Page 27

“So do me a favor?” I start, my eyes on Jade, even though I’m taking to Nate.

“Yeah, what’s up?” he asks.

I turn to face him, making sure Jade stays in my peripheral vision because I need to make sure she behaves herself and also doesn’t hear what I am about to say to Nate. “Don’t let Jade know where I’m staying,” I say, tipping my head toward the back of the shop.

“She doesn’t know?” he asks, a confused expression on his face.

“No,” I reply, shaking my head. “I came out here early for a break, and her showing up early has kinda fucked with that, so I’m doing what I can to protect what’s left of my holiday.”

Nate chuckles, slapping a hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, I get that. I’ll let Sage and that know too.”

“Thanks, man,” I say, blowing out a breath. “And I’m gonna apologize in advance for any...well, you know, just in case.”

“She’s a chick who surfs, Flynn,” Nate says, laughing. “How bad can it get?”

Shaking my head, I scrub a hand over my jaw. “You have no idea,” I say, my eyes now moving to the dog she randomly decided to get this morning.

What the fuck possessed her to get a pet when she actively travels around the world for her job, including to several countries with strict quarantine restrictions, is beyond me. Jade’s home is in South Africa, which is where she’s from, and I’m assuming, like Australia, they have some kind of restrictions in place for bringing animals in.

But as usual, this is not something Jade has considered, assuming that someone else, most likely me, will sort all of these problems out for her. As far as I’m concerned, organizing her new dog’s travel schedule is not in my job description, so she’s either leaving this thing behind, or she is in for a rude fucking shock when she tries to get on her plane at Honolulu airport and thinks the dog counts as carry-on.

“Hey, everything good?” Sage asks, walking over from the table she’s set up by the surfboards that span an entire wall of the shop.

Nate hooks his arm around her, pulling her close. “Everything’s good, babe,” he says, kissing her quickly. “But heads up, Jade doesn’t know Flynn’s staying here, so keep it on the downlow.”

Sage’s eyes widen as she looks from me to Jade and back to me again. “Okay, no problem. You want me to tell everyone else that too?”

“Thank you,” he murmurs, giving her another kiss. “That would be awesome.”

Sage nods, reaching over to squeeze my arm as she gives me a knowing look, probably because she knows Alana and I are hooking up and Jade knowing where I’m staying could seriously fuck with that. Just as she moves away, presumably to word Owen in, Alana walks through the door, our eyes locking the second she looks my way. She gives me a small smile, and I can’t resist returning it, my heart flipping in my chest at just the sight of her, before she turns and makes her way over to the table where Jade has taken up residence.

I watch as she looks up at Alana’s arrival, the flash of scorn that crosses her face when she realizes she’s actually sharing the table with Alana. There are stacks of surf magazines and other paraphernalia on either end of the table, and even though Jade knew Alana was taking part in this, I’m sure she assumed it wouldn’t be like this.

“Excuse me a sec,” I say to Nate before making my way over to the table.

“Flynn!” Jade cries, standing the second she sees me and plastering a smile on her face as she throws her arms around me in a hug. Beside her, her new dog lets out a tiny bark, and as I disentangle myself from her embrace, I see Alana crouch down to pat it.

“Hi, baby,” she croons, cradling the dog’s head in her hands. The dog, which is actually kind of cute, lets out another tiny bark before jumping up and down and attempting to lick Alana’s face as she laughs at it.

Beside me, Jade stiffens, her smile disappearing as she reaches down and snatches up the dog. “Mochi, this is Flynn,” she says, holding the dog up to me. “Flynn, this is my little baby, Mochi.”

“Hey, fluffball,” I say, ruffling its head before turning back to Jade. “Not sure what possessed you to do this, Jade, but you know you can’t just travel with this thing in your bag, don’t you?”

Jade laughs, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she says, “Of course I know that. It’ll be fine, Flynn, and besides, I’ve got you to help me with him, don’t I?”

I exhale, pinching the bridge of my nose as I try to stay calm. Up until last year, all this sort of shit was handled by Jade’s dad. But the second she turned eighteen, she told him she didn’t need him traveling with us anymore, that she was an adult now and could handle things on her own.

Not sure when she was planning to start acting like one though, but it sure as shit hasn’t happened yet. In fact, her behavior has only gotten worse since her dad stopped touring with us, and I’m not sure if this is her just going through her rebellious streak or if she legit was always kind of a bitch, and he just managed to keep her in check better than I do.

“No, you don’t,” I say, glancing at Alana, who is actually smirking at me and this ridiculous conversation. “Like I said before, Jade, I’m your coach, not your assistant. What you do with this thing is your problem, not mine. But just a heads up. That comp in Margaret River is gonna be tough. Australia has pretty strict quarantine laws, you know?”

Jade pouts at me, jutting her hip out as she says, “But Johnny Depp took his dogs to Australia when he was filming.”

I can’t stop the eye roll, scrubbing a hand over my face as behind her, Alana snorts out a laugh before slapping a hand over her mouth as though she didn’t mean to. “Yeah, and that was done illegally,” I say, my words laden with sarcasm. “They were actually deported as a result of that.”

“Johnny Depp was?” she asks.

“The dogs,” I deadpan. “It was that or they were gonna be destroyed.”

Jade lets out a gasp, crushing the dog in her arms against her chest as she buries her face in its fur. Risking a glance at Alana, I see she’s silently laughing now, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she listens to this entire conversation.

I hit her with a look that’s supposed to convey that she isn’t helping, but this just makes her laugh even harder and, in the end, I turn back to Jade, changing the subject.

“Okay, this signing is gonna go for an hour or so. It’s probably going to be locals, but you never know who might show. I already know some of the sponsors are in town, so be nice, okay?”

Jade looks up at me, a look of indignation on her face as she says, “I’m always nice.”

I raise a brow, silently reminding her of the countless times she’s said the same thing, only to do the exact opposite. She doesn’t need me to spell out the time she walked out of a press conference when a reporter questioned her technique or how she left a promo thing early because they didn’t have the drink she wanted or the million other times she’s been a pain in the arse.

She knows because this is all behavior she’s been pulling ever since her dad stopped touring with us. And she knows how much it pisses me off. It’s not just her reputation that’s at stake here, it’s mine too.

“Be nice,” is all I say, pointing a finger at her before I turn to Alana. “Hey,” I now say, giving her a smile.

“Hi, Flynn, nice to see you again,” she says, like she didn’t just see me a couple of hours ago when we spent the morning snorkeling together, after spending the previous night together too.

“You too,” I say, my grin widening as I force myself not to reach for her, my hands already itching to hold her close. Just a couple of hours to get through, and then she’ll be all mine again. “Okay, I’m gonna leave you ladies to the signing, but I’m right over here if you need me,” I now say, gesturing to where Nate and Owen stand. My statement is directed to both of them, even if it’s only Jade I actually work for, and I don’t miss the smirk that quickly passes over Alana’s face.

“Flynn,” Jade calls as I turn to walk away.

“What?” I ask, glancing back at her.

“Can you...” she trails off, holding her dog out to me.

Rolling my eyes, I mutter out a “fuck’s sake” as I reach for the dog, not missing the grin Alana gives me as I walk over to where Owen stands, who is laughing his arse off at me.

“Don’t start,” I mutter as I put the dog back on the ground, Mochi’s lead in my hand.

“Man, she really is a piece of work,” he says, his eyes lighting up as the door to the shop opens.

“You have no idea,” I murmur, following his gaze to see Sloane come in. She waves at Alana but moves over to where we stand, her eyes lighting up when she sees the dog, not Owen, the guy who can’t stop staring at her. We watch as she crouches down in front of it, smiling as she plays with the tiny fluffball.

I glance at Owen, a smirk on my face as I hand him the dog’s lead. “Might be your in,” I tease, giving him a wink before I leave them to it.

“Holy fucking shit,” I exhale a couple of hours later as I walk into my cottage after dropping Jade and her dog back at her hotel.

Alana’s laugh sounds from the kitchen as she calls out, “You okay?”

Groaning, I make my way to where she stands at the stove, pulling a frying pan from the cupboards. Wrapping my arms around her from behind, I nuzzle my face into her neck, inhaling her delicious scent. “That was fucking exhausting.”

She giggles, gently elbowing me in the stomach before she turns to face me, her arms sliding around my waist. “You weren’t even the one signing!”

Smirking, I lean down, kissing her gently. “I meant Jade, smartarse,” I tease, giving her butt a gentle smack.

Alana raises a brow. “She get back okay? Is Mochi all good?”

I shake my head, laughing a little. “You’re really loving this, aren’t you?”

“What, watching you getting bossed around by a spoilt teenager, or knowing that despite all that, I’m the one that gets to see you naked?”

Chuckling, I grip her arse hard. “I do not get bossed around by her,” I say, mock sternness in my tone. “But yes,” I add, giving her a grin. “You definitely do get to see me naked. Anytime you want, actually.”

“Anytime?” she asks, a sly smile on her face.

“Any,” I start, giving her another kiss. “Time,” I add, giving her another.

“Sounds good,” she whispers against my mouth.

“Wanna start now?” I ask, nipping at her bottom lip.

“Hmmm, we could,” she whispers.

“Yes, we most certainly could.”

Alana laughs. “But first, I’m making you dinner,” she adds, her bottom lip between her teeth.

I run my thumb along it, pulling it free as I say, “You are?”

“Yeah,” she replies, an almost shy smile on her face now. “I figure you probably don’t get too many home-cooked meals with your travels, so maybe you’d like one.”

I blink, before closing the distance and kissing her hard, my heart flipping in my chest at just the idea she’d think about me like that. I know it’s something small and probably to most people, inconsequential, but she is right, I do travel a lot and I spend a lot of that time eating out at restaurants or getting take away for back in my hotel room.

“What was that for?” she asks when I finally pull back.

“Because you are amazing,” I whisper, kissing her again.

Alana blushes now, and fuck me if it isn’t all kinds of adorable. Everything about her is adorable, and I can’t believe it’s only been a week or so since this all started and I’ve already fallen hard.

Really hard.

“It’s just chicken long rice, but it’s kinda my specialty,” she says.

Chuckling, I lean in, brushing my lips over hers. “Oh, I think you have a lot of specialties, Alana Hale.” She giggles at that, and I can’t resist kissing her again, unable to get enough of her. God, I haven’t just fallen hard for this girl, I’ve fucking fallen in love with her. And I have no idea how I am supposed to walk away from her when Pipe is over. If I can walk away from her.

“Oh, I meant to tell you,” she suddenly says, pulling back a little, a huge smile on her face. “The guy from Oakley wanted to talk to me about possible sponsorship opportunities.”

“Holy shit, that’s awesome!” I say, genuinely excited for her because I know how huge it is when a big-name brand approaches you. And while it isn’t always a guarantee, I know the second he sees her surfing at Pipe, he’ll be all over it. All of them will be. “You’ll get heaps more when you kill it at Pipe too, you know.”

“If I kill it at Pipe,” she says. “There’s some pretty tough competition coming, Flynn. Trust me, I’ve seen the lineup.”

I drop a kiss on the end of her nose. “Yeah, and I’ve seen you surf, beautiful, and I know true talent when I see it.” She gives me that shy smile again, and I can’t help but laugh. “I’m serious, Alana, you are a really fucking talented surfer.”

“Thank you,” she whispers, kissing me softly. “But let me show you what a talented cook I can be too,” she says, turning back to the stove and the ingredients I now see laid out on the kitchen bench.

My arms are still wrapped around her, her back to my front, and I can’t resist leaning in, my mouth at her ear as I whisper. “And after, I’m gonna show you how talented I can be in the bedroom.”

She snorts out a laugh, turning to me as she says, “I think you already have.”

Smirking, I tighten my arms, my fingers teasing the waistband of her shorts. “Oh no, I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve.”

“Oh?” she asks, her eyes widening. “Such as?”

Chuckling, I slip my fingers beneath her shorts and panties, brushing them against her soft skin. “Hmmm, I think I might just wait and show you,” I whisper, my lips trailing along the shell of her ear.

“Can’t wait,” she says, rubbing her arse against my dick, which is already hard in my shorts.

“Ugh, don’t be a tease, especially when you’re holding sharp instruments,” I say, gesturing to the knife she’s picked up. Alana laughs, and I press one more kiss to her neck before letting her go, moving to grab a couple of beers from the fridge for us. “Was everything okay with Jade at the signing?” I now ask, changing the subject.

I hadn’t hung around the table all night, mainly because there was a heap of people lined up waiting to speak to both of them. And as I watched, it was pretty clear that just as many people had shown up to see Alana as Jade, and there was a huge part of me that was very happy about that.

“Yeah, it was fine,” she says with a shrug as she glances over at me. “I can handle Jade,” she now adds, and I can only hope she’s right because if there’s one thing I have learned over the past twelve months, it’s that when Jade is left to her own devices, chaos often ensues.

The damn dog is proof of that.