Chapter 10
Ella
Ella felt a sharp pang in her forehead. She slowly fluttered her eyelids open but her vision was blurry. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, trying to focus. She felt warm leather under her face. She slowly pushed herself up and felt the leather pull against her sticky skin. Where the hell am I?
She sat up and rubbed her eyelids. When she opened them she was surrounded by books. I’m in the library, she thought. Ella moved her hand to cradle her throbbing head. Last night was such a blur. She remembered dinner, and downing margaritas. Strong arms wrapped around her body, caressing her breasts, flashed into her thoughts. Fuck! She quickly snapped her head up from her hands and looked next to her on the couch, expecting to see Mr. Strong Arms lying next to her. But the couch was empty.
Ella glanced around the library and realized that she was all alone. She looked down at herself and realized that she was in her bra and dress. Her eyes trailed down to her feet and she was still in her heels. Well, that’s strange, she thought. She dropped her head into her hands. Was it just a very realistic dream?
Ella looked down at her watch and noticed that it was seven in the morning. She could easily slip out of here and get back to her bungalow and hopefully no one would notice. Ella quickly got up and grabbed her purse. She rushed over to the sliding door of the library and quietly opened it. She peeked out, noticed no one was there, and slipped through the door, and as quietly as possible ran down the hallway that led to the bar.
She glanced in and noticed that the only people in the bar were cleaning and hotel staff. They must see this all the time, she thought. She looked to her right and saw a door that led outside, to the bungalows. When the staff was turned and occupied with something else, she quickly tiptoed to the exit pushed open the door and slunk outside, hoping that she wasn’t noticed. Once outside, she bolted back to her bungalow.
She quickly unlocked the door and ran inside. She heard the door click behind her as she leaned her back against the door and let out a long breath she did not realize she was holding. What in the world had she been thinking? It was never like Ella to drink that much. Ella racked her brain and tried to remember what happened. After dinner, things were pretty fuzzy.
Sleep, she thought. Sleep might help you remember what happened. Ella walked into the bedroom and unzipped her dress. She let it fall off her body, and flashes of his lips against her skin rushed into her thoughts. It had to have been a dream, she thought. A super sexy one, but a dream nonetheless. Ella jumped into the fluffy king-size bed and shoved her head under the pillows.
***
A loud ringing startled Ella awake. With a sigh, she flung the pillow from her face and turned over, ready to beat the alarm clock on the nightstand so it would shut up. Looking over to the nightstand Ella realized that it wasn’t the alarm that jolted her awake. It was the phone. Ella slowly picked it up.
“Hello?” she said groggily.
“Where the hell did you go last night?” Sierra screeched.
“Jesus, B, take it down a few notches,” Ella said. “I must have gotten a little tipsy and passed out in the hotel library.”
“A little tipsy?” Sierra laughed. “You were stumbling to the bathroom the last time I saw you.”
“I’m sorry, B. I didn’t mean to make you worried.”
Sierra let out a long sigh. “I know. And I also know that you probably started drinking that much because you didn’t want to be here in the first place, so I’m sorry, too. I’m just glad you are all right.”
“Yeah,” Ella said. “I’m good.”
“OK, well, we are going to head to the beach in a little while, if you want to come.”
“Let me know when you go, and I can suffer through this massive hangover on the beach,” Ella said.
Sierra let out a loud laugh. “OK, Ella. Get some rest, and I will come and swing by to get you in an hour.”
***
Ella plopped down on her towel and stared at the ocean. It looked so peaceful out there. After a long hot shower, Gatorade, and a greasy lunch, Ella was finally started to feel better. She still couldn’t piece together last night, but had come to the conclusion that the sexy man in the library was just a figment of her imagination. Ella wasn’t one to have one-night stands; she doubted she even had the courage to do one.
Ella leaned back on her towel and let the sun’s warmth caress her body. Even though she was fair-skinned, she loved being out in the sun. Sure, she had to dunk herself in sunscreen beforehand, but feeling the sun’s heat on her skin was worth it.
“There is the guy I tried to talk to last night,” Maggie said. “He wasn’t having it, though.”
“Damn, he’s hot,” Amanda said.
Ella pushed herself up on the towel to take a look at the man candy. When she saw the familiar muscular frame and the thick brown hair she felt all the blood drain from her face. It can’t be, she thought. What the hell? Did something really happen between them? Or had she met him in her drunken stupor and her dreams wished that they did?
“Ella?” Sierra placed a hand on Ella’s shoulder. “You OK?” Sierra asked. “You look like you have seen a ghost.”
Ella shook her head. “Yeah, I’m fine. I think I spoke with him last night, but I can’t really remember.”
The girls around her giggled. They continued to gossip about the guys and Ella pretended to pay attention, but she slowly tuned them out. Had anything actually happened between her and Austin last night? She racked her brain, trying to remember every detail, but the night was so fuzzy that she couldn’t decipher between reality and her dreams.
Ella leaned back down on her towel and closed her eyes. She could try and talk to him, but what would she say? Hi, I can’t remember if we slept together or not? He would think she was an idiot. Why did she even care what he thought about her? Ella rolled her eyes at herself. She hated overthinking things like this, but somehow her mind always went into overanalyze mode any time she was presented a problem. Normally she would talk to Sierra about it, but Ella could tell that Sierra was already worried about her. No need to add “I may have drunkenly slept with the hot clan leader” to Sierra’s worries.
The hairs on the back of Ella’s neck started to stand up. She felt like she was being watched. She slowly lifted her back and rested on her forearms. She looked around and was suddenly captivated by Austin’s dark brown eyes. Goosebumps erupted all over her body, and she felt a magnetic force trying to pull her to him, but she was stubborn and refused to listen. Just as quickly as she was put under the spell of his eyes, it was gone, and Austin turned away and walked to a lounge chair away from hers.
What the hell was that about, and why was she so drawn to him? Ella couldn’t deny that Austin was extremely attractive. With his broad shoulders, muscular frame, and strong chin with just the right amount of stubble, who could resist him? Most of the girls, including Ella’s friends, had taken a liking to him.
“So what is it that you heard about Austin?” Ella asked.
“Well, I heard that he is a bit of a dick,” Maggie said. “A lot of the other girls have said that he hasn’t seemed very interested in being here and that he mostly stuck to himself.”
Great, Ella thought. Another dick. Why is it that she always found herself attracted to the completely wrong men? Ella looked over to where Austin was sitting. His eyes caught hers again and she tentatively smiled. He just stared at her, and then shifted his eyes away. Fine, be a douchebag, Ella thought. If something did happen between them, it didn’t matter. She would probably never see him again after this vacation, so there was no point in worrying about it. Austin meant nothing to her. At least, that is what she continued to say to herself over and over again.