Always(Time for Love Book 4)(4)

Brenna smiled at Gemma as her friend fell in step with her.

“So why were you laughing so hard back there?” Gemma asked.

Brenna chuckled. “I don’t know. I think Ash just took me by surprise.”

“It looked like you were enjoying yourself. You were hanging on to him like you didn’t want to let go,” Gemma said in a teasing tone.

Brenna felt heat creep up her face.

Gemma gasped. “Brenna Ward,” she said in a hushed, shocked tone.

“What?” Brenna tried to sound innocent, but she was sure she blushed deeper.

Gemma was still looking at her with round eyes when Sarah left Jeff’s side to join them.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Brenna answered, gulping involuntarily.

“I made a comment that she looked like she enjoyed being in Ash’s arms, and her answer was this,” Gemma said, gesturing towards Brenna's flushed face.

Sarah frowned in question before understanding dawned, her face registering deep surprise similar to Gemma’s reaction. “Really?”

“Really what?” Brenna asked, her discomfort increasing as the two girls continued to stare at her. “I didn’t want Ash to drop me in the water,” she said weakly.

“Why are you blushing so hard?” Sarah whispered—almost excitedly, Brenna thought.

“No reason,” she answered with a nonchalant shrug, her gaze darting a few metres ahead to land on Ash’s back as he walked with Amanda and the other guys. “Um, did you know Ash is really strong? I mean, muscular. As in hard and... strong.” She gulped again.

“Anyone could tell that just from looking at him,” Gemma said, narrowing her yes at her. “So...?”

“So...” she said with a deep sigh, “I think... I think he’s sexy.”

Gemma and Sarah gasped as one.

“Because he’s, you know, strong... and hunky,” she babbled.

Her friends looked at each other with delight.

“You’ve suspected, haven’t you?” Sarah asked Gemma.

Gemma nodded gleefully. “For a long time.”

“Suspected what?” Brenna asked.

A call from Amanda from up ahead interrupted them. “Hey, girls! Hurry up! We need to discuss what to have for lunch since these guys are of no help. ‘Anything’ is all I can get out of them.”

“We’ll have to talk about this later,” Gemma whispered insistently as they walked faster to catch up with the group.

Brenna nodded. For some reason, her heart thumped hard in anticipation.

*****

“So was the water cold, Bren?”

Brenna glanced sharply at Amanda as they all entered the apartment. Amanda sounded too nonchalant, and hadn’t she already asked her brother the same question?

“Yeah, it was cold. You should make sure Ash gets out of his wet clothes. Fortunately, only my feet got wet, and only because he dipped them in the water,” she answered, a smile forming from the memory.

Amanda laughed in response—a giggle that was suspiciously too high pitched.

Brenna frowned. Did Amanda notice her reaction to Ash, too? Oh no. Had she been too obvious? Had Ash himself noticed?

She needed to know the answers, but first she had to attend to her full bladder. “I need to use the bathroom,” she said, just in time to see Greg go in the one nearest the living room.

“Use any of the others,” Amanda said. “I’ll be in the kitchen to start preparing some lunch.”

“Okay.”

Brenna made her way to a corridor leading to the three bedrooms in the sub-penthouse. She walked into one of the guest rooms with an en suite and used the toilet. As she washed her hands, she mulled over her reaction to Ash on the beach.

His playful actions had addled her brain to the extent that she was still thinking about how hunky and attractive he was.

Stop, she said, then tugged her earlobe.

But the memories of being in his arms kept on repeating. And she felt like swooning again.

Argh!

This was not a simple case of liking a guy and letting him know she was interested. Her close friendship with Ash made it complicated. She could very easily imagine him avoiding her altogether if he knew how she felt and he didn’t feel the same. She wouldn’t want that. She’d never want to lose Ash.

So what should she do?

She shook her head, having no clear answer, and went for the door. As she turned the knob, she checked herself in the mirror for the first time since entering the bathroom. Ugh! Her hair was a mess! She pulled out a tie from her pocket and combed her fingers through her hair, taking her time and ensuring she looked all right with a ponytail. Nah. She looked better with her hair down.

What does it matter, Brenna? she chided herself, rolling her eyes.

She untied her hair just the same and smoothed it with her hands. It would have to do. Ash wasn’t likely to notice anyway.

She turned around to leave the bathroom, then froze.

The door was slightly ajar, and there was a small gap—enough for her to see what was happening in the bedroom. Creeping closer to the gap, she leaned in to have a better look, careful not to touch the door lest it moved and gave her away.

There was Ash, stripping out of his wet clothes, his back to the bathroom door. Fortunately, he wouldn’t be able to tell she was playing Peeping Tom unless he paid attention to the narrow slit she was looking through.