Jealous Storm by Jack Stroke (book recommendations .txt) 📕

Baumer demanded in a booming voice, immediately taking control. He was all jaw.

“Uncle Jimmy had a fall in the bathroom. This guy helped him.”

Baumer nodded. “What’s your name, son?’

“Ben,” he said not thinking.

“Thank you, Ben.” He wrapped Ben’s palm up in a firm shake. “Good man.”

“He’s got a bit of a bump to the head, but he seems okay,” Ben said.

“All right, Jimmy, let’s get you downstairs.” With Baumer on one side and Francis on the other, they hoisted Jimmy off the couch.

“Thanks, Ben.”

“No worries, Jimmy. Good luck with the seagulls.”

Nicole gave him a sideways glance. “Seagulls?”

“Don’t tell her,” Jimmy said. “It’s our little secret.”

The others gone, Ben stood awkwardly with Nicole and her friend.

“Seagulls?” Nicole asked again.

“Sorry,” Ben said. “Nothing I can do. Jimmy asked me not to say anything.”

“Right.” A hint of a smile teased Nicole’s lips. He hadn’t seen her smile yet. It made her even prettier. “Thought your name was Dash.”

“Dash? That’s a stupid name.”

“It sure is.”

“No, just Ben. Nice to meet you.”

“Right,” she said to her friend. “Let’s go get a drink.”

As they left, Ben realised he’d done it. Mission accomplished. He’d made contact and she didn’t hate him. Time to quit while he was ahead. Nicole stuck her head back in.

“You coming or what?”

Several hours later Ben was one of the last to leave. The rest of the party had been a whirlwind. What undoubtedly began as pity or thanks for what he had done with Jimmy blossomed into a genuine connection. Nicole’s friends were a bit stuck up and standoffish, but she was cool. Ben really liked her.

Slowly it became just the two of them talking and laughing and having fun. Ben was honest, that may have been the key. Not honest about why he was there. More about who he was and his life. None of the Dash secret agent rubbish. They were different, he and Nicole, with vastly different upbringings and yet similar with their views on the world and life and friends. Talking to her felt natural. Why weren’t there any girls like Nicole in Port Simmons? There were no girls at all in Paradise Cove.

They sat close beside each other on a couch, legs touching, exchanging numbers. It was a little awkward, Ben having no clue what his number was. He explained it away as a new phone and SIM card, which wasn’t entirely convincing, but Nicole seemed to find it cute.

“Can’t believe I am giving you my number. I thought you were such a sleaze before.”

“Yeah, sorry. I was just trying to talk to you.”

“You don’t seem to have any problem talking to me now. Anyway, I’m sorry too. I was a cow. You don’t know how many guys I have trying to sleaze on to me. Like, guys my Dad’s age, which is just gross.”

“Aren’t they scared to? With your Dad here?”

“They do it when he’s not watching. And men are men. They do whatever they think they can get away with. They’re not like you though. Or you’re not like them.”

She rested her head on his shoulder, and Ben decided it was about the greatest thing to happen to anyone ever.

“I should… probably go,” he said, no idea if it was actually true or not.

“Oh, okay. I’ll walk you out.”

She held his hand as they made their way towards the main entrance.

“Thanks again for all your help with Uncle Jimmy.”

“No worries. He’s a good guy. Hope he’s okay.”

“He’ll be fine. Just needs to lay off the drink.”

“Isn’t he a bit old to be your uncle?”

“He’s not really my uncle. That’s just what everybody calls him.”

They reached the main entrance. Ben wasn’t sure if he would just have to walk away or where Shake might be. To his surprise, the Tesla was sitting in the driveway waiting.

“That’s me.”

“Thanks, Ben. I wasn’t looking forward to this evening. But you made the party bearable.”

“Yeah, you too. Well, yeah. You know.”

She flashed a bewitching smile. “We should hang out sometime.”

“Yes. I’d like that.”

“Cool.”

He smiled and strode away, but she pulled him back.

“What? No goodnight kiss, Dash?”

He didn’t need to be asked twice. The kiss was magic, lighting up his soul like fireworks.

Ben all but floated down the driveway to the waiting Shake.

“Nice. Mission accomplished, hey?”

It didn’t seem possible, but the mention of the mission quickly bought Ben crashing back down to earth.

34

Amber ran along the sand. It was the second half of her run, so she upped the pace. Always move faster on the back end of a run to improve fitness.

She had been lying low, hiding out in her cabin, not wanting to see a soul. Hideous embarrassment tugged at her skin. Humiliation at what had taken place at the Park Inn. Confusion too. She struggled to make any sense of it. It wasn’t Megan’s number on Ellis’ phone. He had definitely been sexting someone else. Someone else that he’d agreed to meet. Amber hadn’t imagined that.

In which case, what was Megan doing there? About the only thing Amber knew with any certainty was that she should have listened to Vaughan. If she had invited him in yesterday and talked it through with him, he would have attempted to talk Amber out of it and possibly prevented her from doing something so incredibly stupid. Why hadn’t she listened to Vaughan?

She was supposed to be the new Amber. Chill Amber. Surely that meant letting others into her life and not being so closed off. Well, time for a change. From this moment she was going to let Vaughan in fully, no matter how difficult she found it. This was important.

Rather than head back to Paradise by the Bay, she detoured via the pier. She had attempted to get straight in her head what she would say, but the words just wouldn’t come. She was going to have to wing it. That hardly mattered. It was Vaughan. No need to practise for that.

Amber heard them before she saw them, and yet she kept approaching. Loud voices, chatting and laughing, having