Page 115 of Tame Me

Chapter Thirty-One

The last sunrise of the year arrived in spectacular fashion, and as I sat out on my balcony, I watched the sun cast golden bolts up from the horizon in a perfectly symmetrical fan of light. I sipped hot coffee and inhaled the fresh ocean breeze that drifted up the beach.

Even though it wasn’t yet five in the morning, council workers were out in force. A tractor was driven in endless loops back and forth, raking the sand for rubbish and debris, and dozens of laborers were busy setting up stages, fencing, and other temporary erections in preparation for tonight’s New Year’s Eve festivities.

I found it hard to believe that this year was over. It felt like only last week that I’d done the craziest thing in my life when I pleasured myself in George Whiteman’s room on the first day of this year.

I giggled.

I’d come a long way since then. Full circle, in fact. At the height of my year, I’d had five men who I was seeing on a regular basis.

Five men. Five gorgeous, unique, stunning men.

Clayton, Henry, Hunter, Billy, and Corben.

And now I had none.

Tomorrow was a new day. A new year, too. Maybe I could set myself another challenge? But even as that idea whizzed through my head, I smacked it away.

Although this year had been amazing, I doubted it could ever be topped.

No. . . next year would be the year when I dated men properly . . . as Jane Nichols.

Despite the tumultuous emotions that had attacked me during the last two weeks, I was still optimistic about next year. I’d learned many, many things in the last twelve months, and one of them was to look at the world with my eyes wide open.

I now knew it was impossible to judge a person on their appearance.

Luke Stone was a testament to that—on appearance, the one-legged fashion designer was a man in control, but scratch the surface a little, and he was a man who’d only just survived six years of personal demons.

I finished my coffee, and as I showered, all the wonderful men of this year danced across my brain. Three of them stayed in my vision longer than the others—Henry, Billy, and Hunter.

They were the only three who had truly touched my heart.

But it was the loss of Hunter that hurt the most. He was truly special, and I didn’t know if I could ever recover from what I did to him. I will never forget the heartbreak in his eyes when I last saw him.

Before I tumbled down that rabbit hole again, I hopped out of the shower and forced myself to keep moving.

Twenty minutes later, I stepped from the elevator and strode toward reception. “Hey, Bailey, how was the night?”

“Morning, Jane. It was busy.”

“Kept you awake then?”

“Yeah, it was good.” His grin seemed genuine.

“All right, what have I got today?”

We went through the changeover and at five-thirty, after Bailey stepped through the front glass doors, I was all alone in the large, open marble expanse. I strolled into the kitchen and popped the kettle on.

But my isolation was short-lived.

I didn’t even get to drink my tea as nearly every minute of my shift was occupied with guests checking in, checking out, and asking questions about the New Year’s Eve festivities on the beach.

It was crazy busy, and before I knew it, Marjorie stood next to me, chatting about her plans for the night. After the changeover, I hugged her goodbye and headed up to my room.

Other than Lolita’s New Year’s Eve party later, I didn’t have anything organized for the rest of the day, however that changed the second I walked into my room and noticed how gorgeous the day was. I slipped into my exercise gear and headed out to the sunshine.

I walked over the grass and crossed the soft sand on my way toward the water’s edge. The beach was always busy, but today it was exceptionally crowded. It was a stunning day, wasn’t too hot or too windy. Beachgoers were out in droves, soaking up the summer sunshine. People were everywhere, and the holiday spirit was in full swing.

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