Breaking Waves Read online

ummer Passions Series

  BREAKING WAVES

  by

  Jennifer Andrews

  Copyright

  Copyright 2013, Jennifer Andrews

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously.

  Please note, this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters are represented as 18 or over.

  Contents

  Breaking Waves

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  Breaking Waves

  There were plenty of places to be unhappy, but the beach wasn’t one of them. At least that’s what Amy Collins hoped as she carefully shuffled her pink flip flops down the sandy path. Things weren’t so bad, she tried to convince herself. I mean, they could be worse. But after finding her boyfriend playing tonsil tango with a buxom blonde, she wasn’t quite sure how. She could’ve stood there for another ten seconds and burned the image into her eyeballs. She could’ve whipped around and walked right back out of the bar without saying a word. Instead, she shouted a few incoherent words, grabbed a full glass of something pink and slushy and flung it in his face. That’s when she stormed out and only wished she’d found something harder to throw.

  That jerk! How had she wasted nearly two years on that man? And to think she actually thought he might be the one – the guy she would marry and spend the rest of her life with. He, on the other hand, clearly felt differently and had casually crushed her heart with a simple kiss. At least that’s all she hoped it was. But at this point, who cared. A kiss was a kiss and it was still cheating.

  Men. Right now she hated them all. Every single one of them. In fact, she’d rather be alone than to see another human being for the whole rest of the day. Maybe even her whole life! Amy wiped a stray tear from her cheek, planting one foot at a time on a makeshift stone staircase that led from the path down toward the water. At least she knew she could find some peace and quiet on her favorite private beach in order to clear her head and figure out what to do about her soap opera of a life. Why she always chose the wrong kind of man, she couldn’t figure out anymore. It seemed more than one of her loser ex-boyfriends had left her broken hearted. And none of them had been all that great in the first place.

  She carefully picked her way down the jagged rocks of the cliff side toward Lover’s Cove. Despite its name, it was the perfect place to be alone. The cove would be deserted this time of day. Not because it wasn’t popular among the young crowd, but because it was typically reserved for romantic evenings between more adventurous lovers. Even Amy and her ex had been known to frequent the place at night—a place where clothes, among lovers, were optional.

  Finally, she spotted the small cove in the distance. She pushed a strand of unruly hair from her pout and pressed on. No matter how bad things got, the serenity of her secret beach always made her feel better. She climbed over the ridge, mindful not to slip on the sandy stones. Flip-flops weren’t exactly the most practical footwear for traversing the terrain. But at least it beat wasting one more minute of watching her creep of an ex-boyfriend make out with a floozy.

  Men. The whole male species was contaminated, according to her.

  Amy made her way down the last of the trail slowly, trying to erase the images in her mind. Willing herself to think about something else entirely, she paused and drew in a deep breath, allowing the smell of the salty air and the sound of crashing waves to wash over her. Just around that bend, she would find her favorite hideaway and dig her toes in the sand. No more thoughts about her horrible, no good, two-timing ex-boyfriend. Not one more thought would go to him or that little bimbo he was kissing. Definitely not.

  As soon as her toes touched the sand, she miraculously felt better already. It was amazing how easily she could push the rest of the world aside once it was no longer in view. Just Amy, the high cliffs and the crashing waves along a narrow strand of private beach. If ever she knew paradise, this was it. And today, she had it all to herself.

  The ocean breeze caught her breath and she wished she’d had the presence of mind to stop home and grab her swimsuit. Of course, she wasn’t really to blame for forgetting it in the first place. Seeing her boyfriend suck face with a blonde barmaid had pushed most rational thoughts from her mind. And the only thing she cared about as she stomped away was how much she looked forward to some time alone.

  But seeing the waves crash against the shore now and feeling the misty spray against her face only left her more frustrated that she had left her suit behind. Sure, a yellow sundress was appropriate beach attire, so long as she was staying dry. But sitting on the sand, hot and uncomfortable, while watching the waves lap against the shore, the cool water taunting her, wasn’t exactly going to help her cool off. And she needed to do that in more ways than one.

  Dang it! She looked up and down the secluded beach and quickly considered her other option. The cliffs were high and no one could see the cove from the neighboring beaches. The boats in the water were hardly within view and without anyone in sight, she was in fact alone. Just the way she intended. What could it hurt, she reasoned, if she just stripped off her sundress and wore her lacy pink bra and cheeky panties as a bathing suit?

  Amy looked around boldly. There really wasn’t any reason not to enjoy the cool water in her undergarments. And besides, this was Lover’s Cove. Who hadn’t been a little naughty here after all?

  Throwing caution to the wind, she quickly pulled her light summer dress over her head and tossed it down on the sand. The hot summer sun warmed her skin while the cool mist of the ocean simultaneously cooled her down. It was no wonder this was her favorite place. She felt so at ease here. So free. The fresh sea air and salty water were so refreshing. Certainly, they could help put her troubles aside today. She was almost sure of it.

  Inching into the water, she felt the tips of her toes cool under the lapping surf. The only sound was the cry of a distant seagull, muffled by the crashing waves. That was until a loud whistle sounded from the cliff behind her.

  Startled, she whipped her head to see who it was, shading her eyes from the bright sun. All she could see was a silhouette. Her breath caught in her throat. There was someone coming over the rise and down the rocky path.

  From where she was, Amy could make out the frame of a man. For a very brief moment, she thought it was her ex come looking for her, but a second glance revealed a man who looked nothing like him. The figure was broad and tall with muscular shoulders, a tapered waist and long lean legs.

  He chose his way among the slick rocks effortlessly, not faltering even once. The path she had carefully picked her way down, he traversed in just a few seconds, making a beeline right for her.

  Amy froze, her heart pounding in her ears. Panic started to rise in her throat as she searched for something to say. How dare someone interrupt her perfectly peaceful day!

  Finally, the man’s features came into view.

  Great! She should have known Chris Armstrong would show up. Her best friend since childhood, he was always mucking around in her love life. And she was almost positive he was going to give her a ration of crap for today’s events. It wouldn’t be like him to let her live anything down. Especially a bad breakup with one of his employees.

  “Hi, Chris,” she shouted, trying to play it casual while shifting her hands over various body parts. No matter how she tried to cover up, she just woun
d up feeling awkward.

  He seemed to ignore the fact that she was standing there in her panties and instead looked around casually during his final decent to the sand. “Beautiful day for a swim, isn’t it?”

  “That’s what I was thinking,” she winced, bracing herself for the inevitable talking-to. Here it comes, she thought.

  “Must be a nice day for a fight, too.” She noticed a hint of a smile crawling across his lips. “You know, Amy,” he continued, moving toward her, “you could’ve warned me that you were going to trash my bar.”

  She rolled her eyes sarcastically. “Oh, I see how it is. It’s all about you, right? It couldn’t possibly matter that my boyfriend was cheating on me with one of your bimbo barmaids. So, of course, now my love life is in ruins again.” She threw her hands up in the air. “But it’s cool, Chris, don’t worry about me. Noooo. You should definitely be more concerned that one of your employees has to grab a mop and clean up a little spill!”

  He closed the distance between them in just a few steps and was soon standing in front of her. At least half a foot taller than she was, Amy found herself looking up into a pair of bright green eyes that were cool and stern. If she hadn’t known him for years, she might have found his serious stance intimidating. But in spite of the