Page 16 of Sun, Sea & Strawberry Shortcake
I glance around me. ‘Really?’
‘There’s no one watching.’
‘True.’ Still, I hesitate. But the delicious thought ofdiving into that clear blue water and cooling off overcomes any lingeringinhibitions, and ignoring Hudson’s wolf whistles, I step out of my shorts, pulloff my T-shirt and run for the sea.
Hudson follows me in and when I turn, laughing, he’swaist-high in the water, his broad, tanned chest glistening with water dropletsin the sunshine. We close the gap between us and I feel his nakedness againstme as he wraps his arms around me and we kiss hungrily. Despite the chill effectof the water, Hudson’s ardour doesn’t seem much dampened, and I quickly checkthe beach, hoping we’re still alone. But of course we are.
I wind my hands around his neck, pulling him closer, and ourkisses deepen.
I’ve never done more than kiss in the sea, but as the coolwater laps around us, our tangle of limbs and hot kisses are already resultingin the passion levels climbing to scorching.
It looks as if I might be heading for a first here...
My longing for Hudson is almost too much to bear, and atfirst when a noise breaks through the edge of my consciousness, I refuse to payit any attention. Then I hear the unmistakeable sound of someone shouting myname.
Still holding Hudson tightly, the cold water slapping at ournaked bodies, I turn to the shore just as Hudson chuckles in my ear and murmurs,‘I think we’ve got visitors.’
I stare at the four figures lined up along the water’s edge.They’re laughing and staring over at us.
Ellie, Jaz, Madison and Katja.
‘What thehell...?’ I murmur instunned disbelief.
And as my mind slips into panic mode, trying to work out howbest to cover our nakedness, the four of them start waving and shouting as one.
‘Surprise!’
Jaz
CHAPTEREIGHT
‘Oh, I feel terrible. Look at their faces!’ Katja, whowas waving merrily with the rest of us – at Ruby and Hudson in their nakedclinch – slaps her hands guiltily to her cheeks.
‘I know.’ Ellie winces. ‘Maybe we should have crept away andleft them to it.’
‘Rubbish,’ laughs Madison. ‘If you’re bold enough to gonaked on a public beach, you ought to be able to cope with the consequences ofbeing rumbled.’ She waves gleefully, with both hands this time, shouting,‘Woo-hoo! X-rated bathers alert!’
‘You’re just jealous because Jack’s not here to frolic within the waves,’ points out Katja.
Madison groans. ‘Too right I am. I mean, isn’t this just theperfect setting for a bit of the old horizontal tango in the great outdoors?’
Everyone laughs, including me, and Madison shouts at theunlucky pair, ‘Don’t worry. We won’t look.’ She grabs their towels and dropsthem helpfully at the edge of the water, at which point the amorous pair startmoving sideways, crab-style, still clinging to each other to protect their modesty.I can almost feel the heat in poor Ruby’s face from here, although Hudson looksfairly unabashed and is clearly finding the whole scenario funny.
Madison runs back up the beach, joining the rest of us as welay out our own towels, backs turned to the action out to sea in a very diplomaticfashion.
‘Where on earth didyoulotspring from?’gasps Ruby when she joins us a moment later, wrapped in her towel. She shakesher head. ‘I can’t actually believe you’re here.’
Hudson, towel round his waist, chuckles. ‘Of all the beachesin all the world, they walk onto ours.’
I smile, recognising the line from one of the most romanticmovies ever – except it was about ‘gin joints’ not beaches.
Madison snorts. ‘A bloke who’s watchedCasablanca?And can even quote from it? Incredible. You need to hang onto him, Ruby.’
Everyone laughs, and Ruby and Hudson exchange the sort of eye-sparkling,devoted smile that makes my poor heart twist with emotion.
Harry used to look at me like that. Once upon a time...
‘So come on, tell us how you ended up here,’ says Ruby, aswe all lounge around on the sand.
