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  “Maybe not, but they all know each other. Not to mention they all know the boss and he knows them. What’s he going to think about me?”

  “Jude Hudson is a party boy, Rose. I doubt he’d think anything of you letting loose a little. It sounds like he encouraged it even.”

  “He did, but still, it’s embarrassing.” An unexpected knock at my door made me frown and sit up in bed. “There’s someone here. Can I call you back?”

  “That’s okay. It’s my bedtime. We’re in different time zones now, remember?” Her voice sounded as wistful as I felt. “Before you go, who are we?”

  “Anna and Rose,” I said, a lump growing in my throat.

  “That’s right.” Her volume had lowered a bit. “And what are we ready to do?”

  “Take the real world by storm.” The lump got so big it was painful to swallow past it.

  “Exactly. Don’t let those people intimidate you, darling. You will get through this.” She said goodbye after that, leaving me feeling both awful and with a renewed sense of determination.

  Another more insistent knock rang out. All I wanted to do was curl up into the fetal position and wait until I felt better to move, but the person outside wouldn’t quit with the knocking.

  “I’m coming,” I called, running my fingers beneath my lower lashes to get rid of any mascara that may have run while I was on the phone. I’d only put it on to feel better earlier and hadn’t put on any other makeup, but now I worried it would make me look even worse.

  Whatever. It’s got to just be someone on the hotel staff. I didn’t know anyone in the entire country who could be calling on me.

  Opening the door without bothering to check the peephole, I let out an actual audible squeak when I saw who was standing on the other side. “Jude? What are you doing here?”

  My boss looked like a fine snack in another pair of shorts and a loose shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing off defined forearms and a glimpse of that famous tattoo. Hues of reds, oranges, greens, blues, and grays colored his skin and wound around his arm up to where it disappeared beneath the crisp white fabric.

  Aviator sunglasses that looked similar to the ones I’d seen him wearing in those photographs hung from his top button. A wide-strapped watch adorned his wrist, the metal it was made of glinting in the sun pouring in through the windows at the end of the hall.

  He stepped away from the door, dropping his gaze to give me a onceover before smiling. “Rough morning, huh?”

  My cheeks practically burst into flame when I remembered I’d put on a set of flannel pajamas after my shower. They looked like they belonged to Professor McDonald while Jude looked ready to step onto the cover page of one of those magazines that kept featuring him.

  “You could say that,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

  He chuckled and walked around me, right into the room. Stopping once he was a few paces inside, he looked at me over his shoulder. “You know, last night you actually enjoyed my company.”

  “Last night, I was drunk.” I left the door open and leaned against the wall, waiting to see what he wanted. Hopefully, this wasn’t some kind of home visit. Do they do that with interns?

  My nerves flared, making my stomach flip over. It wasn’t good for the low-grade nausea I’d felt all morning.

  Jude ignored the underthings lying all over the floor with the rest of my wardrobe after my movie montage dressing crisis before I’d gone to work yesterday. Instead of paying any attention to that, he smirked at me. “Indeed, you were drunk. Get dressed. I’m taking you out.”

  “I don’t want to go out.” I crossed my arms, wondering if I could bounce back from something as mortifying as this after what had already happened last night.

  “You’ll thank me later,” he said. “Trust me. I know how to beat a hangover the Aussie way. Give me two hours and I’ll have you fixed right up.”

  I arched an eyebrow, not moving from my perch at the door. “I don’t like surprises. Could you teach me how to beat a hangover another time?”

  He pointed to his chest. “Boss.” Then he pointed at me. “Intern. See how that works?”

  “Yeah, but—”

  He shook his head. “Better get used to it, Oxford. Let’s go. We’re burning daylight.”

  I rolled my eyes, sighing when he still didn’t move. “You’re not going anywhere, are you?”

  “Nope.” He grinned. “Pack a swimsuit.”

  “A swimsuit?” I frowned, lifting my finger to wag it in front of my face like a two-year-old. “No. No, no, no.”

  “The sooner you come with me, the sooner you’ll be back here in your dark quiet hotel room.” The look he gave me told me he knew exactly how much I wanted to crawl back into bed. “So stop putting up a stink, and you can be back under the covers in no time.” With his jaw tightening for some reason, he kept his eyes forward and jerked his head in the direction of the door. “Let’s get going.”

  I tried arguing for another minute, but I literally didn’t have the stomach for it today. The more agitated I got, the more I moved. The more I moved, the more nauseated I got. Vicious cycle.

  “Okay. You win.” I gave him a wide berth as I headed for the bathroom, plucking up a pair of shorts and a tank top lying at the foot of my bed on the way. God, this is embarrassing.

  Instead of climbing back into bed, I should’ve cleaned up the darn room. But no, I just had to leave it looking like a teenage boy lived in here. Somewhere under all the mess.

  I changed quickly, grateful that my new swimsuit was lying on the vanity. I’d bought it just before leaving England but hadn’t had a chance to try it on. Naturally, being the rebel I was, I’d purchased it anyway. Then I tried it on last night after getting back to the hotel. I didn’t know why. It’d just seemed like a good idea at the time.

  Thank you for wanting to feel sexy, drunken Rose.

  Once I was done, I walked out to find Jude standing next to the window. He’d opened the curtains and was staring contemplatively out the window.

  “All ready,” I said, announcing myself before I decided to ogle the beautiful picture he cut standing there in a pool of golden sunshine.

  “Great.” He wiped the thoughtful expression off his features so fast I wondered if it’d been a trick of my tired eyes. “You’re going to love this.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked as I grabbed my purse and followed him out of the room. “I feel like it’s only fair to tell you I’m feeling a touch queasy.”

  “Just a touch?” Another grin. “In that case, we’ll have you all fixed up in no time.”

  I groaned but followed him down to his car. True to what I had expected, it was a flashy, low-strung sports number in bright orange. It was revolting but so fancy.

  “You still haven’t told me where we’re going.”

  The car’s lights flashed, and a beep echoed in the parking lot. He reached for the door, but I beat him to it this time and opened it myself.

  My leather seat was softer than melted butter, and the console held more buttons than a spaceship, but I shut all that out as my cocky boss lowered himself into his seat with much more grace than I’d managed.

  “We’re going to the beach,” he informed me once the wheels were already rolling. The car rocketed out of the space, and my stomach lurched. “You’ll see. It’s the best cure there is.”

  “The beach?” I winced at the thought even as I clutched my unsettled tummy. “I can’t go to the beach today, Jude. It’s too… bright.”

  “You’ll be fine.” He had the long fingers of one hand wrapped around the steering wheel while the others gripped the gear lever. No person had any right looking so sexy when they were just driving, for God’s sake.

  My mouth dried up as I watched him. Internally blaming it on the excessive alcohol, I reached into my purse for a bottle of water I had in there from the plane.

  I swigged from it, despite it having been in there for days, and the morning took yet another tu
rn for the mortifying. My stomach let out a loud grumble. Lucky for me, it happened just as we stopped at a traffic light. The engine only let out a soft purr, and my lovely body’s demands were nice and clear.

  Wanting to do whatever I could to distract him from it, I shot my boss a dark look. “I’m really not in the mood for sun tanning. How about a movie instead? A dark, air-conditioned theater sounds divine.”

  He chuckled, glancing over at me before the light turned green. “We don’t subscribe to that sun tanning shit here. We’re not tanning, Oxford. We’re surfing.”

  My mouth dropped open. “Surfing?”

  “Yep.” Jude’s eyes laughed, but his mouth remained set in a totally serious line.

  “I can’t surf right now. I’m going to hurl any minute and—”

  “Boss. Intern. Remember?” He released the gear lever to pat me on the shoulder. “Trust me. This will fix you right up and then we’ll get something to eat. Sound good?”

  “No, but do I have a choice?”

  “Not really.” He tapped down on the gas, and the car hurtled toward the beach like a damn bullet. “Would you just trust me already? I promise you won’t regret it.”

  Weren’t those famous last words…

  Chapter 14

  JUDE

  It was official. The woman didn’t trust me for shit.

  We stood on the beach after renting our boards, side by side as we stared out at the water. I’d bet we looked like a couple in a surfing movie, except for the fact that one of us didn’t surf and we definitely weren’t a couple.

  Our boards were stuck into the sand behind us, but Rose leaned away from hers like she was afraid it would bite her if she got too close. There were people all around, but I’d specifically chosen one of the quieter beaches.

  Quieter, of course, was relative, but at least it wasn’t fucking Bondi. Rose sighed, hands on her hips, and glared at the crystalline water. “Okay, how do we do this?”

  “We’re going to practice on the sand first.” Turning around, I got my board and laid it down, then motioned for her to do the same. “The trick is to know how to go from lying down to standing in one smooth movement.”

  “Smooth movement. Right. That sounds possible today.” She held up a trembling hand, letting it hang in front of my face. “Do you see that? Still think surfing is a good idea?”

  “Yes.” I grinned as I dropped to my knees. “Chop, chop, Oxford. The sooner we start, the sooner you can go home, remember?”

  She muttered something under her breath but then started removing her clothes. The tank top went first, and though there was nothing slow or sensual about the way she yanked it over her head, it was like time slowed down for me.

  I’d guessed at the curves she’d been hiding under that suit yesterday, but nothing I could’ve imagined compared to the reality. A bright red bikini top covered her breasts, but otherwise, she was exposed to me. She was shaped like the most perfect hourglass I’d ever seen, rounded but toned.

  Her skin was so pale it looked like porcelain. Thankfully, I’d had sunscreen in my car and had brought it out with us. I’d hate to see what a day on the water would do to her without it.

  My good intentions about protecting her from the harmful rays out here vanished when she bent over to shimmy out of her shorts. Her breasts bounced ever so slightly as she did, but it was enough to grab my attention.

  When the shorts dropped to the sand and she kicked them toward our pile, she straightened up and planted her hands on her hips again. I had no doubt her eyes were still shooting fire at me, but I didn’t give a flying fuck what her eyes were doing. Not when that delicious triangular patch was so close to me I could almost taste it.

  Her legs were completely smooth, all the way up to where her creamy skin met the bright red fabric of the bikini bottoms. I was willing to bet everything I had she was totally bare beneath them too.

  It looked like she’d been waxed recently. I knew this because Audrey couldn’t spend five minutes on the beach without making comments about other women’s grooming habits. It hadn’t taken me long to learn the subtle differences and how to spot them.

  Rose’s legs were as curvy as her top half, but it was also obvious that she was fit. Faint lines of muscle ran down the sides of her thighs and rippled beneath the skin on her calves when she moved to lie down on her board.

  I’d never been as grateful to be lying down on my stomach as I was in that moment. There would have been no hiding the bulge in my trunks if I’d been standing because there was a definite motherfucking bulge going on down there.

  All my fantasies from earlier came rushing back into my mind but clearer now that I actually knew what her body looked like. I stretched my arms out above my head and buried my head in them to hide my groan, then fought to keep my hips from taking over and fucking a rented surfboard.

  Christ, why does it have to be the intern who turns me on this badly? No, it wasn’t even just that. It had just been too long. I should’ve taken care of it this morning.

  “Now what?” she asked while I silently berated myself for bringing her to the beach. I had even been the one to tell her to pack her swimsuit. And the stupid award of the day goes to…

  I ground my hips against the board for some small measure of relief and pretended it was part of the required movement of lifting my upper body up. “We’re going to paddle out. If there’s a wave we can paddle over, you’ll need to assume this position.”

  Rose rolled her eyes but followed my lead. Only it didn’t help me much because now her tits were sticking out and I knew there had to be pressure on her pussy. Get your head in the fucking game, stupid.

  “Are you okay?” she asked suddenly. “You’re looking a bit distracted. I’m totally fine with not doing this today if you need to bail.”

  “No.” Deep breath. “Nope, sorry, no bailing. You’re shit out of luck on that one.”

  She moaned and collapsed back to the board. “I can’t do this today. Really, Jude. Thanks for trying to help me cure the hangover, but messing around on the beach is not the way to do it. Not for me anyway.”

  As she started to sit up, I realized I was losing her. Boss and intern or not, she was about to tell me to go fuck myself. Which I’d gladly have done given my personal situation, but I hadn’t dragged her out here for no reason.

  “Just give it a try,” I said, then cocked my head as I looked into her eyes. “Or are you afraid you won’t be able to do it?”

  I had a feeling she had a competitive spirit. She was the top student in her program and she’d beat out hundreds of others for the internship. If I was correct in my assumption, she wouldn’t be able to back down from the challenge I’d issued.

  A spark in her eyes told me I’d gotten it spot on. She gritted her teeth and raised her chin. “Let’s get this over with.”

  “That’s the spirit.” I smirked as I got up and glanced down at my watch. “See? I told you to trust me. It’s only been fifteen minutes and you’re already not letting the hangover hold you back.”

  She glared again, remaining on her board. “Is this all we needed to do on the sand? A quasi-yoga move and I’m ready for the water?”

  “Nope, I’m going to show you how to get up now. I’m just grabbing you some sunscreen. Then we’ll really get started.”

  If I’d been a cartoon, I’d have been sitting in a puddle of my own drool by the time she was done. But then I yanked my head out of my ass and taught her.

  “Like this?” she asked when she jumped up for the third time, holding her arms out to her side and rolling her hips.

  “Why are you dancing?” I asked, keeping my eyes very much on hers instead of her gyrating body. Having my hands on her to demonstrate the stance had been hard enough.

  She smirked, shaking her head. “I’m not dancing. I’m balancing. I’ve seen the Surfing in the USA music video. I’ve got this.”

  I couldn’t help it. I laughed. As the hangover melted away, I saw the girl I’d cau
ght glimpses of last night coming out and I liked it. “Yeah, we should just give you a trophy as an honorary surfer. Ready to hit the water?”

  “I think so.” She stepped off the board, picked it up under her arm, and headed toward the ocean. Turning to walk backward, she waggled her brows at me and gave me a cheeky smile. “Are you coming? Or are you afraid you’ll get beaten by a girl?”

  “I’m not afraid of anything.” I grabbed my board and ran at a full sprint until I splashed into the water. Rose followed right behind me, catapulting herself onto her board as well as anyone who’d been doing it all their lives. “How did you know how to do that?”

  “Honorary champ, remember?” she called over the roar of being out in the surf. “Plus, I was watching the other surfers while you were zoning out.”

  “You learned that just by watching?”

  She shrugged, shooting me another smug smile. “I can learn a lot by watching.”

  “Good to know.” Our conversation cut off when the first wave came at us. It wiped Rose off before it’d even broken properly.

  I loved her grit, though. Every time she fell down, she got right back up to try again. I respected that. Our first few attempts at paddling out were disastrous, but once we eventually made it, she smiled widely.

  “Wow. What a rush.”

  “And you haven’t even caught a wave yet,” I said, nodding at an incoming swell. “You want that one? It’s building nicely.”

  We sat behind the breakers, our boards rising and falling with the surf. A light breeze made the surface ripple. Rays of sun glittered where it hit the water, the sky cornflower blue above.

  Rose took it all in before lowering herself back onto her board. “Sure thing. I’m actually looking forward to it now.”

  More falling followed, but so did more shows of her dogged determination. When she finally managed to stand up, I was impressed. She looked pretty damn good up there and she was stronger than I’d given her credit for.