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Back The Lucky Escape Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. PRAISE FOR LAURA JANE WILLIAMS
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. Epilogue
  51. Acknowledgements
  52. Publishing Credits
  53. Keep Reading …
  54. About the Author
  55. Fiction by the same author
  56. About the Publisher

I squeezed some into my hand and he watched me before I signalled with my head for him to turn around. I rubbed the lotion between my hands so it wasn’t too cold on his skin, and then placed my palms on the top of his shoulders. They were firm, rippling beneath my touch as I went from the tops of his arms to the base of his neck in slow, long sweeps. He was firm and toned – all those bootcamp classes had made sure of it. It got easier to glide over his skin as the lotion spread, soaking in to make it shimmer.

‘Should I …?’ I patted further down his back.

‘Please,’ he replied. ‘Go for it. Everywhere you dare.’

He was so smooth to the touch, and everything tensed as he bent over slightly so the cream didn’t drip off his skin. I rubbed, oiling him, not sure how close to I should get to the top of the patterned swim shorts sat low on his hips, perching just above the slight arch to his arse. As I got to the base of his back and smoothed the cream out towards his front, circling around to his belly button to get the excess off my hands, he suddenly coughed, embarrassed, and said, ‘Right-o, think you’re done there, thank you. I’m going in now.’ He didn’t turn around before abruptly walking the short distance to the shore and stopping to stand at the water’s edge. He shook his leg a bit, as if he was expelling a bad feeling.

I watched him wade into the water until it came up to his knees. I could tell it wasn’t exactly warm, but he wasn’t putting up a fight. I spread cream over all the parts of my own body I could reach and decided to let it soak in before I went down to the water myself, enjoying watching Patrick’s head bob out in the distance instead. It was so wonderful just to sit and see the sand blow with the breeze. Big open water feels so relaxing. I could have stared at the horizon forever, until I was in a trance. In fact, whether it was delayed jet lag or the undeniable pull of sun and lotion and sand, eventually I lay back and closed my eyes, not thinking of very much at all.

15

‘Hey,’ I said, my sleep disturbed who knew how much longer later. ‘Something’s happening.’

Through sluggish eyes I’d noticed a group of people gathering down by the dock. The beach was so lazy and languid when we arrived – Bianca had said this was the part with the fewest people, which is how we’d decided on it – so now the sudden activity was jarring.

‘Patrick?’