Only One (18 page)

“Next,” the man called out.

I gulped, turning out of Cole’s grip. I managed a faint smile as he strapped me into the harness and rattled off safety instructions. How the hell they expected me to remember those instructions was beyond me, but I nodded when he asked if I was good.

Once the group was all ready, the tour guide walked us down a long, windy path until the zip came into view. The view took my breath away. I had never experienced something so scary but so exhilarating at the same time. Once I finally had the courage to open my eyes, I had felt like a bird flying through the air. After nine zip lines, I ended at the bottom with all the others who had finished. I waited for Cole to come down to meet me. My heart had begun beating normally again after I saw a ton of kids, laughing and smiling. I couldn’t believe I was ever afraid. It was the coolest thing ever. When Cole joined me a few minutes later, smiling, it was easy to see he’d had a blast, too.

Surprisingly we made it back in time to hit the pool for a few hours before our dinner reservations. The five restaurants on site were included in the cost. One was just up the hill, off site. We had spotted the fancy steak house and booked the day we arrived. It was apparently really hard to get into since it is the fanciest one and people wanted to get their money’s worth. I didn’t really care as long as I spent my time with Cole.

I sipped on my Bob Marley drink that looked like the Jamaican flag at first. Cole pulled me toward the lazy river. “Let’s go for a ride.”

I grinned and headed for the tubes. Once he was on his tube, he locked his foot inside of mine so that we floated together. Just as a small waterfall came into site, I tipped my head back and held out my drink so I didn’t get any water in it, letting the falls beat down on me.

“Damn, girl. We might need to come back here later tonight and really celebrate your birthday.”

Smiling, I brought my head back to face him. “The pool closes at nine and the waterfalls get turned off.”

“Yeah, but there are a few Jacuzzis that are on all night, baby. I’m thinking, steak, cake, and then you. I don’t really care about the order, as long as you are in that little trifecta.”

That did sound kind of nice. We stayed in the tubes for another spin around. “Well, that depends on what you plan on giving me for my birthday,” I teased.

Cole jumped off his tube, letting it take off with the flow of the water, and grabbed onto mine, holding us both under the waterfall, but snug up against the wall. “I was planning on giving you me for your birthday. I hope you’re not disappointed.”

I tapped my chin. “Hmm, when you say giving me you for my birthday, do I get to make any special requests?”

“Baby, I will give you anything you want. You just tell me what it is.” He groaned. “I want to make love to you right here, right now.”

I glanced around at all the tubes filled with kids floating by. “I’m pretty sure all their mamas and daddies wouldn’t appreciate that.”

He kissed me firmly on the mouth. His tongue traced my lips until he slipped it inside. I pushed him off, causing him to pout like a baby.

“All right. Let me think some and I’ll let you know when I come up with what I want later.”

He nodded, grinning as he pulled my tube from the current. I hopped out and we headed back to the pool bar for another Bob Marley.

Cole

She made me wait. After leaving the pool, she insisted on stopping at the clothing store inside of the hotel to pick something up to wear. She ushered me out and sent me back to the room so she could surprise me. But I stopped at the small jewelry store by the lobby, instead.

Frankly, I would have preferred to never leave the room, but it was her day and I wanted to see to it that it was special. The zip lining had indeed been a blast.

Seeing that smile that had lit up her entire face when I met up with her at the finish line had been worth anything she asked of me.

I stepped out onto the small balcony while I continued to wait for Annabelle to appear. The shower had been turned off over half an hour ago. She’d had her phone playing music the whole time, and every once in awhile I could hear her singing along.

“I’m ready,” she announced, as she came up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist.

I turned in her arms and settled her back some to see what she had picked out. She had on this colorful dress that crisscrossed at her collarbone and then tied around her neck. She looked perfect.

She spun around once. “What do you think? I know it screams island girl, but that’s really all they had.”

I pulled her to me and kissed her. “You look beautiful, and I happen to like that easy access tie around the neck for when I undo it later.”

She pressed her lips to mine quickly, but I could feel her smile. “Take me to dinner first.”

By the time we finished and I had embarrassed her with a very loud rendition of happy birthday with the help of everyone in the restaurant, we made our way down the long path back to the hotel. There was a beautiful breeze for the first time since we’d arrived, and I planned to take full advantage of it.

“I say we slip our bathing suits on, go get a drink and find that Jacuzzi that’s tucked away under that rock cave.”

Annabelle’s hip bumped my leg as she swayed into me. “I have my suit on underneath my dress. How about you go get your suit on and I’ll be at the bar waiting on you.”

“I’ll race ya,” I whispered in her ear and then took off the last several feet to the lobby.

I felt bad leaving her alone, but I needed to make a call since we only had another day before we were to go home. Unfortunately, Dane hadn’t found anything new, other than that her agent was most likely not behind the pictures.

Belly sat perched on the barstool with a strange man next to her, talking her ear off, from the looks of it. Staying out of sight, I watched from the hotel lobby, smiling. Annabelle kept looking around, nodding to whatever it was he saying. I laughed as I watched her make all attempts to get rid of him until I felt bad enough to rescue her. “There you are, beautiful,” I practically shouted as I came up behind her and kissed her cheek.

I grinned trying to hold back my laugh. The guy sitting there took a quick look at me and excused himself. “I can’t leave you for five minutes.”

“What took you so long? My god, that man was relentless.”

I stole a quick kiss and then ordered a beer. “Well, birthday girl, I do believe we have a Jacuzzi waiting for us.” We grabbed our drinks and I threw a tip down.

Our Jacuzzi was full of teenagers as we approached it. Annabelle and I both sighed, knowing the timing sucked. She nodded her chin toward one of the lounge chairs, so I pulled her down on top of me after I reclined it. Figuring we could wait them out, we kissed and talked for quite a while until I had enough. “Get up, baby,” I told her. She narrowed her eyes, but moved aside.

I towered over the Jacuzzi. “All right, time’s up. The adults want to use it now.”

“No, we were here first,” one of the girls shouted back at me.

“Look, you little shits, I’m going to give you two-seconds to get out and let me celebrate my girl’s birthday. Now move!” I said firmly, so they couldn’t mistake my intentions.

One of the boys whispered something to the other. They both looked past me at Annabelle and grinned. “Let’s go guys. There’s another one around the corner.”

And there was, but none that were hidden away under a little cave to provide the privacy I was looking for tonight.

“That was mean.”

I scooted in. “I don’t give a shit. I want to kiss you and touch you and, well, you could probably imagine the rest of the stuff I want to do to you.”

Watching her slip out of her dress and that little suit that I loved come into view, sent those pesky kids flying right out of my mind.

“I decided what I wanted for my birthday,” Annabelle mentioned as she walked down the steps toward me. The bubbles were going strong, so the waterfall that cascaded over the Jacuzzi provided a nice protective curtain from any passersby.

Her hands slipped under the water and she pushed me until I was sitting on the ledge and submerged under the water up to my chest. She sat on my thighs, tying her legs around my waist.

Instantly I went rock hard as she straddled me. I grabbed her ass in my hands and held on. “What did you decide on?”

“A kiss.”

“A kiss? That’s it?”

“Well,” she ran her tongue over my bottom lip. “A really, really, long kiss.”

“I can do that,” I told her as I captured her mouth with mine. With Belly sitting on top of me, grinding every few seconds, I could tell she was going to have no problem getting off with what we were doing. And I loved making her feel that way. But I wanted to be inside of her, not just grinding out the motions. When I kissed her neck, she tipped her head back, giving me access to her breasts. I rained a parade of kisses down her chest, lifting her bikini top up just enough. Every moan she made was taking her a step closer to the finish line. With one hand teasing her perky nipple, I slowly ran my hand down and into her bottoms. She scooted back some as I teased her with my finger. She was rocking on top of me, her head tipped back so far that her hair caressed the water, until I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Belly, I need to be inside of you,” I told her as I undid the Velcro to my suit, because sadly I didn’t think I wasn’t going to make it back to the room.

She looked all around. We could hear voices off in the distance and the sound of the live reggae band providing nice music in the background. She ran her hands through my hair and then cupped my face. Her green eyes lit up like they were sparkling diamonds as she stared into mine and nodded.

“My god, your eyes shine prettier than any stars in that Jamaican sky tonight.”

“You have such a way with words, Cole Lucca.”

I kissed her long and soft as I slid her suit bottom to the side. She shifted until she was so close I could feel her heat. I pulled her ass forward and then pushed down on her hips until she sank down on me. Annabelle’s mouth came down on mine hard. When she moved from my mouth, she bit down on my shoulder softly, trying to cover the scream I knew she wanted to let out. I felt the warmth of her explode all over me and knew I was going to follow quickly. Belly lifted her head, once again cupping my face, staring into my eyes as I ground into her. “I love you,” she whispered.

“You, too, baby, you, too. Now give me that mouth and take me to heaven.”

Even though I had to contain myself in case anyone was near, heaven felt so fucking good that I buried my head in her neck and cried out her name anyway.

~~~

The next morning Annabelle headed down to the lobby to get the free coffee and to bring some back. I took that time to place a call home again. I felt like Dane was holding back on information, so I went around him.

“Hey, man, please tell me you guys found something?” I coaxed when Josh answered his cell.

“That dude has not left L.A. in over a year, other than fly to New York a few times and once to Arkansas. We checked into Hannah, but like we thought, it’s not her. We’re looking into a few other people. A guy at that restaurant she worked in L.A. with told us that she had a guy that would always ask to sit in her station. We have a first name, but that’s it. He’s working on getting the last when he comes in again.”

“So you’re thinking it’s a stalker?”

“Not sure, but it’s something. How she’s doing?”

“She’s good. She’s downstairs, so I can’t talk long. We’ll be home tomorrow. I have to ask… any more photos?”

“Nope. It’s been quiet. It’s safe, Cole. Bring her home.”

“Yep, see y’all tomorrow then.” Just as I tossed my phone on the bed, Belly walked in.

“So, it’s our last day.” She handed me a cup of coffee. “I was downstairs and found out about this little beach that you pay five bucks for access and the water is super calm and beautiful.” She handed me a brochure. “Do you want to go?”

I nodded as I studied the serene picture on the front. “It’s your trip. Let’s do it.” The hotel did have a beach to swim in, but the water was rough every day, and the one time we took kayaks out I flipped and cut my ankle on some coral. I was not about to venture out there again. That shit hurt.

Once we got to the beach and Annabelle had placed her towel down on her rental chair, I grabbed her hand. “I got you something.”

She turned abruptly. “Cole!” she whined. “You already took me on this trip. You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to. It’s been a long time since I shopped for you.” I reached down and peeled back the Velcro from my pocket. “It’s not much, but I saw this in the jewelry shop window downstairs and thought it was perfect. I was going to give it to you last night, but, well, you kept me occupied.”

She smiled brightly.

“Close your eyes,” I demanded.

She rolled her eyes once and then shut them.

I moved behind her and placed a necklace around her neck, clasping it. “Okay, you can look.”

She looked down and pulled the chain enough to see it. “Oh, Cole, it’s so beautiful.”

It was. It was perfect and exactly how I felt. It was a silver necklace with a big heart dangling from it with a few small white sapphires that resembled diamonds around the edges. She had always had my heart and I wanted her to wear it. A couple of tears trickled down her face as I came around to look.

“What’re you crying for?”

She threw herself at me. “All happy tears, I promise.” And then she kissed me as I picked her up and twirled her around.

Annabelle

Cole and Daddy had still been worrying about my safety for the last month. It was August, so I didn’t see why they were so concerned. I should’ve figured it out earlier with the impromptu trip and Cole spending almost every night with me in the barn. And Daddy had allowed it. No other pictures had surfaced, and I was convinced it was the doings of one jealous ex named Hannah. I felt bad for her seeing her man sitting with me naked, but she shouldn’t be spying, either.

It was to the point life was getting dull and boring around here. But the men in my life, and I mean all of them, insisted that my mama and AJ go down for a visit to the beach before he got too busy with his Senior year. I’d been going back and forth to the beach house with Lily, taking pictures, trying to drum up business on the island, tacking my number on every store and hotel that would let me. My first break came when a small family hired me to do some beach shots, which turned out beautiful. It was my first paycheck and my first gig that got me more phone calls coming in by the day. I wasn’t sure if taking family portraits was my forever career, but it was a damn good place to start.