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Part of the Sex on the Beach trilogy by Jenna Bennett, Jen McLaughlin, and Jennifer Probst.
Three books. Three authors. One series.
Three best friends. Three guys. A week in paradise they'll never forget!
It’s all fun and games...
Cassandra Wilder had a simple plan for spring break.
Sun, sand, and a hot guy. Sex on the beach, with no strings attached.
She got her wish when she met Tyler McKenna.
Until someone gets hurt.
But then young women start turning up at Key West landmarks – young
women who look like Cassie, but with one crucial difference: they’ve all
been drugged and relieved of their virginity.
And Cassie begins to wonder whether there’s more to Ty than meets the eye.
Suddenly, sex on the beach doesn’t sound so good anymore...
Excerpt:
Chapter One
This
was the life. Sun, sand, and hot guys, and an unlimited supply of
alcohol, thanks to Mackenzie Forbes, who was bound and determined
that her friends have a good time.
Spring
Break in Key West. What could be better?
I
put my half-empty glass on the bar and turned to survey the room.
It
was only Sunday night. We’d been here just over twenty-four hours,
and Mackenzie had already homed in on the guy she’d decided to
spend the week with. He was local, not one of the college guys down
for spring break. Older than us by a few years, and dressed in ripped
jeans with tattoos visible under his shirt. All the things America’s
Sweetheart should stay far away from, but didn’t.
Looking
at Mackenzie, I was very glad I was just plain Cassie Wilder from
Nowheresville, Ohio. Fame and fortune sound great on paper, but try
losing your virginity with the paparazzi breathing down your neck.
Try falling in love, and having your relationship splattered all over
the tabloids.
Try
breaking up and having everyone in America weighing in on whether he
cheated or you did, and how you’re coping with being dumped again.
No
thanks. If Mackenzie had found a guy who wasn’t gonna sell her out
to the press, more power to her.
Quinn
had already left, with some Ivy League dude hot on her trail.
He’d
been staring at her for an hour, from the table where he’d been
sitting with his friends, and when she got up to go, he took off
after her. Neither of them had come back, so either he’d talked her
into going somewhere with him, or she’d made it back to the hotel
in one piece and was up in her room spending quality time with her
television boyfriend. With Quinn, it could be either.
That
left me here by myself.
Luckily,
there were still plenty of guys to choose from, and plenty of time
left. Key West was stuffed to the gills this week, and I had five and
a half days of vacation to go.
This
was it. I was going to find a guy and join Mackenzie among the ranks
of the devirginized.
The
Ivy Leaguers didn’t appeal, though. Nor did the guys with tattoos.
And I’m not that big on jocks. It didn’t leave a whole lot of
options.
I
turned back to my glass. But before I could reach for it, someone
whisked it away. “How about I get you a fresh drink?”
It
went into the hand of the bartender, who carried it away.
The
guy who had spoken had green eyes and hair that straddled the line
between dark blond and light brown. The streaks through the front
could have been sun, or just expensive highlights. He was wearing
jeans—good quality but not designer; faded but not ripped—and a
navy blue T-shirt, one that said FBI in big white letters
across the chest. I had to lean closer to see that below, in much
smaller letters, it said, Female Body Inspector.
“Nice
shirt,” I said.
He
glanced down and up again. “Thanks. I’m Ty.”
Good
name. Cute guy. Sense of humor. Check, check, and check.
I
smiled. “Cassandra Wilder. Wanna inspect my body?”
He
grinned. “Maybe later. Where d’you blow in from, Cassie?”
“Chicago,”
I said. “University of. You?”
“Washington.”
“State?”
He
shook his head. “D.C. But I’m from Florida originally.”
“Key
West?”
“Jacksonville.
North Atlantic coast.”
“I’m
from Ohio,” I said. “Small town in the middle of nowhere. Lots of
cornfields and cows. Chicago’s a lot more exciting.”
“Sounds
like.” He folded his arms on the bar. Nice arms. Nice smile. Good
teeth and a dimple. “So how long have you been in Key West?”
I
told him we’d flown down the day before and arrived in the
afternoon. “We’ve been here about,” I checked my watch,
“thirty-two hours.”
“You
come down with friends?”
I
nodded. “There are three of us. Mackenzie is over there in the
corner. Quinn already left.”
His
brows lowered at that. “Alone?”
“She
had some guy following her. Part of that group over there.” I
pointed to where some of Ivy League Dude’s friends—just as Ivy
League; Abercrombie and Fitch all the way—were still hanging out,
knocking back shots of Tequila like there was no tomorrow.
Ty
watched for a second and then turned back to me. “How long ago did
they leave?”
“I
don’t know. Twenty minutes? Why?”
He
shrugged. “No reason. There’s a lot of people in town this week.
Safer not to go off alone.”
“She
wasn’t alone. Ivy League Dude followed her.”
He
tilted his head, and a hank of blond hair fell across his forehead.
“But she doesn’t know Ivy League Dude, does she?”
“Same
way I don’t know you,” I said.
Dammit,
was he just talking to me as an excuse to find out about Quinn? I
mean, I know she’s pretty and all, but I’m not that bad. Am I?
He
grinned. “Wanna see my driver’s license?”
“I’ll
show you mine if you’ll show me yours.”
“Deal.”
He fished in his back pocket and pulled out a wallet. I dipped my
fingers into my mini-purse and pulled out all the glossy cards,
sorting them on the counter.
“Room
key, credit card, license.” I pushed the license toward him.
He
picked it up. “Nice picture.”
Not
so much. Official photographs are rarely that good. And I’d had a
zit on my chin that day. Although the picture was so small it didn’t
matter too much, I supposed.
I
looked at his. Tyler Jackson McKenna, with an address in Washington,
D.C. Born a year before me. Probably about to graduate, unless he’d
skipped a year somewhere, or was taking things slowly.
Hair:
Brown. Eyes: Green. Height: 5’11”. Weight: 174.
The
picture matched. It was definitely him.
I
handed it back. “Thanks.”
“No
problem.” He put it back in his wallet, and the wallet back in his
pocket, before nudging my room card, with the hotel logo prominently
displayed. “This where you’re staying?”
I
nodded.
“Nice
digs.”
“Mackenzie
is paying,” I said, my tongue a little looser than usual from the
drinks. Not that I was drunk or anything, just a little tipsy. “Quinn
and I wouldn’t be able to afford it on our own.”
Going
to Key West for spring break had been a last minute decision. All the
cheap places had been sold out. Quinn and I had talked about sharing,
to cut costs, but Mackenzie had put her foot down on that idea. If we
had any hope of getting laid, she told us, we needed separate rooms.
Ty
peered into the corner again. “That’s Mackenzie Forbes, isn’t
it?”
I
nodded.
“You
go to school with her?”
Yes,
I did. Mackenzie had become a country music star at sixteen, and by
the time eighteen rolled around, she was ready for some peace and
quiet out of the public eye. So she’d enrolled at the University of
Chicago, just like a normal person. We’d bonded in English 101 and
been close ever since.
“She
can afford it, I guess,” Ty said.
Yes,
she could. She’d just finished up her new album over Christmas
break, and now she was in the process of finalizing her summer tour
schedule. All she had to do to recoup the cost of Quinn’s and my
rooms, was sell a handful of extra tickets to one of her concerts.
That
didn’t mean I wasn’t grateful, of course. She was going above and
beyond the call of friendship. After all, she could have just gone to
Key West by herself. She didn’t have to bring Quinn and me along.
“And
I guess it makes sense that she’d want somewhere with good
security,” Ty added.
I
hadn’t thought about that, but yes. Sure. She’d told us stories
about some of the more persistent of her fans, and I didn’t blame
her at all for wanting to feel safe. If someone was willing to break
and enter to get his hands on my underwear, I’d want good security,
too.
“D’you
think maybe you should try to get in touch with your friend who
left,” Ty said, “and make sure she got there safely?”
Here
we were, back to Quinn again. He seemed happy to talk about both my
friends, but not so much interested in talking about me.
“What
if she’s with Ivy League Dude?” I said. Naked, in bed?
“Unless
he’s a total asshole,” Ty answered, “he’ll understand.”
“Even
a nice guy might object to being disturbed under those
circumstances.”
But
I fumbled for my phone anyway. It couldn’t hurt just to make sure.
I hadn’t been worried before—I wasn’t really worried now—but
Ty seemed so concerned about everyone’s safety that I’d gotten a
little concerned too.
And
besides, until I made sure, he probably wouldn’t stop asking me to,
so I may as well get it out of the way.
Usually
we just text each other—it’s easier—but this time I actually
dialed and waited for the phone to ring. If that didn’t work, I’d
try texting later.
But
the phone rang twice, and then Quinn picked up. “Cassie?” She
sounded worried. “Are you OK?”
“Fine,”
I said. “You?”
“Sure.
Why?”
“Just
checking. I met this guy—” I slanted a look at Ty across the bar;
he grinned, “and he convinced me to call and make sure you got back
to the hotel in one piece.”
“Oh.”
There was a pause. I could tell she wanted to ask me more about the
guy, but wasn’t sure whether now was a good time. With him standing
right next to me, I’d have to say it wasn’t.
“So
are you at the hotel?” I prompted.
“Um...
not yet.”
“You
left a while ago.”
“I
decided to take a walk on the beach,” Quinn said.
“On
your own?”
“Um...
not exactly.”
Ah.
“Did Ivy League Dude catch up with you?”
“Ivy
League Dude?”
“The
guy who’s been staring at you for the past hour. Tall; dark curly
hair. The one you’ve been pretending you don’t know.”
“I
don’t know him,” Quinn said.
“Then
why are you walking on the beach with him?”
She
sighed. “Fine. I know him a little bit. I met him yesterday, when I
ended up at that party I told you about.”
“The
jackass.”
“Yes,”
Quinn said. “Him.”
“Is
he there now?”
“Yes,”
Quinn said, “he is.”
“And
you’re fine.”
“Yes,”
Quinn said, “I am.”
“Tell
me the guy’s name. That way, if something happens to you, I’ll
know who to tell the police to look for.”
There
was a moment’s silence. Or not silence, exactly; I could hear them
talking, they just weren’t talking to me.
Then
Quinn came back on the phone. “His name is James Hunt. He’s
renting a house on Gardenia Street.” She gave me the number. “He
wants to know whether you want his blood type, too.”
“Not
right now. But if something happens to you, Mackenzie and I’ll want
his head on a stake.”
“I’ll
let him know,” Quinn said. “Good night, Cassie.”
She
hung up without letting me speak. I guess she must like the guy more
than she wanted him to know.
I
dropped the phone into my bag and turned to Ty. “She’s fine.
Mostly sober, and walking on the beach with Ivy League Dude. He’ll
make sure she gets to the hotel afterward.”
He
nodded. “What about you?”
“What
about me?”
“Don’t
you think you should think about getting back to the hotel, too?”
“It’s
still early.” Only ten thirty. “And I didn’t come to Key West
to sleep.”
He
smiled. “I’ll go with you.”
Oh,
really? Well, that was a different matter, wasn’t it?
I
slid off the bar stool and onto the floor—it only heaved a
little—and turned to catch Mackenzie’s eye. She was wrapped up in
her new guy, but not so much that she didn’t see me standing there.
I hooked my thumb toward the door. She nodded. And gave Ty a quick up
and down and me a discreet thumbs up.
I
grinned and turned back, and caught Ty grinning too. “That mean she
approves?” he asked me.
I
ducked my head so my hair covered my cheeks. “Seems that way.”
“If
we have Mackenzie’s approval, let’s get outta here.” He nodded
to the bartender as we headed for the exit. The bartender nodded
back, busy swiping a wet rag over the bar.
“Friend
of yours?” I asked, when we were outside in the street.
“I’m
a friendly guy.” He grinned, and then nodded to a cop hanging out
just outside the door. “Evening, Officer.”
The
officer nodded back, and I could feel his eyes following us as we
walked down the street.
There
were plenty of cops out and about. Every block or so, we passed
another. I had no idea why Ty was so worried. Key West during spring
break looked like the safest place on earth.
