Against All Odds

Chapter 9

STELLA

I was already slapping my hands to my very naked breasts, humiliation pouring over me in torrents.

Dear God, had I inadvertently become some sort of predator by flashing dozens of people, children included, on the beach? I groaned, wishing I could cover my face somehow.

"This is a family beach!" someone hollered indignantly from the sand.

Killian waded through the water that had receded to our hips and was being pulled further out, standing before me and quietly shielded me from the view of other people.

"My bikini!" I pleaded. "Can you see it?"

He scanned the water, frowning. I was silently grateful that he wasn't smirking or seemed to find the situation humorous, but I had little hope that the other half of my swimsuit would be found in the churning mess surrounding us.

"God, Stella..." Killian turned about slowly, sweeping the water with his hands. "I don't see it... hold on." Then he was moving, surging through the waves, and leaving me exposed.

"Killian!" I hugged my breasts tightly, cursing, but then he was returning to me with my black bikini bralette held like a trophy he had won, a wide triumphant grin cracking his cheeks.

"Got it!" The item was extended to me as if he expected me to simply take it from him. I quirked an eyebrow sardonically and his smile faltered. "What do you need me to do?"

"Come closer," I grumbled. He was unfailingly sweet, assisting me as he was. Lord knows what I would have done had I been alone. Killian moved forward until barely any space separated us and I turned around. By now the water had receded until it merely swirled about our calves, but I scanned the waves carefully, not trusting the ocean to remain calm as it was. "Can you put it round my front and do up the back?"

He obeyed the directive wordlessly and assisted me manoeuvre each arm inside the respective straps without being told before securing the clasps at my back. After a quick adjustment, I was decent once more and when I turned back to him, I found half a smile on his face.

I narrowed my eyes and poked my index finger into his chest. "Not a word," I warned, though my tone was lightened as appreciation and humour drifted through me. He'd always been thoughtful, and instead of guffawing outright at my predicament, he had wordlessly assisted me. My heart gave a pitiful squeeze, which I was determined to ignore.

I refused to allow him to wedge himself in there. No way...

My warning earned me a chuckle before he gestured towards the shore, back to where our umbrellas and towels were planted in the hot sand. "Come on, Stels. Let's get you outta here before someone calls the police on ya for indecent exposure."

"Har har."

***

The first and last time I travelled internationally with Mia Thomas, hotel security was called up to our room, armed with a complaint that loud squawking had been heard originating from our location in the early hours of the morning.

It had been, in fact, Mia's drunken ramblings after one too many buckets at a Koh Phangan Full Moon Party.

But that was simply who she was- loud.

Tenacious.

And rather highly strung, in my personal opinion, though I would never say it to her face.

Her voice could be heard through the glass sliding door that I had closed to give myself some privacy while I took a call from Zahra, an editorial assistant for a publication I wrote the occasional piece for.