Free Island Fever by Shelli Stevens Page A

it stayed purely sexual. Would it be so bad to let her hair down and have some fun? God, she was twenty-two and she’d been acting like some sex hating spinster lately.
    “Go after the surfer, Mel. Come on, you’ve got to admit he was hot.”
    “He was a little hot,” she admitted grudgingly.
    Piper was right. She needed to loosen up. This wasn’t about finding a soul mate; this was about having some good vacation sex. “Okay. I’ll do it. I need to lose my born again virginity anyway.”
    “Mel’s gonna get some,” Piper sang, and then squeezed her hand. “Hurry, before he’s gone.”
    Piper’s excitement for her made Melanie’s enthusiasm kick up a notch.
    “All right, here I go. Wait!” Melanie hesitated. “What if he says no?”
    “To a cute, busty, redhead? Shut the fuck up and get going.”
    “You’re just saying that so I’ll go have sex. But its okay, I expect no less from you.” Melanie grinned. “Wish me luck.”
    “Good luck. I’ll stay with Nikolos tonight. You can have the room.”
    Melanie barely heard her. She was too busy running.
    Shit! She was actually doing it. Her blood pumped through her veins with the adrenaline rush.
    “Hey,” she shouted, trying to catch up with the surfer.
    She emerged from the palm trees onto the sandy beach and tried to pick up her pace, but her feet kept sinking and slipping in the sand.
    “Hey!” she yelled again, gaining on him.
    He started to turn around.
    Bingo. He’s mine .
    And thenher heel twisted in the sand and she yelped, flailed her arms, and fell flat on her face.
    Of course. Of course I would fall. And why wouldn’t I?
    When she looked up, the surfer had turned and walked away. How embarrassing. What the hell had she been doing? Chasing after a surfer to convince him to have sex with her? This was a whole new low. Screw the pact with Piper. The whole idea had been ridiculous anyway. She wasn’t that desperate for sex.
    “Are you okay?”
    Oh God, someone had actually witnessed her tumble to the ground? Melanie looked up.
    “I’m...” she trailed off, dazed by the man who knelt beside her. He was... “Fine.”
    Visually, he was male perfection. His shoulders were broad, and a well-defined six-pack rippled his abdomen. Lowering her gaze further she observed the muscular legs under the black board shorts.
    He must have been out for a jog, because a slight sheen of sweat shone on his mocha-colored skin and his breathing was slightly labored.
    “That was quite a fall,” he said. “Next time you go running on the beach, you might consider taking off your heels.”
    Melanie’s face warmed with a blush. “I didn’t—what are you doing?”
    The man had unfastened her sandal and was pulling it free from her foot.
    “I’m checking to see if you broke anything or if it’s just a sprain.”
    At the mention of something actually being wrong with her foot, she became aware of its painful throbbing. But the pain became secondary the moment he lightly traced his fingers over her swelling flesh.
    It should’ve been weird. This stranger touching her so gently, but she was weirdly okay with it. Maybe a little more than okay. Tingles of awareness moved up her leg and her skin broke out in gooseflesh.
    Trying to distract herself from becoming too aware of his touch, she joked, “Are you a doctor or something?”
    “Actually, I’m just finishing up with my residency,” he replied, circling his thumb over her ankle.
    Damn. Talk about a good guess.
    “What’s your name?”
    “Melanie.”
    “Nice to meet you, Melanie. I’m Asher.” He lifted his gaze briefly, and she almost heard a click as their eyes met.
    His mouth curved into a smile. The whiteness of his teeth showed bright against his tan skin and dark brown eyes. Her breath hitched at the immediate effect it had on her.
    “Well, it looks like you’ve got yourself a minor sprain.”
    “Oh,” was all she could say, because her mind was just thinking how damn attractive he