Page 14 of Wrong Turn

This was the vacation they’d come for. Surfer Dude wasn’t her type, but maybe with enough tequila . . .

“I need another drink!” Lei hollered to her dance partner across the techno-pop blaring from the loudspeakers.

“Let me buy it for you!” Surfer Dude hollered back. He took her hand and towed her through packed, gyrating bodies toward the bar. He elbowed a space for them and ordered her a Sex on the Beach.

Lei pushed him in the chest. “Hoping to get lucky, I see.”

“Funny you should say that. That’s what people call me.” His blue eyes crinkled with good humor. “All the best surfers have nicknames.”

“Lucky? Really?” Lei quirked a brow.

“Yeah. I’m Lucky. But you can call me anything you want, babe.”

Their drinks arrived. Lei picked hers up. It was frothy, peachy, and refreshing. “Mmm, nice choice. I think I like getting Lucky.” She smiled, pleased with the play on words.

“And what do I call you?”

“Lei.”

He frowned. “Lay? You mean you’re easy? Am I going to be charged by the hour?” His good humor disappeared as his glance raked her outfit.

“Oh no.” Lei choked on her drink and set it down. “No. No. My name is Lei. L-E-I. It’s Hawaiian.”

Now he laughed, smacking his forehead in exaggerated relief. “Holy crap. Lei gets Lucky. You can’t make this stuff up.”

They finished their drinks, making easy conversation. Lei’s head spun a little, but in a good way, as he towed her back on the dance floor.

A few more drinks and songs later, Lucky leaned in to speak in her ear. “Let’s get out of here to somewhere quieter.” He took Lei’s hand, towing her toward glass sliders that opened onto the pool deck.

Lei glanced back; she’d really rather dance some more, but her friends were fully occupied with their partners on the floor. And this was what she’d come for—a good time, and after all, his name was Lucky.

They emerged from the dance area into much cooler air on the deck surrounding the pool. Tiny lights crisscrossed the area, strung on lines from the corners of the buildings. A memory of the burning mine building and all it contained flashed across Lei’s mind, and horror made her trip in her high heels. Lucky looped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

“Careful. Don’t want to have you swimming in the pool in those awesome shoes.” He seemed to have a destination in mind. Quelling her anxiety, Lei let him pull her along. Down and away from the pool, they reached an isolated cabana with a canvas roof and sides, the curtains looped back from a soft mattress piled high with pillows.

“Wow. You knew just where this was.” Lei glanced around nervously. “We’re all alone out here.”

“Relax. We’re just going to have some fun. Spooky little thing, aren’t you?” Lucky sat on the edge of the cabana bed, his white teeth a flash in the dim light. “Come here.” He pulled her between his legs, his hands at her waist.

Lei lost her balance in the heels she wasn’t used to, and fell forward across him, sprawling gracelessly over his body and knocking him backward.

“Oh wow! I’m so sorry!” she gasped.

He tightened his arms around her. “Got you just where I want you.”

He kissed her, bold and invasive. Lei tried to stay with the kiss, in her body, experiencing this, but immediately she went to that other place, somewhere high above the cabana. She could see herself below, passive in the blond man’s grasp, her arms around him, her mouth kissing him back—but it was happening to someone else.

His hand slid up her leg, under the impossibly short skirt, and gripped the round of her buttock. He squeezed and caressed her.

“I love your ass,” he said against her mouth. “You’re so tight. I can’t wait to be in you.”

He was moving way too fast, but it was more than that.

“No,” Lei said.

This was wrong.

He wasn’t the right man, and this wasn’t the right place or time.

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