough apart and hadn’t seen each other up to this point in their lives so they probably wouldn’t have to see each other again. He wouldn’t be able to look at her the same way again knowing she didn’t love him back. That would be the lowest blow possible.

  “I should call her. She needs to know how I feel. She’ll think I’m an idiot, it’s only been a few days. No one falls in love that fast.”

  At least no one he ever knew. Lucas was a bad example because he didn’t know what the word meant and none of his other friends even had girlfriends so he had no reference point to work from. If it was earlier, he could call his dad. He’d been in love with Hunter’s mom since high school, he probably didn’t even remember how it happened in the first place.

  Hunter dug out his iPhone and talked to Siri, asking him to call Bree. The phone rang one time and went straight to voicemail. He picked up the cell and talked into the speaker, telling her that he wished he’d been able to spend more time with her and that he missed her already. He also told her she would think him nuts because it’d only been a few days but he loved her. Before he could say more, the voicemail beeped and cut him off.

  “Shit. Hope she gets all that.”

  An hour and a few minutes later Hunter pulled up to his old broken apartment building, parking in the numbered slot that belonged to him. He shut the car off and sat staring into space for a while until he got the gumption to go inside alone. It wasn’t the same without her. Even when they weren’t talking, just knowing she was there was comforting. Once inside his apartment, he locked the door and flipped on the small dining room light and sat his bag down.

  “Hey buddy.”

  “Holy shit, what the hell are you doing here?”

  “I could ask you the same thing.”

  “This is my apartment, not yours so you do the explaining. How did you get in?”

  “You gave me a key.”

  “No, I didn’t.” He did not give Luke a key, not at any point so how did he get in.

  “It was the doorman wasn’t it. Damn it, I need to report that guy.”

  “Wait, why are you home? You aren’t supposed to fly back until Saturday.”

  “Yeah about that. Hurricane. They shipped everyone home. Why do you care? Were you going to have a party in my apartment? This is why I did not give you a key.”

  “So, where’s this new woman you met?”

  “Not here, that’s for sure.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Luke, I’m not really in the mood tonight. If you’re staying, shut the lights off but I’m going to bed.”

  Hunter barely understood everything himself and he sure didn’t want to pour his heart out to his untrustworthy best friend. He just wanted to crawl in bed and sleep. Then in the morning he would get up like it was a usual day and go to work. If he got there before his secretary he might not have to explain anything to her either.

  In his bedroom with the door shut, he unpacked his clothes, one by one putting them in the laundry basket in the corner of his room, when he ran across a t-shirt that wasn’t his.

  “Oh man.” He buried his nose in the coral colored shirt that smelled like her. Made him feel like she was right there beside him. He took several deep breaths then folded the shirt and laid it on the pillow next to his. After he took a quick shower, he crawled in bed naked and with her scent right there beside him, drifted off easily, dreaming of her.

  CHAPTER 9

  Days went by without a call or text on Bree’s phone from Hunter. She’d not been able to stay in her house alone any longer so she went to work to get her mind off things. After a few more days, things just went along as usual but she wasn’t the same by any means. She felt broken inside. Angry. She’d let her guard down and let him in. Exactly what she thought would happen, happened. She hated herself for expecting things to be different than usual.

  She ended up working the days she was supposed to have off in the middle of the week. There was no reason not to work. She didn’t like sitting at home anymore. Things were too quiet. Her bed was too big. She’d fallen in love with a man that didn’t want her around.

  “Dr. Watkins, we need you in here stat.”

  Bree had been hearing that specific statement the entire day. What was it with people tonight? Was there a big sign outside telling everyone there was a party in the ER? After eleven hours on shift, she was wishing she’d kept the day off instead. Thank god, she could sleep in tomorrow.

  “Hey Bree, radiology is holding for you on line one.” Oh, she needed to take that. Poor Mrs. Baker has been waiting quite a while for the results of her MRI. They must be busy upstairs too. After making some noes on Mrs. Bakers chart, she headed to her room.

  “Bree, Dr. Watkins, you have someone here to see you.”

  “Not like that’s anything new. I’ll be there as soon as I can, I have a few stops first.”

  “It’s really important though, can you come here first?”

  “Rhonda, Mrs. Baker has been in that cubicle for two and a half hours waiting on the results of her MRI, I think she comes first.”

  She turned to walk away and heard Rhonda running up behind her. She stopped outside of the cubicle and waited a second.

  “Are you kidding me right now? What is so important that I can’t even give this poor old woman her x-ray results?”

  “I’m sorry Bree, but this guy won’t give up. He insists he needs to speak with you right away and it’s important.”

  “Do you know who he is? Did he give a name?”

  “No, he won’t but he is cute.”

  “Well too bad, if he can’t even give you his name, he can just wait until I’m ready to see him. He’s not hurt, is he?”

  “I don’t think so, he never mentioned it. I’d be glad to give him a once over just to be sure though. He only said that he desperately needed to speak with you.”

  “Keep him busy, I’ll be back down that way when I can. Everyone wants me everywhere tonight. I’m losing my mind I tell ya. Is Dr. Campbell due in anytime soon? I could use a few more ands.”

  “Okay, I’ll see what I can do. I don’t know if Dr. Campbell is on schedule but I can check for you.”

  “Just page me when you know.”

  Finally, Bree had finished with the east end of the hall. Mrs. Baker was satisfied with her results and her husband took her home. She’d taken care of the guy in cubicle one with a set of stitches to cover the hole in his thumb created by a fish hook. She even changed a bed pan for the elderly gentleman in cubicle five with the pneumonia diagnosis. Poor man was waiting patiently to be moved upstairs to his own room.

  Qui
tting time couldn’t come quick enough.

  HUNTER WAITED all night for Bree to answer his voicemail but he never heard back from her. He was afraid to take that as a sign that things had gone sour. He wouldn’t let himself believe it. He felt the same things she did on that island and it was real. Now he had to make her see it too.

  Just one problem. He’d dropped his phone the day after he got back and shattered it. The one time he didn’t have his life proof case on and he had to be clumsy. Apparently, the backup failed so he lost all his contacts and he couldn’t remember her number. He didn’t even know her address but the good thing was he did know where she worked.

  She’d asked him to have lunch in the middle of the week and who knows, she may have tried to touch base but he wouldn’t recognize the number and she never left a message. He knew she was supposed to have a few days off so he called each morning until he found her there. He didn’t want to show up when she wasn’t around because they wouldn’t give him her address, it was against hospital policy. He’d already tried that once.

  Now he was standing in a small nurse’s office of a packed Emergency Room with people running in every direction. He’d seen more blood in ten minutes than he cared to see the rest of his life. How she worked here was a mystery to him.

  Nurse Rhonda wasn’t very happy that he’d been adamant about seeing her as soon as possible. He’d begged her not to tell Bree any details because it would probably give him away and he didn’t want her to run.

  His heart began to race when he heard her voice come near. Rhonda peeked around the corner to him and gave him thumbs up which meant it was time to make his appearance. He picked up the crystal vase full of roses from the desk and carefully made his way through the doorway. When she saw him, her face went pale.

  “Hi Bree.”

  He waited for her to respond but she could only stare. She made some hand gestures including running her fingers through the pony tail on the back of her head. It was cute, he liked that look.

  “I know you’re probably surprised to see me here but I needed to talk to you. When you never called me back, I decided to take matters into my own hands.” He moved the flowers to sit on top of the counter at the nurse’s station. She glanced toward them, her features softening but then changing right back when she turned to him again.

  “What do you mean call you back. I never got a phone call from you.”

  “I called you not even five minutes after I dropped you off at the hospital that night. I even left a voice mail.”

  He saw her features change when recognition it. She walked closer to him, her hands stuffed in the lab coat pockets.

  “I think I may have erased it. Stacy left me about five messages and I didn’t want to go through them all so I just hit delete. I didn’t know you left me one, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you try calling me back?”

  “It was late when I got home and the next day I couldn’t. I shattered my phone, had to get a new one.” He lifted an iPhone like his other, only a different color. “They told me the backup to my iCloud didn’t work so I lost all my contacts. I’ve been scrambling ever since to get things reprogrammed but other than coming here, I didn’t know how to reach you.”

  “The flowers are beautiful.” She leaned in and smelled the red petals.

  “They don’t come close to your beauty. I missed you Bree.”

  She lowered her head, a sure sign she was trying not to cry. That’s the reaction he’d been looking for. He moved closer to her and lifted her chin with his finger. Then he wiped her tears away.

  “I never meant to make you cry. Bree, I’m in love with you and I want you in my life. I know, it’s only been like a week but I knew it when I saw you sitting in that chaise lounge, I knew that I needed you.”

  “Are you sure we can do this?”

  “I have no doubt, I never did.”

  “I love you too, and I fought it tooth and nail. But, when I went home alone, nothing was the same. You weren’t there and I missed you. You give me peace of mind and comfort that I’ve never experienced before.”

  Hunter placed his hands on her cheeks and brought her to him. When he kissed her, everyone in the ER started cheering.

  EPILOGUE

  ONE YEAR LATER

  Hunter and Bree stood on the beach looking out over the boat dock at the Grand Cayman Resort. They had taken their free all-inclusive return trip and turned it into a destination wedding.

  “You aren’t walking on that pier so don’t even think about it. I don’t have a first aid kit and I’d rather not have any blood on my dress.”

  “Very funny Mrs. DuVall. I had no intention of going out there. Me and those boards don’t really see eye to eye.”

  “Well you did once.” Bree laughed out loud and ran a few feet away from Hunter.

  “That wasn’t funny.”

  “Yeah it was, it was really funny.”

  “Hey, you two, the photographer wants to get pictures then it’s time to cut your cake.”

  “Thanks Stacy, we’ll be there in a minute.”

  Hunter put his arms around his bride and they walked a little way down the beach.

  “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

  “I just knew what I wanted.” Hunter shrugged his shoulders, winked at his wife and kissed her on the cheek.

  “You need to give yourself some credit too, I saw how much you struggled with us having go separate ways. We just deal with things a little bit differently is all.”

  “You’re always so confident and sure of yourself. I admire you so much because I really struggle with that.”

  “Well trust me, I wasn’t always like that. That night I had to leave you standing on the sidewalk was the hardest thing I ever had to do and from that moment, I knew I needed to do whatever it took to get you back with me.”

  She squeezed his arms around his waist.

  “Enough with the mushy stuff. What do you say Mrs. DuVall, are you ready to start the next chapter of our lives?”

  “Mr. DuVall, I would follow you anywhere.”

  “Alright then woman, let’s go make some waves.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Krista Ames was born and raised in Indiana. She now resides in

  Northern Michigan with the love of her life and their 4 children. She is a full time stay-at-home mom and pursues her writing career

  when she's not chasing kids, cooking or doing laundry. Krista can be found at www.apassionforromance.blogspot.com and would love to hear from you any time via krista@kristaames.com

  She frequents:

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristaamesauthor and

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristaames

  Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kristaames/

  STARRY NIGHTS

  JB DUVANE

  Sometimes even being a movie star can't buy you a second chance with the girl you still hunger for.

  * * *

  But true love can...

  SHANE

  My life as a movie star has been great, don't get me wrong. But after a while it started to feel so empty.

  I don't know who I can trust. I don't know if people want the movie star persona or if they're interested in the real me.

  * * *

  I'm tired of the meaningless sex and the fake women. I'm ready for someone who's real.

  Someone like Maggie... my Maggie.

  * * *

  It's been ten years, but when I looked into her eyes, I swear could still feel her in my arms like it was yesterday.

  * * *

  When I saw her, I panicked. I retreated into 'movie star Shane.'

  * * *

  It's become this habit I can't shake after so many years.

  * * *

  Now we're on opposite sides of this land deal, and it's like she actually thinks I don't love the island as much as she does.

  And she thinks I don't care about her.

  * * *

  But she's wrong.

 
; MAGGIE

  So, the big movie star's come back to his home town. No doubt to impress everyone with his good looks and money.

  * * *

  He actually has the nerve to try and buy up protected land on our island for his own use...and for profit.

  * * *

  Typical, selfish movie star behavior. Somehow I expected more though.

  * * *

  And then, he acted like he didn't even remember what happened between us.

  * * *

  I guess I really was just one in a long line of faceless girls to him.

  * * *

  But I'll never forget the way his lips tasted or the way his body felt when it was pressed against mine.

  * * *

  And now I have to pretend that I don't remember either, otherwise it's hurts too much.

  * * *

  Shouldn't be too hard, because on all accounts, he's turned into just another cocky bastard.

  * * *

  And if he thinks he's going to buy up our island, he's going to see how little all of his movie star charm gets him.

  * * *

  At least that's what my head is saying…

  * * *

  I'm trying really hard to listen to my head right now, because that million-watt smile of his is tearing me up inside.