Rough: Daunting Temptation (Coral Gables Series Book 1) (5 page)

"Cami, your phone keeps ringing," Thalia calls.

Oh, will you just leave me alone!
"I'll call them back later, just ignore it! You always ignore it," I yell back.

"Okay, okay."

I finish making myself presentable and step out of the bathroom. From the hallway, I can hear my phone ring again. This time, I quicken my steps, but when I reach my room the ringing has stopped. I grab my phone and look at the screen. Twenty-four missed calls and twelve text messages. "Who is this pushy?" I scroll down. Delsin Rough is the only caller on the list. I look at the text messages.

'Hey, Camille, what are your plans for the day?
' the first one says.

'Camille, call me when you have the time, k?'
is the second one.

'Why don't you pick up your damn phone?'

Number four:
'Sorry, I'm a bit desperate because you seem to be MIA. Please call.'

"The man is a talented stalker," I murmur. The next ten texts all have the same wording.
'Call me, call me please.'
Then the phone in my hand starts ringing again. No one else but Delsin Rough, trying for the twenty-fifth time. With a sigh, I tap the green phone symbol on the screen. "Hello?"

"Hi, Camille. Finally! I was beginning to think you were avoiding me on purpose," Delsin says.

"That would be the best thing to do indeed. But I simply took a shower," I counter.

"What are you doing today? Avery and I are going to the beach. Are you coming along?"

"I was supposed to go shopping today," I reply and sit down on the bed. It is a lie, but he doesn't need to know that.

"Come on, Sweetie. Join us," I can hear Avery in the background.

"Will Pearl be there, too?" I ask.

"Nope. Last night did not go as well as you thought. I think they fought. So are you coming?"

"Again: I had planned to go shopping," I repeat.

"There's always Monday. Come on, Camille, don't turn me down. My poor heart can't take it," he says with a smirk in his voice.

I sigh. "Are you trying to give me a bad conscience?"

"Absolutely," he says.

"You're a jerk."

"I may have heard you say that one before," he laughs.

I sigh again and then I give myself a push, because he will not leave me alone. "Alright. When are you planning to go?"

"To be honest ... We're in front of your house, waiting for you."

I stand up with a jolt and walk over to the window. My room looks out on the street - fortunately or unfortunately, my verdict varies - and I can see Avery's car down there.

"Did you just stand at the window wearing only a towel?" his voice pipes up in the background. He sounds a little miffed.

"Yes, I did. Okay, I'll be down in ... ten minutes. Bye."

"Bye, Camille."

I hang up and walk over to my closet, pulling out my bikini. I only have a purple two-piece with a lily print; I never intended to go to the beach much. I drop the towel and put on the bottoms, then the top. "Great. Too tight." The top pushes my breasts upwards more than it should. It's rather revealing, but that can't be helped now. It'll be only Avery, Delsin and me, so I don't worry too much about it.

I put on a white skirt and a pink top over the bikini and slip into my sandals. Then I pull my large tote from the top of the closet and fill it with two large towels. I don't even own sunscreen; I hope the boys will have some.

Next, I run into the kitchen and pack two bottles of water. Then back into my bedroom, to transfer the contents of my purse to the side pocket of the tote. My phone rings again. Delsin!

"I am coming," I say when I pick up the phone.

"Okay. I was about to remind you that ten minutes have passed."

"Bye," I say gruffly and hang up. Then I put on my sunglasses, grab a book and walk to the door. "Hailey, Thalia, I'm going to the beach. I'll see you later," I call.

Both their doors fly open. "Since when do you go to beach?" they ask in unison.

"Since I've started to feel like it," I smile and open the door. "Bye." I run down the stairs, but then I slow down and catch my breath before I leave the house.

Outside I see Delsin standing by Avery's car. He smokes a cigarette, which is strictly forbidden in the car. Ave is standing next to him and they're talking animatedly.

"Hi," I greet them when I reach the car.

"Here comes today's celebrity. You would not believe ...," Avery begins, but Delsin elbows him.

"Okay, okay. I won't say a thing."

"Hi, Camille," Delsin says and kisses me on the cheek.

"Um ... could you stop kissing me," I ask, and it isn't really a question.

"If you insist," he grins.

"I'll go sit in the car, okay?"

Ave nods to me. "Sure." He opens the door for me and I slip into the back seat, where I roll down the window.

"Are we going already?"

"Sure," he says again, flicks the cigarette butt aside, and walks around the car.   

Delsin sits down in the passenger seat and flips down the sun visor. He studies me in the small mirror. "Did your friends give you a hard time?"

I shake my head. "Not really."

"What is it then? You look a little pissed off," he decides.

"Maybe that's because they were trying to convince me that you're the devil in a skater disguise," I grin.

Delsin laughs. "Not the devil himself. I'm more like a demon ... an evil incubus who sucks away the energy in a woman's body ... with sex."

"You're the devil incarnate alright," Avery chimes in gleefully and starts the car.

I can't help laughing again now, too.

After a while, Ave turns on the radio, probably because the car is filled with an awkward silence. My favorite song comes on and I start to sing along softly.

"You have a nice voice, Camille," Delsin suddenly says, studying me again in the visor's mirror.

My reflection blushes. "Um ... uh, thank you."

"No need to get uncomfortable. Raise your voice. It's much nicer than this crow's one," he says with an encouraging smile.

"I don't think she's a crow," I say sheepishly.

"Who isn't a crow?" Ave asks.

"Pink," I say.

"Right, I'm with Camille. She's not a crow at all. She has an impressive voice," he says.

"Of course you're taking her side," Delsin smirks.

***

After the guys have discussed the singer and her songs for a while longer, we arrive at the beach. We find a place close to the water's edge. I am still wearing my top and skirt, because I don't feel comfortable showing my body in a bikini. At home this isn't a problem, as I can lie behind the house where nobody can see me. It feels strange though on a public beach.

"Where are you from, Camille?" Delsin asks.

"Texas."

"That's where your cute accent comes from," he grins.

I shrug.

"Aren't you warm?" he asks when he lies down next to me.

"I'm dying! But the fact is, I have no sunscreen, so I'd rather not get undressed.”

Delsin pulls his bag closer and pulls out a bottle of sun oil. "Want me to put it on you?"

I exhale, and my bangs fly up. "Okay." I get up again and pull my skirt down. Delsin isn't wearing his shirt anymore, but I didn't notice that before. His body commands my attention now, while I step out of my skirt and sandals.

He is staring at me. "Do those legs ever end?" His eyes wander down my legs. "Oh, there they do." Then he smiles up at me.

I suppress my own smile and pull off my top. Then I sit back down on my towel.

"Should I put it on your back?" Delsin asks a second time.

"That would be nice." I reach into my bag and pull out a hair clip. I pin up my hair so it will not get in the way. Delsin moves to sit behind me, stretching out his legs on both sides. I flinch when his cold fingers touch my heated skin.

"Take it easy. I won't harm you," he whispers close to my ear.

I feel cornered, but I don't want to let on. I must resist him. On no account I want to end up as another one of his trophies, whose underwear he keeps somewhere in his one-night-stand souvenir chest. I close my eyes when he starts to apply the sun oil and to massage my skin. But then I shake my head at myself and grab the bottle. I pour some oil into my own palm to put on my arms, legs, and stomach.

He suddenly pulls down the straps of my bikini top. "What are you doing?" I ask, confused.

"Still getting the oil everywhere," he says, and I can feel the tips of his fingers moving gently across my back.

I turn my head briefly. Avery is gone.
Oh, no
. "Where did Ave go?"

"Dunno. In the water?"

I rub the oil into my skin more quickly, hoping to escape this dangerous closeness faster this way. He is dangerous. A no-go. He is Delsin Rough, the ruin of my purity and virtue, and oh my god, I sound like a frigid spinster again. A soft sigh of despair escapes my lips.

"Wow, I seem to finally get some reaction from you," he chuckles as he pulls the bikini strap up again.

"Yes, but that was not a sigh of bliss, but one of torment," I counter.

"And wow again. You really make sure you put me down, any chance you get," Delsin remarks.

"I don't even mean it that way. Somehow, it happens automatically when you're around."

His hands slide around my midriff and come to rest on my belly. "And why is that so?" he whispers.

"I don't know ... But maybe it's because you're a wretched ladies' man," I breathe.

Delsin knows exactly what to do, how to touch me to make me drop my resistance. I don't know why I turn to putty in his hands.

"Please let me go," I say in a soft voice.

"I like it like this," he whispers into my ear. Then he nips my earlobe softly, stroking it with his lips.

"Delsin ... we can be friends, but I will not go to bed with you and become one of your conquests. And the talk of the town," I explain, but my voice still sounds way too soft.

His fingers caress my belly; then move upwards to the hem of my bikini top. "Who says I would tell anyone?"

"I know you cannot keep your mouth shut, but what's more ... I don't want to go to bed with you!" I try to break free from him, but he holds me tight. This is getting old.

"Why do you keep running away from me?" he asks, genuinely wanting to know.

"Because ... because ..."

"Yes?"

"Because my instinct tells me to," I finally force out.

"As if I were the wolf and you the little rabbit I want to kill," he muses.

I nod slowly.

Delsin lets me go. "Fine. If you really insist, I won't touch you anymore. Only if you ask me to," he decides and stands.

I get up, too. "I think I'm going to take a swim. I'll be back." And with that, I run into the surf. The water is freezing cold, but it's exactly what I need. There's a throbbing between my legs, and I can still feel his lips against my ear. I force myself into the deep water, step by step, until I am submerged up to my shoulders. I start a few breast strokes. This man is really toxic for me. My facade is crumbling to pieces when I am with him. I simply have to return to being the viper I was yesterday. How can a few brief conversations and a night in my bed change so much? It is impossible to fall in love because of such inconsequential things. Or is it? I know I will not throw myself at him, not even when hell really freezes over. I am too proud for that. And I really don't want to be looked at with that mixture of pity and disgust that his previous conquests were greeted with. I close my eyes, pinch my nose with my fingers, and dive down under the waves. I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't put on waterproof make-up. When I come up for air, someone grabs my upper arms. I flutter my eyelids open and look at him. Avery is smiling right into my startled face. "You look as if you'd just received a blow with a baseball bat," he states.

"That's pretty much the way I feel," I say weakly.

"Why?"

"Delsin Rough," is my only answer. Because only his name says it all.

Avery turns around to face the beach, his back to me. His eyes probably roam the sand for Delsin. "Hum. I think you ought to stay here for a while longer. He's already got someone pushing her tongue down his throat."

"I cannot believe it," I flare before looking past him. Delsin is really rolling around on our towels with some girl. "I wouldn't be surprised if he screwed her right there, in broad daylight," I say, my voice ripe with indignation. I was replaced within less than five minutes! How does he do that?

"Take it easy, Sweetie. You don't want him anyway."

"That doesn't mean he's got to show
that
little respect!" I explain, annoyed. "I should go home."

"Why would you? When has Delsin become a good enough friend of yours so he can disappoint you with stuff like that?" Ave asks, nonplussed.