Luce. I like it when he calls me that. It’s familiar and kind of intimate.
I smile into the darkness, trying to make out his shape in the gloom. “Well, thanks for bringing me. So far, I’m having a blast.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Night, Theo.”
nine
Lucie
“Well, good news: I didn’t wake up dead, so I obviously don’t snore or fart in my sleep,” Theo jokes.
I smile, my eyes still closed as I stretch and let out a little groan, letting the last fog of sleep ebb away before turning my head to see him sitting on the sofa bed, propped up against his pillow. His sketchpad and pencils lie abandoned next to him. He’s sipping from a mug, still in his pyjamas. His hair is messed up, sticking out everywhere, and there are lines of sleep still on his face, a shadow of short stubble covering his jaw. He looks delicious.
“Morning,” I greet, rolling to my side and automatically reaching for my glasses.
“I made you a coffee. I didn’t know how you take it, so I left that up to you to sort out.” He nods at the bedside cabinet, and I see a black coffee next to a sachet of milk and four sugars.
He made me coffee in bed? Well, that’s adorable. “Thanks. How’d you sleep in the end?”
He reaches up and roughly rubs a hand over his face. “Wasn’t too bad once I eventually drifted off. There isn’t much that can wake me once I’m under, so …” He shrugs and gulps down his drink as I stir sugar and milk into mine. “Still up for checking out the water activities this morning?”
“Try and stop me.”
His grin widens. “Excellent. I’m gonna jump in the shower, and then I’ll head downstairs, so you can have some privacy to get ready. I’ll sort out getting my own room while I’m down there.”
As I sip at my coffee, I can hear him in the shower. He’s humming, but I can’t make out the song. It’s cute.
Less than fifteen minutes later, he steps out of the room, dressed in black swimming shorts and an old-school Ghostbusters T-shirt, looking refreshed and all kinds of glorious.
“I’ll be in the lobby. I’ll grab us some croissants and stuff to take with us. It’s already past ten. If we leave too late, the sports centre might be too busy to fit us in.”
“Good idea.”
I have a quick shower, taking care not to wet my hair. Once dry, I slather myself in sun cream and shimmy my way into my black bikini. Then, I shove on denim shorts and a loose vest top over the top. I apply a quick swipe of tinted moisturiser and some waterproof mascara, and then I insert a pair of disposable contact lenses, so I can forgo my glasses today. After scraping my hair up into a topknot and grabbing my handbag and two towels (because I didn’t see Theo take one with him), I head down to the lobby to meet him.
He’s sitting in one of the plush armchairs with his back to me. As I step to his side, I put my hand on his shoulder to get his attention. It’s solid under my fingers, like steel muscles under silky skin.
“Hey. I’m ready.”
He looks up at me and grins as he pushes himself to his feet. “Great. Here.” He holds out a takeaway coffee cup and a pain au chocolat wrapped in a napkin. “Milk, one sugar, right?” He purses his lips and looks from me to the cup in my hand.
My eyes widen in surprise, and I nod. “Perfect. Thank you.” Clearly, he watched me this morning as I added my sugar to my cup. I didn’t even notice. “Have you eaten already?” I ask, watching as he nods in answer. “And what about the room? Did they have a spare one today?” I ask, biting into my pastry and moaning appreciatively at the taste. It’s so fresh; it’s still warm.
“Yeah. Once the people check out of it today, they’ll give it a clean, and I can get in this afternoon. It’s right next door to ours actually.” He grins over at me, fiddling with the car keys as we walk across the car park. “I’ll pack up my stuff later.”
I greedily cram in the last bite of pastry and brush the crumbs from my shirt before I slide into the passenger seat of the car, again watching the show of Theo trying to contort himself in behind the steering wheel. I can’t stop smiling.
As he reverses from the space and the car lurches and splutters, he keeps his eyes firmly on the road as he says, “Don’t you dare say a word.”
“I didn’t. I am totally not judging you.” Chuckling darkly, I mime zipping my mouth closed.
The village he mentioned isn’t far away at all; it only takes a few minutes to get there. As we step out and head over to the wooden hut, I pull the towels from my bag and hand Theo one.
He blinks at it. “Thanks. I didn’t even think about a towel. Actually, I didn’t bring dry clothes or anything either. Shit.” He winces down at his black swim shorts and T-shirt.
Dry clothes? Oops. “Oh crap, I didn’t either. Looks like you’ll get revenge on the small car after all.”
We stop next to a blackboard announcing what’s on offer and the prices. My eyes skim over it, and I gasp in excitement as I see one in particular.
“Oh my God. They have a banana boat!” I squeal, jumping on the spot and clapping my hands like a toddler. I’ve wanted to try one for the last couple of years, ever since Lucas categorically told me that no, I wasn’t allowed. I haven’t been this excited since the Jonas Brothers announced they were getting back together.
“Yeah? Epic! Let’s do that first. What else do you fancy?” Theo asks, pursing his lips as he looks over the board too. “Ooh, want to try waterskiing too? I did it once when I was younger. I pretty much sucked arse at it, but it was fun.”
He turns and raises one eyebrow in question, but I shake my head.
“Nah, I’ll pass on that and watch you. I’m doing banana boat and maybe the stand-up paddle boarding.”
“Excellent choices.” He beams down at me and playfully offers me his arm.
Grinning, I slip my arm through his, and we head over to the hut to check availability and book in.
Getting into a wetsuit is harder than they make it look on every surfing movie I’ve ever seen. There’s a lot of wriggling, jumping, and grunting involved. At one point, I’m pulling on it so hard to drag it up my thighs that my hand slips off, and I accidentally slap myself in the face. Imagine trying to squeeze yourself into a pair of skinny jeans that are two sizes too small; that’s probably pretty close to the effort this requires. Eventually, I manage to crowbar myself into it and get it half-zipped up the back. I feel like a fat seal and don’t dare look in the mirror. After storing my handbag into the locker, I head out of my changing cubicle and see Theo leaning against the wall, waiting for me, our life jackets at his feet.
He certainly does not look like a fat seal.
The soft material clings to his shape, and I see thighs that make my breath catch. I’ve never been attracted to anyone in a wetsuit before. I silently wonder if Theo has just given me a new fetish. I force my eyes away as I feel my cheeks flood with heat. Hopefully, I can pass it off as sunburn.
There’s sand under my toes, and I dig them in, grinning moronically. When the instructor waves us over, Theo passes me my life jacket, and we start to walk over to the jetty to meet up with the three other people who are also going on the banana boat with us. We all say our quick hellos.
Suddenly, there’s movement at my back. I feel Theo’s fingers brush against my skin for the briefest second before my wetsuit tightens against my chest as I hear a zip being pulled up. I smile gratefully over my shoulder before slipping my arms through my life jacket, doing up the clasps.
The banana boat looks the same as the one I wanted to go on in Italy. Basically, a giant, inflatable yellow-and-red banana gets pulled along by a speedboat. Fun!
The three other people take the first spots, leaving Theo and me with the two at the back. My excitement peaks as I half-climb, half-fall onto it. When my foot accidentally goes into the water, I gasp at the shock of cold.
“Holy crap, it’s freezing. Am I going to fall in?” I look at Theo for his opinion as I scoot back to th
e last spot, so he can be the one to sit with his crotch basically touching a stranger’s arse, not me.
He chuckles and clambers on in front of me. “Definitely.”
“Oh God.”
When all five of us are seated, the instructor gives the boat a wave, and it starts up, moving slowly, taking up the slack of the rope attached to our inflatable. We meander along at a leisurely drift until we’re at a safe distance from the jetty.
“Ready?” a guy on the speedboat with a megaphone shouts.
We all cheer in response. I giggle excitedly. I hear the engines of the boat roar and feel the snap of the rope as it gives a sharp tug on the inflatable. The banana shifts under my legs as it suddenly jerks forward … fast … but my body doesn’t go with it. Instead, the speed propels me backwards, and I half-somersault off and crash into the water within one second.
I come up, spluttering and laughing, gasping for breath. The cold water makes my whole body spasm in shock. About thirty feet away, I can hear rambunctious laughter. Turning in a circle, I wipe the water from my eyes and spot my banana buddies a little ways away. The other four managed to hold on, and they’re all now practically wetting themselves with laughter. Grinning wildly, I swim over to it.
Theo’s eyes are shining, and his grin is so big, he gets little dimples in his cheeks as he shakes his head. “She wasn’t readyyyy!” he teases.
I burst out laughing, watching as he scoots back to the last spot and motions for me to sit in front of him this time. He holds down a hand, and I grip his wrist tightly, as he does mine. With my free hand, I reach for the strap, and with Theo’s help, I manage to drag myself back onto it in an extremely unladylike fashion. I don’t even care. This is my new favourite thing.
As I settle back onto it again, Theo scoots closer to my back. “You have to hold on. Squeeze it with your thighs,” he says, reaching around me and playfully pressing on the outside of my knees to show me how to grip it.
“Oh, you have to hold on?” I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes as we both snicker.
“Ready?” the guy on the boat calls again.
Again, we all cheer. This time, I manage to stay on longer.
When our time is up, I’m exhausted. It was much harder work than I’d expected it to be. Sometimes, I managed to stay on, but a lot of times, I flew off—we all did. The corners were the worst, and I swear the driver was doing it on purpose just to watch us all try to clamber back on board again. Wicked bastard.
When we’re back on dry land, my legs feel like jelly, and my arms ache from hauling my body weight back on board. At one point, I even regretted putting on those extra ten ice cream pounds Aubrey and I added after my break-up. I’m in reasonably good shape, I go to spin classes and do hot yoga, but I also follow them up with Chinese and a glass of wine. It’s all about balance.
I sigh contentedly and smile over at Theo as I attempt to re-bun my wet, snarled hair. I’ve had the time of my life here today. I’ve loved every second of it.
He returns my smile and rubs the small of my back. “Are you okay? You did great. I mean, I was only concerned for your life for, like, the whole time,” he says dramatically.
I chuckle and slap his life jacket with the back of my hand. “I did do great. My legs are like limp noodles now though. Damn, what a workout. I’m having extra dessert tonight because of that.”
“Yeah, I’m shattered.” He roughly rubs a hand in his hair, sending water droplets in all angles, some of them hitting me in the face. His hair is a mess after. Weirdly, I sort of like it. “Are you thirsty? We could get a drink.” He nods back at the hut, where they serve ice cream and cold drinks.
“Are you kidding? I think I swallowed half the loch. At this point, I’m ninety-five percent water.” I unclasp my life jacket, pulling it away from my throat so I can breathe a little easier. I can barely move in it; I feel like the Michelin Man.
“What do you want to do now? I’m too tired for waterskiing. Do you still want to do the paddle boarding, or maybe if you want something more chilled, we could go back to the hotel and lie on the beach for a bit?” He looks somewhat hopeful when he suggests the beach.
“Ooh, the beach sounds good.” I nod eagerly. That sounds perfect, and my muscles rejoice at his suggestion. “And we can get some lunch. It must be time to eat. My stomach is starting to digest itself.”
“Probably all the water you swallowed.” Theo laughs and casually slings his arm around my shoulders, leading me back to the changing rooms. “We don’t have to leave to get our flight home until, like, one thirty on Sunday. If we have time, we can come back and try the paddle boarding in the morning before, if you want.”
I grin excitedly and nod along like a bobblehead.
After managing to pry myself from the wetsuit (it’s slightly easier to take off, thank God), I use the towel to try and dry some of the water from my bikini before putting my clothes over the top of it. My hair is unsalvageable, so I don’t even bother trying. It’ll likely get ruined again on the beach anyway. I’ll have a nice, long shower tonight and even vow to leave my conditioner on for the recommended two minutes as a treat.
Looking in the mirror, I grin at myself. It’s nice to feel so carefree for a change. This feels more like the person I used to be when I was younger—before I had to adult. Theo is so easy to be around, and because I’m not trying to impress him or date him (contrary to Aubrey’s numerous text messages of encouragement this morning), I don’t have to worry about putting on an act or behaving how people might expect me to. This is the type of freedom I’ve only ever really had with Aubrey. It’s lovely.
ten
Lucie
Back at the hotel, we gorge on cheese toasties, crisps, and chocolate chip muffins, and then we head up to our room to pack for the beach. I don’t bother to change my clothes. I just grab us fresh towels and my book, stuffing them into my oversize beach bag.
Theo glances at it and smiles. “Why are all your bags always so massive?”
“They make my bum look great.” It’s a joke, but his eyes drop straight down to it as he purses his lips.
“To be honest, I think it’s your bum that makes your bum look great.” He turns away and shrugs, picking up a sketchbook and pack of pencils from under his pillow.
My face flushes with pleasure.
He pushes his items into my bag too. Then, he walks to the mini fridge and pulls out cans of Coke and 7UP.
“Do you take your sketchpad everywhere?” I eye it, itching to peek inside. I know his drawings are incredible. After I learned who he was, Aubrey and I looked him up—stalker-style—his socials, his website, his published books.
“Yeah, pretty much. I love drawing. I’m lucky I get paid to do something I’m passionate about.”
“That’s why I want to be an editor. Imagine being paid to read.” I sigh dreamily.
Plucking my sun cream from the side, I head to the bathroom and slather myself up in all the places I can reach. When I come back out, he’s doing the same, rubbing oil into his legs. I resist the urge to offer my assistance.
Once ready, we head downstairs to the hotel’s private beach on the edge of the water. I can’t keep the smile from my face. It’s a brilliant, sunny day, and the setting is idyllic. As I step onto the small beach and my toes sink into the sand, I let out a content sigh.
Straight in front of us, closer to the water, Emily and baby Finley are sitting on a blanket in the shade of a beach umbrella. There’s no sign of Carys or her dad though. Theo’s parents are asleep on a couple of towels off to our left, hats over their faces, one of them snoring rather loudly. On our right, Heather is sitting on a white plastic sun lounger. There are a group of loungers all pulled together with towels on them, indicating they’re reserved, and two spare empty ones. Theo nods at them, and we head over, quickly snagging them before anyone else comes along.
“Hey, where’s everyone else?” Theo asks Heather, shielding his eyes and looking around.
She mot
ions with her head back towards the hotel. “They’ve popped to the bar to get drinks.”
I lay out our two towels and then shuck my shorts and vest, folding them and stuffing them under the seat. As I turn to Theo, I catch his eyes roving my body; when he sees me looking, he politely averts his gaze and digs in my bag for a can of drink.
“You have any preference?” He holds up the two cans. When I shake my head, he pops open the 7UP and takes a couple of gulps.
Settling down onto the lounger, I look out over the water. The sun is beating down on me, warming my skin. There’s no breeze. It’s perfection. I’m conscious of burning though, so my factor fifty will be reapplied studiously every hour and a half. No one wants to be tomato red in wedding photos.
“Theo, would you mind rubbing some sun cream on my back?” I smile sweetly and offer him the bottle.
He nods, chewing on his lip as he arches one eyebrow at me. “Okay. But don’t blame me if I get hard. I haven’t been laid in a while.”
“I haven’t either. This will be the closest I’ve come to sex with anyone other than myself in three months. Make it good, will you?” I joke.
“I’ll try my best.”
He laughs and slides onto the sun lounger behind me, legs on either side of my body so I’m nestled against his crotch. Hot breath blows across my shoulders, and I feel a shiver of appreciation tickle down my spine.
It started as a joke, but as soon as his hands are on me, rubbing the cream into my skin with firm, confident strokes, my insides turn to goo. It feels so intimate, so sexual, that my stomach clenches. Against my backside, I feel him getting hard, and my eyes widen in shock as my pulse skyrockets.
It’s then that I realise, to my horror, that I’m actually growing wet. From him rubbing in sun cream. He has a talent; that’s for sure.
His hands on my body are heaven. I never want it to end.
When his magic fingers have worked all the cream into my skin and there’s a significant ache of longing between my legs, he leans in, his chest pressing against my now-slick back as his arms rest across the top of his legs. His hands are so teasingly close to touching my thighs, it makes my breath catch.
Stand-In Saturday: (A standalone romcom. Book 2 in the Love For Days series) Page 9