Sunlounger - the Ultimate Beach Read (Sunlounger Stories Book 1)

by Belinda Jones

  Sighing, I pick up my Blackberry and squint at the screen in the sunshine. Still nothing. I wish for about the millionth time this week that I hadn’t taken Lids advice. When I confided in her a couple of weeks ago about my ‘secret crush’ she had insisted that I tell him how I felt. ‘Ray is out of the picture now Amy! It’s time you found yourself a real man! Come on, you only live once. If you don’t do it you’ll never know.’ So, fuelled by a couple of margaritas in the rooftop pool bar one evening, I sent a message to the man in question, declaring loud and proud that I thought it was about time I had a boyfriend again – and that I was well and truly smitten.

  Since then, I had heard nothing.

  Having peeled off my surf vest, I pull my notepad out of my rucksack and start making bullet points about the proposal I am due to plan in a couple of weeks. The guy in question had emailed me through my website and told me he wanted to propose to the girl of his dreams in an over-the-top fashion. At first he had said he would like a sign on the Sydney Harbour Bridge but I’d dissuaded him – getting a sign on the bridge could be near impossible – so now I was designing a small ‘Will you marry me?’ sign that we would place amongst the famous ‘Sculptures By The Sea’ along the cliff tops of Bondi. I’d been chatting to Sammy about the proposal when it first came up and we’d decided together that the sculptures would be the most romantic place to set it. Sammy had visited them before and apparently they were supposed to be stunning. Various artists from around the world had created a gorgeous pathway of sculptures set along a costal walk from Bondi to Tamarama. It was the perfect place for a proposal.

  Pulling out the map from underneath my beach towel, I study it carefully and then jump up and grab my belongings. I’m not as far away from the exhibition as I thought! In fact, I could probably walk there in under ten minutes. As I walk up the path and see the waves crash angrily below me, I spot the first sculpture. An aggressive-looking army of wires and muted iron form a hexagonal shape. I stand and look at it for a while, hoping that I may find some meaning in it, but eventually decide to move on. The next sculpture is surrounded by a throng of children, all laughing and pointing at it. I smile quietly to myself as I notice that this particular sculpture is of a man walking a tightrope. A group of school children scurry up from the beach below and stop, smiling widely as they try to guess how high the tight rope is.

  The heavy afternoon sun is causing me to sweat slightly now but I continue onwards, marvelling at more sculptures as I pass, some hidden amongst the tress and others visible from a distance. The path winds downwards towards the sea again and I step carefully as the ground below me becomes stony. I glance again at my Blackberry. Still nothing.

  Reaching for my notepad, I pull out the ‘Sculptures By The Sea’ leaflet. I am sure this is the spot. Squinting against the sun I look out across the sea and then back at my surrounding before I see it. There, hidden slightly in-between two heavy rocks, is the sculpture I am looking for: the hidden heart.

  When I’d been researching where my client should propose I had stumbled across the hidden heart and knew it was the perfect place. It was slightly out of the way of all of the other sculptures, giving it the privacy needed for a proposal. I move towards it and study it closely. I wonder if it feels as lonely as I do.

  ‘Amy?’

  The voice behind me shocks me so much that I jump backwards, almost slipping on the wet rocks underneath my feet. My hands fly to my mouth. What the—

  Sammy is in front of me, his dark hair scuffed up by the wind and his green eyes covered in a shadow as he holds his hand up to his face to protect his eyes from the sun. He is grinning.

  ‘Sammy? What? When—’ I can’t speak. My voice seems to get lost in the wind and silent tears begin to fall down my cheeks.

  I watch as Sammy – my oldest, closest friend Samuel Green – walks towards me and pulls something out from behind his back. He’s still quite far away but I can tell he is smiling.

  ‘I told you to look for a sign’ he says. Then, without any more words, he holds something out in front of me – a white board with black lettering on it.

  ‘Is this how you imagined your future?’ it reads.

  The next thing I know I am running. Running towards him and falling into his arms – scared that if I don’t he might change his mind.

  His lips are on mine in an instant. Suddenly everything feels right.

  ‘But my message – you never replied...’ I say, looking up into his eyes.

  ‘I didn’t need to.’ With this Sammy sweeps me up into his arms and starts to run down the beach, making me giggle uncontrollably as he does so. ‘All I needed to do was book a flight. As soon as I knew you felt the same way, there was no going back. ‘

  ‘But what about Max? I thought you two were happy?’

  Sam sighs. ‘You know Maxine. She was never going to be right for me. Not when I feel the way I do about you.’

  ‘So my client… he didn’t…’ The truth suddenly dawns on me. ‘It was you all along?’ I whack him playfully on his arm, laughing as I do.

  ‘Sure was, Miss Anderson. And now, there’s just one thing left to do…’

  And with that he gets down on one knee.

  About the Author

  Tiffany Wright has worked as a journalist in the glossy world of magazines for over ten years. She started her career at Elle before becoming Senior Writer at Company magazine, writing about relationships, interviewing celebs and spending hours in the fashion cupboard lusting over every pair of shoes that came in. Heading Down Under to write for Cosmopolitan in Sydney, she swiftly became their ‘Sex and the Cosmo Girl’ columnist. She also began writing a blog where she wore a different pair of shoes every day for a year. The blog soon turned into an idea for her first novel – SOMEBODY ELSE’S SHOES (out now). Tiffany also runs the Stiletto Bootcamp for people wanting to write for women's magazines.

  Website: www.tiffanywright.co.uk

  Twitter: @tiffanylwright

  Facebook: Tiffany Wright Author

  Visit the Sunlounger website at www.va-va-vacation.com/tiffany-wright

  We have everything you need to make this your Best Summer Ever!

  You can also chat with the authors on the Belinda Jones Travel Club Facebook page.

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  This anthology was published by Notting Hill Press – home to some of your favourite chick lit and romantic comedy authors. If you’d like to be the first to know about their upcoming books and get the chance to receive advance review copies before they’re published, sign up here for the Upcoming Releases Newsletter.

  Table of Contents

  COPYRIGHT

  INTRODUCTION

  Dedication

  THE HONEYMOON CRASHERS

  GENIE OF THE ROCK

  ICE, ICE BABY

  THE KEY

  DIVINE INTERVENTION

  ROSIE’S ITALIAN LOVE LETTER

  MIDNIGHT IN ST PETERSBURG

  AT FIRST SIGHT

  A ROAD TRIP TO REMEMBER

  THE VENICE TRAP

  ASSERTIVENESS TRAINING

  CABIN PRESSURE

  COOL GINGER

  HANOI JANE

  HOLIDAY READING

  LOVE AT FIRST KISS

  SANTORINI… OR NOT!

  FIA MCQUEEN’S GREAT ESCAPE

  THE ANNIVERSARY

  THE RUM DEAL

  FRENCH FOLLIES

  PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES

  AN INDECENT PROPOSAL

  ONE HUNDRED PROPOSALS

  SIDEBAR OF SHAME

  WATERFALLING IN LOVE

  BUON VIAGGIO

  ESCAPE TO RUNAWAY BAY

  THE RED GLOVE

  MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS

  LA POSADA AMOR

  TRUE LOVE NEVER DIES

  HOW TO TIE A FRENCH SCARF

  FROM EIVISSA WITH LOVE

  JUST ONE DAY

  OVER THE HUMP

  PABLO

  HAPPENSTANCE

  MR LO
VER LOVER

  A FOOL’S PARADISE

  MEET YOU AT EPHESUS

  THE SECRET CINDERELLA LIST

  SIGNS FROM SYDNEY