Page 27 of The Book Signing

It’s Sunday morning, the sun is out; the sky is blue and the sand… oh, it’s heavenly. I find a pleasant spot in the cabana section beside the pool, lay down my towel, and start lathering sunscreen onmy body. According to my weather app, the rays here in Queensland are very strong, and burning to a crisp is not part of the plan. Still, the weather is refreshing compared to the level of freezing back home right now. I finally finish applying the last bit of sunscreen and then put my Ray Ban’s on. I sigh at the softness of the yellow pillow as I lay back on the couch, taking in my surroundings. It’s peaceful, almost like an oasis here.

Well, at least until I hear a loud ‘woo hoo’ and the loud stirring of a jet-ski.

I lean up and glance at where it’s coming from, and I find Jaxon riding the jet-ski, water splashing around him. He sits there with a grin on his face, clearly enjoying himself. I try not to smile, enjoying the view of him driving the jet ski.

However, my smile vanishes when I see a brunette with her arms wrapped around his waist. I watch how they swerve from side to side, waves crashing together from behind, leaving the soapy white froth as they speed by.

Not sure why I grit my teeth, or why a wave of jealousy hits me, but I’m not impressed with what I see.

Or how I feel about it.

Chapter Thirteen

JAXON

Feeling the wind against my skin combined with the splashing of water on my body is thrilling. This is just what I needed. An activity that’s fast paced and something I’ve never done before. Even the smell of the salt hitting my nose and mouth is refreshing.

I’m also enjoying the warmth of the body attached to me. Heather, I think her name is.

She drooled all over me when I was talking to the receptionist about how to get started with the jet skiing experience. Next thing I know, we’rechatting away, or at least she is trying to chat me up. It was hard to concentrate because my mind was replaying how Abigail tasted on my tongue when she finally let go. Followed by the memory of the not so pleasant moment when I snapped at her.

Unfortunately, the memory of that led to asking Heather to join me on the jet ski. Once we were on, it was fun; I admit. At first, she was screaming with excitement, enjoying the moment with me, which was great… but I prefer Abigail.

Fuck. Am I seriously thinking of Abigail when I have another woman’s arms wrapped around me?

These new thoughts of Abigail overriding new pussy is really fucking with my mental state. I feel like I’m falling, something is changing, and I don’t know how to control it. Mulling over what I’m feeling takes away my focus from the water and I don’t realize how easily I press down on the accelerator. Suddenly, I lose control of the speed.

My immediate reaction is to slow down and with luck, I get the speed back to the initial momentum I was going at.

“Fuck,” I exhale, glad that I’m back to calm water and stable speed I was told to go at. However, being someone that isn’t one to always follow rules, I decide to do something I’ve always wanted to try.

Slowly, I manoeuvre the jet to the side, close enough to the water that I feel it splash against my skin. I can’t help but smile at the feeling. How it rejuvenates my mindset, and I find myself able to refocus again.

However, as I veer back to the levelled position, I feel the warmth around my waist go cold. A scream followed by a loud splash makes me halt, making the water around me splash, causing ripples everywhere. I peek over my shoulder to see Heather in the water, dramatically splashing and screaming profanities at me.

Shit! I forgot about Heather!

I quickly speed up and ride back in her direction, stopping right beside her. Leaning over, I reach out to pull her back up onto the jet-ski. Apparently, that’s not good enough. She narrows her eyes at me, reminding me of a viper I read about in the brochure the receptionist gave me.

“You fucking jerk!” Her voice carries over and hurts my ear drums. She then removes the life jacket that was handed over for her to wear, chucks it away and swims off back to shore. I’m surprised she’s confident enough to just swim back. Although granted, we aren’t far from the shore, as it’s a small, private beach.

“It was an accident, babe,” I shout back to her retreating form. I can’t help but chuckle at the situation. I didn’t do it on purpose. People fly off on jet-skis. It’s a common occurrence. She could have just gotten back on and laughed it off.

I make a deep exhale, shaking my head at the turn of events. I rub the back of my neck as I bob up and down on the jet ski. The water no longer as calm as it was.

Yeah, I ain’t that calm anymore either.

My mood now deflated, I ride back to the dock, intending to see if Heather is okay. I’m not a dickhead to just leave her like that. Although. She must be a damn fine swimmer because I see her walking out of the water, back onto the shore.

My feet sink into the hot, soft sand as I jog over to her.

“Heather!”

She finally turns and as much as I would love to put that accident behind us, going by those scrunched eyebrows and thin-lipped expression… I don’t think this scenario is going the way I intended. After clearing my throat, I put my hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, Heather, sorry about that. It wasn’t on purpose. I wouldn’t do that.” I cock my headtowards the bar and add, “Why don’t we go grab a drink? On me.”

She chortles at me and removes my hand. I can see the anger radiating in her slitted eyes. With a stomp, she crosses her arms and yells, “My name is Hayley!” then storms off.

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