Dream (Fighting Fate Book 5) Read online

  Chapter 8

  Josh

  If I ignored the rough start I’d had to the day, I would say I was having the perfect morning. The sets weren’t huge, but they were surfable, and that was all that mattered. Hell, I thought I could probably stay out on my board all day if the waves kept rolling in.

  Watching a wave swell toward me, I started to paddle, all too ready to carve it. As soon as the peak started forming, I kicked it up another notch, until she was taking me with her and I was sailing down her curves. Pushing myself up, I snapped to my feet, leaning my weight into the rolling mass of water, feeling the spray against my face as she curled over the top of me.

  Bending my knees, I pushed into her, shrinking myself as she closed into a perfect tube. As I burst out the other side, I dropped further, pushing her harder, before twisting out a bottom turn and carving higher up her face. Closing my eyes, I smiled, feeling the wind against my face as I rode her all the way to the end and kicked out.

  “Yeah!” I shouted into the breeze.

  As I started paddling back through the breakers, I couldn’t stop grinning. Now this was fucking living. It was exactly what I needed. Duck diving under the crashing waves, I surfaced near the guys and shook the water from my hair. I was just about to holler out how fucking awesome I was feeling right now, but was stopped by the intense look on their faces. If any of them had ‘work faces,’ these would be it.

  Instinct had me turning to see what was going down on the beach. Part of me was expecting to see a crowd of fans gathered on the shore, screaming, but instead of fifty screaming girls, there was only one oblivious girl. Sunbathing. Just past my house.

  I immediately knew it was the girl from yesterday. She was stretched out on her stomach, facing up toward the trees, her knees bent and her feet swaying in the air. From what I could see, she was either reading a magazine or a book.

  The image of her walking past me the day before flashed in my mind, reminding me of the book she’d been holding to her chest, so I decided it was a book.

  “Is that the same girl you saw yesterday?” Corey asked.

  Spinning, I saw all three of my friends gathering close. I knew they’d been skeptical this morning when I’d told them I didn’t think she’d recognized me, but I guessed that was what I was paying them for.

  Nodding, I glanced over at the girl again, considering the threat she implied. Like Daniel had said, until we knew how long she was going to be here for, and could work out a strategy, I needed to lie low. But how was I supposed to do that if she kept coming so close?

  A wave swelled under me, jolting me out of my thoughts. I shook my head. “It’s fine, guys. Whatever happens, happens. Let’s just enjoy ourselves.”

  Paddling farther out, I tried to take my own advice and just chill the fuck out, but after finding myself watching the girl as often as I watched for incoming waves, I cursed, ready to pack it in. The only thing that stopped me was my uncertainty about why I was watching her in the first place. As much as I tried to tell myself it was for security purposes, I couldn’t deny the fact that she intrigued me in some way. As much as I loved what I did, the carefree innocence I saw in her body language was something I would never have. And I envied her for that.

  But then I saw her push herself up onto her knees and start tying her hair up into some sort of knot on top of her head, and all concerns of security were lost to me. The slim lines of her body were very much noticeable—even from this distance, and the soft blue of her bikini made her skin gleam bronze in the sunlight. Yeah, I was a little more than intrigued.

  “Whoa.”

  I looked back to see all the guys watching her too, and for some reason that made me question my sanity, it annoyed the fuck out of me. “That’s enough,” I barked at them. “She’s just sunbathing, all right?”

  Forcing myself to look away from their confused faces, I attempted to catch some more waves to distract myself from whatever the fuck was going on with me, but after face-planting it more times than I can remember ever having done in one session, I decided it was time to quit.

  “I’m out,” I said, already paddling for the shore.

  Dragging myself from the water, I trudged up the sand toward my house, deliberately keeping my eyes on anything but her. I could do this. I just had to keep walking. Easy.

  So not easy. Just before I was about to reach the top of the dune and lose sight of her, my eyes betrayed me, swinging her way. She was right where she had been before, head down and face turned away from me, not even noticing I was there. My gaze slid over her bikini-clad body, her slim figure curving in all the right places.

  Sighing, I cursed under my breath and forced myself to keep moving. If I could just keep reminding myself of the destruction she had the potential of creating, I’d be all right.

  Thankfully, the smell of the grill drifted into my senses as soon as I started up the stairs, and my stomach took charge of distracting me. Amy and Daniel were both standing at the grill, while Mae slept soundly in the little portable crib close by. I stopped and peered down at her as I passed. She was eight months old now, but she was still the size of a newborn. It never ceased to amaze me just how tiny she was. She was a true miracle, and a born survivor. Just like her dad.

  “She see you?”

  I looked up to see Daniel on the other side of the crib. For a minute, I thought he was talking about Mae, but my senses soon caught up, and I realized he was talking about the girl on the beach. I shook my head. “No.”

  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.

  I turned to face him, but I kept moving just the same, choosing to walk backwards instead of stopping. “It was perfect. Right up until the part where I woke up feeling like I was in the Antarctic.” I laughed at myself under my breath. I knew I must’ve looked like an idiot, so I wasn’t going to pretend I didn’t.

  He laughed in response, his eyes sparkling with something I didn’t quite understand. I was so out of my depth. Giving him one last smile, I spun around and kept going.

  Shaking the sand off my legs and feet, I stepped into the wet room, and turned on the shower, washing myself off as best I could. When I was done, I wrapped one of Aunt Jenny’s massive bath sheets around me and headed up to my room to change. I was about halfway up when I heard my cell phone ringing.

  “Crap!” Dashing the rest of the way, I scooped it off the nightstand and pressed it to my ear. “Hello?” I said, my breath coming fast.

  “Hey, precious. It’s just me.”

  I recognized Aunt Jenny’s voice immediately. “Hey. How’s work going?”

  She groaned. “It’s a complete fuck-up. Sorry for swearing, but it really is. I’m going to be super late. There’s a menu for Chang’s Chinese on the fridge. Order whatever you want. They’ll charge it to my card.”

  “It’s okay. I can make something.”

  “All right. You decide. If you can’t be bothered, just order in. I don’t mind,” she said in a rush. The phone crackled a little before I heard her muffled voice. “Jeremy, just archive it. It’s not that hard. Oh, for crying out loud.” She sighed into the phone. “I’m sorry, Liv.”

  “It’s okay, but things sound a little stressed there. If you’re running too late, just stay there tonight. I’ll be fine.”

  “I don’t want to leave you there alone, precious.”

  I didn’t have the heart to point out that she kind of already had. “I’m a big girl, Aunt Jenny. I know how to lock a door. Trust me. Besides, I’ll be practically living alone soon anyway.”

  She laughed a little, but it was strained. “All right. I’ll text you later and let you know what I’m doing. Love you.”

  “Love you too. Go whip everyone into line.”

  “Oh, I will be. Don’t you worry about that!” she said. “Talk soon. Bye.”

  As she ended the call, I shook my head and tossed my cell onto the bed. As much as I thought Aunt Jenny had done well for herself, I would never choose to have such a high-pressure job. Writing was my style, and I would be happy if I made enough from it to put a roof over my head and food on my table.

  My mind ran over lunch possibilities as I changed into some dry clothes. I knew there was some rice in the fridge. I could whip up some fried rice for myself, no problem at all. My stomach grumbled with agreement, settling it.

  Hanging my bikini in the bathroom, I skipped down the stairs, and tossed the rice into the microwave. As I swung around the counter to fetch some eggs, the doorbell rang.

  I frowned. I didn’t know why the thought of someone being at the door freaked me out, but it did. Cautiously, I made my way to the oversize door and peeked through the peephole, my heart rate slightly faster than usual. The sight of a guy and girl with a baby in her arms confused me, until I remembered Aunt Jenny’s spying on the house next door.

  Opening the door, I gave the couple a confused but pleasant smile. “Hello?”

  The guy smiled. It was warm and friendly, and immediately relaxed me. “Hi. I’m Daniel, and this is my wife, Amy. We’re staying next door,” he said. “We just wanted to say hi, seeing as we’re sharing a beach and all.”

  “Oh, of course,” I said, extending my hand out to shake. “I’m Olivia. Nice to meet you.” I smiled at the little doll in Amy’s arms. “She’s so adorable.”

  Amy beamed. “This is our daughter, Mae.”

  “She’s beautiful. How old is she?”

  “She’s almost eight months, but she was a preemie, so she’s small for her age,” Amy said, smiling down at her daughter. It was obvious she adored her.

  They were the cutest little family I’d seen.

  “Are you here for long?” Daniel asked as he placed his finger in Mae’s tiny hand.

  “A month or so,” I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I’m just staying with my aunt until my parents get here.”

  “Nice,” Amy said. “We’re not sure how long we’re staying for yet. I hope it’s that long. I love it here.”

  “Yeah, it sure is beautiful,” I said in full agreement.

  The microwave screamed out a beep from the depths of the kitchen.

  “We won’t keep you,” Amy said. “Hopefully we’ll see you around. It was nice to meet you, Olivia.”

/>   As they stepped away from the door, a little voice in my head was yelling at me to ask them what the other boy’s name was, but I knew I’d left the question way too late for that. “Thank you for coming to say hi. I really appreciate it,” I said instead.

  Daniel nodded. “No problem, Olivia. See you around.”

  I watched them disappear up the drive before closing the door and smiling. If I had a chance of talking to the guy on the beach more from now on, my summer just got a hell of a lot better.

  Chapter 10

  Josh

  The rain started not long after I made it back up to the deck. It was the first thunderstorm I’d experienced here at the beach house, and I had to say, it was the best damn light show I’d seen in Cali so far.

  As I sat, feet up on a lounger and beer in hand, I stared out at the flashing sky, losing myself in thought. I was only here for another five weeks before I’d be making a quick trip home to Sacramento for Mom’s birthday, and then I was off to Florida. Ian, my manager, had already planned a few things for me to do while I was in Florida, but if I managed to get any free time, I really wanted to go surfing. There were a number of spots I’d yet to try along the East Coast, and I thought it was time I gave them a workout.

  Tipping the beer up, I sipped as I wondered, yet again, about the girl on the beach. I was almost positive she had no idea who I was. Her carefree attitude and easy smile were just too calm and relaxed to indicate otherwise. So, either she really didn’t know who I was, or her acting skills surpassed mine.

  A wave of discomfort went through me at the thought. It definitely wouldn’t be the first time a girl had tried to use me to get her acting career underway. I’d been through a couple of rather public break-ups because of it. These days, I was less inclined to date any girl with acting aspirations. Even the more established ones were more of a headache than it was worth.

  This girl, though . . . I probably wouldn’t mind playing opposite her. I’d never been more intrigued by a girl in all my life, and I had no idea why that was. What the hell was it about her that made me want to risk exposure, just to talk to her? I thought it might’ve been the fact that here, away from the spotlight, I almost felt like a normal person, and I knew without a doubt that if I was a normal person, I’d be doing a whole lot more to get to know her.