Natalie Anderson - One Summer At The Beach

She pulled on her skirt, then hunted for her tee—a crumpled mess half under the bed. With a grin Rhys handed her one of his shirts. The relaxed intimacy of his action made her gooey inside. She didn’t bother with a bra, just slipped a couple of buttons through. Suddenly not concerned about covering the scar. It was early, there’d be no one about and Rhys had seen it all. The loose cotton was cool and wearing his clothing made her feel sexy. His sparkling expression hinted he liked it too.

‘Let’s go before I get a better idea.’ He laughed and she felt freedom—to explore everything with him.

Barefoot, he led the way down the stairs. She watched, amused at his vitality and good humour. He grabbed a bag from the back of the reception counter—the light was on but for once it seemed Curtis wasn’t home. They snuck out across the quiet street and onto the beach.

She followed him across the sand. ‘What?’

‘Beach volleyball.’

‘Oh, no.’

‘The tiny bikini is not mandatory.’ He winked. ‘Well, it would be if this was our own private beach—actually then we’d be having a naturist tournament. Sadly, it’s not, and as you are is just fine.’

‘Rhys, I really suck with balls.’

He froze. Shot her a look. Started to laugh.

Fire-engine-red, she laughed too.

‘I have a feeling you’ll do just fine. Anyway, it’s early, no one’s around to watch.’

Yeah, just you. It was all right for him. She watched the way he bent and pulled a ball from the bag. He had effortless grace, natural style.

He tossed the ball from one hand to the other, obviously amused by her reluctance. ‘I thought you wanted to live now?’

She lunged for the ball as he threw it. ‘You were one of those guys who could do any sport, weren’t you? Rugby in the winter…’

‘Cricket in the summer.’ He laughed. ‘Basketball, swimming, sailing.’

‘And you were good all round.’ She retrieved the ball from where it had rolled along the sand, lobbed it back.

‘Excellent all round.’

She raised her brow.

He threw it back and spread his hands in mock humility. ‘Well, that is the family motto.’

‘You have a family motto?’

His humour dimmed and his grin became barely there. ‘Do the best, be the best—excellence all round.’

‘Wow.’

‘We have a duty to perform.’

‘A duty?’

‘Sure. A responsibility.’

She dropped the ball. Again. It took less than three minutes for him to realise she hadn’t been kidding about her lack of skill. Laughing, he resorted to even simpler passes. ‘A little practice, you’ll go far.’

He chuckled at her ‘yeah right’ expression and abandoned the game completely. He toyed with the ball as they walked along the edge of the water. She gazed across the blue to the high-rise buildings. Loving the vibrancy of the city. Bright-eyed, she turned back to him. ‘I’ve thought of something for the list.’

‘Yeah?’

‘I want to walk over the Harbour Bridge. You done that?’

‘Hundreds of times. And I’ve driven over it thousands.’ Sydney Harbour Bridge—the world-famous landmark and fairly key to being able to move around the city.

She giggled. ‘I mean climb it. You know, they put you in harnesses and you climb up the arches.’

Rhys stared back at her, his good mood sinking. Of all the places in the whole city, she wanted to go there? Too high profile. They took endless photos on that thing. Rightly so, it was a great experience, but he wasn’t going to be caught in the company of a woman—especially one as beautiful as Sienna—and have the snaps sold. This was his holiday, his escape, his moment of fantasy out of his real life and he wanted to protect it. He wanted to have time with her—just her and him and no interference. No prying eyes. ‘I have a better plan for today.’

‘What’s better than the view from up there? It’s not too hot, it’s not windy.’

‘Yeah, but I have something that can only be done today. Right now, in fact. Let’s go!’

She was giving him a funny look but he didn’t care. Right now he was too busy thinking over what he was going to come up with list-wise that could be done without attracting too much attention. And the guilt was eating him up. But he’d spent most of his adult life swallowing back guilt—why was he gagging now? He was in serious trouble. The only way he could assuage it was to do the things to her that had her shaking in his arms, shaking in joy. If he kept her in a state of bliss, he’d be absolved.

‘Come on.’ He pulled her to him, planted a kiss. Got waylaid as usual—he couldn’t ever have just one kiss from her. He pushed at the shirt she wore, running his fingers along her delicate bones, wanting to take it off completely. His desire for her was in no way diminishing. He finally pulled back, stared into her flushed face. ‘We need to get moving.’

Back in the hostel they darted past Reception, nodding at Curtis who was looking strangely edgy. For a fleeting moment Rhys felt sorry the guy had to work so many hours. Sienna tripped into the little bathroom. He let her monopolise the shower for a few minutes while he scratched round for an action plan. Hell, he must be able to think of something. Then the sound of the water spraying clued him in. Waterfall. Fountain. There must be one somewhere in the city.

Sienna followed a pace behind Rhys as he headed to the train platform. He’d hustled her out of the bathroom and got them back out the door. Curtis on Reception had said hi as they passed again. She’d seen the speculation in his eye. The overly keen interest as he watched them depart. What did he care? Surely they weren’t the first hostel inmates he’d seen get it together.

They got on a train, mixing in with a few commuters, shared a secret smile as they sat close on the seat. Enjoying the rocking motion. Sienna secretly enjoying a fantasy of being alone in the carriage with him, late at night, with no threat of other passengers arriving and—

‘Ever had sex on a train?’

Apparently they were wired into the same fantasy. She shook her head and grinned at him, admitting with her eyes she’d been dreaming about that exact scenario.

He bent his head and kissed her. ‘We’ll add it to the list.’

The park was beautiful—surprisingly green. It smelt fresh but the humidity was on the rise again. They walked through, around one corner into an isolated spot—trees and bushes forming a natural canopy. Then she heard it, the gentle trickle of water. Behind a small railing was the most pathetic fountain she’d ever seen.

‘We came to see this?’

His grin was slightly shamefaced. ‘You’re in Sydney at the height of summer. You can’t go expecting amazing waterfalls and fountains. We have water restrictions.’

She leant at the railing, struck dumb by the idea that he thought this was better than climbing up the Sydney Harbour Bridge. ‘A kid couldn’t splash in that, let alone two full-grown adults.’

He stared at it. ‘No.’

‘And though the morning’s warm already it’s not quite hot enough.’

‘No.’ He turned her in his arms to face him. Kissed her gently.

She pulled back to look at him in reproach. ‘You think a few kisses are going to turn this into the experience of a lifetime?’

He didn’t appear remotely abashed, green twinkling in his eyes.

‘You must rate yourself pretty high.’

‘I’m sorry, Sienna.’ He sighed then, and it was a sigh of genuine regret. ‘I’m not myself around you.’

He pulled away, picked up her bag from where it sat beside them, neatly clipped it onto his own. She grinned as he did so, not really minding at all. Just liking spending time with him, getting to know him, feeling more relaxed and content than she ever had. It was nice walking with nothing on her shoulders, feeling the warmth of the breeze through her tee shirt. It used to annoy her no end when her brother insisted on carrying her bag or heavy things. But Rhys taking the burden didn’t bother her at all. He wasn’t doing it because he was worried for her. He was just being nice. Really he’d been nothing but nice to her from the moment they’d met. He offered nothing more. Expected nothing more. He’d been honest from the beginning. He wanted her. And when she was gone, it was done. She was the one who’d have to get over it. And as the moments passed there was even more of an ‘it’ to get over.