The sound of a bus has me spinning around, grinning from ear to ear. Lei jumps up and down, clapping her hands, and we watch as the bus comes to a stop outside the main house. The other guys all come outside, hearing the bus, and I quickly hug them all before we line up and wait.
The bus comes to a stop and the door opens. Two guards step out first. They’re quite good looking, with broad shoulders, uniforms that stick to their muscled bodies, and both have great faces. One has dark hair, tied at the base of his neck and a weeks’ worth of stubble on his chin. His blue eyes are stark, and his skin is a dark olive shade. The other guard has brown hair, cropped short, and his face is clean shaven and so chiseled he looks like he belongs on the cover of a book. His eyes are a deep brown, and oh, he’s something else entirely.
They both step down and then slowly, women start walking out of the bus. They range in age, one of them looking to be in her sixties, while one looks barely eighteen. There are only five of them, I guess to ensure they’re easily supervised. I take a moment to study them. There are only two older women, who look like they’ve lived a rough life but don’t look at all scary. They stand beside each other and are clearly close friends.
The other three are all younger.
The youngest, the one who looks barely adult, is tiny and petite with bright blue eyes and a short blond bob. She’s adorable and I have to wonder what the hell she did to get herself locked up. The girl standing next to her is maybe twenty, possibly a smidge older. She is curvy, has beautiful green eyes, long brown hair and looks sweet, too. Are they sure they got the right people here? What could these girls have done to end up in prison?
The final girl stands closer to the guards, she has her arms crossed and her expression is pissed. Like she would rather be anywhere else than here. She’s only small, her body petite and little. She is rocking some beautiful curves, though. Her hair is dark, maybe a deep chocolate brown, and is tied up on her head in a ponytail, yet the strands come down and around her shoulders, it’s that long. She has beautiful olive skin and when she looks up, her eyes are as yellow as a cat. The most incredible eyes I’ve ever seen, without a doubt.
She is gorgeous, utterly stunning.
“Damn,” Elias mutters beside me. “Fuckin’ about took me off my feet when she looked up.”
“She’s breathtaking,” Lei gasps. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so beautiful in my life.”
I have to agree.
There is something about her, a beauty that is utterly mesmerizing.
Rhett goes down and begins his introductory speech to the group. They all listen, the two older ladies occasionally smiling. I see they’ve both got tattoos and are the only ones out of the group who look like they might have been in prison. The rest of the group watch Rhett, their faces blank. Mostly the girl on the end, who still has her arms crossed, and now she’s looking down at her faded out converse, not making eye contact with anyone.
Rhett finishes up and then asks who wants to take charge of the group’s activities. The dark-haired guard steps forward and says something in Rhett’s ear. Rhett nods and then turns and calls Lei and I down. We both rush down quickly and stop beside him. “Ladies, the guards have expressed that all tasks need to go through them to be approved first. I’m going to put you two in charge of the activities and communications. We good?”
We both nod.
“Also,” the guard says, glancing at the beautiful girl, “we’ve had some trouble with that one. She’s fiery and doesn’t follow instruction well. If possible, can we have someone supervise her and her activities whenever we can’t be around?”
The girl looks up, clearly having overheard him.
Her eyes narrow. “I can hear you, Waylen.”
Her voice is soft, yet at the same time, hard as nails.
“We don’t want any trouble, Willa.”
Willa.
What a beautiful name.
“Then you shouldn’t have sent me on this ridiculous retreat.”
Waylen looks back at us. “As you can see, she’s not willing to follow instruction. Have you got someone who can help?”
Rhett turns and glances at the guys, then he barks Lake’s name.
Lake walks down the stairs, stopping next to him. “What’s up?”
“You’re in charge of making sure this one,” Rhett points his finger at Willa, “does as she’s told. She needs to be supervised.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” Willa snaps, her expression horrified. “You’re seriously making wannabe surfer dude here take care of me as if I’m some sort of out-of-control teenage girl?”