Page 16 of OneTime Lovers
The way I see it, if you find a sexy woman who captures your interest, you need to go for it. Exactly my plan with Jasmine.
The distant sound of an approaching helicopter has me looking to the horizon. Years of flying has attuned my hearing to the unique sound of the spinning blades.
I tell Blake, “I can hear the guys coming. Come on, let’s go be the welcoming party.”
Excusing ourselves from the group we head to the helipad to await the arrival of our friends.
It’s a good distraction for me. If I don’t stop staring at Jasmine, it’s going to become obvious to my friends there’s something going on between us.
We don’t have long to wait for the incoming helicopter to land, and once the blades have slowed, my mates climb down. I fist bump Parker and Tim before hugging Tim’s pregnant wife, Belle. It’s good to see them all as it’s not often we can get together.
A couple of porters assist the guys to unload the luggage quickly, then the concierge steps forward to lead them to the check-in desk. Blake following along behind them.
I wait for my other mate Ben who is the pilot to finish shutting down the machine.
It’s good having all the guys together again, just a shame our other close friend Will couldn’t get time off too. He’s the only one of our group of friends still on the clock with the US Army, but not for much longer I hear.
Ben, Parker, and Tim all served in the Rangers Regiment with Luke and Blake, which is how I know them. They all retired within about a year of each other, and I suspect the night their team was ambushed in Afghanistan had a lot to do with their decisions.
These days the guys are partners in their own private security business based in DC. It sees them traveling out of the country a lot of the time and usually to some war-torn hellhole, keeping people safe. Tim doesn’t travel so much anymore with a baby on the way, but certainly Ben and Parker still seek out danger on a regular basis.
Me, I was glad to leave all the stress behind when I left the Australian Air Force. I’m much happier with my waves and board building in Florida. A heavy Atlantic swell is as much danger as I’m looking for in my new life.
Ben jumps down from the helo and I greet him with a bro hug. Then I get to work helping him tie down the rotor blades in case we get hit with another tropical storm. Not that I’d mind if I was stuck alone again with Jasmine.
As we work, Ben asks about the island and the other guests. Ben is a bit of a player and always has been as long as I’ve known him, so I know he really only wants to hear about the single females.
I warn him off Cassie’s single younger sister with the same threat Luke gave me, he will take him down if he goes anywhere near her. Then I give him the heads-up Blake will tear him apart if he so much as speaks to Bec.
But I struggle to think of an excuse to keep him away from Jasmine. I can’t tell him she’s mine when she isn’t. I’ll have to keep an eye on him and steer him toward the other single available ladies.
Chapter 9
Jasmine
AvoidingScottismyplan tonight. How do I plan to do that? With the help of my friends of course.
The last thing I want is to be caught one on one with him again, as he’s sure to mention what happened this afternoon. I don’t need reminding of my meltdown over the storm. I try to limit myself to one embarrassing episode a day.
Damn astraphobia. It’s annoying how easily lightning has me losing control and cowering like a baby. There’s not much which frightens me, but storms sure do.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Scott walk away from the party with Blake. Good, I don’t need the constant reminder of how things between us got completely out of hand in the beach hut. If it wasn’t for Cassie calling out my name … well, we could have been caught in a compromising situation. I cross my ankles trying to ease an ache as I think how exciting things could have become if Scott had continued to strip me naked.
Initially, I blamed my response to Scott as gratitude for how he coaxed me safely back to shore. But then that would ignore the physical response I felt to his touch, which was certainly not just relief.
While there is no doubt Scott is incredibly hot and following this afternoon’s experience has all the right moves, doing anything about it could become messy. It’s not like a regular vacation romance; we are friends of friends and there is every chance we will bump into each other in the future. In fact, I can’t believe we hadn’t previously met on one of his regular visits to Manhattan.
As I gaze out at another spectacular sunset in paradise, it’s hard to imagine only hours ago I was huddling in a beach hut my face buried in Scott’s shoulder as a storm seethed around us.
My thoughts are interrupted by a small commotion near the bar announcing the arrival of the final guests who just flew in by helicopter. Cassie drags Lily, Trudy another of our friends and I by our arms toward the group, then quickly runs through the names of Luke’s friends. I guess she is trying to help out her single friends by introducing us to more hot men.
While Blake has returned with the new arrivals, I don’t see Scott anywhere. I’m quickly scanning the small gathering of guests when unexpectedly he appears as if conjured up beside me. Except he’s not alone, he is joined by another large, handsome man.
Trudy and I exchange a look that conveys our appreciation of the new guy joining the group. Seriously, is there a limit to the number of hunky men any one girl can ogle at once? If there is, we’ve just exceeded it.
We’d only just recovered from meeting Parker, a dark-haired Clark Kent type with glasses and all. Then the new guy, Ben arrives rocking more your brown-haired bearded, lumberjack mountain man vibe. All easy on the eyes, even if not quite my type. One thing’s for sure, I was right, these military men all do seem to be supersized.
With our pre-dinner drinks still in our hands, the waiters slowly move us as a group toward the dining room in the main building which is where tonight’s tropical-inspired rehearsal dinner will be held. When we are all standing gathered behind Cassie and Luke, the doors are flung open dramatically by the master of ceremonies. There is an audible gasp as we file in.
