Blurring the Lines Read online

  Passengers: Mr Ashton Taylor. Mrs Annabelle Taylor

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  My breath caught in my throat at the last line. They’d put us as married? I actually loved the sound of that. Annabelle Taylor. I’d never heard of anything more perfect in my life. But I knew Anna wouldn’t like it. For some reason, she was really touchy about marriage and always seemed to clam up or go quiet whenever I made jokes about it. Needing to sort it out before she saw this email, I grabbed my cell phone and was just about to dial Maddy’s number, but Anna walked out of the bedroom behind me.

  I closed the laptop quickly as she walked up behind me. She placed her hand on the small of my back and smiled up at me. “Did you get it? Where did they book?” she inquired excitedly.

  “Um, yeah, I got it.” I swallowed the lump in my throat.

  She grinned and reached for the laptop, lifting the lid and looking at me expectantly so I could enter the password. I typed it in quickly, wincing as she opened my emails and double clicked on the one that Maddy sent. She looked so excited that I didn’t have the heart to stop her. I’d just have to deal with the fall out and hope that she didn’t think this was my idea.

  She slid onto a stool as she read it. I held my breath, waiting.

  “Speed boat transfer?” she asked, practically bouncing in her seat.

  I winced, knowing she was almost done. I knew the exact moment that she got to the last line because her body seemed to tense. Her eyes flicked up to me. “Did you see the passengers?”

  I nodded and waited for her reaction.

  “That’s…” she stopped talking, her mouth opening and closing a couple of times before she frowned at the screen.

  “I can ask for them to change it. I asked for them to change your name, I didn’t think they’d change it to mine,” I chimed in, wanting her to know this wasn’t my idea.

  She shook her head in rejection. “It’s done now. Just leave it,” she muttered.

  “Are you sure?”

  Her smile was forced as she nodded. “What’s the matter, Pretty Boy, don’t you want me to be Mrs Taylor?” She was trying to come across as playful, but I could see she was uncomfortable with this.

  I decided not to answer that question honestly because clearly something was wrong that I didn’t understand. “Anna, seriously, I can get Maddy to change it if you want.”

  She shrugged. “It’s fine. Do you care?”

  Hell yeah I care, I love it! I shook my head. “No, I don’t care, Baby Girl,” I lied smoothly.

  “Don’t worry about it then. It’s kinda cute in a weird way. Plus, it’ll help with people not following us around. I’m up for anything that means I won’t get asked for my autograph!” she joked, shrugging nonchalantly.

  Just needing to check that she wasn’t putting on a brave front, I wrapped my arm around her waist and stepped between her legs, looking at her intently. “You’re really okay with it?”

  She shrugged easily. “I don’t mind. It’s just a name; as long as your player side isn’t going to come busting through and make you run off,” she teased.

  “I’m not a player!” I cried, annoyed that she didn’t seem to notice that I didn’t see anyone else in the room but her.

  She smiled tenderly at me as she nodded. “I know, I was just teasing,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around me tightly. I stood there like that for a couple of minutes, just letting it all sink in. Finally, she pulled away and grinned up at me. “I’m going to go look through my clothes and see what else I need to buy before the trip!”

  I chuckled as she jumped off the stool and practically skipped to the bedroom to look through her clothes.

  Chapter Six

  ~ Anna ~

  After a seemingly never-ending flight, and then twenty minutes on a speedboat skimming over perfect, crystal clear ocean, we finally arrived at the island that we would call home for the next two weeks.

  Almost as soon as we stepped onto the jetty, a tall man with golden, tanned skin and sun bleached, blonde hair walked over, smiling warmly and holding his hand out to Ashton. “Mr Taylor?” Ashton nodded in confirmation, shaking his hand firmly, and then the guy turned to me. “Mrs Taylor,” he greeted.

  A nervous giggle slipped from my lips at the sound of the name he’d used. When I’d first heard that they’d changed my name to that, it had taken me by surprise, and I hadn’t liked it at all. Seeing my name attached to someone else’s surname had brought back a lot of unpleasant memories for me. But having Ashton’s name attached to me was different somehow; it wasn’t as horrifying as I first thought it was. In fact, I even kind of liked it. In a strange way, it was almost as if the name change had given me the freedom to be normal for a little while. After all, nothing bad had ever happened to Annabelle Taylor.

  “Nice to meet you,” I replied, nodding in greeting.

  “My name is Kyle, and I am the manager of the resort. If there is anything that you need during the duration of your stay, please let me know,” he said.

  Ashton smiled, slipping his hand into mine. “Thank you. You can call us Ashton and Anna, not Mr and Mrs Taylor.”

  Another unconscious giggle slipped out, so I chewed on my lip and looked at the beautiful scene that stretched out before me. It was like paradise, like a postcard, and I’d never seen anything more majestic in my life. The sand on the beach was pure white and powdery, and bright, blue sea lapped at it lazily. Little beach hut cabins were dotted along the tree line with hammocks hanging in the shade of palm trees outside. A little further up the beach, a wooden dock went straight out to the calm ocean, with villas each side of it. A little happy sigh left my lips as I imagined staying here for the next two weeks. It was going to be bliss.

  Kyle smiled and motioned up the beach a little way. “I will show you to your villa. Hassan, bring their luggage,” he instructed to the guy that was already unloading our bags from the boat. “Please follow me.” Kyle walked off quickly, with his flip-flops slapping against the bottom of his feet with each step.

  I grinned and squeezed Ashton’s hand excitedly as we both followed behind him. When I realised he was walking towards the little wooden dock and the water villas beyond, I let out a little squeal of excitement.

  “The main reception is located where we were just speaking. There are three restaurants inside, snack bars, two swimming pools, a spa, a couple of stores, and three bars. Up the beach, we run various water sports, including kayaking, snorkelling and windsurfing. On the edge of the beach here, each night from eight until midnight, we have an outdoor grill. They’ll cook anything you want – steaks, fish and lobster. If they have it, they’ll cook it,” Kyle boasted. He stepped up onto the wooden walkway and waved out to the eight or so villas on stilts that sat directly over the sea. “These are our overwater villas. The one at the very end is yours.” Kyle pulled two key cards from his pocket. “The one next door to you is empty for the next two weeks so you’ll have privacy up there. The ocean on this side is restricted access for the villas only so you shouldn’t have people swimming there. No boats or water sports allowed in this area so you can use it freely.”

  I swallowed noisily. Clearly my father had thought of everything because no one was even allowed to swim near our apartment.

  As he stopped at the little wooden door and scanned the key on the black electronic box on the side, the door clicked and he pushed it open, waving me inside. As I stepped over the threshold, I had to gasp at the sheer luxury of the place. It was stunning.

  In the centre of the large room was a ginormous cream sofa with a canopy hanging from the ceiling that was draped around it. Next to it was a little table with a large bouquet of flowers set in the middle and two cosy-looking arm chairs. The walls on three sides were wooden, but on the wall opposite the front door it was floor to ceiling glass that looked out over beautiful, calm, uninterrupted ocean.

  Ashton walked in behind me, and I heard his gasp of shock too. Kyle waved
at a little white box mounted on the wall. “The air conditioning operations are here.” He walked in a little further and motioned to a door on the right. “This is your bathroom, complete with whirlpool bath. The glass in there is privacy glass, which means that you can see out, but no one can see in. It’s totally private.”

  “It’s incredible,” I mumbled, shaking my head in awe.

  Kyle nodded in agreement and pushed open another door, waving me in. “This is the largest of the bedrooms.”

  The bedroom was just as glorious as I thought it would be. The covers on the four poster, king sized bed were pure white. Two red towels had been folded and arranged into the shape of a heart, and little red rose petals were scattered over the white sheets. The bed faced another wall of glass so that the first thing you would wake to in the morning was ocean, as far as the eye could see.

  “Over there is my favourite part of this whole villa,” Kyle said, pointing to two armchairs. I frowned but walked over, shocked to see that a large part of the floor had been removed and replaced by glass. The water below was so perfectly clear that you could see every stone that graced the bottom and every fish that swam. So far, it was easily my favourite part of the villa too.

  “Let me show you the terrace, and then I’ll leave you two to get settled.”

  As we walked back through the lounge, I noticed that our bags had been placed just inside the door already. As Kyle slid open the heavy-looking glass doors, the warmth from outside hit me full in the face. I sighed contentedly, squinting outside and unable to keep the smile off my face.

  Ashton busied himself quizzing Kyle about when the maids would come, and how to call for room service; so I walked around the deck, touching the little table and chairs, and the sun loungers. As I leant against the bannister and took in the magnificent view, I spotted a little set of steps to my right. We had our own access to the sea right from our terrace. With that and the room service, I didn’t even need to leave our villa for the next two weeks.

  “Well, I’ll leave you to get settled. Good bye, Mrs Taylor. I hope you enjoy your stay here with us,” Kyle called, waving as he stepped back into the villa.

  I grinned. “Thanks. I’m sure we will.”

  Ashton followed him back inside, and I eyed the sun lounger, unable to decide if I wanted to bask in the sun, or swim first. Just as I was making up my mind, Ashton walked back out with a dazzling grin on his face. “It’s really hot out here. You should come inside and put on some sun cream.”

  I nodded in agreement. “I know.” My eyes again flicked to the sea, and I finally made up my mind what I wanted to do first. Swimming.

  Unfortunately, there was the menial task of unpacking to get to first. It seemed to take forever to find places for everything that we’d brought. As I unpacked my sixth bikini, I realised that, in my excitement, I may have gone a little overboard with the packing.

  As I watched Ashton silently unpacking his clothes and setting them in the drawers next to my own things, I realised something. This place was so remote, beautiful and romantic, that with the idyllic surroundings, and minimal clothes covering his incredible body every day, I knew I wouldn’t be able to fight my attraction to him for the duration of this vacation. Just like in LA, the passion and desire were already building inside me. There was no point in trying to fight the inevitable. Now that we were away from school and on our own, there was nothing to stop us from giving in and having a little fun for two weeks. As I came to this realisation, my stomach clenched with anticipation and a little smile slipped onto my lips. It had been so long since his hands had been on my body that I was almost buzzing with excitement.

  Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime of unpacking, I was finished. Picking up the first bikini that I got my hands on, I smiled over at him. “I’m going to change. I need to see if that water feels as good as it looks,” I grinned happily, snagging a bottle of sun lotion from the side and skipping off to the bathroom.

  Once I’d stripped out of my clothes, I pulled on my black bikini, tying little bows at my neck and hips. Twisting this way and that, I looked at myself in the mirror and chewed on my lip. It was incredibly revealing, and not something I would usually choose, but I’d picked it because it would be the one that would allow me to tan without getting huge tan lines on my back and shoulders. I made a mental note not to wear this one on the beach, I couldn’t have other people see me in this; I almost felt indecent in it even though I was entirely covered.

  After spreading on a layer of sun cream to all the places I could reach, I strutted out of the bathroom, seeing Ashton in a pair of black swim shorts and nothing else. I stopped short, my mouth popping open in shock and awe as I watched the muscles ripple on his chest and arms as he smothered white sun cream over his chest. My mouth was dry. My hands were itching to take the bottle from his hands and smooth it over his soft skin for him. I realised then how crazy I was about him.

  He looked up as I walked out, and his hand stilled on his body. His eyes widened as they raked down my body slowly, his bottom lip rolled into his mouth. The blush crept over my face as he carried on staring, not seeming to care that I knew he was looking. “Want me to do your back?” I offered, nodding at the lotion bottle in his hand.

  He swallowed loudly, looking down at the bottle in confusion as if he’d forgotten it was there. “Er… yeah. Thanks.”

  I walked out to the terrace, knowing he would follow me. When I turned back, he was standing by the sun lounger, still watching me avidly. I smiled and took the bottle from his hand, nodding towards the sun lounger, motioning for him to sit.

  Rubbing sun cream on his back was a sensual act in itself. I did it slowly, letting my fingers explore the tanned skin of his back and shoulders, making sure not to miss a spot. The simple action of rubbing cream on his body was making me tingle all over and a burning ache start between my legs.

  The whole time I was fighting my inner slutty side that just wanted to push him down on the sun lounger and ravage him until I passed out from exhaustion. There was a fairly good chance that I wouldn’t get a tan at all on this vacation if my hormones had anything to do with it!

  When I was done, I pulled my hair into a messy bun and held out the bottle of sun cream to him as I turned on my seat and offered him my back. “Will you do me?”

  He didn’t reply, just squeezed a blob of cream into the palm of his hand before rubbing it into my back in small circles. I closed my eyes and focussed on my breathing, trying not to let his touch send me over the edge. Finally, he was done, so I turned back and smiled. “Thanks.”

  He stood. “No problem. Can’t have you burning on the first day, can we?” he joked. Ashton turned and stalked off towards the stairs, leaving me there with my insides melted and my heart beating excitedly in my chest as I watched the muscles in his back and legs tense as he took a step. As he dipped his toe into the water, he moaned in appreciation. “It’s so warm. You’re gonna love this!”

  As he dove off the first step and into the water, I sighed dreamily. This place, his touch, the thought of his hands on my body and his mouth on mine, all of it was so overwhelming that it almost felt like a dream. After Jack had died, I never thought I would be happy again, but Ashton just seemed to be able to make everything better with one of his little smiles.

  I stood and walked to the edge of the terrace, leaning on the wooden railings. The water was about five feet below, kind of like a second diving board at a pool. As Ashton resurfaced and shielded his eyes from the sun, looking towards the beach, I smiled and raised my foot to the bottom railing. Leaning over slightly, I looked towards the beach but couldn’t see anything at all. Our villa, as Kyle had suggested it would be, was totally cut off from everyone and private.

  “Is it deep?” I called.

  He looked down and then disappeared beneath the water before few seconds before he broke the surface and whipped his head back, flicking the water from his hair. My stomach fluttered, and a little moan of appreciation s
lipped from my lips. “It’s probably about ten feet,” he shrugged, looking unsure. I smiled excitedly. Ten feet was adequate. As I raised my bare foot and started climbing up the railings, Ashton gasped. “No, Anna! What the hell?”

  As I got to the top railing, I held my hands out for balance and shook my head at his overprotectiveness. “Chill, Pretty Boy.” After taking a deep breath, I linked my arms over my head and dived off the side. As the warm water touched my skin, I closed my eyes at the sheer luxury of it. It was perfect, like diving into a warm bathtub. Kicking my legs, I swam a little way underwater before breaking the surface, rubbing a hand over my face. As I opened my eyes I couldn’t help but laugh at the stern and disapproving expression that was plastered on Ashton’s face.

  “Don’t do that again. Jesus, Anna, what if you’d cracked your head or something? I was only guessing at how deep it was,” he scolded, scowling at me.

  I bit my lip and nodded, trying to appear appropriately abashed as I swam over to him slowly. It was time to set the rules. I didn’t want any body guarding crap on this vacation. Ashton needed to loosen up and have fun too. “Ashton, seriously, I can dive off the railing. Come on, lighten up. We’re on vacation, just the two of us, privacy, views of the ocean, room service. Please relax and have a good time,” I begged. As I spoke, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. It’s time to start the fun right now! As I thought about what was about to happen, my whole body was thrumming in need.

  His face softened the closer he got to me. “I still need to do my job,” he protested.

  I nodded slowly, wondering how on earth to seduce him without flat out begging like last time we went away together. “Mmm hmm, your body guarding job,” I whispered.

  He gulped noisily. “Yeah. So don’t make it hard for me.”

  In one swift movement, I wrapped my legs around his waist, clamping myself to him. I could already feel his excitement pressing against me. Too late, he’s already hard! I giggled excitedly. I could barely wait any longer, but I just wanted to have a little fun with him first. Tightening my legs around him and trusting that he’d keep us both afloat, I moved my hands behind my back, quickly untying the knots of my bikini top. Once it was unfastened, I pulled it off, lifting it out of the water and showing him it before tossing it in the direction of the terrace, not even caring if it made it. He groaned and his eyes immediately dropped downwards as his eyebrows furrowed.