Instantaneous regret filled his body. It wasn’t worth it. What happened was what happened, and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. He dusted the sand from his board and waxed it well, then stood up to his feet. He wasn’t going to sit there and fawn over some married woman who wanted to blow her marriage vows out of the water. He jogged down to the beach, away from the volleyball game and away from her tantalizing curves.
Then he hit the water and paddled out to sea.
Ash was looking for a mean, nasty wave. One he could surf all the way in. He wanted to throw his anger and his energy into stabilizing his body. Into controlling what he could and letting go of what he couldn't. He wanted to take his mind off things. Maybe he would go surfing on the other side of the island tomorrow. Remove any chance of running into Kallie and conjuring the perfect passion they’d shared in her bed.
Her fucking marital bed.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as the water rocked against his ankles. He placed his body on the board and began paddling, feeling his body being lifted higher and higher. This was it. The wave he’d been searching for. He hopped up onto his feet and steadied himself, his knees bent and his arms out. He crouched down and began to surf, riding the curve of the wave. Making his way into the beautiful tunnel that wrapped around his body.
He held his hand out and pierced the mirror around him. Felt the soft water around the tips of his fingers. Wet. Warm. Luscious.
Like his tongue between Kallie’s thighs.
He lost his control and his train of thought and was quickly swooped underneath the wave. He tumbled and tumbled, his body being battered against the bottom of the ocean floor. His board was being tossed around, yanking his ankle as he cried out underneath the salted water.
He pushed himself up with his arms and came up sputtering, coughing up the salt water that had managed to get into his lungs.
He panted. Heaved. Felt sick to his stomach. He grabbed his board and supported himself on it, embarrassed to have been seen failing so epically at something he was skilled at. Ash rubbed the salt water from his watering eyes and gazed back toward the beach, wondering how many people were watching and laughing in his direction.
But there was only one set of eyes he locked onto. Those beautiful green eyes that had called to him at the Cabana that day.
Kallie was staring at him.
And he could’ve sworn she looked worried.
Chapter 14
Kallie
The liquor lowered her inhibitions, but watching Ash hit that ball as hard as he did made Kallie irrationally angry. He had no reason to prove himself anymore. She knew what he was doing. He was jealous. Angry that she was fawning over another man. Well, he was the one that left. The one that scurried out and subsequently avoided her at all costs at the bar. He didn’t get to be pissed off that she was flirting with someone else.
“Wanna get out of here? Maybe go get another drink?”
His smooth tenor voice ripped her from her trance. Kallie had enough alcohol in her system and the thought of any more turned her stomach. She hugged her new friend and politely turned down his offer, saying she needed to sleep off the alcohol she’d already had. He was disappointed, she could tell, but he was a gentleman about it. At another time, she might have gone for him. His thick arms and his barreled chest and his gentlemanly demeanor.
But it wasn’t his time.
It wasn’t anyone’s time.
The two of them said goodbye and Kallie stumbled over to the lounge chair where she’d dropped her things. She was angry at everything. James. Ash. The alcohol. The island. She was angry and letting the encounter with Ash get to her as much as it was. She was angry at James for ruining her plans. Her fut
ure. Her wedding. She was angry at Eris for supporting her idea on coming to the island and she was pissed at the island for shoving a beautiful man into her arms only for him to recoil in disgust.
Her emotions were in a whirlwind, and the alcohol in her stomach wasn’t helping matters.
She itched for a fight. Ready to confront Ash about everything. She wanted answers. She deserved them. And she wasn’t leaving until she had them. She whipped around, her hair blowing in her face as her eyes scanned the ocean.
If he was too much of a coward to approach her, then she would approach him.
Her eyes found him riding a wave just before he disappeared. But the wave collapsed and he didn’t come out of the other end and her breath caught in her chest. She saw his board pop up from the ocean. But Ash wasn’t anywhere to be found. She felt her heart stop. She took a step, ready to run into the ocean after him.
“Come up,” she said with a whisper. “Come up, Ash.”
She watched him charge from the waves like some kind of sea god and her knees went weak. She fell to her lounge chair, releasing the breath she had been holding. He was coughing. Sputtering. And even in his weakened state, he was beautiful. Kallie grasped onto her anger. Kept it at the forefront of her mind with all her strength. It couldn’t be washed away in a tide of sexual need. Not now. Not when she had her courage to confront him. Ash turned and his eyes locked with hers, and instantly her anger melted away.
He hefted his board underneath his arm and walked for the shoreline, dripping with seawater.
His eyes were bright with an emotion she couldn't register, but when she stood to her feet, he veered to the left. Away from her as their eyes disconnected and back toward the Cabana.