She waved a cheery goodbye to the man who drove her down to the beach. She had left him a hefty tip, no matter how much he told her that he didn't need it. The man had yellowing around his eyes which indicated a childhood of malnutrition. He was working as a driver at a resort in a gentrified area of Jamaica. She knew that he needed it, regardless of what he said.

She walked underneath one of the giant umbrellas that they had on the beach for shelter, trying to avoid the scalding sand. The salty ocean breeze relaxed her and the sounds of the waves were soothing. There weren't too many people out on the beach but there were enough for the sound of chatter to arise. The waves were calm and the water was a stunning turquoise blue. She laid out on one of the lounge chairs, stretching her long legs. She closed her eyes, taking in the sensations and sounds of the beach.

"Hey, Virginie!" She heard Alex's voice call for her and she opened her eyes. She thanked herself for leaving on her sunglasses so that Alex could not see the way her eyes were popping out of her head.

Alex's skin was glistening in the sun. His aura seemed to bring more sunlight to the beach, making the area warmer than it already was. His skin was dripping with water; he must've taken a shower beforehand. His curls were defined by the moisture and under the sun, his eyes almost matched the water in their beauty. She knew that they had talked about working out but she was absolutely floored at the results. He had the body of a swimmer, football player and a runner with the best assets of each. His legs were thick, toned, and muscular. His smile was nearly her as the whiteness of his teeth and the sun collided. He was the man of her dreams.

And the one she could never have.

He must've done this on purpose. He wore a form fitting pair of swimming trunks which just so happened to give the perfect tease of the size of his massive assets. He had to feel the intensity in the way that she gazed at him from across the beach. He must've done it just to spite her. To see her sweat from his presence alone. She wouldn't let him have her. Especially when she could never show him how she actually felt.

Two could play at that game. She wore this swimsuit for that specific reason. She briefly touched her cover up but then put her hands down. No, not now. The time isn't right.

Virginie cleared her throat, not wanting to show him the effect that he had on her. She was going to keep her sunglasses on until she got herself under control. "Good to see you, Mr. Stroud."

Alex raised a curious eyebrow at her before joining her in the shade. "No 'princess'?"

She scoffed. "You did assume that I left your drunk ass. You will get back your nickname privileges when I see fit."

A look of regret briefly crossed his face and he tried to mask it but ended up looking more remorseful. "I'm sorry. Stephanie has never lied about anything like that before. Her story was out of character but she seemed so genuine."

His eyes were so soft and pleading, Virginie almost felt sorry for him. "Listen, it's fine. Just don't jump to conclusions before talking to me first, okay? I told you that I wouldn't leave you. You know I don't go back on my word."

Alex smiled and then nodded. "Yeah, definitely. It won't happen again." His face got serious. "What about this whole drugged business? Does Stephanie know about it?"

Virginie laughed. "Of course not. Then I would have to explain to her a lot of things that she doesn't have to know. I told her that you had a little bit too much to drink." She gave him a quick side eye. "Which you did. How are you about to leave the house drunk and then have three shots of rum? What kind of dumbass does that?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you," he spat coldly.

Virginie stared at him, shocked at the iciness of his tone. "You're right. You don't. I was just having a little bit of fun."

"Virginie, please, I didn't mean it like―"

She cut him off by raising her hand. "No, I overstepped my bounds. I have no right to question your life and what you do with it." She paused, trying to remember where she was in her tale. "As I was saying, the drug wasn't supposed to harm us but rather make us extremely intoxicated. I'm not quite sure why yet. I apprehended the bartender and after a short interrogation, he killed himself by injecting a foreign liquid into his leg. I had his neck and arms pinned tightly under my body.

"After leaving his body in the alley, my next task was finding you and bringing you home. I found you nearly unconscious on the dancefloor with two girls rubbing themselves all over you." She took a deep breath and struggled to keep her voice level. When she had seen them putting their sweaty, dirty hands all over him, she wanted to kill them. She couldn't understand why someone would ever want to take advantage of another person in a state like that. "I got them off you and told them to leave. I called a taxi and took you back to the villa. Stephanie opened the door for me but then went to bed after seeing that I had the situation under control. I laid you out on the couch and got you some water. You threw up a couple of times but nothing too bad. I made you some grilled cheese and stayed with you until you fell asleep. I washed the dishes that I used and cleaned up a little bit. I left some water bottles on the coffee table in case you threw up again or if you were thirsty."

He hesitated before asking his next question. "Did I say anything weird while I was out?"

She thought about the words that had been swimming in her head all day. "Because when I'm sober, I'm too afraid to say these things out loud. When I wake up in the morning, sober as the day I was born, you'll still be the most ethereal woman that I've ever seen and will ever see." "You were too busy eating up sandwiches and throwing up to say anything stupid," she laughed, thankful that her sunglasses blocked her eyes so he wouldn't notice how her smile didn't meet her eyes. His words haunted her and they were going to visit her again in her dreams.

He chuckled and wiped off an imaginary bead of sweat on his forehead. "Thank God. For a second there, I thought I was going to have to worry about some silly video of me that you had saved on your phone."

"It would already be going viral by now, don't worry. If I was to film you, you would definitely know about it before I told you," she joked.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Whatever, let's get back to this person who is targeting you. Did the guy that you interrogated give you any more clues as to why this person is pursuing you or what their goal is?"

Virginie shook her head. "I tried but the guy was too loyal. Even though his comrades abandoned him, he stayed true to them until the end. But he did reveal that there were more of them on the island."

"Are we going to have to get you a bodyguard now?"

She stared at him incredulously. "I hope you're not being serious. If I can't protect myself, then how could I possibly begin to protect you? Don't worry about it. I've been doing this thing for a while. If shit goes down, I'll be able to take of it."

He nodded, deep in thought. "Yes, I suppose that makes sense."

A smile spread across Virginie's face. "Enough with this work talk. We're on vacation! Let's hit the beach." She sprang up from her chair and left her bag and sunglasses.

"Virginie!" Alex called, causing a smirk to spread across her face. "Aren't you forgetting to take off your cover-up? You don't want it to get wet."

"Alex, you're so right," she gushed. "Let me fix that." With one flick of her wrist, she revealed her toned, muscular body with her huge ass. She threw her white garment on the chair as Alex stared at her in disbelief.

She snuck a peek at his eyes once more before her feet hit the sand running, the wind brushing against her hair. She eventually reached the waves and shivered with pleasure when the calm waters began to lick against her feet. She closed her eyes and stopped for a moment, taking it all in. The waves felt like Eskimo kisses all over her skin.

It was only for a moment but she cherished the way that his eyes lit up when he saw her. It was a rush of warmth through her veins. Did this mean that he meant what he said? He thought she was beautiful even when he was sober? She tried to pretend that he looked at her like that all the time. That he looked at her personality like that. That he would ever care about her in a more than friends capacity. She hoped she would see that look again if he ever saw the chance to see her true soul and then declare her truly beautiful.

✕

"That was so much fun!" Virginie commented as they sat down under at table underneath the sun, waiting on their respective butlers to bring their lunches. She pulled her dripping hair up into a ponytail so that she could eat her food undisturbed. They had a fun couple of hours frolicking on the beach, swimming with the fishes, and playing around in the crystal clear waters. Alex had splashed her with so much water that her mouth tasted like sea salt and her eyes were tinged with red.

She had never felt so alive. She didn't have a negative thought while she was giggling, trying to avoid Alex's relentless salty splashes. She had been smiling so much that it had been making her uncomfortable and she had to force herself to stop.

Alex shook his drenched curls, covering Virginie with water one last time before they sat down. He smirked, satisfied with his work.

Virginie rolled her eyes, grabbing her towel and began patting herself dry once again. The intensity of his stare made her hot. She attempted to brush it off. "What are you looking at, asshole?"

He laughed. "Nothing, nothing at all."

She opened her mouth to retort when she felt a presence behind them. She turned around to see a good looking couple, a man and a woman, standing there, looking lustful. She had an idea of what they wanted before they even opened their mouths but she waited to see how they were going to try.

"Excuse me," the man started, snaking his hand onto Virginie's shoulder, "I hope I'm not interrupting." Virginie froze, no longer amused at the situation. Her body became stiff as a board. She hoped that her discomfort was obvious but the man did not move his hand as she stiffened. In fact, it dipped lower. His companion stood beside him, simply smiling without a care in the world.

Virginie tried to make tentative eye contact with Alex who had dropped his mischievous grin. His face was void of any emotion and his green eyes had steeled, focused on the man who was touching Virginie. "You were. Could you stop touching her, please?"

"I see someone doesn't like to share," the man commented lightly, still not fazed by Alex's lack of excitement in his presence. His hand didn't budge from its place on Virginie's skin.

"Can I ask what you came here for?" Virginie murmured, trying to keep her voice level. If she tried to speak at a normal volume, her voice would likely tremble.

"Of course," the woman responded, leaning over the table. Her breasts were nearly spilling out of her shirt and Virginie was trying her best not to look at them. "My husband likes to play around before asking but I prefer to put it out there. I like to be direct." She gave him a playful wink as he continued to caress Virginie's shoulder. His hands were calloused and dry, making the sensation agonizing. It was like sandpaper was being rubbed against her skin. "We couldn't help but admire the way you two were toying with each other on the beach. Your dynamic is the perfect mixture of romantic and sexy. We were wondering if the two of you happen to play."