Page 17 of Sunrise

I look at the door at the end of the hallway that looks almost like a suite.

"What's that door?" I ask her.

"That's my room. It used to be a ground floor suite. Sunset had one too, but we took them for our rooms," Linn says.

I nod. "Thank you for this." I walk to the desk and sit down.

"Oh here, let me log into the computer in case you want to get online." She rounds the desk to stand next to me.

She pulls the keyboard out until it's resting against my stomach. I should move back, but I like forcing her into my space. She bends forward, tucking some hair behind her ear before she starts typing. I can't take my eyes off her. Up close like this, I can tell she doesn't have a stitch of makeup on, and she is still the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.

Her scent of sea salt and coconuts fills the air, and I'm addicted to it. It calms my nerves that had ramped up at the thought of being stuck on the island. All too soon, she is standing up and pulling away, and I need to get myself in order. The last thing I want her to see is how hard she made me without even touching me.

"You should be good to go. Let me know if you need anything. I'm going to go survey the inns and make sure there is no damage," Lin says, her voice a bit higher than normal as she quickly makes her way to the door.

"Thank you," I grit out as she closes the door behind her.

I relax into the chair and rub my hand down my face. Her scent is still in the air, which means I'm still hard as nails. I'm so fucked being stuck here with a girl I can't touch and that turns me on like no other girl ever has.

The first call I make is to Wren. I know I will be waking him up, but I really don't care at this point.

"Hello?" Wren asks.

"It's Kade. The bridge on the island washed out in the storms last night, so I'm stuck here until it's fixed. A few more weeks maybe." I lay it all out.

"Okay, well, this is good. I will talk to Gina, but if it gets out you are there, we can spin a story of how you just needed a break and ended up stranded on an island. Best case, no one finds out and you stay out of the press that much longer," Wren says.

Gina is my publicist, and she's great at spinning any story. How she has put up with me all these years, I will never know.

"What did Gina say about your plan to banish me here?"

"Ahhh, it may have been her idea. To keep you out of the press for awhile as she comes up with a new plan of attack," Wren admits.

"Of course, it was," I mumble.

"Hey, whose phone are you calling me on? I don't have this number saved."

"It's the inn's landline. Cell service is spotty. I guess a tower was damaged last night too."

"Okay, I will save this number and call Gina. Just relax and keep your head down," Wren says before hanging up without so much as a goodbye.

The next call I make is to my parents. The call goes to the answering machine just like I knew it would. They have learned over the years to screen their calls if they don't know the numbers. Since they still have an old landline and an even older answering machine, I just start talking.

"Mom, Dad, it's Kade. Pick up. This is the inn's landline. There was a storm last..."

"Hey, baby, why didn't you call from your cell phone?" my mom answers.

"I was getting to that. A storm last night knocked out the bridge to get on and off the island and damaged a cell tower. I'm fine, but I'm stuck here a bit longer than planned. I wanted to let you know before you heard it elsewhere."

"This is God's way of telling you to slow down and relax. He knew the only way to get you to do it was to strand you somewhere," Mom says.

Mom and Dad are God-fearing Christians. They work hard, play hard, but they go to church every Sunday and haven't missed a Christmas service since the year I had my appendix taken out when I was six.

I don't share their strong beliefs, but I learned a long time ago not to fight them on it either. It saves a lot of lectures.

"I'm sure it is, Mom. It's a good thing I like it here so far. I'm just another guy. I don't know how long it will last, but I can hope."

"What does Wren think of all this?" she asks.

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