Page 5 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

As I scrolled through my memories of all the interactions I’d had with footballers in the past, I gazed down the beach. But instead of finding a clear image of the kind of man I wanted to portray, I found my thoughts freezing in an instant. A girl was climbing over the rocks, heading my way.

My heart jumped into a sprint. This seriously could not be happening. What the hell was a girl doing on my beach?

Anger simmered under my skin as my mind raced, trying to assess the situation as fast as I could. My first instinct was that my location had been leaked. It seemed like the only explanation. Panic pierced my gut.

I tried to calm my thoughts, put some sort of logic in place. It was telling me she should have no idea I was here, because the only people who knew were people I trusted. So, if my location hadn’t been leaked, that only left one possibility. She really didn’t know. But if that was true, she sure as hell was going to know in a few seconds!

I shifted uncomfortably, my hands tensing on the script. This was definitely going to pose a problem. I’d seen firsthand how quick the chain reaction unfolded once the word was out. If that happened—goodbye, seclusion. And goodbye relaxation for the rest of the guys.

My body coiled tight, ready to run. Experience was telling me to get up and go back up to the house before she got close enough to identify me, but stubbornness told me to hold my ground. This was my fucking house, and my fucking vacation.

My hands clenched tighter on the script as I struggled to make a decision. I thought of calling Daniel to sort it out—it was a private beach, after all, and I knew for a fact that the only other property owner here was a single woman with no children. But that would most likely only draw attention to the fact that someone of interest was staying here.

With teeth clenched, I exhaled through the tension. Why did shit have to be so fucking hard?

Holding the script down in front of me, I lowered my head and pretended to read it as I watched her draw closer. I couldn’t really tell how old she was from this distance, but if I had to guess, I’d say she was about twenty—the perfect age to go fangirl and completely lose her shit. Lucky me.

The way she moved intrigued me, though. It was calm and relaxed as she slowly strolled beside the lapping water, her head tilted out toward the rolling waves. She seemed happy and content, but as though she was in a completely different world. It was exactly how I felt when I was here. I was almost positive she didn’t even know I was sitting here.

I took a moment to look over her appearance. Her hair was the first thing I noticed. It was long and blonde—the color of the sand, and it shone so brilliantly in the afternoon sunlight, I couldn’t help but think how amazing it must feel to the touch. She wore a little blue dress, no shoes, and had a book clutched to her chest as though it was her most treasured possession.

As she drew closer, I tried to gauge what kind of a fan she would be. It was always hard to pick it, but she seemed like one of the quiet ones. And from experience, I knew they were the ones you had to watch out for the most.

I could tell the exact moment she realized she wasn’t alone. Her body tensed slightly, her footfalls shortening for a few steps, and I saw her teeth drawing over her bottom lip with nerves. My whole body tensed, waiting for the telltale moment of recognition. My breath was drawn, stuck somewhere inside my chest.

A slight panic rose inside me. What would she do when she realized who I was? Could I convince her to keep my presence a secret? Maybe I could bribe her with an autograph and a picture of us together as a memento.

I knew I should get up and leave, but curiosity kept me immobile. She hadn’t even taken one glance at me yet. Her eyes were trained hard on the sand before her.

Please, don’t be a psycho . . .

When she was almost directly in front of me, she finally looked my way. I tried to bury my head back in my script, hide my face to stop the catastrophe that was sure to come, but the second my gaze met hers, I lost all sense of self-preservation.

Holy crap. Her eyes had to have been the clearest blue I’d ever seen. I tried to suck in a breath, stunned by how naturally beautiful she was, but the last breath I’d taken was still lodged firmly inside my lungs.

“Hi,” she breathed.

Her voice came out softly, floating in the breeze, and her lips curved into the smallest of smiles, confirming my suspicions of her being a shy one. Then, before I knew it, her gaze was gone from me and she continued walking away.

I sat, mildly stunned, first at how simply gorgeous she was, and second, at the fact that not one ounce of recognition had flashed in her eyes. She hadn’t even slowed her steps as she passed.

As I watched her retreating figure, I waited for her to glance back, for that moment when her mind put the pieces of the puzzle together and she realized who I was. For some stupid reason, I wanted her to. I really wanted her to look back.

But she didn’t. She just kept on going, right to the end, where the sand met rock, and she turned and weaved her way up the grassy track to the house at the end of the beach.

“I’ve already got Corey stationed out the front, and Lance is manning the monitors.”

I turned to see Daniel standing at the bottom of the trail leading up to the house. How he’d even seen the girl while he’d been with Amy was beyond me, but that was exactly why he was my head of security.

“I’m not sure she recognized me,” I said quietly, still reeling from the encounter.

Daniel just nodded, his eyes narrowed on the top of the trail where the girl had disappeared. We both knew only time would tell.

Chapter 5

Olivia

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