AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh my God!” Olivia hisses excitedly to me as we finally give up the sports to collapse onto our towels on the beach. “Did you see Benji flirting with me? He is so hot!”
“The blond guy?” I turn on to my front to catch a glimpse of him. “Yeah, I think he’s definitely got the hots for you. But be careful with him, he’s got that playboy twinkle in his eye. You don’t want to accidentally fall for him.”
“Pfft, that’s Sam, and he definitely looks like he has too many notches on his bedpost. Hewasflirting with me, but I don’t like him. No, I’m talking about Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome over there. Broody and mysterious. A bit like one of those English Indie boys.”
Okay, now I see who she means. “He looks nicer. I approve.”
He’s got that quieter look about him, he doesn’t look like he thrives off of arrogance which is great for this lot. If Olivia has to like any of them, I’m glad it’s him. I think he’ll be all about her while we’re here. I will just have to try and make sure they don’t fall in love. I’m not leaving Olivia on Laucala Island no matter what she says. This is all nice and beautiful, but it definitely wasn’t a forever situation. I needed her back at home with me where I can keep an eye on her.
“Well, he’s invited me –us– to an exclusive party tonight at the resort where they are staying. It’s basically a classy beach rave. Obviously I said we will go…”
“You did?” I don’t mind, but I do know that I wasn’t really invited. I’ve definitely given off the air of someone who doesn’t want to be chatted up, at last that’s the message that got across, so now I don’t know if I’m welcome at the beach rave. I also had a ton of work to do.
But then I can’t put my need to work before making sure Olivia is enjoying her time. I made that vow to myself before we came here, and I want to keep that promise.
“You do want to come, right?” Olivia pouts out her bottom lip. “Because it won’t be any fun without you there. Since our last night out got ruined and everything…”
Urgh, now she’s using that against me. I can’t say no when it comes to that blackmail. I nod and act eager, trying to convince myself it might actually be a lot of fun. It isn’t like I’ve been to too many classy beach raves, so who knows? It could be one of those undiscovered things that I can’t help falling in love with. It might become my newthing.
I can’t imagine it at the moment, but who the hell knows.
“We might have to go out in our bikinis,” Olivia giggles, her eyes shining with the friend I have been missing so much. “Because we didn’t exactly plan our clothing for a beach rave, did we? At least it’s boiling hot, and I’m sure it still will be into the evening.”
Her eyes are all over Benji, she’s definitely smitten and not thinking about Leon anymore. I worried about telling her about his arrest because I figured she might start worrying about him, but she might as well be a million miles away and that showed in her reaction.
She doesn’t give a shit; she just wants to let her hair down while she can.
“So a beach rave in our bikinis.” I hold my cocktail glass up high and she clinks her glass to mine. “What a great way to recover from heartache.”
“Heartache?” she teases. “What heartache? I can’t feel a thing.”
ChapterSeven
ELIJAH
Ring, ring… Ring, ring… Ring, ring…
I let out a little groan as I catch the name plastered across my cell phone screen. Once upon a time, getting a phone call from her was all that I wanted in the world. But two decades of silence have passed since then, so this is seriously weird. But I can’t just ignore her, however much I want to. I just need to suck it up and hit the answer button.
“June, hi.” I force myself to smile so she can hear it in my voice. “Sorry, I forgot to call the moment we landed. It was just a bit of a whirlwind…”
“How is Olivia?” she snaps, not interested in me at all. Not that I can blame her. “Is she okay? How is she enjoying the island? Is she smiling yet?”
I cringe because I honestly haven’t seen much of Olivia since we landed. She’s been way more interested in the island than in me, I’ve already spotted her heading to the beach with her friend, pretty much as soon as we landed. But I don’t want June to know it’s all a bit off. Since I also want to prove to her that I have the ability to become a father, I need to keep it light.
“She’s having a really great time, June. Bringing her here has already made her feel a lot better. I can’t see any sign that she’s worrying about her dirt bag ex at all.”
“He’s in jail.” June says, confirming what I already sort of knew. “So, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that he stays there. It doesn’t matter to me that he’s only locked up because of drugs or whatever. I will make sure he never gets out.”
I chuckle as I notice a fiery streak in June that wasn’t there before. She sounds determined, but whether that will be enough to go up against the justice system, I have no idea.
“Good, if there is anything I can do to help, then just let me know.”
“You can just keep an eye on my daughter, make sure she’s okay. Treat her well and ensure she’s not sinking back into that depression. I can’t see her like that anymore.”
I know June must be serious because she never would have called me if she didn’t absolutely have to. That’s why I don’t really have anything else to say to her.
“I will do whatever it takes to make sure Olivia is all good by the time she gets home.”
