Incompatibly Yours: Charity Anthology Supporting Fertility Research (18 page)

"Yeah." He sighed. "It's been fun."

"More than I ever expected," I agreed. 

Under the water, he nudged my foot. "You had fun even with Seth Darling on the loose?"

I laughed. "Even with."

"You look sad," Sebastian noted when I blew out a resigned breath.

"I'm not. I'm just going to miss hanging out with you."

He smiled over at me. "It's not over, Brooks. Remember…." He raised a brow. "We agreed to hang out at school."

"That's right."

"You're not backing out now, are you?"

I couldn't believe he'd even think such a thing, and I was quick to say, "No way."

"That's good," he softly replied.  

Tim's selection of upbeat summer tunes then took a turn to slower and softer music. The kids slowly began to head back to the cabins, exhausted from the busy day. Lacey was nowhere to be found. Still helping Tim choose the music selections, I assumed.

Finally, when Mike and Ginny climbed down from their lifeguard chairs, it was clear the party had ended.

Not for me and Sebastian, though.

"You want to stay for a while?" he asked.

"Absolutely."  

Mike walked by just then. "Good night, guys. See you tomorrow," he said. 

"Yeah, man." Sebastian fist-bumped him. "Have a good one."

Ginny leaned down and gave me an awkward one-armed hug. "Nite, Brooks."

"Good night, Ginny. Bye, Mike."

Then they were gone, leaving just Sebastian and me at the pool.  

While Sebastian and I played footsie in the water, Dave Matthews's song "Crash into Me" began to play.

"I love this song," I blurted out. 

"Me, too." Sebastian stood and reached for my hand. "Will you dance with me, Brooks." He paused. "Please?"

I took his hand, and he pulled me up to him.

We were skin to skin in the many areas our swimwear didn't cover. And, damn, people, that equated to
a lot
of bare skin contact.
Oh, my
.

I snaked my arms around Sebastian's neck, just as his hands came to rest at the small of my back. We moved to the music for what felt like an eternity, and then, slowly, tentatively, his hands traveled up my back, over the string tie of my bikini top, and into my hair.

I looked up at him through my lashes to find his piercing blue gaze peering back at me.

"Brooks," he whispered.

He then began to mouth the words to the Dave Matthews song, words of how he, Sebastian, was lost in me.

I sighed, and his lips moved closer and closer to mine
.

It was perfect. Time stood still. This was my moment, the moment I'd been waiting for, seemingly forever.

When Sebastian's lips touched mine, I swear I heard angels singing. It was
that
divine.

I moved my lips with his in the most perfect first kiss ever, and when he nudged my mouth open, and our tongues touched,
I
was the one who became lost, lost in Sebastian.

That perfect first kiss continued throughout the entire song, and well into the next one, which I wouldn't have been able to tell you the title of even if I tried. I was too caught up in kissing Sebastian.

Not that the song title mattered. All that mattered was we were finally kissing. 

I had received my first kiss at last. And you know what? All those interruptions were worth it, because
that
kiss was the only one that mattered. 

The End

About S.R. Grey

S.R. Grey is an Amazon Top 100 and Barnes & Noble #1 Best-selling author. She is the author of the popular Judge Me Not series, the new Promises series, the Inevitability duology, A Harbour Falls Mystery trilogy, and the Laid Bare series of novellas. Ms. Grey’s works have appeared on multiple bestseller lists, including Top 100 several times, as well as Barnes & Noble #1 in Best-selling Nook books.

Ms. Grey resides in Pennsylvania. When not writing, Ms. Grey can be found reading, traveling, running, or cheering for her hometown sports teams.

Website: 
http://srgrey.com/

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Also by S.R. Grey

Promises

#1 Tomorrow's Lies

Inevitability Duology

#1 Inevitable Detour

#2 Inevitable Circumstances

Judge Me Not

#1 The After of Us

#2 I Stand Before You

#3 Never Doubt Me

#4 Just Let Me Love You

A Harbour Falls Mystery

#1 Harbour Falls

#2 Willow Point

#Wickingham Way

Laid Bare

#1 Exposed

#2 Unveiled

#3 Spellbound

#4 Sacrifice

Her Kind Of Crazy by Nina Levine

Australian English

Chapter One

JULIETTE

I need a drink.

Wine.

No, something stronger.

Bourbon.

Jesus, any kind of alcohol will do.

Anything to get me under control because at the moment, I'm feeling all kinds of stressed. It's silly really. There's no reason for me to be stressed. Except my brain is telling me if I screw this job up today, it will mean months of hard work down the drain.

As the taxi I'm in pulls into the Sydney Hilton driveway, I do my best to force my nerves away.

"That'll be thirty-two dollars, miss."

The taxi driver's voice pulls me from my thoughts and I hurriedly search for the cash in my purse before handing it to him.

Gathering my bags, I try to ignore the beating of my heart in my chest. I'm flustered, and today is most definitely not a day for me to be anything but calm. Anastasia Brady does not cope well with distracted people and I need her to stay focused and happy today.

You can do this.

"Miss, please hurry because I have another job to get to." As the taxi driver stares at me in the rear-view mirror, it's clear he's annoyed.

"Sorry, I'm going now." I clutch my bags and open the door. Stepping out into the warm Sydney afternoon in a rush so as not to hold the taxi up any longer, I do the one thing I hate to do.

I stumble.

My ankle gives way, causing my foot to twist and me to lose balance. It happens every now and then so I should be used to it, but I'm not. Embarrassment still floods me every time.

I instinctively reach out to grab something to hold on to in an effort to halt my fall. Silly really, because I'm stepping out of the taxi right in front of the hotel lobby doors and there is nothing to grab hold of.

Well, generally there's not.

Today, however, there is.

"I've got you," a man says as his hands slide under my arms and he stops my collapse.

This all happens in a blur, but at the sound of his deep voice, my head snaps up so I can look at him.

Oh. My.

Mesmerising blue eyes capture mine for a moment before I drop my gaze to appreciate his sexy, bearded smile. In my experience, those kinds of lips promise many things that a girl like me doesn't have the time for. I'm all for fun sexy times, but it's the heartbreak a man like him promises that I don't have the time for.

Lips don't lie.

Neither do tattoos, and as my attention diverts from his lips to his neck and down to his arms, I see tattoo after tattoo.

Uh-uh.

Tattoos and I do not go together.

I gather myself and look back up into his eyes. Steadying myself, I move out of his hold and say, "Thank you."

He's stopped smiling, but his lips twitch and his eyes twinkle. "You're welcome."

I narrow my gaze on him. Why is he looking at me like that? Like I amuse him. "Are you laughing at me?"

He continues to watch me with that same lip-twitching gaze. "Do I look like I'm laughing?"

Gripping my bags tighter, I square my shoulders. "No, but there's something going on in your mind and I'm sure it's some kind of laughter at my expense."

He runs his fingers through his brown hair. He's got one of those haircuts where it's really short on the sides and the rest is styled into that sexy, tousled look—the kind of look that makes my belly flutter. His voice distracts me from thinking about his hair when he replies, "Let's just say I'm amused when a woman, who is clearly attracted to me, flinches at my tattoos. They're just ink on skin; they don't tell you about the kind of man I am underneath all that art."

"I'm not attracted to you," I snap.

I'm not.

Really.

His brows rise. "No? Could've fooled me."

Heat covers my cheeks and tingles sweep up the back of my neck. Taking a step to the side so I can go around him, I reply, "Consider yourself fooled. Thank you again for helping me, but I really do have to go so that I'm not late for an appointment."

His lips finally curl into a full smile again. "You really should consider wearing flat shoes. Those heels are deadly."

He's right; at almost five inches, my red Jimmy Choos are definitely a hazard to my health. But they are a necessary hazard. "I have to go."

He jerks his chin as if to say, "go" but he doesn't shift his attention from me. In fact, he seems quite settled, like he's going to watch and make sure I don't trip again.

Without another word, I turn and walk away, but I am sure his eyes are on me and it unsettles me.

Oh, God, do not trip again, Juliette.

I do my best to put him out of my mind, and instead focus on making it into the hotel and to the elevators without stumbling.

Five minutes later, I've called Anastasia and she's sent someone downstairs to collect me, and while I wait, I can't help but think about him again.

I was most definitely attracted to him. He was right about that. Not that I would ever admit it to him if we met again. But I've never found tattoos, beards, and that bad-boy attitude appealing. I prefer my men in suits, with no ink and even less attitude. Give me a man who is focused, serious, and knows where he'll be in ten years, and I'm sold. I've had enough upheaval and uncertainty in my twenty-four years to last me a lifetime.

"Miss Taylor?"

I turn and find a tall man dressed in a suit staring at me. Smiling, I nod. "Yes."

"Please come with me. Miss Brady is ready for you."

I take a deep breath.

Finally. My future is finally starting to look good.

★★★

"Juliette!" Anastasia Brady throws her arms around me and practically squeals my name. Even after knowing her for three months and being in her presence more than a dozen times, I'm still not used to her over-the-top way of doing things.

She squeezes me tightly and I hug her back. But it's the kind of hug where I'm awkwardly doing the hug dance of trying to let her go, but then continuing the hug when it's clear she's not relinquishing her hold on me. When she does finally let me go, I take a step back. "Hi, Anastasia."

She grins at me. "Babe, you're always so damn formal with me. I'm not used to people being so formal."

"I'm just trying to stay professional." God knows she could do with some professionalism around her. Anastasia is currently one of the world's most in-demand actresses, and from what I've seen over the last few months, she doesn't seem to have anyone on her team looking out for her image. Gossip and photos of her wild partying are splashed across the tabloids every few days. Every time I see something new, I cringe, and wonder why her manager or agent aren't working towards suppressing those kinds of stories. But each time I wonder this, I remember I've met her manager and she's a piece of trash who likes to spend her time drinking and snorting coke rather than looking out for her client.

"Juliette, you can bring the dresses in here." Speak of the devil. Kadence, the bitch manager, stares at me from the bedroom, disdain for me written all over her face.

"Kadence," Anastasia chastises, the warning clear in her tone.

Kadence glares at her for a moment before flicking her hair, turning, and walking back into the bedroom. This is not the first time Anastasia has warned her about her attitude towards me, and I figure that if I continue working with them, it won't be the last.

Anastasia's arm slides over my shoulders and she pulls me to her. "Just ignore her. She's having a bad day."

I want to say that she's always having a bad day, but my stance on maintaining a professional manner prevents that. Instead I ask, "Are you excited for tonight?"

My question elicits a strong reaction from her. She drops her arm from my shoulder, and wails, "Oh, my God, no!"

I frown. I've never seen her lose her cool like this. "Why?"

Her blue eyes widen. "Because this is my home."

"I'm still not following." She can be ditzy sometimes, but usually I can figure out what she means. Not today, though.

"This is the first time I've done anything like this in Australia and I just know those bitches are going to be bitching about me behind my back," she explains, as if it will clear up my confusion. It doesn't.

I hold up my hand. "Wait. Let me try to make sense of what you just said. You've been out of the country for two years now, making movies—really good movies that fans all over the world love and that have won you an Academy Award—and now you've come home to present an award at the AACTA Awards. Why is this a bad thing and who are the bitches you're talking about? In my mind, this sounds like a huge honour."