Free Red Rock Island (Damian Green Book 1) by Alec Peche

the gang’s language. He let his console run and decided it was time for a change of scenery. He’d built a small storage room at the base of one of the rocky cliffs. It was well hidden and you had to be able to slide your fingers over the rock to see the door. Inside he kept his water toys - a kayak, a dinghy with a tiny motor, and a jet ski.
     
    He could reach the room from the lower level of his house or from the exterior. He had a ramp that he could use to launch any of the water crafts and then using an app on his phone, the ramp would fold up and return to the storage room and the door would close. It was a hidden escape route if his island was ever attacked by criminals. It was a nice day, sunny and not too windy. He debated which water craft to use and settled on the jet ski as he was going to try and visit Ariana’s house. If he ever visited a second time, he’d try one of the slower methods. He wore long pants and a jacket that dried quickly as he was likely to get wet on his ride. Once he reached her dock, he’d call to see if she was home, that way if he changed his mind on the way, he wasn’t committed to meeting or talking to her. Yes, he was still set in his ways, generally avoiding other humans.
     

Chapter Fourteen
     
    Ariana was on her private beach playing fetch with Miguel. Since she mastered the drone, she’d been using it to drop toys into the water for the dog. He seemed to enjoy that more than when she threw them; probably because the drone went out farther.
     
    She looked into the distance when she heard the noise of a jet ski and frowned when it seemed to be coming her way.
     
    Miguel returned to her side ready to defend her as no one had the nerve to drive up to her private beach. She squinted into the sun but couldn’t identify the rider. There was something familiar about the white blond hair and then it clicked as he approached her dock.
     
    Then she smiled and said to the dog, “It’s okay, Miguel, it’s Damian and he’s a friend.”
     
    She left the sand and walked on to her dock as he was scaling a ladder up to the dock deck.
     
    “Hi,” Damian said. “I needed a break from work and thought I’d journey over here. Lucky for me you’re home.”
     
    “Hi back and this is Miguel, my protector.”
     
    Damian held out his hand for the dog to sniff and then scratched the dog’s head. He observed the drone and remote in Ariana’s hands and said, “Ah, I see it serves a dual purpose, tea delivery and dog toy launching.”
     
    “Are you out of tea?” Ariana asked.
     
    “No, you gave me a supply that will last for at least another month. I have few visitors to my island and I can only drink so much tea each day.”
     
    “Would you like to come in for a drink? You must be thirsty after your ride across the bay.”
     
    Damian looked down at his pants, wet from the spray and said, “I wouldn’t want to drag bay water into your house. How about if I play with Miquel while you grab drinks and anything will do - water, tea, whatever. He’s a Portuguese water dog, right? So I don’t have to worry about him going out too far.”
     
    “Miguel drags bay water into the house all the time so don’t let that deter you, but it’s a nice day and we can sit outside and amuse ourselves. Be back in a few minutes.”
     
    She handed the drone and remote to Damian and made her way up to the house. She was prettier up close than her picture or her scuba gear framed face had let on. He looked at the dog holding his toy clearly expecting Damian to drop it in the bay for him to fetch and got to work. He soon had Miguel acting like a dock dog. He’d suspend the toy below the drone and Miguel would have to jump off the dock to grab it which he clearly found a great experience. Ariana returned with a drinks tray containing two pitchers of liquid and two glasses. She set the tray down on a table located on another part of the dock deck and invited Damian to sit down.
     
    “I brought