A Starlit Summer by Kate Frost (best manga ereader txt) 📕

‘I think I’ll join you.’

Jenna sensed Milo’s eyes on her as she peeled off her beach top and left it crumpled on the lounger. Her bikini was a sunny yellow and looked good against her light tan. She slipped her feet out of her flip-flops.

Milo brushed past her and dived straight into the pool.

Water splashed on to the terrace and Lily screeched as it reached her. Timothy was already in the pool doing laps and he ducked his head under, shot back out and wiped beads of water off his face and through his hair as Milo swam past.

Jenna entered the pool via the steps, relishing the cool water connecting with her skin, first her feet, legs and body, until she was submerged. After sweltering on set in the morning, it was blissful to float, relax, and stare up at the cloudless blue sky.

Water splashed in her face. She turned to look but there was no one there, only a shadowy figure beneath the water coming at her like a rocket. Jenna shrieked as Milo’s hands slid around her waist. As he emerged from beneath the water he pulled her upright so they were floating together, his grinning face inches from hers, dripping with water and sexy as hell.

‘He’ll never let anyone be,’ Timothy said, swimming past and looking between them with raised eyebrows. ‘Always fun and games with Milo. Get used to it.’

~

Jenna wasn’t drinking, but everyone else was. As the sun retreated, the laughter got louder, the drunken antics rowdier. After her dip in the pool, Jenna had dried off and settled herself beneath the shade of an umbrella with a book. It wasn’t often that she was the one in the position to be looking after everyone else. She was driving though and so didn’t have a choice. This year had been a tough one in many ways. Lily and Amanda’s comments about her being single and available and that she should be trying it on with Milo Blake had hit a nerve. She’d been fine being single this past year, focusing on herself and her career, even though that had been sabotaged by her so-called friend. Men or lack of them weren’t the issue, she was surrounded by good looking blokes on a day-to-day basis. It was the nature of her job. It was the same story dating another actor, roles and ego always got in the way. Not that the boyfriend was always to blame; she knew she was too. Maybe she was too self-absorbed, too focused on chasing a dream.

Fingers clicked in front of her. She looked up and came face to face with Milo’s crotch in burnt orange board shorts. Her head snapped up to meet his eyes.

‘You’re in a daydream.’

He reached down, took her hand and pulled her to her feet. The last remnants of the sun were bleeding across the horizon, a deep red and a vivid pink merging with black night. Outdoor lights had come on, lighting up the pool, with lamps edging the paths. Timothy and Amanda were in the pool, the others chatting on the side. Lily had been keeping Jenna company before disappearing up to her room, Jenna couldn’t remember what for. Tiredness was sweeping over her; Milo’s hand was warm and firm in hers and she realised he was leading her away from the others.

He stopped before the end of the terrace, just where the stone paving was edged by a border packed with bushes. He kept hold of her hand. Even in the night air she could smell the sweetness of honeysuckle.

‘You should be staying here, you know.’ His fingers stroked her hand.

She was conscious of her heart beating. What if he invited her up to his room, what would she say? She liked him, but she didn’t know him, and what little she did know had been gleaned from magazines. But then she was single, what harm would a bit of fun do? Even with a movie star...

‘You’re beautiful.’ He was slurring his words, his eyes were glazed, not quite focusing on her. He caught hold of her waist, almost as if he was swaying so much he needed something to hold on to, to steady himself. The last person she’d been this close to had been Finn, earlier that day sitting in the sunshine. No alcohol involved then, just a bit too much summer sun. And what? The kiss had happened so quickly she’d barely had time to process it, and yet she was thinking about it now when a semi-naked Milo Blake had his arm around her waist.

‘You’re drunk.’

He tugged her closer, so their bodies were pressed together, hot damp skin connecting. She expected him to kiss her, but instead he leant closer, his stubble brushing the side of her face, one hand tightening around her waist, the other hand dipping down and resting on her bum.

‘You’re sexy as hell, you know that right?’ he whispered.

Light pooled around them, making him look more tanned than usual, his hair darker, his cheekbones even more defined. His lips brushed her cheek and then he pulled away. He smiled, and sauntered back towards the splashing in the pool, leaving damp footprints on the pale stone.

Jenna shivered. She looked around, sensing someone watching her. And there was, although they were trying to be subtle about it. Amanda was looking in her direction as Timothy tapped a blow up ball towards her. She needn’t have worried about what her answer would be if he asked her up to his room, yet her emotions were now even more conflicted.

Chapter Nine

The second week merged into the third and Jenna found herself spending more and more time with Milo. After the evening at the hotel’s pool, he sought her out, inviting her to sit next to him if they had a lunch break together. It didn’t go unnoticed. She saw the looks and witnessed the hushed