Click (A Night Fire Novel Book 2) Read online

“Nooo.”

  I giggled.

  “What else do you like about him?”

  “We get on well. It's okay with the silent moments. I like that. He's hiding something from me. I don't like that.”

  Silence again. Hazy skies for as far as I could see. The clouds started to form into a shape, slowly wrapping around and as it sat in front of me I giggled.

  “Hey there kitty cat. Where did you come from?”

  The image faded away, making me sad that the kitty didn't want to stay.

  “Kitty cat, huh?”

  The humorous tone couldn't be missed.

  “It was cute.”

  “Of course it was. Oh look, more skin peeling.”

  I cracked an eye open to see the flaked skin being wiped onto the towel I was laying on. Coldness hit the back of my leg, then the warmth of a hand. It happened again, this time to the other leg. The hand drifted high, pushing against my hips and the edges of my backside.

  “Do you think he likes me?”

  “The cat?”

  I giggled. “What cat?”

  “Never mind.” the humorous voice chuckled. “I'm sure he likes you a lot.”

  “The cat?” I frowned.

  Everything was still a blur.

  “Yeah, the cat and Austin too.”

  “Good. 'S good.” I yawned, keeping my eyes closed. “I love him too.”

  The fingers stopped momentarily and then continued on, slowly working their way down to my ankles.

  “I'm sure he loves you too.”

  My world was a blissful bubble of happiness, warmth surrounded me as a soft cool wind lingered through the windows. Then reality hit me or rather, the pain hit me. Carefully I sat up and looked around my room. I was alone, I had slept on the towel last night, surrounded by bits of me.

  Ugh, that's just wrong. I wrapped the towel up and dumped it on the dresser. As I opened the door I saw Monique sitting at the table drinking a coffee. She looked like she'd had a rough night.

  “Morning sunshine.” she grinned.

  “Morning. Thanks for the rub down last night, when did you get in?”

  “Huh?” she frowned. “I was out until midnight. Surprised you didn't hear me come back, my friend wasn't exactly quiet.”

  I shook my head, not just at the statement but her antics. As I made my coffee I tried to think about last night. There wasn't much I remembered about it, the pain relief was pretty damned good. I gripped the table and the chair as I lowered onto the seat, ignoring the smug smile on Monique's face.

  “You're looking a lot better today. Not so pink, once the rest of the dead skin is gone you'll be good again.”

  “Thanks.” I groaned before taking a sip. “Was Austin still here when you came back?”

  “Yep. He left once I was here. I don't think he wanted to hang around while you were out of it and it's not as if he was interested in talking to me.”

  She air quoted talking. Yep, I was glad he wasn't interested in 'talking' to her.

  “So, what's the plans for today?”

  I shrugged, not feeling like venturing out of the villa.

  “Oh come on Ab, I have let you ditch me so far without complaint but this was supposed to be a holiday together. Lover boy said he was busy this morning so you don't need to be hanging around waiting for him.”

  “I was actually more concerned about the hideous appearance.”

  An eyebrow raised at me.

  “We are on an island, as if you are the only one that's been sunburned. Find a nice, loose dress and hurry up.”

  I finished my coffee, picking through the platter of pastries and fruits, effectively ignoring her request to hurry up.

  We took a bus into the town for a day of shopping. It was an old rattler, one that looked like it was from several decades ago. The windows were down and hard to move so I had to put up with the wind against my face. It was a hot and hard wind that hit against my sore body, making me want to return to the villa.

  I hid my minor suffering from Monique, offering her a smile every time she turned and looked at me. Today I had been a little smarter, wearing a wide brim hat and sunglasses, long flowing dress that covered pretty much all of me.

  The driver putted the bus along, narrowly avoiding the pot holes. It made him look like he was weaving his way around a course of witches hats.

  “It's going to be fun!” Monique grinned madly at me. “Gonna shop up a storm, what about you Ab?”

  “Shit yeah.” I smiled brightly at her.

  The driver dropped us at the beginning of the shops, telling us that there was a taxi station at the other end. It was perfect, we would take a slow amble up the shopping strip and then motor our way back to the villa.

  Monique and I had certainly shopped up a storm. My eyes were always on the lookout for a great bargain, my pittance would go far today.

  After two hours of moving in and out of the stores, we were both ready to return. I had managed to acquire a gorgeous bit of bling sandals, a kaftan that was bright and funky, gifts for my family and a fridge magnet, it was going to be my new thing. All destinations that I traveled to would have a fridge magnet placed on my fridge.

  “Well that was fun.” Monique sighed happily. “I think I'm ready to kick back and have a late lunch, maybe at the restaurant?”

  “Sure.”

  She smiled at me, her eyes darting over my shoulder with a frown. I turned to the other side of the street. It had a rather long convenience store and a petrol station at the other end of the strip of shops. There hadn't been anything fascinating on that side of the street until now.

  I turned to look at what she was frowning at and in that very second I almost dropped my bags. The street was narrow, I could only assume that he hadn't seen me because of my oversized hat and glasses but what about Monique? It's not as if she was trying to hide from the sun.

  Austin stood outside the shop, his bag hitched over one shoulder. The bike was a few steps down the street, waiting for his return. But that wasn't the issue. No, that would be the woman under his arm. It was draped over her shoulder, she beamed a huge smile at him. Her friend was a happy snapper, taking a picture of them. Worse yet, the woman leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.

  “Come on.” Monique hissed under her breath. “Don't be hanging around to watch this shit.”

  She dragged me to the first taxi, loading me into it and bundling our bags around our feet.

  “Don't look Ab.” she muttered as the driver pulled out onto the street.

  But I couldn't help it. I had a sick twisted need to watch, hoping to understand why. We had almost escaped without him noticing. We had almost passed him. Except that the driver must have known him and tooted his horn with a wave.

  I pulled the brim of my hat down and turned away, looking at Monique. Her glare could melt steel, with dismay I watched her turn back to the view behind us. One index finger pointed through the air as her lips pinned shut tight, then as her eyes narrowed her finger sliced over her neck. Oh Austin, you just pissed off the wrong girl.

  Chapter Ten

  The thumping on the door was like thunder, over and over again he called my name. He called out to Monique. He begged us to open the door. He threatened to get Hal to open it for us. Monique rang the front desk and told them that there was a mad man at our door and if security didn't get rid of him, she'd sue them. Then the yelling started, I heard sounds of a scuffle and possible a few punches thrown. I could have sworn I heard Barney's voice, though I couldn't be sure. It had been one conversation, his voice was deep and gravelly but it could have been the pain relief messing with me again.

  I was numb all over, not just from the medication but from the whole mess surrounding Austin. His thumping on the door had given me a headache, he had persisted for some time. Now it was quiet, nothing but the sound of normal life carrying on around us. I could hear people laughing and frolicking in the pool, a soft rap on the door. My body bolted upright off the bed before my mind could even cat
ch up. Monique had been sitting on the floor in my room, her head in her hands and propped on her knees. It had been a maddening afternoon.

  Warily she got up from the floor and padded softly across the floor to the main door.

  “Miss Marshall, Miss Ellis?”

  Monique looked back at me as I stood at my bedroom doorway, the voice was a new one.

  “I'm the day manager, Ross Selwood. Can I have a moment of your time please?”

  Her face hardened at the door, neither of us knew what was waiting on the other side.

  “Mister Gibson is not here, you have my word that this is not a trick to get you to open the door.”

  I shrugged at Monique when she looked at me. She opened the door a fraction and peeked through the long crack.

  For a brief moment her gaze turned to me, returning to the view outside as she opened the door to let the manager in. The thin man walked in, looking rather flustered. He settled at the table after Monique gestured to it, I sat opposite him. His hands folded into each other, wiping and washing them, clearly a nervous gesture.

  “Okay, so I'll cut to the chase here ladies. As much as I'd like to ensure that your stay here is free from such events in the future, I can't... unfortunately.”

  Monique narrowed her eyes and her nose twitched with derision. She was about to let rip until he raised his hand to placate her.

  “Please, let me finish.” he gulped as he pulled at the neckline of his shirt. “Mister Gibson... Austin... he's the son of the owners of this hotel.”

  “Shit.” Monique groaned.

  Shit was right.

  “I've asked that he leave to cool off and return when he isn't so...” his hand rolled in a circle, as if it would help him find the right word.

  “Angry?” Monique offered a little snidely. “Being a jerk?”

  No response. Of course not, what sane person would agree with calling the boss's son a jerk?

  “Please, Miss...”

  “Ellis. Monique Ellis.

  He nodded, momentarily looking at me.

  “I can't stop him from returning, this is his home.”

  “Fine, we're leaving and we expect a refund on the days that we aren't staying.”

  Monique stood from the seat, the chair legs scraped over the wood floor rather loudly.

  “Organize a taxi and transportation back to the mainland and so help me, it had better be on the down low or I will kick your ass.”

  She flicked her head at me, telling me to get going on the packing. I watched as Ross walked out of the villa, looking at me again. It was like he wanted to say more, like he had some hidden message that he wanted to relay to me but couldn't. I was missing something. No matter how hard and direct Monique was, it wasn't as if he couldn't say something. She had let him speak, she had listened to him. So what was I missing here?

  “Mister Selwood, is there something you aren't telling us?”

  He paused at the doorway and turned back, a bitter sweet smile offered as he shook his head.

  “No miss, nothing that I am permitted to tell you. I'll organize your departure without anyone knowing of it.”

  Monique closed the door and leaned on it as she looked at me. Her head was turned to listen through the door, a deeply concerned look crossed her face.

  “Pack your stuff Ab, we are out of here.”

  I nodded and set out to pack everything, even if I wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. Something was wrong, something that we weren't being told. The revelation that his parents owned this damned hotel was a little shocking. No wonder he was so friendly and casual with Hal.

  My mind washed with an odd thought, Hal. He said not to let go. What did he know? I quietly closed the door to my room and picked up the phone, dialing reception.

  “Reception, Hal speaking.”

  “Hey Hal, it's Abigail.”

  Silence, pure silence on the other end of the line.

  “Are you there?”

  “Yeah Abigail, I'm here. How can I help?”

  I took a deep breath as I pulled the edge of the curtain back, looking outside. The view of the world was different now. It looked like everyone was a spy for Austin. Everyone would report back to him, every little detail about every little thing I did.

  “The day manager visited us, has he come back yet?”

  “Not as yet.”

  No surprises there. He was probably off reporting to Austin who was probably hiding in the shadows somewhere, watching and waiting.

  “We're leaving.”

  “What?”

  He nearly yelled it. Far out, this was crazy.

  “Abigail, please don't do this. I've never seen him so torn up.”

  “Tell me what I missing Hal. I saw him in town with other women, so why wouldn't I want to leave? What's going on?”

  “Abigail.” he sighed with a lot of pain in his voice. “I'm sorry, I can't. I've signed a confidentiality agreement. I can't tell you anything.”

  “Sure. Okay.” I whispered.

  Then I hung up the phone, returning to packing my bag.

  The taxi raced toward the jetty, the last boat was leaving in ten minutes and we were barely going to make it. As it was Ross said he would have to ring them and ask them to wait. It had been hard to get past Hal, he was at my side in a second to help me with my one and only bag that wasn't really heavy. He was trying to stop me but he didn't win. His pleading had been ignored, with tears in my eyes I said that I couldn't handle the secrets and the lies but they paled in comparison to the view of him draped over another woman.

  To be fair, Austin had warned me off him. He was right, he and I didn't inhabit the same worlds. The only problem was that I didn't know what his world was. Secrets and lies, that was as much as I had seen of his world. But then there was the amazing side, he was a little cheeky, funny, so damned gorgeous it was crazy. He was a dark soul that was incredibly protective of everything that was important to him. Like that damned black book of drawings, now I will never get to see what was in the book.

  Monique wrapped an arm around me, pulling me to her.

  “Screw him Ab. If he can't be honest about what's going on his life then he's not the one for you.”

  I nodded, though it lacked commitment.

  The driver stopped abruptly, tooting his horn at the captain who was unravelling the rope from the jetty. He gestured for the two of us to hurry up. Monique threw a great wad of cash at the driver, thanking him for his hasty driving skills. The man’s eyes lit up with delight, god only knows how much money she just gave him. With our bags hitched over heads, we ran to the boat.

  The boat was almost empty, an elderly couple sat at the top of rows of seats. There was a young fellow with his leg in a temporary cast. He tipped his chin at us with a grin to which Monique giggled. She grabbed my hand and sat us down in seats near him but not too close.

  “That's one of my uh... friends. Guess his spring break is over too.”

  “Monique, if you want to say hello then do it. Don't let me and my sad state of affairs stop you from getting round two.”

  Her shoulders sagged as she looked at me with a genuine pout.

  “You didn't even get laid, did you?”

  I ignored her with an almost eye roll.

  “Worst holiday ever.” she sighed.

  Yep, I could easily agree with that one.

  Monique slid across the seat to chat with her broken friend, leaving me to think about things. I decided that once I got home I would search the internet for the owners of Paradiso Cove Hotel. Or maybe just their son. Whichever. Guess it depends on how drunk I am.

  We had decided to spend spring break in Florida, mostly due to money or rather the lack of it. I had wanted to go to Vegas, but the gambler in me thought that I wasn't rich enough for it yet. That would come with a little time. So the grand plan had been Miami, now it wasn't so grand. Monique had made all of the plans, all of the bookings. She booked us into the little hotel on a little island, one that only
had two hotels on it, so there was no chance of the place becoming overcrowded.

  It's quaint, she had said. It's a few spring breakers and the locals, she had offered. Nowhere did she say that I would end up with a broken heart.

  Okay, so it was wrong to blame Monique, her intentions had been good ones. It was me picking the wrong bad boy to chase after. I should have stuck with Brody. At least there was no attachment there. I knew he was unattainable.

  The water taxi chugged it's way to the jetty, I grinned as Monique helped her broken friend to his feet and took his bag for him as he walked on the crutches. She was a sucker for the broken soul, almost like me now really. Once the friend was on his way to the hospital she would return her attention to this poor and sorry for herself soul.

  Paramedics waited for him, helping him out and into the waiting ambulance. Monique tried to hide the smile as we walked along the jetty.

  “Go on, tell me you got his number.”

  “Not at this time Ab, I don't want to be talking like that when you're down about a douche bag.”

  “He's not.” I murmured, my voice filling with pain.

  “Sorry to say it Ab but he is. If he's so into you, there shouldn't be any secrets. And I'm right when I say that there is something huge about this guy, something that I just can pin down.”

  She huffed as she pressed her lips shut tight, shaking her head.

  “Something is amiss.”

  Her hand stretched out to the cab door, the fellow nodding at us as he put our bags into the boot.

  “Where to ladies?”

  “Airport please.”

  As I pulled the door shut, I took one last look at the boat. I wished that it held more than just a few passengers, I wished that it held one more. That he would stride out full of determination and tell me every little thing about his life without holding back. I didn't want to pry but I knew that it was important, it held value in his life. I also wished that he would tell me that I had misinterpreted the scene at the shops, that he wasn't flirting with those girls. That he didn't really have his arms over them, that my eyes had deceived me. But they hadn't.

  Chapter Eleven

  The cab ride and subsequent flight home had been rather uneventful. Except for sitting for at the airport waiting an hour for a flight. We were lucky in the fact that we were able to move our flights, I didn't like the thought of having to pay for another one. There were a lot of photographers around, Monique searched for the obvious indicators of someone famous in our general vicinity. But there were no oversized glasses or hats, no security personnel or an entourage.