Stormy Love (Wet & Wild 1)

Kallie was almost willing to embrace the adventure of her next two weeks before something caught her eye.

Up in the balcony of the bungalow-villa next to her was an elderly couple. They were swimming around in their infinity pool that actually jutted out over the edge of the ocean. The woman’s arms were wrapped around her husband’s neck and the two of them were smiling. Kissing. Linking their fingers together and languidly gazing out into the endless horizon.

It made her feel sick inside.

Kallie abandoned the water, swimming to the shoreline as fast as she could. She grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her, suddenly feeling idiotic for being in the damned bikini. She raced inside as tears brewed behind her eyes, then she marched to her bedroom and picked up the phone on her nightstand.

She dialed the number for the front desk of the building that managed the villas she was in.

“Yes. Hello. I was informed that my drinks were included in the cost of the package I’d purchased? Mhm. Where do I go to get them? Oh, there’s a bar I can go to? Great. Where is that?”

Kallie jotted down the directions the front desk attendant gave her before she hung up the phone. Besides the personal chef that would come in and prepare lunch and dinner for her, there were a couple of bars scattered throughout the island she could drink at for free. All she needed was the red wristband that was sitting in her nightstand drawer. She pulled it out and threaded it around her wrist, then found a dress to pull over her bikini top.

There was a beachside bar located two villas down on its own patch of private beach.

And that was where Kallie was headed for her all-inclusive alcohol.

Chapter 4

Ash

Ash tossed the protein powder and some milk into the blender as Johnny tended to the bar. The two had been friends for quite some time. Ever since Ash took up permanent residence on the island to surf his troubles away. When he wasn’t out on the water, he was annoying the hell out of his best friend and teasing him for hitting on all the women who came into his beachfront cabana. Johnny kept trying to get Ash to come work with him at the bar. Johnny could run the place once the owner finally croaked and Ash could bartend and bring in all the ladies with his smooth accent and his dashing good looks.

But that wasn’t something the surfer wanted.

“What’s the flavor today?” Johnny asked as he slung a margarita into a glass.

“Are you talking about Sherry or my protein powder?” Ash asked.

“Either?”

“The protein today is chocolate, but Sherry’s anything but. Sweet smooth skin, with a pearly glow to her when the moonlight hits her just right. A bit sunburned right now, though.”

“A good fuck on the beach?” Johnny asked. “Or burned from falling asleep on the porch?”

“Neither,” Ash said. “She sat in a window too long.”

“I’m not gonna even ask.”

“Don’t worry. There’s a reason her flavor was only good for a day.”

That was the habit Ash had fallen into. A laid-back life of surfing and performing odd jobs to get him by. No contact with his stuffy family, nothing to do with the family business, and no lectures about how he was somehow descended from royalty.

Who the fuck cared if he was descended from royalty? His family lived in the damn States anyway.

“And a margarita for the lovely lady,” Johnny said.

Ash watched as he slid a drink to a very familiar face sitting at the corner of the bar. A few wrinkles around her eyes. Deep-red hair. Dark-brown eyes. A bit older, but money for days. It was one of the socialites Ash had been chatting up all week. The woman who would replace his next craving for something a little more tender. A little rawer. The younger women who came to the island, they liked it rough. A bit of hair-pulling. A bit of biting. Maybe a nice fuck against a window. But Ash was looking for something a little more tender, and older women gave him that. They had money and weren’t stuffy when it came to throwing it around. And in exchange, all they wanted was a few little licks and a nice, lazy fuck to help them fall asleep.

The thought was a nice change for Ash, but Johnny was clearly slipping in on his game.

Blond hair. Blue eyes. Thick American accent. Women fell over themselves getting their drinks from Johnny. He was outgoing, played a bit of blues guitar, and had no issues busting out the damn instrument right there at the fucking bar. Ash knew the moment that thing came out the woman he had been hitting on the day before would be of no use to him. Johnny would have her as putty in his hands, and Ash would be back to prowling.

So when his eyes looked up and saw a gorgeous woman coming into the bar, he wasted no time in putting on his best smile.

“Welcome to Bart’s Beachside Cabana. My name’s Ash, and I’ll be your bartender today,” Ash said with a broad smile.

He made sure to flash his best one in order to catch the eye of this beautiful dove that had floated into the bar. Johnny was already digging around for his guitar, not even remotely paying attention to the new customer that had traipsed in. Copper hair that fell past her shoulders, sitting right above a pair of perky breasts. Bright-green eyes that sat atop a cute button nose. Her skin was pale but glowed with a healthy tan that soaked up the sun instead of burned.