Paradise Island: Complete Edition Read Free Page A

view. I quickly averted my eyes when I saw him look up at me.
    “You know what I said yesterday, I didn’t really mean it,” I finally said after the awkward silence had become too much. I knew I should have left him be, but I just couldn’t just leave things as they were. I didn’t want him to hate me.
    “That’s fine,” he said noncommittally, not really looking at me.
    In an effort to look anywhere else but the man in front of me, I took notice of my surroundings and saw a huge house up ahead. It was the house everyone was jealous of in the town. I knew I heard Lucy talk about it more than once.
    “Do you live up there?” I found the words coming out of my mouth before I could think about what I was saying.
    “Yeah,” he said. “Want a tour?”
    “No, I was just wondering. It looks like a beautiful house.”
    “It should be, especially how much I paid for it.”
    “Well, I should be on my way.”
    “If that’s what you want.”
    “I saw a couple of your movies yesterday,” I said. “I did have a bit too much to drink, though, so I can’t promise I remember everything exactly.”
    “Some critics say that that’s the only way they can sit through my movies: while drunk.”
    I laughed. “Oh my God, you did not just say that!”
    He smiled at me and winked.
    I was glad that he was no longer angry with me.
    “Are you sure you don’t want a tour? I’d understand if you’ve gotta get to work.” He seemed almost disappointed by the prospect of my having to leave.
    “No, I’m off today. But I should really go.”
    Just when I was about to turn, it was as if fate, or some other force, had decided it was a perfect moment to laugh at me. Clouds became darker and sudden downpour went down, drenching us both.
    And just as an insult to injury a loud roar of thunder sounded in the night sky.
    “Maybe that tour wouldn’t be such a bad idea!” I said as I shivered from the cold rain. My jacket wasn’t of much help.
    “Follow me,” Jack said and took my hand and led me up the hill to his house. His beautiful house on the hill.
    And the closer we got, the more beautiful the house became. While the rest of the town was made of cottages and small crappy houses, this house was very much modern. The walls were made of glass, allowing for a beautiful view of the surroundings.
    He closed the sliding doors behind us and I immediately felt better. It was warm inside, and it was a relief to feel heat on my skin after the icy cold of the outside.
    Jack took off his leather jacket to reveal the soaked through white shirt. The outline of his perfectly muscled chest made me blush. I had to look away. I shouldn’t have thoughts like this.
    And then he was right in front of me. His body as close to mine as I always feared another man’s would be. I could smell his cologne, or maybe it was his natural scent, I wasn’t really sure. I wasn’t really experienced in such things, as well as many others girls my age would have seen as normal.
    His hands were on my shoulders and I froze. I did not know what to expect.
    “Let me take your jacket,” he said gently, and I immediately backed away.
    “Is anything wrong?” He asked, a questioning, and sad, look in his eyes.
    “No, sorry, it’s not you. It’s just I don’t like...well, I can get my own coat off, is all I’m trying to say.”
    I couldn’t believe that I was almost going to spill my guts to this guy. Maybe those romantic comedies of his had gotten to me. Maybe I was confusing fantasy with reality, and that was not a place I wanted to be. Not again. Not ever again.
    I slowly took off my jacket. Thankfully the shirt below was mostly dry, so I wasn’t going to flash him my boobs like he had flashed me his perfectly muscled chest.
    I warmed myself up with my hands.
    “I’ve gotta get a dry shirt,” he said as he took off his wet t-shirt in one motion. “I’ll be right back.”
    Once again I found myself blushing at the sight of his naked torso. His firm,