The house is in silence and I understand why when I pull my phone from my handbag and see that it’s 5am. Pulling the curtain to the side, I see that the sun is just starting to rise. Feeling alive for the first time in months, I pull on a pair of leggings, a sports bra and my trainers with the intention of going for a run along the beach.
A thought suddenly hits me. Bailey. I glance around the room but I already know he’s not in here. I panic and my heart starts to pound. Where is he? I swipe up my phone and ear buds before rushing from the room.
Every door is shut bar one so I silently walk over and peek in. The room is pretty dark so it’s hard to see much but I can clearly make out two cots and a brown ball of fluff curled up between them on the cream carpet. I smile at the sight before whispering for Bailey. It takes a few attempts but I eventually get his attention. When he sees me, his eyes light up. He springs from the floor and rushes over, his tail wagging ten to the dozen.
“Hey, pup,” I whisper when he gets to me. “Were you protecting the babies? Come on, you’re going to love where we’re going,” I say as we make our way down the stairs as quietly as possible with an over excited puppy in tow.
When we get to the front door, I find his lead on the sideboard and clip it to his collar. I’ve no idea where I’m going, but I see the sea the second I open the front door, so I just head in that direction and hope for the best.
Ten minutes later, we walk down on to the sand. The sun is just coming up over the horizon, casting a gorgeous orange glow across the water.
Taking a deep breath I allow myself to soak it all up.
“This is home now, pup. Do you like it?” Bailey’s pulling at his lead, desperate to go and explore the vastness of the beach in front of him. Bending down, I unclip him and then watch as he races across the sand towards a couple of sea gulls. They soon spot him coming and rush to escape but it doesn’t stop Bailey, who continues to try to catch them.
I laugh as I watch him jump into the air and it feels so good. The fresh sea air and the sun have me seeing the world in a different light this morning. Maybe what Lilly said last night is true. Maybe everything will be okay.
I’ve no idea how long I run for but when Bailey starts to flag a little, I come to a stop, climb up on a rock, and look out to sea. Bailey flops down by the side of me, panting, his eyes sparkling with happiness.
I haven’t seen anyone, and the peacefulness is so soothing. It’s exactly what I need to get my head together and to start thinking about my future.
Only a few minutes later I spot a figure out in the sea. The distance between us makes them almost a dot on the horizon. It doesn’t take long before I realise they’re surfing. Maybe I’m not the only one making the most of this gorgeous sunrise then.
I continue watching as the figure hits wave after wave. I don’t have the faintest idea about surfing, but it looks to me like they know what they’re doing.
I lose myself in a trance watching them riding each wave before falling off, paddling back out and then getting back up again. It’s hypnotic, and strangely relaxing.
I feel a little disappointed that it’s over when I watch the person slowly emerge from the water with their board in their arms.
My eyes are glued to what I presume is a guy as he digs his board into the sand before undoing the top of his wetsuit. He might be far in the distance, but I can tell this guy has a body every girl dreams of. I continue watching, and as he gets closer to me, my eyes are fixated on his torso. Well, I guess surfing does that, I say to myself sarcastically.
The closer he gets, the more details I can see. His deep cut V lines that drop into the bottom half of his wetsuit, his defined six pack that every woman in the country would probably pay good money to lick, and his strong, wide chest and shoulders. And then it all comes crashing down when he gets close enough that I hear his voice.
“You’re still here then, Ginge?”
Fuck. Me. It’s Declan. Bailey must sense my hatred because the second he notices we have company, he starts growling.
My eyes fly up to his face, hoping and praying I just imagined those words coming out of his mouth. But no. It’s him. My worst fucking nightmare and the only reason I almost didn’t come here.
I sit frozen still on my rock as he stares down at me with hard eyes.
“What, you not seen a topless man before?” He’s got an amused smirk on his face, but I’m not stupid enough to think he’s all that happy about the situation. He can’t stand me as much as I can’t him. Why he had to be the first person I met in this place, god only knows.
As he stares down at me I feel my temperature start to pick up and heat floods down between my legs. I tell myself it’s a natural reaction to the fine body stood in front of me and absolutely nothing to do with who it actually is, because he’s the worlds biggest wanker and if I never see him again, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.
“Take a picture if you want. This is the one and only time you’ll ever be close enough to my naked skin.”
“Fuck you,” I snap. His words drag me back to the situation at hand. “You’re not all that. I’ve seen better.”
“Is that right? The way you were drooling just then tells another story. I’d put money on the fact this is the closest you’ve ever been to a naked man in your life.”
Deciding against arguing with him, or defending my lack of love life besides my school boyfriend, I keep my mouth shut.
“I guess it’s something you’ll have to just live with. No one wants to fuck a ginger.”
My blood boils and I rush to stand up so he doesn’t have to look down on me. The rock under my feet means I’m eye to eye with him once I’m at full height.
“Well then, you’ll never know that we have magical pussies. You’ll have to settle with the regular ones.” I’ve no idea where the words come from but I feel like puffing my chest out with pride when his eyes widen in response.
“I happen to be a fan of the normal ones.”
“Good for you. I hope one of them bites it off,” I say, dropping my gaze down to his crotch, but I instantly regret it. Closing my eyes for a beat, I will the image of his impressive looking bulge out of my mind before jumping down from the rock and walking away. “Come on, pup,” I call. “Hopefully he’ll get washed out to sea.”
I can feel his stare burning into my back so I make sure I add a little extra sass to my hips as I head towards the path and off the beach.
I come to a stop when I know I’m out of his sight. I bend down to put Bailey’s lead on before leaning back against the wall next to me as my heart continues to try to pound out of my chest. I’ve never answered back to him like that but I feel amazing that I did. A smile twitches at the corners of my mouth as I remember the look on his face when I didn’t just cower away. It’s not something I’m likely to forget for a while.
This is my new start, my new life. I’ll be fucked if I’m going to let Declan bloody Morrison ruin it for me.
Chapter Two
Declan
I stand and stare at her back as she walks off down the beach. Who am I kidding…I stare at her arse as she walks off down the beach.
She’s never stood up for herself like that before, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Or that she thinks she’s got a magical pussy.
I laugh to myself as I run my hand through my hair, pushing the wet strands away from my face. Shaking my head, I run the last few minutes through my mind. What happened to Nicole? Where has the shy little ginger girl who used to drive me insane gone?
I sit myself down on the rock she just left and look out to sea. Memories of the last time I saw her hit me like a fucking truck. The darkness of her green eyes as she looked up at me, begging for me to kiss her in her hallway mere hours after she’d said goodbye to her mother.
I nearly fucking did as well.
I was a millisecond from lowering my lips to hers before the reason why she was so fucking vulnerable in that moment hit me upside the head. She was in n
o fit state to be making decisions, and I would forever feel like I’d taken advantage.
Plus, I fucking hate her; why the fuck the thought of kissing her even crossed my mind was beyond me. I put it down to the exhaustion. We’d had a long arse drive up there for the funeral, and then my bloody sister decided the wake was the perfect time to go into labour.
A shiver runs through me as I think about that. Even all these months on, it still haunts me.
The reason I’m acting like a crazy man with these thoughts about Nicole must be due to my lack of sex the last few days. I make a note to text Georgia for a bootie call later, and push myself off the rock. I’ve got too much to think about with my new business opening in a matter of weeks to be preoccupied with her and her personality transplant.
I tug my board from the sand and walk along the beach the same way she had only minutes ago. I convince myself she’s just visiting, but I know it’s a lie. I walked past her car when I left my sister’s house last night and saw it loaded with all her stuff. I felt like a pussy running like that, but I panicked. The last time I saw Nicole, I had her backed up in her hallway, practically begging me to put my hands on her.
I’m just about to walk to my shop when a shadow catches my eye around the corner. Taking two more steps to check it out, I come to a sudden stop when I see what—or who—it is. She’s stood leaning against the bricks with her head tipped up to the sky, her eyes shut like she’s praying while her dog sits at her feet.
My heart thuds in my chest and I have this sudden urge to walk over and pull her to me.
I watch for a few seconds too long; the moment she pulls her head forward, her eyes find mine. I see her mouth drop in shock but I don’t stand there any longer to find out what she’s going to do or say.
I pull the key from its hiding place and push it into the lock. I’ve had the surf shop here right on the beach front for just over a year now. It’s the perfect position, and it was the best decision I ever made. I’m hoping my recent purchase of the café next door will only make it more successful. I head straight to the office at the back of the building and pull my wetsuit down my legs before replacing it with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Pushing the tarpaulin hiding the building work going on next door out of the way, I walk through to what’s going to be my surf shack: café by day and bar by night.
“What the fuck?” As I step out of the office, water hits my feet. The perfectly sanded and stained floorboards are covered in inches of it. Storming back through the tarp, I grab my phone and pull up my builder’s contact, pressing it to my ear as it rings, ready to give it to him. This isn’t fucking happening. We’re meant to be opening in two fucking weeks.
In an attempt to distract myself, I begin cleaning the mess as I wait for the builders to arrive.
“What the fuck, man?” I shout over to Bob, the guy in charge, the second he appears.
“Mains pipe burst overnight.”
“What’s the damage? How long’s it going to put us back?”
“Looks like the skirting needs replacing, and the bar. I’m hopeful the plaster will be okay, but it’ll need redecorating.”
“So basically, you’re telling me we’re not going to be open for bank holiday weekend?”
“Doubt it.”
By the time BJ shows his face to start work, I’m thoroughly pissed off.
“Wow, what crawled up your arse and died?” BJ asks as he walks across the decking to find me stood staring out across the beach.
“Pipe burst. There’s water fucking everywhere.”
“Shit, how bad?”
“It’s a fucking leak, BJ.” He holds his hands up in defence. “Sorry,” I mutter.
“How was the surf this morning?” he asks, changing the subject.
“Incredible. You should have got your lazy arse out of bed.”
“I know, man. But did you see who I brought home last night? I wasn’t risking missing out on another piece of that.”
“You’re punching well above your weight with that one. You must have got her good and drunk to get her to agree to go home with you.”
“Fuck you, man. She was practically begging for it.”
Shaking my head, I walk back into my soggy, soon to be bar, and head straight to the office, ignoring the builders on the way.
BJ and I were in the same halls in our first year at uni. Thanks to our mutual love of surfing, we hit it off instantly. I used surfing as an excuse for why I wanted to come down here, but in reality, I was running away after the death of my older sister. I couldn’t cope with being around everyone as they tried to continue with their lives. It would be easier if I wasn’t reminded daily of the huge hole that had suddenly appeared in all our lives.
BJ, or Ben to those who don’t know him so well, didn’t take life too seriously, and was exactly the type of friend I needed at that point in my life.
We met Liam down at the beach one morning during our second year, and the three of us have kind of been inseparable ever since. When I told them about my dream of opening a surf school, they immediately jumped at the chance. I’m not sure I could have done all of this without them—not that I’ll ever openly admit that to them, of course.
I hear him and my other instructors chatting as they get everything ready to head out down to the sea. The season is just starting to kick off and we’re slowly getting more and more bookings for rentals and lessons. I always knew this was going to be a seasonal business, but it didn’t stop me worrying all winter that it wasn’t going to pick up again like it did last summer—but so far, so good.
* * *
I’m getting ready to leave for the day when my phone rings. It’s Lilly, and I answer as I lock up.
“Hey.”
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Shit. The shack flooded.” I explain to yet another person the events of today.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Nah, just got to wait for it to dry out and see how much damage it’s done.”
“That sucks. Anyway…” she starts, and I inwardly groan, I just know I’m not going to like what’s coming next. “I know you know Nicole’s here. We’ll talk about last night’s disappearing act another time, by the way. But for now, I need a favour.”
I’m fairly certain I won’t be agreeing to any favour where Nicole’s involved, but seeing as it’s Lilly, I regretfully ask what she wants.
“She needs a job, and I was wondering, with your shack opening soon, if you had any vacancies. She has experience,” she says in a rush, correctly expecting me to cut her off.
“No.”
“Dec, come on. She needs a break, her mum just died and—”
“Lilly, you don’t need to give me the sob story. I’m very sorry that Nicole lost her mum, but that isn’t reason for me to start handing out jobs willy nilly.”
“It’s not willy nilly. You’ve known Nicole forever; she’s trustworthy and will work hard. Come on, do it for me.”
I don’t need the reminder that I’ve known Nicole forever. She’s forever been a pain in my arse. I’m not likely to forget that. “No,” I repeat.
“Declan, please.”
“I said no, Lilly. I’ve got to go, I’ve got a date.”
“You don’t date.”
“Okay, fine. I’ve got to go, Georgia’s coming over so I can fuck her.”
“You’re a dick,” she mutters. “Please just think about Nicole.”
There’s no risk of me forgetting her anytime soon. The image of her arse in those skin-tight leggings as she walked away from me earlier is still burned into my eyeballs. I don’t say that out loud. Instead, I mutter some kind of agreement and hang up. I have no intention of offering Nicole a job, no matter how bad her life’s been. I refuse to spend that much time with her.
Nicole
After brushing as much sand out of Bailey’s fur as possible, I’m pleased to find Lilly’s house empty. I down a pint of water before making myself a coffee and head
ing up to my room. I’m not planning on staying here all that long, so I set about unpacking just a few things—not that I really have a lot. I used the excuse of clearing out our house and moving down here to completely start my life over, so aside from a few clothes and sentimental items, everything was either sold or given to our local cancer charity shop. Part of me was reluctant because I don’t have the kind of money to replace a lot of the furniture, but I couldn’t keep living in the past, surrounded by memories.
Bailey curls up on the end of the bed as I faff around, and once I’m showered and dressed, I make the mistake of lying with him.
* * *
The next thing I know, I’m waking to the sound of water running. Launching myself out of bed, I run towards the en suite and see exactly what I’m expecting to find—the bath full, and about to spill over. It’s not the first time something like this has happened, and I’m sure it won’t be the last, either. I hoped that moving and being with Lilly would put an end to my stress-induced sleep walking, but apparently not.
I turn the tap off as quickly as I can before turning the knob to release the plug, and I stand and watch as the water slowly drains away.
Mum used to tell me stories about my nightly adventures from when I was a child. As I got older, it seemed to get better, but the second she was diagnosed, it started up again. It got so bad that Mum used to hide the house and car keys in fear I would let myself out in the middle of the night.
Walking back into my room, I sit myself on the edge of the bed and rub the sleep from my eyes.
When I get downstairs, I realise I’m still home alone. I make the most of the peace, and after locating Lilly’s wireless speaker, I sync my phone and blast Rihanna around the entire house. Deciding I need to make myself useful, as I’m currently a freeloading lodger, I raid the kitchen for something to make for dinner.
* * *
An hour later, I’m prancing around the kitchen singing my heart out to Don’t Stop the Music, when I feel eyes on me. Turning around, I find an amused looking Lilly with a small person on each hip.
Falling For Declan (Falling Book 8) Page 2