Page 11 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

He gave me one swift nod. “Good. Amy and I went down to the house, but no one was home. We’ll try again tonight.”

Tension tightened my shoulders. I didn’t want to think about it right now. “Smells good,” I said, nodding toward the grill. “What’s cooking?”

Amy turned with a spatula in hand, giving me a crooked smile. “I’m making y’all hamburgers.”

I chuckled at her use of words. It was something that had just stuck with the guys since our trip out to Texas six months ago. We’d gone to help out a friend, and came back with a new love of all things country. For someone like me, the solidarity of friends and relaxed lifestyle they had out there was something I admired a lot.

As the guys each started appearing up the stairs, Amy began handing out the burgers, ordering us all to go take a seat down the end of the deck. I tried to ignore the girl on the beach as much as I could, but my gaze refused to stay away from her for too long. It was obvious the guys were having the same trouble. They kept alternating between watching her and watching the incoming storm on the horizon. If either was work-related watching, I wouldn’t have minded.

Daniel, as expected, was keeping a strict eye on the monitors, still not one hundred percent convinced our location hadn’t been compromised, but I had a feeling it was for nothing. I was confident the girl hadn’t recognized me.

“Who’s up for some GTA?” Cain said when we were all done with lunch.

Stretching, I picked my script up off the table. “You guys go ahead. I’m going to get a little work done.”

“You sure, man?” Corey said, a worried crease forming between his brows. “You need some downtime.”

I really did appreciate his concern. It made me feel good knowing they were all looking out for my best interests. “I’m good, man. Believe it or not, I actually like reading this shit.”

He laughed. “Okay. That’s why you’re rich and I’m not.”

As I watched them all slowly disappear inside, I looked out to the ocean and smiled. Before I could tell myself it was a bad idea, I curled the script in my hand and headed for the trail down to the beach.

“Josh,” Daniel said in warning.

I paused my steps and sighed before turning back to meet his gaze. “I’ll be fine,” I said. “Just trust me.”

He exhaled heavily, his eyes narrowing, but he didn’t say anything. Turning, I continued down the trail before I told myself I was being an irrational fucktard and to get the hell back upstairs. Climbing

over the dune, I dropped down to the sand, forcing myself to keep my eyes away from the girl, and opened up the script to the second scene.

It was hard to focus on the words with her lying practically naked within my peripheral vision, and as much as I still tried to tell myself not to look, my eyes eventually betrayed me.

I stared at her still figure for a while, my eyes running over the soft curves of her body as she rested. She really did have an incredible body. All the girls I’d dated lately had been actresses or models, and even though they were beautiful and slim, they were a little too slim for my liking. Too many hard lines and artificial parts. They didn’t have the soft roundness and sex appeal I thought a woman should have. But this girl . . .

Damn it! I really needed to stop this shit. Forcing my eyes back down to the script, I pushed myself into work mode. I’d almost finished reading the scene through for the second time when I heard a soft curse float through the air. I smiled.

Chapter 9

Olivia

“Shit!”

I woke, dazed and confused, wondering why the hell I felt so damned cold all of a sudden. Flipping over, I stared up at the sky, my mind pathetically trying to work out where the hell I was, and why I was wearing so little. It took longer than it should have for me to remember I was on the beach, and when I did, I was left trying to figure out what had happened to the sun. It was nowhere to be seen.

I shook my head, scrambling to find my dress. I couldn’t believe I’d actually fallen asleep. Who even does that? Shivering, I fumbled like a useless idiot as a cool wind wrapped itself around me. “Holy Hell!”

Finding my dress, I struggled to find the right way to get it to go on. My hands didn’t want to cooperate with me, and the damn dress didn’t seem to want to, either. The wind wasn’t freaking helping. I thought the place I’d settled on between the rocks must’ve had some form of tunnel capabilities going on, because the wind sure was blowing through there. “Oh, for the love of God!” I growled, tugging at the stupid lightweight material.

Looking out at the ocean, I saw the reason behind the sudden change in temperature. A storm was coming. Great.

As the dress finally slid into place, my hair tumbled out of the loose knot I’d put it in, falling over my shoulders and warming me at once. I breathed out a sigh and straightened the dress. Feeling slightly better now I wasn’t so cool, I grabbed the blanket off the ground with my book, giving it a little shake, before turning to leave.

I paused all movements the second I saw him. The guy. Sitting in the same place he was yesterday. His eyes were cast down on a bundle of papers in his hands, and his lips were curved up into a pleasant smile. My cheeks burned. Either he found what was on that piece of paper funny, or the little exhibition I’d just put on amused him no end.

Closing my eyes, I lifted my face to the sky and sighed. Oh yeah, I was so going to have all the guys chasing me. I was a real catch. Biting my lip, I smirked at the idea and shook my head before starting for home. Again, I waited until I was practically in front of him before I let my gaze wander his way. “Hi.”

His smile grew wider as he caught my eye, leaving me with no doubt he’d been laughing at me. “Hi. Did you have a nice rest?” he asked. There was more than a hint of amusement in his voice, so I knew he was teasing me.

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