Vacation

VACATION

By
Claire Adams

This
book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are
products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not
to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual
events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Copyright
© 2015 Claire Adams

Get
Each of My Newly Released Books for 99 Cents
By
Clicking Here

Click here to read the entire Slammed
Romance Series

Click here to read the entire Breathless
Romance Series

Click here to read the entire Protector
Romance Series

Click here to read the entire
Stepbrother Romance Series

Click here to read my novel
Tempted

Click here to read my novel
Secrets

Click here to read my novel
Roomies

Click here to read my novel The Job

Like
me on Facebook
:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Claire-Adams/547513332025338

Newsletter
:
–
Click
here to get an email as soon as the next book in the series is available.

Get your
free copy of my never released book when you sign up for the authors VIP
mailing list.

Click
here to get your free book

Chapter
1

Vivian

It was still relatively cold this time of
the year in New York. Heading to Miami wouldn’t help much. It was liable to be
cold there too. With the shifting of the seasons, spring break was stacking up
to be miserable. Not that I was in the mood to enjoy anything more than a good
book and my
pjs
, but my roommate wasn't going to let
me back out of our trip. She was far too excited to let anything dent her mood.

"I really don't think this is the
best idea, Casey. Maybe we could call the airlines back and see if they're
willing to move the flight just once more." I ran my fingers through my
long crimson hair and dropped down on my small bed in our dorm room. "Just
think about it. We could stay here and go to all of our favorite places. You
know you love Central Park this time of the year."

"No, Viv. This is going to be great.
You've been moping around this place since the beginning of February. We're
getting the hell out of here for a little while. It will do you some good. It
will do me some good. I'm tired of this frigid-ass weather. I need to see the
beach and pretend like one day I'll get out of here." She moved to stand
in front of me and touched my shoulder gingerly as I shifted my gaze toward the
floor. "Hey, it's going to get better."

My eyes filled with tears, though I
honestly didn't figure I had many more left in me. I'd known Jackson my whole
life, and dated him most of it. I couldn't see myself beside anyone in life but
him, and yet he felt differently. Not having the balls to tell me that he was
sleeping with half the student body at NYU, I happened to find out the hard way
– by accidentally witnessing him in action.

"Right." I pulled from her and
got up, walking to the short window that sat at the far end of our dorm room.
"I just wish it would hurry up."

"It's only been a month." Casey
wrapped me in a hug from behind and I sunk down into it. My spunky roommate had
been my best friend since kindergarten; her commitment to living life with me
being one of the only things that was sure to help me through the break-up with
Jackson.

"I know, but this was supposed to be
our trip, Case. We'd been dating for ten years on Valentine’s. That was the
reason for the trip, remember?" I pressed my hands to my face and took a
shaky breath. "I just don't know if I want to go hang out in Miami for a
week, even with you. I'll do nothing but drag you down and be a complete
killjoy. The last thing I want to do is have you upset with me because I can't
be anything but depressed right now. I'm trying to pull myself out of it, but I
just can't seem to. You're going to be disappointed and the trip's going to
suck because of me."

"That's not true. Not one damn word
you just uttered is true." She moved back and tugged on my hair. "Get
packed up. We got the tickets from Valentine’s moved to now, and we're going.
You're going to meet some fantastic
hottie
and have
loads of great, unattached sex."

She gasped dramatically as I turned to pin
her with a 'get real' stare. "Me?"

"Yes. You. Just think – it will
almost feel like you're a normal college girl. Having fun and living in the
moment. What? What will the media think?" She wagged her eyebrows as I
wiped the last of my tears away.

"You're dumb." And she was, but
she was right. I needed to figure out how to start living a little. My life had
revolved around Jackson and my grades for so long that having fun didn't seem
attainable.

"Right, and you're dumber. Get that cute,
little, black string bikini that you hate. It looks killer on you." She
nodded to my bed. "Grab your pillow, too. You know how much you hate
sleeping on anything but Hilda."

"It's too cold to wear a bikini. I'm
going to need a full length coat and sweats just to be able to walk
outside." I moved toward the bed and picked up my pillow, which we'd
lovingly named Hilda years ago. I was on Hilda number six by then, but our
traditions stuck – even the odd ones.

"Florida is vastly different than New
York, Viv. Check the weather on your phone, and while you're at it, check the
flight times, too. I want to run by the store on the way to the airport. I need
some gum and want to grab a couple of beach towels before we go."

"The hotel doesn't give them to
you?" I picked up my phone, forever minding my bossy-ass friend. She was
president of every club she could get her hands on, energetic and an extrovert
to the nth degree. I wasn't her polar opposite, but pretty damn close.

"No clue, but I don't want to chance
it, and the gum is for your ears. You know they pop like crazy on takeoff."
She picked up a nightie from her open suitcase on her bed and wagged her
eyebrows again. "
Whatcha
think? Hot enough to
catch some guys attention?"

Her blonde pixie cut and vibrant blue eyes
drew everyone in quickly, and even after all the years of us being close, I was
no different. She had a warmth to her that made you want to get close enough to
warm your hands by her fire.

"It's rather naughty. You sure you
want to take that with us? You're going to be mighty disappointed when I don't
ask you to put it on." I gave her a silly look, which melted into a smile.
She wouldn't wear the nightie even if there were a good-looking guy she wanted
to impress. She was too self-conscious about her curves, though I didn't think
she had any reason to be.

"Now who's being dumb?" She
chuckled and tossed it back into her bag. "I'm going to find us some
handsome boys to have a little bit of fun with."

"Right. You do that." I finished
packing a few t-shirts and shoved the last of my jeans in before sitting on the
top and motioning for her to come help me close the thing.

"Why am I suddenly concerned that you
didn't bring anything dressy or skimpy?" Casey bent down and zipped up my
suitcase as I wobbled on top of it.

"Because I didn't. The weather says
that Miami is in the low seventies right now. That sounds warm, but we're right
on the beach in Miami. It's going to be cold. You're going to freeze your ass
off, and when you do, don't say I didn't tell you so." I shrugged and slid
off the side of the suitcase. "Let's get going. The flight is in three
hours. That gives us just enough time to grab the stuff you want and get
there."

"Killjoy. Already." Casey popped
the side of my leg and picked up her bag. "You're going to meet someone
sexy that sweeps you off your feet. Mark my words. Karma's a bitch, and Jackson
will get his, but you'll get yours too."

"I believe you." I slung my
satchel strap over my shoulder and brushed my sweater and jeans to smooth them
out. "I'm going to meet lots of sexy men that are going to leave me
panting."

She smiled brightly before heading to the
door. "There's my girl. I know there's an optimist deep inside of you. Are
you thinking we'll meet them at the hotel or the beach, or maybe a bar?"

I walked out of our dorm room and turned
to close the door as a smirk lifted my lips. "I'm going to find them in a
book. Lots of books. Safe sex without the herpes."

"Oh Lord." Casey rolled her
eyes, shook her head and moved down the hall, starting her murmuring as she
always did when I acted up.

I chuckled and ignored the pang of regret I
felt over letting her talk me into the trip. I wasn't ready to move on from
Jackson, and not that the trip would force me to, but it was a first step
toward taking back my life as a single person.

Too bad I would trade anything to make
things go back to the way they were. It wasn't possible, though. Trust meant
everything to me, and nothing to him.

As
long as I don't have to see him for the rest of my life, I'll be good.

*****

Casey drove us to the nearest shopping
center and waited ten minutes for someone to pull out of one of the front
parking spots. I bit my tongue, but wanted to berate her for sitting there for
so damn long when we could have already gone in and been back out.

"Are your legs hurting?" I asked
as we got out of the car.

She smoothed down her short blonde hair
and gave me a cheeky grin. "Not yet, but they will be next Saturday. Open
24-7."

I shook my head as we walked into the
store. "You're corrupt."

"You love it. I'm your fixer-upper
project." She elbowed me.

I started to respond, but noticed the way
her face fell as she glanced just beyond me to someone else. Her voice was curt
as she stopped me from turning, her fingers biting as she pulled at my arms.

"Hey. Let's just go this way."

I had no doubt who was behind me. My luck
never held up for too terribly long. There was a moment where I contemplated
following her advice, as I did most days of my life, but I couldn't seem to
shake the need to turn around.

"I'm good. Really." I turned and
met eyes with him, the boy I'd given my heart to, my virginity, my future.

He waved once as he moved up in the
checkout line he was in and reached for a busty blonde, pulling her against him
and laughing at something she'd said. His jeans fit him beautifully, his broad
shoulders almost stretching the thick t-shirt he wore. To say he looked good
would be a vast understatement. Jackson was the all-American boy with dark
brown hair, warm brown eyes, and a way about him that made almost anyone melt –
especially me.

Turning on my heel, I walked down the
nearest aisle as languidly as I could. Why of all the people in the whole world
to run into, did I have to run into him? He should have been gone on his own
spring break trip. In all the years we'd been together, I'd never known Jackson
to not have a huge trip planned for mid-March. What was he doing still in New
York?

Casey was speaking rapidly under her
breath, but all I could hear was the rushing of my own blood by my ears as my
body lit on fire and anger burned up the center of my chest.

How
could he be with someone already?

He was with someone when we were together,
so
him
being with someone now that we're not shouldn't
have been that surprising.

"Vivian. He's not worth it."
Casey moved in front of me, and I hadn't realized that I'd stopped in the
middle of the paper goods aisle and bent over, my hands pressing to my knees.
Air was hard to find and the agony that pumped through my chest was unable to
be ignored.