Good Morning from Paradise (3 page)

“I’m
listening” I smiled at him. He continued.

“Kyle
and I set up business young, we didn’t want or know how to do anything else but
make and build things. We struggled at first, neither of us were any good at
the business side but we’ve built something awesome together over years of hard
work. Last fall we started some renovation work for Brits dad. It was hard work
but it payed off, he loved it. To thank us he held a dinner party in his newly
refurbished place and invited loads of business acquaintances, people who were
looking to have work done, it was like a real live advertisement for our
company.  I took Rachael as my guest. She was overwhelmed by the money,
the luxury, it was like a switch in her flipped. She started wanting more,
demanding holidays, designer clothes, loads of expensive shit. She wanted me to
risk the company, take out loans in the hope that the people from the dinner
party would throw business our way. I wasn’t in it alone. I didn’t have the
power to give her what she wanted. We became distant. We could hardly stand to
be in the same room until eventually she left me. Went off with an old rich guy.
That was it.”

“We
have something in common,” I giggled. “shit exes!”

“I’ll
drink to that” we raised our bottles and clinked them together. From then on we
were more relaxed and the conversation just seemed to flow. We didn’t realise
the time until the waitress started cleaning the table next to us. When I
looked around we were the only ones there. We giggled like children as we left.
He grabbed my hand again and walked me home. When we got back to the hut he
stood for a while looking at me.

“What
are you and Amber doing tomorrow?” he asked

“As
far as I know we have no plans, why?” I blushed again.

“We
could take you out for the day, Kyle and me that is. If you’re not busy of
course.” He reached out his hand, a cheeky grin on his face.

“Give
me your cell Ella.” I took my phone from my pocket and handed it to him. He put
his number into my contacts and gave me the phone back.

“Text
me if you can come, goodnight Ella.” He stroked my cheek and left. I was
floating again. Amber was floating after her night with Kyle too. After
catching up we discussed tomorrow and decided a day out as a foursome would be
fantastic. I thought about calling Dan to arrange everything but then I
realised that it was almost 2am and he was probably asleep so I sent a quick
text to say we were available tomorrow. Just as I was about drift off my phone
pinged. It was Dan. It said:

 
We’ll be there at 10am. Bring a swim suit.

D
x

A
swim suit? Ok. We must be either doing a water based activity or they just want
to ogle us in swimwear. Either way, as long as he’s in swim wear too I’ll be
fine. I text back.

Yes Sir! Full on wetsuit or tiny two piece?

E xx

My
phone pinged:

You know I’m gonna go for option 2 every
time, gorgeous girl.

D x

My
body temperature started to rise, how can he do these things to me through a
text?

As long as you’re showing equal amounts of
flesh I’m happy!

E xx

Immediate
reply:

Well I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.

D xx

Tuesday 11
^{th June}

Good Morning Diary,

Date day! Excited! Can’t wait!

Sleep came fast and brought some
sweet
dreams with it. This morning Amber and I settled for cereal and coffee. We
didn’t have much time to eat. We needed to get ready Kyle and Dan were picking
us up at 10am. I’m a mix of nervous, excited and worried. I’m just so glad that
Amber would be with me and I know that sounds childish but I don’t care.
Paradise is proving to be exactly that so far and I can’t wait to see what
today offers. Got to run…

Ella xx

The
guys picked us up at 10 am. Dan looked delicious with his shirt open showing
his perfectly toned, tanned torso and his cargo shorts hanging on his hips, it
took all of my willpower not to touch him.

“Hey
girlies.” Kyle smirked surveying Amber slowly from top to bottom. “You ready
for some sailing?” he asked finally peeling his eyes from Ambers body and
looking at me.

“Sounds
good to me” I agreed as Dan put his arm around my shoulder loosely. Good God he
smelled divine, my core immediately fired up like a pilot light flicking on for
the first time after a long summer of being unused. I suddenly felt very aware
of my hands. What do I do with them now? If I put my arm around his waist is it
too much contact? If I hang my hands down my sides do I look uninterested? I
didn’t need to worry for too long, he pulled me close.

“I
hope there’s a two piece under that outfit” he teased. Then he dropped his arm
from my shoulder and took hold of my hand. This contact I can handle. Our
fingers entwined, his thumb caressing my skin the whole time we walked. It felt
good, like I was his. He was beautiful and caring and he was holding
my
hand! My heart raced.

 It
was beautiful out on the ocean, so peaceful and calm, we decided to stay out
for a while and relax in the sun. Amber and Kyle stripped, dived into the water
and started swimming and messing around. It looked like fun so Dan and I
decided to join them, he took off his shirt and dived in.

“Come
on” he called up to me with a huge, gorgeous grin on his face. I followed him
in. He watched closely as I took of my shorts and vest to reveal my bikini, I
had chosen one of the new suits I had bought on our shopping trip. I knew I
looked ok but I still felt self- conscious with his eyes on me. He came to join
me as I jumped in, wrapping his arms around my waist he turned me away from him
and ran his finger down my spine, tracing the outline of my tattoo.

“I
like this” he said as he slowly made his way down to the base of my spine. I
shivered as he touched me, it felt like electricity running through me, I
briefly imagined what it would feel like touching me in other places.

“Tell
me about it” he said as he turned me to face him again, his arms around my
waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck, our bodies touched, our faces close
enough to kiss easily.

“It’s
cherry blossom” I looked up into his eyes. “Before I moved to the states my
flat in England overlooked the most beautiful cherry blossom tree, I loved to
sit under it in summer and read, you know, have some time to think about
things, get some peace. I missed it when I moved here so I got the tattoo and
now I get to take it everywhere with me.” I smiled.

“What
about you?” I asked. “Have you got any ink?” I had quickly scanned his upper
body before he jumped into the ocean but I didn’t see any. He started to smirk
and dropped his head to my shoulder. “You have, haven’t you?” I pushed for
answers, I was intrigued.

“Come
on, you’ve got to show me, you’ve seen mine!” I pouted.

I
broke the contact and started to swim around him looking him over but he
quickly caught me and pulled me back into his arms, by back against his chest
now, he started tickling me.

“Cheater!”
I screeched through the laughter. “Show me what you’re hiding!” I wriggled in
his hold trying to escape the tickling. My bum rubbed against his penis and I
could tell he was enjoying the closeness as much as I was.

“keep
wriggling like that and I’m going to end up showing you a lot more than I had
planned to today that’s for sure.” He said quietly in my ear as he gripped my
hips pressing us together. My body went into overdrive with lust and I moved my
hips slowly around pushing onto him. He let out a groan and I knew then he
wanted me as much as I wanted him. He was solid now, huge. I turned and wrapped
my legs around his waist, his hands slid over my bum pressing my core to his
hardness. My legs gripped tight, thankful for the break from treading water. He
looked into my eyes, the heat in his mirroring mine and I knew he was going to
kiss me, my body was begging him to. He looked at my lips and then slowly
brushed his mouth on mine, teasing me, making me desperate for more.

“Hey,
you guys playing show and tell over here?” Kyle shouted as he swam over to us
with Amber attached to his back.

 I
could feel myself blushing, I tried to move away but Dan gripped tighter
holding me in place. It took me a good minute to unscramble my brain so that I
could answer Kyle.

“I
was just asking Dan if he had any tattoos. He saw my tattoo but he’s being coy
now I’ve asked to see his, if he has any that is, come on Kyle, spill.”  I
demanded. Kyle laughed loudly.

“Yeah,
he’s got ink, we both have, all of the guys have in fact.” Dan started to laugh
and shake his head.

“I
dunno if you’d want to see it thought Ella,” Kyle smirked. “It’s on his butt,
we all got one on our butt, it was like a stupid, beer induced idea to mark our
friendship, or some shit, before we all went to college.”

“Makes
me want to see it even more actually” I winked at him and pushed away, splashing
him as I swam back to the boat. They all followed me.

“At
least tell us what you’ve got tattooed down there” Amber laughed. “Come on
guys, you can’t leave it at that, I wanna see!” she said tugging at the waist
band of Kyles shorts.

“Woah,
there woman.” Kyle almost yelped as he grabbed for his shorts and playfully ran
away from Amber.

“Ambers
right you could at least tell us what it is?” I offered to spare them the
embarrassment of flashing us.

 Believe
me, I really wanted to see what was under Dan’s shorts but not what’s under
Kyle’s and not on the deck of a boat when other people are around. Kyle raised
both hands in front of him in a silent plea for Amber to stop tugging at his
shorts, she read him well and backed off.

“It’s
an eagle head,” Dan told us shaking his head.  “It was the mascot for the
school sports teams, we were eighteen and drunk” he giggled.

“What
about you Amber?” Kyle slowly started twirling her around looking up and down
her body. “Got any tats hiding under that swim suit?”

 “I
went to get one a couple of months ago but got totally freaked out by the
needle so I chickened out before they got started.” Amber blushed.

“Aw
baby, come here,” Kyle said pulling her close to him. They started kissing.

“Who’s
ready for lunch?” Dan asked as he produced a picnic the boys had put together
for us. We were all hungry. Dan and I laid out a blanket and emptied the
contents of the picnic basket onto it. While we were eating the sandwiches and
salads from the picnic we decided we should sail around to the secluded beach
along from ours and have a look around.

Amber
and I had missed the tour yesterday and I was eager to spend longer with Dan if
I could. Kyle and Amber took charge of the boat and Dan and I tidied up.

“So,
do you think I’m stupid for giving in to peer pressure and ending up with an
eagle head on my ass?” He asked me. I looked at him and tried to put my best
serious face on as I answered.

“No,
I don’t think you’re stupid, I’m just disappointed you didn’t show me it.” I
joked trying not to smile. He walked up to me, his face so close to mine I
could feel the heat from his breath.

“All
in good time Ella” he said quietly before leaning in and brushing his lips on
mine. I was pinned between the side of the boat and his hot, half naked body,
waiting, almost begging for him to deepen the kiss. He leaned and looked at me,
his breath becoming more ragged, his hands cupping my face.  In that
moment no one else existed, it was all about Dan and what would happen now,
until Amber started calling for us to join them. We smiled at each other and he
took my hand as we went to find out what the fuss was about, I made a mental
note to kill Amber for interrupting us later.

“Turns
out someone is making good use of the secluded beach.” Kyle laughed wiggling
his eyebrows up and down. When he says making good use, they were going at it
like rabbits. Amber reached for the binoculars to get a closer look.  

“Wow
they are going
at
it!” she laughed. “Girl on top, go girl!” Kyle grabbed
the binoculars to check it out for himself.

“Hey
guys that’s Nadia!” he pulled the binoculars from his face as if they had burnt
him.

“Nadia?
You sure? Give me those.” I grabbed the binoculars to see for myself. “Yep
that’s Nadia, perfect hair, even when she’s having sex, ooh they’re changing
position, maybe we’ll see who the lucky guy is…Dan, was Justin in your little
drunken tattoo gang? Coz that guy banging Nadia has got a cute little tat on
his butt!” Amber gasped as Dan took the binoculars. Kyle went quiet.

“That’s
not Justin guys” he gave the binoculars back. “take a look for yourself… that’s
Wil.” My turn to gasp. It can’t be Wil, I felt my heart thud faster and faster
as I looked again, they were finished now and there, pulling his pants on the
sand next to Nadia stood Wil, clear as day. The others took turns to verify
what Dan had said and then we all stood silent and gobsmacked for a little
while before Kyle turned the boat around and we headed for home.

 I
argued with myself, even though I’d seen the evidence with my own eyes. It
can’t be Wil; he was taking Brit shopping today to make up for working
yesterday. I got my phone from my bag and fired a quick message off to Brit:

Hey girl, how’s the shopping? You maxed his
card yet? Luv ya El x

Two
minutes later my phone pinged and my heart sank as I read the text:

Sadly, no. Party planner needed me and more
friends arriving soon so let him off. He went shopping alone for my B-day gift!
Can’t wait to see it!! Brit x

Holy
shit! It was Wil!

“That
lying, cheating fuck told Brit he was shopping alone for her Birthday gift
because she had to meet with the party planner!” My blood ran cold, everyone
felt the same, you could see it in their faces. It was quiet on the journey
home, we decided not to tell Brit just yet but to give Wil the chance to tell
her. The guys were going to talk to him about it as soon as they got chance. I
hated him for this, this was going to break Brits heart, no
shatter
Brits heart.

Dan
held me close to him all the way back, I was glad of the comfort. We both knew
how Brit was going to feel, we’ve both been there too. As we got back to our
beach we could see Brit bouncing around the huts, showing her new guests where
they’d be staying. She looked so happy. Shit, this was going to be bad. We put
on fake smiles as we joined them, Justin was there too, he’d discovered that it
was karaoke night at the bar and he was going to make sure we were all there.
None of us felt like it but we couldn’t show it so we all agreed to go. Dan
walked me back to the hut. I needed to get my head right before we all got
together later. When we reached the hut he stood in the door way and lifted my
chin so that I was looking at him.

“Hey,
she’ll be ok you know, we’ll be there for her.” He stroked his thumb up and
down my cheek. I smiled at him

“I
know. It’s just shit that’s all”. He agreed.

“Let’s
not let it spoil tonight, huh. Maybe there’s some kind of explanation, we don’t
know the whole story yet. I’ll have a chat with Wil when I can get him alone
and see what’s going on.”

“Thank
you.” I said and he lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me. This time it was a
proper kiss, he meant it, we both did. It quickly grew stronger and more
passionate and we were both breathless, I pulled away, ending it before it went
any further. I wanted it to go further but not now, not to make me feel better
after the shock of today. I wanted it to be ours. Not tainted. Just perfect. I
think he knew because I went to apologise for pulling away but he stopped me.

“It’s
ok,” he almost whispered. “If we went any further I wouldn’t be able to stop
and it’s not the right time.” he stroked my cheek.

“Pick
you up at seven.” He said and he gave me one last kiss before he left. I lay on
my bed trying to get my head round the events of the day. It was messed up,
that’s for sure. I should be floating right now but I can’t shake the sadness I
felt for Brit. Maybe Dan will uncover some answers when they have a chat. I
hope so but until then I can’t act differently towards him, not until Brit
knows. Then I’m going to let him have it. Bastard!