The Other Side: Book #1 in the Island Girls Trilogy by Zee Monodee

The Other SideBlurb:

Divorce paints a scarlet letter on her back when she returns to the culture-driven society of Mauritius. This same spotlight shines as a beacon of hope for the man who never stopped loving her. Can the second time around be the right one for these former teenage sweethearts?

Indian-origin Lara Reddy left London after her husband dumps her for a more accommodating uterus—at least, that’s what his desertion feels like. Bumping into him and his pregnant new missus doesn’t help matters any, and she thus jumps on a prestigious job offer. The kicker? The job is in Mauritius, the homeland of her parents, and a society she ran away from over a decade earlier.

But once there, Lara has no escape. Not from the gossip, the contempt, the harassing matchmaking…and certainly not from the man she hoped never to meet again. The boy she’d loved and lost—white Mauritian native, Eric Marivaux.

Back when they were teens, Eric left her, and Lara vowed she’d never let herself be hurt again. Today, they are both adults, and facing the same crossroads they’d stood at so many years earlier.

Lara now stands on the other side of Mauritian society. Will this be the impetus she needs to take a chance on Eric and love again?

Buy Links:
Decadent Publishing
Amazon US
Amazon UK

*****

Excerpt:

She shouldn’t have come. The sound of her mother’s high-pitched voice crept over the din, asking if someone had heard a car stop in the driveway. They’d come out in the next minute.

Picking up her courage, and wishing it were Dutch courage despite her not being a drinker, she tore her fingers and head from the wheel and threw the door open. Lara peeled herself out of the vehicle at the same time a chorus of gasps resounded in the garden.

All three older women were over her like a bad rash. Hugging and kissing her cheeks, holding her face in their hands while they exclaimed how beautiful she had become. All of which were simply tactics to lull her into complacency for when they’d really pounce on the meaty topic—her divorce.

With their deceptively frail-looking hands on her shoulders, they pushed her toward the back door to the kitchen. A memory of being pushed around in the same way toward the altar on her wedding day, the glittery gold and red veil over her eyes, assaulted her. She stopped in her tracks, the pain coming in from nowhere to slice through her heart. The biddies must not have noticed her stilling; they simply continued to steer her inside until she was seated at the table. A plate of towering hot bhadias appeared in front her, along with a bowl of satini cotomili, the coriander, tomato, and chili paste-like dip Mauritians ate with all their fried foods.

Auntie Ruby, resident gossipmonger, lived up to her reputation. She had been the first to mention Lara’s failed marriage before they made it back into the house.

The sound of the grating voice droned on, Lara choosing to ignore it, before her mother gave her a small slap on her shoulder.

“You wicked girl. You said you were coming on Monday, and here you are surprising us now.”

She sighed. This was code for “how could you have kept this a secret and made me lose face in front of everyone, when I’ve been telling them you are coming on Monday?” Her mother lived for hearsay and the general idea of “what will people say.” In fact, most people in Mauritius lived by the standard. Whoever said the ton and all its silly rules had died in the Regency era had not taken a trip to Mauritius, in eighteen-ten or the year two thousand.

“But my poor little girl,” Auntie Ruby said in a cajoling tone bringing nothing but danger to mind. “Of course you wanted to come home earlier. Who wouldn’t? Look what that awful, awful man has done to you.”

Translation: “And here’s your cue to air out the laundry, from the sheets to the knickers, you silly goose.”

“Our hearts went out to you, dearest girl, you who are like a daughter to us,” Auntie Zubeida chimed in. “We never saw this coming. How could you not have told a soul you and that scoundrel were having problems? We would’ve spoken to him, set him right, showed him this is not how he is supposed to treat our daughter.”

“Tsk-tsk. And what a beautiful couple you two made. How could anyone have thought you would break up?” Auntie Ruby added.

Lara forced a small smile. Damn, how she wanted to be out of here. She had a duty to do, though—the sooner she was done, the better, so she could run back to Grand Baie and leave those old cows behind. And yes, in that lot, she included her mother, who had yet to speak out. Bad vibe.

“I’m doing fine, Auntie,” she said. “That’s what matters.”

All three women watched her with narrowed eyes. No way was she doing away with the Inquisition.

“How can you be fine?” Auntie Ruby asked. “We have been so preoccupied with your plight. How on earth are you going to get along? How will your parents bear all this? To think they still have an unmarried daughter on their hands, now they are ending up with two daughters. Oh what fate God has dealt them.”

Lara bit her lip to keep from answering back. Right, the ton must’ve been more solicitous than this. The aunts were simply nosing for gossip. But then, that’s what Jane Austen wrote in her subtext, too. The concern was merely the polite way of enquiring about gossip in their society.

*****

Trailer:

*****

Random Facts:

– The Other Side is Zee’s first-ever penned novel, written in the year 2005, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and thus decided to live her dream of writing a book. She drafted this book mostly during sleepless nights between chemotherapy sessions, the outpouring of this tale becoming her therapy to cope with her treatments.

– The book trailer features images of locations mentioned in the story. The second image, at 0.08, is of the Grand Baie beach, where Lara lives. At 0.58 is the Swami Vivekananda International Conventions Centre located inland in Pailles, that Zee used as the inspiration for the centre Lara manages in Grand Baie. 2.09 features the Coin de Mire Island, a visual that can be admired from the terrace of Eric’s residence in Cap Malheureux.

*****

The Other Side About the Author:

Stories about love, life, relationships… in a melting-pot of culture

Zee is an author who grew up on a fence – on one side there was modernity and the global world, on the other there was culture and traditions. Putting up with the culture for half of her life, one day she decided she’d stand tall on her wall and dip toes every now and then into both sides of her non-conventional upbringing.

From this resolution spanned a world of adaptation and learning to live on said wall. The realization also came that many other young women of the world were on their own fence.

This particular position became her favorite when she decided to pursue her lifelong dream of writing – her heroines all sit ‘on a fence’, whether cultural or societal, in today’s world or in times past, and face dilemmas about life and love.

Hailing from the multicultural island of Mauritius, Zee is a degree holder in Communications Science. She is a head-over-heels wife, in-over-her-head mum to a tween son, best-buddy-stepmum to a teenage lad, an incompetent domestic goddess, eternal dreamer, and an absolute, shameless bookholic. When she isn’t penning more stories and/or managing the Ubuntu line at Decadent Publishing, you can bet you’ll find her with her nose in her tablet, ‘drinking in’ a good book.

The Fugitive’s Sexy Brother by Annabeth Leong

The Fugitive's Sexy BrotherBlurb:

Emily Boysen is sick of low-level bounty hunting jobs that don’t pay her rent, and sick to death of her ex-boyfriend taking credit for her work. Ready to claim her due, she takes on the quarry of a lifetime, the notorious Fernando Bonavita. But instead of the fugitive, she captures his sexy younger brother, Javier.

Javier Bonavita never wanted to know the truth about his older brother’s activities, instead protecting him out of loyalty. When he uses his hacking skills to pose as Fernando, he never expects to uncover crimes he can’t stomach. Beautiful Emily has no idea how glad he is to be in her custody—as long as he’s her prisoner, he doesn’t have to face his brother.

Passion flares between Emily and Javier, and soon he’s putting the handcuffs on her. Suspicion grows along with their feelings, though. A sinister plot centers around Fernando, and untangling it will test their loyalties to the limit.

Buy Links:
All Romance
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Ellora’s Cave

Excerpt:

Javier’s smart phone buzzed in his pocket. He paused his video game and glanced at the screen. The vibration originated from the custom application he’d written to monitor the motion sensors he’d set up around the perimeter of his brother Fernando’s house. Returning his attention to his computer, Javier quit the game and pulled up a view of the exterior cameras.

A girl was crawling beneath Fernando’s hedge. Even with the cameras, Javier would never have seen her if the motion sensor hadn’t pinpointed her exact position. She held her body low, wore clothes that blended in perfectly with the hues of the yard’s greenery, and moved slowly enough that she wouldn’t attract the casual eye.

Game time.

Plans and strategies tumbled through Javier’s head, but he remained still for a moment, frozen by discomfort. No jilted lover Javier could imagine would act this way, approaching the house like a single-member SWAT team. He squinted at the grainy image of her. He supposed she was a woman, not a girl, but she was a slip of a thing. Her body seemed slight in comparison to the thick, tawny hair bound at the back of her head. Skin only a shade lighter than the hair peeked out of the camouflage clothes in a few places—Javier caught a glimpse of a light brown shoulder blade and the back of a thigh. He remained glued to the screen, fascinated by her strange grace. She didn’t seem like his brother’s type at all.

Javier cleared his throat, struggling again with suspicions he didn’t want to acknowledge. But what harm could it do to play along? That girl couldn’t hurt him, and more than anything he wanted to repay Fernando for all the years he’d looked out for his kid brother. It wouldn’t hurt to earn recognition as an adult in the process. Maybe if he could gain Fernando’s trust he’d be rewarded with true explanations instead of obvious fabrications like this one.

Javier glanced down at his clothes. He should really be dressed as Fernando, but hadn’t had the patience to wear suits when he didn’t have to. He frowned at the image on the screen. He’d locked all the doors and the ground-floor windows were sealed and made of shatter-resistant materials. He had a minute before he had to decide his next step with the girl.

He went to the closet, stripping off his T-shirt on the way and stepping out of his jeans. Fernando’s clothes hung a little loose on him—their bodies were close, but the tailored touches Fernando had added emphasized his thicker physique. Javier was slightly taller and slightly leaner. He found a pair of dark-gray pants that fell far enough down on the leg and looked okay in the mirror. Javier turned to the dress shirts and found himself confronted with a dizzying array of fits and colors. How did his brother deal with all this complication every morning? And why did he care so much?

Javier shook his head at himself and reached for the nearest one, only to freeze at the sound of Fernando’s upstairs bedroom window sliding open. Had the woman really climbed up here in a matter of minutes? She hadn’t been carrying any gear.

He shrugged on the shirt and stepped out of the closet, still buttoning it. She stood just inside the window, her stance wary and her eyes on the computer screen. Handcuffs and restraints swung from the belt loops of army-green short-shorts. Her gaze flicked toward him, her blue eyes large and bright against the sandy backdrop of her face. She wore no makeup, but a generous scattering of freckles added plenty of interesting color and shape to her features. A smile spread over Javier’s face before he could think the situation through.

The interloper scowled in response, producing a can of mace. “You think this is funny, Bonavita?”

Javier held up his hands quickly. He didn’t want to get sprayed. But he couldn’t back down completely or the game would be up before it had even begun. He imitated the cool confidence his brother always possessed. “You wanted to see me so badly you couldn’t knock?”

Her frown deepened. “You watched me approach the house on video monitors, and decided to…change your clothes?”

“Couldn’t let you think I didn’t care about our date.”

She glanced at the monitors and shook her head, her lips forming the word “stupid.” Javier cocked his head, but before he could ask she brandished the mace more fiercely. “Take whatever weapons you’ve got and put them on the floor.”

“What you see is what I’ve got.”

“Yeah, I’m going to believe that.”

Javier shrugged. “If you want to strip-search me, I won’t stop you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Pig.”

“Then I guess we’re going to stand here all day.”

The woman sighed and set down the can of mace. Javier’s body relaxed, but before he had a chance to enjoy it he was on the floor, the woman on top of him. She couldn’t have weighed much, but she knew how to make her body heavy. Her legs wrapped his thighs in an intimate hold that kept him immobilized, and the blade of her forearm wedged under his chin threatened his windpipe.

Javier gasped from the shock of his back crashing to Fernando’s hardwood floor, but recovered as quickly as he could. “Beds are much more comfortable.”

“In your dreams, Bonavita.”

Moving with practiced confidence, she rolled Javier onto his side without relaxing the strength of her hold. She snapped a set of handcuffs around his wrists.

“Whoa, whoa. Baby, let’s talk about this.”

“Very funny. Like you don’t know why I’m here.” A light layer of sweat had appeared along her neck. She smelled wild and powerful, like leaves, salt and sun. Javier knew he should be more concerned about himself, but he couldn’t get his mind off the idea of her lying on top of him for an entirely different reason.

She returned Javier to his back, the position forcing his cuffed hands to dig in to his spine. He curled up to remove the pressure, but a sharply placed knee to his chest forced him back down and pinned him. “Woman, you are serious.”

“Are you just figuring that out?” Her hands slid inside his shirt. For one delicious moment, Javier’s eyelids fell shut and he shivered at her touch. She stopped moving and he opened his eyes slowly to confront her solemn stare. “You are enjoying this way too much,” she said.

If his hands had been free, Javier would have tried to enjoy it a lot more. He’d forgotten how it felt to roll around with a woman, forgotten the sensation of soft, warm flesh against his own. Sure, the situation clearly meant serious trouble for Fernando, but Fernando wasn’t here, was he? Javier felt wild and invincible. He grinned up at the woman. “How could I not? Look at you.”

She glared, but her cheeks turned rosy, bringing out a clearer view of her abundant freckles. “Wonderful. The first man to be stunned by my good looks happens to be the most dangerous quarry I’ve had in years.”

Bio:

Annabeth Leong has written erotica of many flavors. She loves shoes, stockings, cooking and excellent bass lines. She always keeps a new e-book loaded on her phone and a paperback stashed in her purse, but her eyes are still bigger than her stomach whenever she visits a bookseller. She blogs at annabethleong.blogspot.com, and tweets @AnnabethLeong . Watch for her next contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave, Get Laid.

New Release: Anything She Wants

I’m happy to announce that I’m part of Ladylit’s first multi-author lesbian erotica anthology, Anything She Wants. My story is called Loving the Lady. I wrote most of it on a coach, going to and from London! Here’s the skinny:

In the office, on the set of a movie or on the bathroom floor, the ladies in this anthology don’t care where they get it on. Power play, first time encounters and office rivalry get the characters in these twelve stories so riled up, the only way to go is down and dirty. Tales of spanking, a wild all-female college party and a waitress with a strap-on grace the pages of Ladylit’s first multi-author lesbian erotica anthology.

Caution: Reading ‘Anything She Wants’ will make you wet!

Stories by Kay Jaybee, Laila Blake, Lucy Felthouse, Erzabet Bishop, Sarah Ellen, L.C. Spoering, Vanessa de Sade, Kelly Lawrence, Giselle Renarde, Alyssa Linn Palmer, Ariel Graham and Harper Bliss.

More info, excerpt and buy links here: https://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/anything-she-wants/

Rock Your Soul by Sara Brookes

Rock Your SoulBook Blurb:

Beth has been scarred both inside and out by a sadistic Dom and has worked hard to put the pieces of her life back together. However, the successful disc jockey knows one piece doesn’t quite align. She yearns to submit and searches for the one Dom she’s convinced will help bring her to lusty new heights.

When Ryan agrees to assist Beth, he’s surprised by her determination to persevere. Intrigued, he pushes her limits by using his gifted carpenter’s hands to bring her wild, erotic pleasure. Ryan, though, has scars of his own, and a tragic past filled with death keeps him at a distance.

Two broken souls will find a way to heal together. Beth discovers what she needs in Ryan, and her journey mends Ryan’s heart. But when the life Beth abandoned rises from the shadows, Ryan realizes there’s something far worse than his tortuous past—a future without Beth.

Warning: Get your world rocked by two very tortured souls who come together in a blinding explosion of sensual passion that knows no bounds. Except when there are ropes, custom-carved floggers, glass dildos and motorcycle sex involved. Oh, and did I mention the m/f/m ménage scene? One can never have too many skilled men ready to lend a…hand.

 

Book Link:

Ellora’s Cave: http://www.ellorascave.com/rock-your-soul.html

Book Excerpt:

“To your knees.”

She blinked, stunned at the power and command in his voice. As the control washed over her, she wanted to respond, but she found herself too annoyed things weren’t going according to plan. While she’d expected him to ask her questions to find out what he was in store for, she didn’t expect anything of this magnitude.

Angry, she returned his glare.

He smirked. The reaction caused her insides to turn to jelly, her vitriolic thoughts vanishing on the chilly night air. Why did he have to be so goddamned handsome and annoying at the same time?

“I suggest you listen if you want me to consider taking you on as I don’t like repeating myself. To. Your. Knees.”

She opened her mouth to protest and he tilted his head down just enough to give her another message. A very stern one she couldn’t help but listen to. He would not be ignored.

She dropped her hands to her sides and slowly lowered to her knees. The rough rocks immediately bit into her shins, but she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of showing him she was in pain. She heard the unmistakable sound of buttons popping on his jeans and looked up just in time to see him part the denim. What in the Sam hell did he intend to do? If he expected her to suck his dick right here and now, he’d better think again.

“Eyes down.”

The authority behind those two words coursed through her, compelling her to obey. It had been a long time since she’d had this kind of reaction. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she complied. The denim pooled around his ankles and she found herself staring at the pile.

Just as she started to wonder if Elena had been out of her mind to recommend this man, his hand slid against the top of her head. His touch was almost calming and, despite her annoyance, a feeling of tranquility washed over her. His fingers combed her hair, catching the elastic holder from her ponytail, pulling it free. He continued to run his fingers through the strands, fanning out her hair. She relaxed under his persistent touch. The pain in her legs melted away and she gave a soft sigh as her body started to quietly buzz.

Yes.

The crunch of rocks jolted her back to the moment. She listened to him move away, leaving her alone on the rock path in front of his house.

What in the hell?

Beth looked to the left and her eyes widened in surprise as she spotted him. He strolled toward the small lake at the front corner of the field, towel swinging in his hand as he walked. Those jeans of his were at her feet and she now had an unobstructed view of his bare ass.

A very firm, very tan, perfectly formed ass.

Christ on a slinky going down an up escalator if he doesn’t look even better out of those jeans. Transfixed by the bunch and pull of the muscles in his thighs and butt as he walked over the uneven ground, she forgot her place and openly gawked.

When he reached the bank at the water’s edge, he dropped the towel and walked right into the lake. She expected him to dive under the surface, but instead he slowly moved until the water lapped as his hips. He sunk as if he were a knife cutting through the water, disappearing with no more than a quiet ripple disturbing the surface. The lake smoothed in seconds.

The only indication she ever had company were those damn jeans on the ground in front of her.

Author Bio:

Sara Brookes is an award-winning author who has always been fascinated by the strange, the unusual, the twisted and the lost (tortured heroes are her personal favorite). She is an action movie junkie, addicted to coffee and has been known to stay up until the wee hours of the morning playing RPG video games. Despite all this, she is a romantic at heart and is always a sucker for an excellent love story. Born and bred in Virginia, Sara still lives there with her husband and daughter. The entire family is owned by two cats, Galahad and Loki, who graciously allow the family to cater to their every desire.

Author Links:

Website: www.sarabrookes.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sara_Brookes

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/brookesofbooks

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/authorsarabrookes

Announcement List: http://eepurl.com/mbG31

Cowboy Boots and Inexpressible Longing by Natalie Acres

Cowboy Boots and Inexpressible LongingHis pain is far greater than his need for love

Master Drew Remington knows pain. He understands its fury. He has walked through its unrelenting terror and remembers the torment in his brother’s eyes as he lay dying in front of him.

His affliction is too vast to overcome

Oh yes, Master Drew knows heartache. He watched as his father was gunned down by a hired assassin. He understands what it’s like to feel helpless and utterly consumed by a harrowing tragedy that left his family in ruins.

Only one woman can heal his soul and mend his wounded heart

A former lover, Suzy Matthews reenters Master Drew’s life. Suzy is determined to win her Master’s heart, but as she plans to embrace the love she and Master Drew share, an emerging war finally erupts. Soon, Suzy is used as a pawn in a very dangerous game set to unfold between old enemies looking to settle one final score.

Available from: http://www.bookstrand.com/natalie-acres

 

Story Excerpt:

“He’s got her,” Drew said.

“No shit.” Crue’s voice filled his ears. “Gabe and I have clear shots in the guest room. We can take out all but one of his men. Looks like Esparza’s son is standing at his twelve o’clock.”

“Don’t take those shots,” Drew whispered, easing closer to Esparza and Suzy. He couldn’t risk a complication. Suzy’s life was on the line.

“Damn it, Drew. If we don’t take them out, you won’t stand a chance when they scatter,” Gabe snapped.

“Then I won’t stand a chance.” He tucked his weapon at his waist and walked down the hallway with his hands in the air. This was like déjà vu, only worse. Suzy was on the floor. Esparza’s gun was aimed at her head. Damn if he didn’t know how that felt. He’d been there. He’d done that.

Damn man must’ve liked reliving moments in life. As Drew locked gazes with Esparza, he reminded himself of where he’d been, what heartache he’d suffered, all at the hands of a monster.

This despicable devil had been at the root of all his problems. He’d taken away the heart and soul of his family. He’d killed his father and slaughtered his brother. Now, he had his woman!

He’d be damned if he’d let him take one more person he cared about. And he wasn’t about to lose his life to Esparza so another one of his brothers would face off with him in the future.

It was time to end this. The moment had come. It was time to send a devil back to hell.

“What have we here?” Esparza cocked the gun.

“You’ll never get away with this,” Drew told him, glancing at Suzy. “We have the place surrounded.”

“Really?” Esparza threw his head back and laughed. “My property is twenty-five acres and your team—your team of six or seven men—have my place surrounded?”

“Your surveillance must’ve failed you somewhere, Esparza. We’ve pulled divisions from across the country.” Drew crept forward as he spoke. “I don’t foresee any way out of this for you.”

Esparza sneered. “I don’t see any positive outcome for your girl. Do you?”

Drew flinched. “I still can’t figure out why you have her. She’s been in town for two days and you think there’s some sort of lasting connection between us?”

Suzy shot him a quick glance. He wanted to run to her as soon as he implied she wasn’t important to him. He needed to wrap his arms around her and reassure her.

Again, Esparza tossed his head back. “You’re living in Vegas now. Haven’t you learned the laws of the land, yet? You can bluff a skilled player, a player who cares about the end result more than the temporary win. But you cannot—or at least you shouldn’t—bluff a true gambler. These individuals will go all-in without considering the risks.”

“Let her go,” Drew said, still holding his hands high. Manny was behind him now. Drew had worked with him long enough to feel him like a second skin. Scott was positioned at the other end of the hall. There was a little red dot on the side of Esparza’s head.

“Do you remember the time we spent together in Virginia, Drew?” Esparza grinned. “Of course you do. I’m the reason behind that drive you have now. When you rise every morning, I’m the only excuse you have to get out of bed. I’m your inspiration when you pound the pavement for four or five miles every day, and I’m—me, Drew, and no one else—the very reason you’ll never know a peaceful rest when you lay down at night and go to sleep.”

“You’re fucking insane.”

“And I speak the truth,” Esparza said. “We share a history that can never been separated. Don’t you feel it, Drew? I do. We’re linked together by what I now consider a very beautiful past, one wrought with murder and deceit, fraud and manipulation. Death surrounds us. Your father took away my family. I’ve slowly killed off yours. We meet, separate, and reunite again. We are so much a part of one another’s lives now that we’re almost family.”

Esparza yanked Suzy’s head back. “When families play together, darling, they stay together. You understand that. Don’t you?”

 

Copyright © 2013 Natalie Acres

International bestseller Natalie Acres is a Tennessee author writing exclusively for Siren Publishing. Prone to pen Western ménage romance and BDSM romantic thrillers, Natalie Acres enjoys sports, reading, and spending time with her family and friends. When she isn’t writing, Natalie is often found at a dice table in Cherokee, North Carolina, or playing poker in Tunica, Mississippi.

http://natalieacres.wordpress.com

http://www.amazon.com/Natalie-Acres/e/B002T575KC/

https://twitter.com/NatalieAcres

https://www.facebook.com/NatalieAcresAuthor

 

New Release: Girls Getting Off, edited by Elizabeth Coldwell

My story, When in Devon, appears in this erotic anthology, just released by Xcite Books. I had lots of fun writing this saucy tale, and given the rest of the author names in this book, it promises to be an excellent read.

Here’s the blurb:

Enter a sensual, seductive world of lady love

Sometimes, only another woman can give a girl the excitement she craves. In this collection of twenty sensuous lesbian erotic tales, penned by the best erotica authors from around the world you’ll discover women enjoying their first sweet taste of all-girl games, and long-term lovers reawakening their passion with the aid of new tricks and favourite toys. From sweet and tender to rough and kinky, delicious damsels to bi-try babes, there’s something here to satisfy all lovers of girl-on-girl action.

Who wouldn’t want to be there when girls get off?

Buy links here: https://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/girls-getting-off/

*****

Excerpt:

Belle was bored out of her damn mind. She was sitting on a deckchair on Croyde Beach, watching her friends Adrian and Wayne surfing. It had been fun at first, seeing their athletic bodies manoeuvring the boards with skill, riding the waves. And giggling at the occasional fall, of course. They were good, but not perfect.

Now, on the third day of walking from their lush holiday cottage to the beach to watch the surfers, Belle really wished she’d stayed in and taken advantage of the free WiFi. Or even gone into the village pub or cafe. Read a book. Anything but continue to observe the boys on their bloody boards.

She wasn’t even supposed to be there, really. A third guy, Max, was meant to be going, but he’d dropped out for some reason, so the others had asked her if she wanted to come along.

“Come on,” Adrian had said, “there are three bedrooms, all en-suite, so it’ll be private for you. Free WiFi, underfloor heating, the works.”

“Sounds expensive.”

“It is, but not for you. Max has already paid his share, and it was non-refundable. We won’t find another surfer to come at such short notice, so Max will have to take the hit. He’s okay with it. Anyway, you’ve gotta come. You don’t have other plans, do you?” His voice sounded slightly incredulous at that last part, and Belle’s reply was snippy.

“No, I don’t. But there’s no need to be mean about it.”

“Sorry, babe. I didn’t mean it like that. How about I make it up to you? A free week away do you? All you need is spending money.”

“No petrol money? Are we teleporting there?”

“Hey, who’s being mean now? Anyway, no you don’t. I invited you, and I wouldn’t expect you to pay for petrol. Come on…” He wheedled and cajoled.

Belle gave in. She’d only really been being stubborn because of the comment about her not having anything else to do. Inwardly, she’d jumped at the chance of a free holiday, but she’d remained cool on the outside.

Now, though, she wished she’d remained cool through and through, or that her boss had refused to give her the time off. Yes, it had been nice to see what her two best friends did every time they tore off to the Devon or Cornwall coast, but now she’d had her fill.

It wasn’t all bad, though. The weather was gorgeous, especially for early November, and there was hardly anyone around. She imagined the place would be heaving in the summer, but now there were just a handful of surfers, the occasional dog walker and a few hikers.

The hikers gave her an idea. She could go for a walk. Take in a bit more of the scenery, something different from the section of beach she’d been staring at for three days straight. Yes, that’s what she’d do. Rummaging in the bag she’d brought with her, she found an old receipt and a pen.

Gone for a walk. Got my mobile if you need me. Belle xxx

 

Buy links here: https://www.lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/girls-getting-off/