The Bachelor by David Dower (read along books TXT) 📖

to answer her with words, but she was surprised when he leaned over and planted his lips against hers. Julianne was too stunned to push him away. Her mind was focused at the warmth that flowed over her as his soft lips moved against hers, urging her to return his kiss. His hands were on her shoulders, gently holding her close. It was a patient kiss, and it was gentle. And damn, she liked it. Her hands lifted and rested on his shoulders and he took it as an answer. His arms were suddenly around her, holding her closer, his kiss starting to get urgent.

Julianne knew at that tiny corner of her mind that she had to push him away. But her lips parted and started to kiss him back. Shit, this was not supposed to happen. She had to stop him immediately or she would regret it.

But seconds passed, then a minute, and then another minute.

Nothing else happened, but she was breathless when he finally leaned away an inch and whispered, “I knew you like me too, Jules,” he grinned, his forehead against hers.

Julianne snapped back to her real self—the anti-Zachary self. She pushed him away and stood up. “Don’t do that again,” she said strongly and walked away.

She did not dare look back. She didn’t want to see the look on his face. Surely he was wearing a contented look, knowing he was able to bend her just a little bit. She cursed herself to hell for kissing him back.

 *****

He did not plan that to happen. He honestly didn’t.

Zach sat alone and stunned under the tree. He actually got to make her kiss him back. The smile that crept up his face was undeniably stupid. Yes, he looked stupid.

She kissed me back, he thought with disbelief. Joy rushed through his system.

This was the first time ever that he felt utterly happy after kissing someone. If this was infatuation, let it be. Once again, it was the first time for him. And he liked the feeling. Wonder why he never experienced it before?

All his life, Zachary got what he always wanted. Ever since he was young, he would always get the girl he liked that there was never even time to assess if he had any feelings because they always never gave him time to do that. But right now, he was acting like a total fool for being too happy after kissing someone. It was like time had brought him back twenty years just to give him the chance to experience the things he never went through before. Things like really working hard for a simple, mind-blowing kiss.

She kissed me back, he repeated to himself. He fought the urge to jump and shout. That would be too much even for him. He was not a schoolboy anymore so he would just content himself with the foolish smile on his face.

Finally, he was able to stand up and walk back to his cabin. Tomorrow’s a free day and he would have all the time to plan something out.

 *****

Julianne lay on her bed, the thought of the kiss looming over her like a child’s haunting fears during bedtime. Pauline was somewhere in the cabin, probably asleep in someone else’s bedroom.

She tossed and turned, but sleep was not coming yet. The kiss was different from the one in the car. Yes, of course it was. The first one lasted for a short second. Big difference there, but the second one—well, she had let it drag for quite too long and she…she liked it.

Julianne moaned and closed her eyes. Tomorrow, she was determined to lock herself in her room.

 *****

The next morning, Julianne woke up first. The Desperadas slept in the living room and she had to make her way through them—yes, they were sprawled on the floor—and all the empty bottles of tequila and scattered pieces of chips. Thank goodness there were no gastric contents. That would be utterly gross. The kitchen was a mess and she had to search for almost everything to make her breakfast.

Julianne tried to search for Pauline but her friend was nowhere in sight. After breakfast, at about ten in the morning, the girls were still snoring and would not wake up until late in the afternoon, she thought. She relished on that thought. It would be like she was alone once again. She was working in her room, facing her computer when a knock rattled her door.

She got up, thinking it was Pauline. But when she opened it, she had the sudden will to close it again.

“Hi,” Zach was standing and grinning at her as he usually did. “Care for a walk down the beach?”

“No,” she said dryly and started to push the door close.

“Wait, wait, wait,” he hastily said. “We have a problem.”

“What?” she asked, not caring what it was, thinking it was just one of his tricks to get her out of the room.

“Fatima—you know who she is, right?”

She nodded.

“She tried to check on the girls and found out some of them are missing,” he said with a grimace.

“What?”

“She alerted the crew and some of them checked the videos from last night and discovered that Pauline and Brenda went out by three in the morning and did not come back since.”

Julianne panicked. “Pauline? Are you sure? Did they check every room? They can be somewhere close, right?”

“That’s why I came here,” he said. “We checked every room and I was wondering if you have any idea where they might be.”

“How can I possibly know? I locked myself in this room since—” she did not finish her sentence, remembering what she did last night.

He seemed to have figured out her thoughts though because he smiled meaningfully at her.

“The woods,” she whispered, then her eyes met his in panic. “They could have gone to the woods!”

“That’s what I thought, too,” he nodded. “And that’s why I’m asking you for a walk. Jack had set up teams to search for them and obviously the ladies living here with you are out.”

“Yes, yes, of course, I’ll help,” she said, turning around to get her boots.

“You might want to bring a bag.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it might take us all day,” he said. “This island is large and we only have like five teams to search for the girls. We can’t call someone for help yet because they aren’t gone for—”

“Twenty-four hours, I know,” she cut in, nodding her head. “Okay, tell them to wait for me. I’ll be quick.”

“Them?” he asked.

“The team I’m going with.”

He smiled at her wickedly, “Jules, it will only be you and I. Fatima is going to stay here with the other girls and to be the liaison for every team.”

“But I don’t think—”

“And plus, the other teams are already gone.”

“What?” she asked in disbelief, then she stared at him suspiciously, “You thought about this, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” he nodded and grinned. “But if you don’t want to help me find your friend, that’s fine. I know this island by heart and I’m sure I’ll be okay if—”

“I’ll go with you, okay?” she said with frustration. It took her only one minute to pack a set of clothes and grab some food from the kitchen. The other girls were still asleep without any idea what was going on.

“Where do we start?” she asked grudgingly as they walked towards the woods.

“The other teams are covering the south and east part. And since the cabins and the camps are at the west side and we’ve covered that one this morning, we’ll go cover the north,” he said, strapping his bag around his waist.

She looked at his pack and frowned. “You’re expecting that it will take us one whole day to search for them?” she asked.

“Better ready than not,” he said with a wink.

Julianne just rolled her eyes. “Let’s just go and find my friends before you do anything stupid,” she muttered and went ahead of him.

“Don’t stray, Jules. I don’t want to lose you,” he said, running after her.

“I’d rather like it if you get lost,” she whispered under her breath.

 *****

“I don’t think we have to go deeper into the woods,” she told him hours later. They only stopped for an hour to rest and eat their lunch and then they were back on track. Once, they stumbled upon a pair of crewmen but they went on their way with a map after asking if they had any progress.

“Why? Afraid?” Zach chided. He knew he should be concerned for the two ladies who were still missing, but he couldn’t help himself. He was alone with Julianne and though she was here entirely for one reason, which was to find her friends, he was guiltily grateful. Of course he planned for them to be paired up, actually insisted on it, so that he could be with her.

He didn’t want to bug his mind about what this was that he was feeling because he would only try to remind himself that he was here for a bet and he couldn’t throw his words away. He was aware as well that whatever the outcome with Julianne might be, it would still end the same for him. He would still have to go home with no one and prove to Liam and his friends that love didn’t exist.

And of course, he knew what he felt for Julianne was not love. He didn’t believe in that kind of thing. All he knew was that what he felt was something new and pleasant that all he wanted to do at the moment, while he was in this show, was to follow what his instincts were telling him—and that was to pursue Julianne and change her impression of him. He was taken by her and he would be glad to push through with it while it lasted. He had enough experience with relationships and he knew they didn’t last. And so, in conclusion as to where his crazy thoughts were swimming at, he just wanted to spend his time in this show with someone who gave him a different feeling of pleasure—aside from the physical part—and he saw that opportunity with Julianne.

But somehow, deep in his mind—the part where he usually threw some crap like real emotions—he knew he would be in deep trouble if he as much as make a wrong mistake as to totally give himself fully to whatever it was he was feeling towards Julianne. Like he said, he was infatuated, but he really hoped that was just it. He didn’t want complications for later.

Oh crap… okay, okay, he knew he would be in trouble in the end, but he just couldn’t help himself when he was around her. She had the ability to excite and intrigue him in a lot of ways by just being herself, and that, people, was something he had never experienced before. So, the hell with the ending or the finale, because at the moment he wanted to just give in. Forget the bet, forget love, and forget the blasted show. He just wanted to spend as much time as he could with this woman with the horrible glasses and attitude. At the moment, he just wanted to explore the strange emotions he felt every time he was near her. He wanted to experiment on the numerous “first time feelings” Julianne was making him experience.

“Afraid? Of course not,” she uttered, bringing him back to their present conversation. “I’m just saying that they couldn’t have gone this far, right? They were drunk and—oh my God, I hope they didn’t swim in that ocean and…”

“That’s not really possible,” he reassured. “There were cameras pointed in the direction of the ocean and they were not seen coming that way. I’m sure they’re within the woods.”

“It’s getting dark. Maybe we should go back and see if they have come back.”

“Fatima would have radioed in if they did,” he reminded her.

He knew she was tired and he was too.

“We can set up camp if you want,” he suggested.

“You haven’t heard from anyone yet?”