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Author's foreword : All copyrights belong to me, so please don't steal it. I hate talking to lawyers.
This story is an interlude between my Conflicted series and its upcoming sequel; however, while it would certainly add to your enjoyment if you have read Conflicted, you should definitely be able to read this series on its own as well. It does serve as a spoiler for a lot of Conflicted's plot, so be warned. If you haven't read Conflicted yet, but plan on doing so, I would do that first. See my bio for more information
As always, many thanks to stevieraygovan for his excellent editing.
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All characters are 18 years or older.
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Chapter One.
Vincent was a lucky man—a fact which he readily admitted to himself quite often. He was just twenty-three years old, with little education to speak of, yet he'd somehow managed to snag himself a job in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
Sure, being a waiter wasn't the most glamorous job imaginable, but he didn't care. He got to hang out on the aptly-named Paradise Beach in eighty-five degree weather and ten hours of sunshine per day, enjoying the cloudless skies; the white sandy beaches; the sparkling blue ocean; and the wavy palm trees while wearing shorts and a loose-fitting white shirt for his work clothes as he served drinks and surreptitiously gawked at some of the world's most beautiful women.
He knew he'd been given the job mostly because of the way he looked, since the world's elite who visited the Ocean Club tended to frown on anything but perfect people. All the staff of the Ocean Club was made up of absolutely beautiful girls as well as incredibly attractive guys, presumably to match the ambiance of the surroundings. So Vincent worked out almost religiously, making sure to keep himself in tremendous shape, as the last thing he wanted to do was to risk his job. An excellent bonus to being so in shape was that he'd gotten several invitations for sex by interested women, married or not, and even once by an adventurous couple. He'd eagerly accepted every single one of those requests.
Yes, Vincent's life was grand, and as such he was always smiling, happy and carefree. He loved being on the beach, mingling, talking and occasionally flirting with all kinds of people.
While serving a tray full of cocktails to the same group of Germans who always seemed determined to be absolutely hammered by ten o'clock in the morning, he noticed a young man coming out of the ocean and walking back across the white beach towards the rows of sunloungers. It was still early, but Vincent had seen the teenage guy go out swimming every morning at eight o'clock sharp for the past few days. The guy would stay in the water for an hour every time, continuously swimming laps while practicing several different strokes.
Vincent wasn't really interested in guys, but he had to admit the tall teenager was in incredible shape, maybe even better than his own. He pondered going swimming himself more often; working out every day did get to be a bit boring at times, and swimming might be a nice change of pace. Of course, he'd have to do so outside of his normal working hours that covered most of the day, and in the evenings there really were far more interesting things to do in Nassau besides swimming.
"Good morning, sir. Another beautiful day, isn't it?" Vincent said, smiling at the young man when he walked past.
"Hi. Yeah, it is," said the youth, returning the greeting with a somewhat gruff smile. He nodded his head at the waiter, though he didn't slow down.
Vincent stared after him with a ponderous look. The guy always seemed a bit... distracted by something, as if he wasn't completely happy, and that really made no sense to Vincent at all. As his eyes followed the teenager back to his regular sunlounger, which was located under a palm tree in front of the row of ultra-luxury—and ultra-expensive—Ocean View Villas, Vincent couldn't help but think that, with a girl like the one who was waiting for him at his side, the guy had everything in the world to be happy about.
He had seen many, many beautiful women here in the Bahamas. Actresses, models, heiresses, and the incredibly attractive wives of many of the world's richest and most powerful men. He'd also seen many of their daughters, who themselves were just as beautiful as their mothers. Yet Vincent could not remember ever having seen a more beautiful teenage girl than the guy's obvious girlfriend.
She was American, like her boyfriend, and she was a stunning model of gorgeous perfection. She was perhaps a little shorter than Vincent really liked—he was himself six foot five, just a little taller than the guy—but everything else about her was just flawless. A truly beautiful face; a sexy, athletic body with curves that made Vincent's shorts quickly get tight if he stared at her too long; golden blonde hair that reached to about halfway down her tanned back; nice, long legs; and a perfect ass. She was truly just divine.
Vincent smiled as he saw the blonde girl get up from her sunlounger and happily hug and kiss her boyfriend. Though he had to admit he'd love to be with a girl like her, he felt no jealousy. There was no reason for him to be jealous of anyone since his life was perfect. He did harbor a small fantasy of maybe being invited by the guy and his girl to share their bed for a night, but he realized a girl like her probably wouldn't be into that kind of stuff. She just seemed too perfect to have a kinky streak, and the mere thought of a threesome would probably make her frown in distaste or even shudder in disgust.
Vincent walked over to the young couple, returning the smile the beautiful girl gave him. His eyes wandered across her amazing body for a brief second, admiring how she looked in her small, yellow bikini. "Good morning, miss!" he said with his usual, slightly exaggerated flair, relishing the fact that it just made her smile grow bigger. "Can I get you two something to drink?"
"I'll have an ice-tea, please," she said in a friendly tone. Even her voice was perfect.
"Of course. And you, sir?"
"Eh... just a coke will be fine," the guy replied.
"No problem. I will be right back!" Vincent said. He snuck one last peek at the girl before walking back to the huge outside bar where the bartender was looking a bit bored. Eduardo usually didn't have much to do in the early hours, but seeing as how the bar was right on the beach, he never seemed to mind all that much, though.
"She is something, eh?" Eduardo said while preparing the order Vincent had given him.
"Yes, she is," Vincent agreed.
"Marco claims that the two of them really go at it at night. He says you can hear her screaming outside their villa!" Eduardo smirked at the two teenagers. "That guy's a really lucky bastard."
Somehow, Vincent found that a little offensive. "Marco is going to get his stupid ass fired one of these days. If not for peeping in on the customers, then definitely for spreading rumors about them!"
Eduardo shrugged unconcernedly, then he handed the two drinks over to Vincent. Without saying another word Vincent returned to the young couple, his eyes again drinking in the girl's beauty.
"No, it's fine now. It's been fine ever since we got here," the guy was saying, somewhat resigned. "I just have no idea why I sucked so badly."
The girl, sitting in her boyfriend's lap, looked at him with sympathy in her eyes, then she hugged him again. "I'm sorry."
"No, please, Amanda, don't say that. It's not your fault."
"I know, but I can still sympathize, right?" she said with a beautiful smile.
Vincent felt his heart flutter at the sight of that smile, even if it wasn't directed at him. "Your drinks, sir, and miss," he said, putting the coke and the ice-tea down on the little table between their two sunloungers.
"Thank you," the girl Vincent figured was called Amanda said warmly.
