As I sat, he smiled down at me and held out his plate. “Hold this for me. I’ll be right back,” he stated, grinning. I frowned, confused, but took his plate anyway, watching as he strutted off towards a little beach hut about twenty yards away. His eyes never left me for more than a couple of seconds the whole time he was away from me. When he turned back to me, I smiled at the two coconuts in his hand.

“What’s that?” I asked, eyeing them curiously. Fruit skewers, curly straws and mini umbrellas poked out of the top of each one.

Ashton sat beside me and held one of the coconuts out to me. “It’s a cocktail. This one is called sex on the beach,” he replied.

I raised one eyebrow, holding my laugh at bay. “Seriously?” I took the drink, swishing the orangey-red liquid around with my straw.

“Yep.”

I giggled. “Well, I think I’m gonna like these.”

One of his eyebrows rose as he nodded and let his eyes slip down to the V at the front of my dress. “Me too.”

Trying to hide the blush that I could feel creeping over my cheeks, I took a sip. The sweetness of it made my taste buds tingle and my eyes widen in shock. It was delicious. “Holy crap, that’s good! Has it got alcohol in it?” I asked, taking another mouthful.

Ashton nodded and laughed, pulling the straw from between my lips. “Yeah, so slow down. There’s quite a lot of alcohol in it.”

While we ate, I pressed against his side and looked out over the sea as the sun started to set even though it was still very early evening. The sunset was so romantic and breathtaking that it made my heart throb. The dazzling colours in the sky were reflected in the ocean making it twice as spectacular. The whole time, Ashton’s arm was wrapped around me tightly.

Once the stars started to make their appearance, tinkering, tinny music caught my attention; the beautiful sounds floating down the beach towards us. I laid my head on his shoulder and sighed contentedly.

“Want to go check out that band?” he offered.

“Sure.” Without another word, he eased my head off his shoulder and pushed himself to his feet, holding his hands down to me. I smiled up at him, slipping my hands into his. “You’re so damn romantic, Ashton. Are you sure you’ve never had a girlfriend before?”

He grinned. “You’re my first and only,” he answered, looking into my eyes, making my heart melt.

We held hands as we walked to the largest building that Kyle had pointed out as being the hub of the resort. The reception was beautiful, rustic and entirely made of wood. The music was luring us in from the back, and we followed a couple of other guests through the reception to a door at the back signposted as the lounge. I gasped as I stepped outside. It was unlike any lounge I’d ever been in before; in fact, how it could be classed as a lounge when it was outside was beyond me. It was essentially a clearing in the trees large enough to fit about twenty candle lit tables. A little wooden staging area had been constructed off to the right, and a steel band were currently playing some gentle melody that brought a smile to my face. People swayed to the music on a makeshift dance floor that was made of decking. The whole place was lit by gas lamps that hung from the trees and fairy lights that had been wrapped around tree trunks. A little hut with a straw roof served as a makeshift bar, and I could see people sipping on coconut cocktails like the one I’d had earlier.

“Wow. This place is beautiful,” I murmured.

Ashton’s hands cupped my face gently before his lips claimed mine in a kiss that was so heartfelt and special that it even made the magical place fade into insignificance. “It’s incredible,” he confirmed. “In fact, the only thing I’ve ever seen that is more beautiful than this place, is you.” My heart melted at his words, and I bit my lip so I didn’t let my confession of love accidentally tumble from my lips. “Let’s dance,” he whispered, tugging me forward gently as he pulled me flush against him.

I beamed up at him, wrapping my arms around his neck as we stepped up onto the decking and started swaying to the beat of the music. His arms were looped around my waist the whole night, holding me tightly against him. His eyes seemed to have me hypnotised because, while we danced, everything else and everyone seemed to disappear, leaving only us in our own little island paradise. In Ashton’s arms, nothing else was important, and I knew it would feel that way for me forever.

The disappointment I felt when the band played their last song was so overwhelming that I felt the pout slip onto my face as we all applauded. Ashton smiled down at me before nodding over his shoulder at the door that led back to the reception area. “We should really get going, it’s pretty late.”

I sighed and nodded. “Where did the time go?” I mused.

He shrugged, brushing one finger across my cheek gently. “Time flies when you’re having fun.”

I smiled at that statement. “Did you have fun?”

He grinned. “I had the time of my life, Mrs Taylor.” The sound of the name made my heart clench. Now that I knew how I felt about him, I desperately wanted a future with him – and for him to possibly give me his name one day – but it would never be able to happen because of Carter. Anger settled into the pit of my stomach because even now, after three years, I still wasn’t free to live my life. Ashton’s hand slid down my arm before getting to my hand and threading his fingers through mine, snapping me out of my train of thought. “Come on, Baby Girl, let’s go.” I nodded reluctantly, silently hoping that the rest of the vacation wouldn’t fly past as quickly as our first night had. As we walked back through the reception, Ashton looked over at the store and then stopped walking. “Wow, the store’s still open. They certainly cater to their guests here, huh?” he joked. “I just need to get something.” Without explaining what it was that he wanted, I was gently tugged in that direction. “Wait here. I’ll just be one minute,” he instructed. His face had turned serious, so I knew that was a bodyguard order and not just a general ‘I’ll be right back’ remark.

I grinned and nodded. “Yes, sir!”

A lustful expression crossed his face before he shook his head and rushed off to speak to the guy behind the counter. They both disappeared from sight for a minute, and then Ashton was back at the register, paying for whatever it was that he’d bought. I didn’t see what it was that he’d purchased because whatever it was, it was small, and he slipped it into his pocket. When he got to my side, he held out a single red rose to me. “They didn’t have white,” he said, almost apologetically.

I sighed dreamily at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you, I love it,” I cooed, smelling the rose as we walked back to our villa, hand in hand. When we got back to our apartment, I pushed the bloom into the vase of flowers that sat on the table. The terrace and the stars beyond caught my attention. “Let’s go sit outside for a bit,” I suggested. On the way out of the door, I grabbed two bottles of water from the mini fridge that was in our room, and then headed out to the nearest sun lounger, settling down and then scooting over so we could share it.

Ashton stretched himself out on it next to me, pressing against my side and pushing one of his arms under my body as he pulled me even closer. A satisfied, euphoric smile crept onto my face as I rested my chin on his chest and looked up at him. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Neither of us spoke, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence by any means; in fact, it was almost as if words were unnecessary.

In the moonlight, he looked devastatingly beautiful. His eyes were shining, his black hair had a faint blue hue from the reflections of the moon, and his smile made my whole body ache. I wanted so incredibly much to say those three little words, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk him not wanting to be in my life now. I’d never been this happy, and it was all down to this boy at my side.

Unable to fight my desire any longer, I raised myself up, leaning over him and kissed his lips. He responded immediately, pulling me down on top of him as his hands slid down my back and cupped my ass. His hands roamed further down, and slowly, oh so slowly, my dress was lifted. It was almost as if he was waiting for me to stop him or something. I smiled against his lips knowingly. I wouldn’t be stopping him for this whole vacation, but clearly he was still unaware of that fact.

I pulled back, looking down at him as I unbuttoned his shirt, giving him the clear go ahead. One side of his mouth pulled up into a predatory grin, and before I had time to react, he’d grabbed me and flipped us so that I was now trapped underneath his body. I giggled breathlessly as he looked down at me and shoved his hand into his pocket, producing a box of twenty condoms.

I gasped. “That’s what you just bought?” I inquired, giggling at his guilty expression. “Were you expecting to get some tonight, Ashton?” I teased.

He winced and shook his head. “No, not expecting. Just hoping,” he replied, looking slightly embarrassed about it.

I grinned and raised one hand, gripping it into the back of his hair. “Well, I’ll let you into a little secret, Pretty Boy,” I purred, pulling his mouth closer to mine so that our lips brushed together as I spoke. “If you want, you can get a lot of action on this trip.”

His whole body tensed on top of mine. “Oh yeah, I definitely I want that,” he growled, nodding enthusiastically as he bent his head and kissed me, ending the conversation.

After he had made love to me under the stars, he carried me into the bedroom and we started all over again on the bed covered in rose petals.

I woke in the morning with my whole body aching from our physical endeavours. Ashton’s deep rumbling growl-like snore was coming from behind me, so I knew that he was still fast asleep. A quick glance at the clock told me it was almost ten in the morning. My overused muscles protested as I rolled slowly in his arms so we were facing each other. I smiled at the sight of him. His hair was sticking out in all directions where I had been running my hands through it last night, and his lips were slightly swollen from all of the kissing. Dark, short stubble lined his jaw, and I couldn’t help but reach out and run the pad of my finger over it, smiling at the slight scratch.