Page 13 of Suddenly Beck

Her lips purse speculatively as she studies me, the silence stretches out interminably, and my heart starts to sink. I can feel the heat on my cheeks as I flush in embarrassment. What was I thinking, of course she won’t want me.

‘Sorry, forget it, it’s a stupid idea,’ I apologise, feeling like a bit of a twat.

‘Mrs Ainsley.’ Rachel reappears. ‘I managed to speak with Ben and Lucy, and Lucy will call Stacey and get her to call Penny.’

‘Good.’ Melanie nods her eyes still fixed on my face. ‘Rachel put the closed sign on the door.’ Rachel hurries off to do as she’s told as Melanie slowly rises to her feet and walks past me. ‘Are you coming then?’ She pauses and looks back at me. ‘I’ll show you where the kitchen is, and you can wow me with your culinary skills.’

I slide off the seat, my stomach jumping with nerves even as my mouth stretches into a wide and genuine smile, but as I follow her toward the kitchen, I can’t help but wonder what the fuck I’ve just talked myself into.

Chapter Five

Beck

They say fate is a fickle and capricious creature, but sometimes, I get the feeling she’s just flat out laughing in my face…

Alarmingly, I let loose what can only be described as a giggle, even worse, it’s distressingly high pitched, and one that I’m certain any eight-year-old girl would be proud of. In my defence, I was more or less asleep, deeply immersed in a very pleasurable dream when I felt a slick wetness swipe the side of my face.

Sleepily, I shove that rough tongue away from my face, but my assailant, seemingly undeterred, licks me again, and I blearily crack one eye open to see Ursula’s wide smile as she turns happily, battering me in the face with her wagging tail.

‘Urse, cut it out,’ I snort trying to protect my face.

Rolling off the sofa... yeah, I didn’t make it to bed again, I admit it. I may as well just move my bedroom into my studio, it would probably make my life simpler. Yanking my t-shirt over my head I use it to rub the wetness from my face before tossing it on the sofa. Absently, I glance around for a hair band, and unable to find one, I opt to leave my hair hanging loosely around my shoulders.

Padding across the floor in nothing but my jeans I try not to trip as Ursula winds herself around my legs, dancing around impatiently. Reaching the huge windows, I unlock them and fold them back, opening the space to the outside and drawing in the crisp fresh air. Ursula races past me almost taking out my legs like a furry comet in a rush to relieve herself, and I stand for a moment, my hands braced against the frame and feeling the pleasant warm breeze ripple across my skin. The sun is reflecting off the water, which has changed from a gloomy grey to azure blue and making it shimmer like diamonds, and I can feel the first stirrings of summer.

Yawning widely and leaving Ursula to it, I head back into my studio. My gaze automatically falls on the piece which has consumed my thoughts for days, and my lips curve. I stare down at the face serenely tilted toward the heavens and trace the lines and contours faintly with my fingertips. I dreamt about him again. For some reason I can’t seem to get him off my mind. It’s been days since I’d pulled the stranger from the water, but I can’t stop seeing those intense blue eyes staring back at me as I’d laid on top of him on that storm lashed beach, his plump lips parted and panting gently against my face.

Damn it, I adjust myself in my jeans again. I keep wandering if he did take a room at the B&B or if he’s headed back to wherever he came from. Sometimes late at night, I wonder if he’s even real or if I conjured him from my fevered imagination to serve as my muse.

Okay, I’ll admit I may have passed by the B&B a couple of times in the hope I might run into him or even just get another glimpse of that perfect face, but I haven’t ventured inside or asked after him, just in case I’m veering into slightly stalkerish territory.

Besides, as pretty as he is, I’m sure as hell not brave enough to risk running into Ms Molly. We’re all terrified of the woman, she’s a nightmare. I’d be lucky to escape with my virtue intact, not that there’s anything even remotely virtuous about me, especially when I think back to the dream I’d been woken from.

I close my eyes, and the images once again slide across my mind smoothly like a film reel, images of him pinned beneath me gasping and writhing, stuffed full of my rock-hard cock as I fuck him deeply while he moans my name in that posh, hoarse voice of his.

Groaning audibly, I press my hand against my dick as it tries once again to demonstrate its favorable opinion of my little fantasy. For fuck’s sake, I rub my eyes in frustration. I really need to get laid, that or take another cold shower, especially if I’m obsessing over a man I met for all of five minutes days ago. The problem is, I can’t recall anyone ever capturing my attention so quickly or so completely.

The ringing of my phone startles me out of my pensive thoughts as Ursula trots contentedly back into the room. I glance down at the screen as I retrieve my phone and smile as my brother’s name flashes across the screen, accompanied by a rather unflattering photo of him passed out drunk wearing a Lei and a drawn-on sharpie moustache and beard.

He hates that I have that picture as it’s so wildly out of character for him. Most of the time he’s laced straighter than a Victorian corset, and of the two of us, he’s the respectable one with a proper job running his own veterinary clinic.

‘Hey,’ I greet as I answer the call.

‘Hey,’ he parrots, not stopping for breath but instead, launching straight into an inquisition. ‘Have you heard what that absolute bell end has gone and done?’

‘I’m afraid you’ll have to be a bit more specific,’ I reply mildly, surprised by the uncharacteristic heat in his voice. ‘The term bell end, could comfortably apply to either of our other two brothers or both of our best friends.’

‘Scott,’ he says flatly, referring to the utter tosser who was left in charge of our fathers’ restaurant.

‘That bell end,’ I mutter crossly as I pause holding a can of dog food in one hand. ‘What’s he done now?’ I glance down as Ursula barks indignantly.

‘What’s wrong with Ursula?’ Jesse asks in concern.

‘Nothing’s wrong with her,’ I reply. ‘She’s just complaining because I’m not getting her breakfast fast enough.’

‘Uh, I hate to break it to you, Beck,’ he snorts. ‘But it’s not breakfast when it’s four in the afternoon.’

‘It is for us.’ I shrug. ‘What can I say, we keep odd hours. Anyway, forget that. What’s Scott done?’