Sunset Down Under

COCO

I was lying on top of the same guy I’d bumped into in the lobby only a couple of days before. The impact caused our lips to almost touch. Yikes!

My cheeks turned a shade of pink when I realized that I had accidentally kneed him right in the nuts.

“Oh, God. I’m so sorry!”

I quickly stood, and the stranger grabbed ahold of his crotch. “What the fuck did I do to you?”

My hands flung over my mouth while I watched him writhe in pain. After a few moments, and me apologizing profusely, he finally locked eyes with mine.

“It’s you.” His mouth slightly gaped open when he recognized me.

I reached out my hand and helped him to his feet. “I really am sorry.”

“I was hoping to have kids one day, but I think that’s gone out the window,” he joked, then adjusted himself before a smile appeared on his lips.

God, look at that smile.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going. My dog dragged me, and I knocked into you.”

“You seem to be doing that a lot lately,”

I scratched the underside of my arm. “Yeah, I’m a bit of a klutz.”

Our attention shifted to Bobo, who took a slight interest in another pooch.

And by slight, I mean dry humping another dog like it was their last shag.

“Bobo! No!” I yelled and tried to find the other owner of the dog, which clearly looked uncomfortable at the encounter with Bobo. “God, who does she belong to?”

The cute guy whistled, and the pooch managed to escape Bobo.

“Oh, shit. She’s yours?”

“He,” he clarified.

I looked down and noticed that his dog was, in fact, a boy, before my attention shifted to the guy I’d kicked. “I don’t even know why I looked.”

He chuckled. “Your dog seems…happy.”

My cheeks continued to blush. “I know. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into her. I mean, she’s a girl. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“It’s a dominance thing. A lot of bitches do it. Sometimes other dogs get freaked out.”

“I can’t imagine why.”

With a sweet smile, he reached out his hand to introduce himself. “I’m Blaze.”

“My name is Coco.”

“You’re not from around here, are you?”

“I moved here from Melbourne. I’ve been in Australia for about fourteen months.”

“Your accent is quite strong. Where in the States are you originally from?” Blaze combed his fingers through his sandy-blond hair, and I almost lost my train of thought.

“Um. Uh. North Dakota.”

“I’ve never been to America but always wanted to go.”

“Not really itching to go back home yet,” I confessed.

“Really?” He raised his brows.

Before I could answer, Bobo mounted Blaze’s dog again. “God, this is awkward. I’m so sorry. I should go.”

“It was nice meeting you. Will I see you around here?”

“I guess. I mean, I only just moved to Sydney the day I crashed into you and your friend.”

“Yeah, he’s a good bloke.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Bloke?”

Blaze smiled. “It means guy. I know he may have seemed a little rude, but you caught him on a bad day.”

“I know about bad days.”

I stood for a moment taking in the sight of Blaze. He was gorgeous. Hotter than Jack by a mile, but he also looked slightly younger than me by a couple of years.

“Well, I don’t want to be too forward, but I was wondering if I could grab your number and take you out for coffee sometime?” He beamed hopefully, but there was a slight nervousness in his tone.

“Oh.” Damn that smile. “I’m sorry. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I just got out of a relationship not long ago.”

As much as I wanted to say yes, I didn’t think I could date someone so close after my divorce, no matter how tempted I was with Blaze. And damn, I was tempted.

“I understand. I thought you were new here and it would be nice to show you around Sydney.”

My lips curved up to a smile. “Maybe I’ll see you around. I’ve already bumped into you twice and it’s only my third day here.”

“I hope so, Coco.” He winked. Blaze picked up his dog’s leash, smiled again, then walked away, leaving me slightly regretting my decision.

My eyes fell to Bobo, who glanced between myself and Blaze. What the hell, dude? I brought you to the lake in the desert—you’re supposed to take a drink!

“Did you say something, Bobo?”

Woof.

“That’s what I thought.”

***

Christina smiled as soon as I stepped back into the apartment. “I’ve made breakfast.”

The intense aroma of bacon and eggs wafted through the kitchen, and it was a sweet reminder of how good a cook Christina was.

“Good, because I’m starving.”

“What’s it like outside?”

“Hot already.”

“That’s an Aussie summer for you.”

“How did it go from twenty degrees to thirty-five today?”

“We get temperamental weather.” Christina pulled out a warm plate from the oven. “I made pancakes too.”

We sat down on the kitchen island while devouring our heavenly breakfast.

“How was the walk?”

“Um—good.”

She looked up from her pancakes and took a bite of her crispy bacon, at the same time noticing my flushed cheeks. “Shit. What happened?

“So, remember how I told you about the guys that I bumped into the first day here?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Well, Bobo kind of dragged me across the track and I knocked into one of them. I landed on top of him and accidentally kneed him…” I paused for a moment. “In the balls.”

Christina’s mouth gaped open before she busted out laughing. “God, that is something you would totally do!”

“I was so embarrassed, and on top of that, Bobo started humping his dog.”

“Oh, God, no. How is it that your dog is getting more action than you?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Lucky bitch, I guess.”

“How did he look?”

“I took a photo of him while he wasn’t looking. Want to see?”

“You did what?” Christina gasped.

“Relax, I’m kidding. He looked unbelievably sexy.”

Christina raised her brows and smirked. “How sexy?”

“You know how I hate it when people use the word literally and don’t mean it?”

“Yeah.”

“He’s literally one of the hottest guys I’ve ever seen,” I admitted before I took a bite from my crispy bacon. “Oh, this is good.”

His friend was damn fine too.

“Damn. If only he asked you out.”

I widened my eyes and stretched out my lips. “Well...”

“No way!”

“He asked for my number,” I confessed.

“You gave it to him, right?” Christina drew her brows together. “Right?”

“No. I thought about it and realized I wasn’t ready.”

“You and Jack have been separated for a year. You’re now divorced. You deserve to find happiness.”

A deep sigh escaped my mouth. “I know you’re right, but I don’t know if I can go through what I did with Jack again.”

“Who says you’re going to?”

“Aren’t you scared after what you went through?”

“Yeah, but you can’t let that fear take over you. It will consume you if you let it. Not all guys are like Jack or my ex.”

“And how do I filter the assholes from the good ones?”

“You can’t unless it’s obvious,” she replied. “What was the first thing you thought of when the guy walked away from you?”

“That I was possibly regretting my decision.”

Christina forked a portion of her scrambled eggs before she placed the protein in her mouth. “That should tell you something.”

Suddenly, my phone rang. I looked down and a wave of disappointment washed over me as soon as I saw the caller ID flash.

My shoulders slumped and I blew a harsh breath. “It’s Jack.”

“What does that asswipe want?”

“I don’t know if I should answer it.” I bit my lip and continued to watch his name display on the screen.

“Answer, just so you can hang up on him.”

“Shit,” I cursed, before I reluctantly took his call. “What do you want, Jack?”

“Is that how you speak to your husband?” he belittled.

“Ex-husband. Now what do you want?”

“I think you took something of mine, and I want it back. My favorite jumper. Or should I say, your favorite jumper.”

“Too bad, Jack. I threw it in the bin.”

“Fucking bitch.”

“I’ll find it and mail it out to you.”

“You’d better,” he huffed, and hung up the phone.

I looked up at Christina and gave her a wide-eyed grin.

“What the hell? Why did you cower?”

“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”

After we finished breakfast, I sat down on the couch with my laptop and searched for a jumper and t-shirt I could send to Jack. A deep laugh escaped my mouth before I turned the laptop to Christina.

“Brilliant.” She chuckled.

After purchasing a sweater with the words World’s Greatest Asshole on the front, and a white t-shirt which showed the balls of a penis below the neckline, I shut my laptop.

“Do you think the box might still be downstairs in the lobby?”

“Not sure. Why?”

“I’m going to send his jumper back to him.”

I placed my laptop on the coffee table and made my way down the lift to the lobby. Searching inside the bin, I growled when the box was no longer inside. “Damnit!”

“If you’re hungry, I could take you out for a bite to eat,” a familiar voice interrupted.

I turned around and saw a concerned expression etched on Blaze’s face. “What?”

“Looking through the bin for a feed?”

“Oh. No. I threw something out by mistake.”

“Ah. Well, you might want to check the garage where the tip bins are.”

“Do you live here?”

Blaze smiled. “Nah. My mate owns the tattoo parlor on Level One. Inked.”

“Mate?”

“You know, friend. For someone who has been here for over a year, I'm surprised you don't know all the lingo.”

“I'm still trying to get used to everything.”

Part of the reason was that Jack had liked to keep me hidden. Even though I worked in Melbourne, a lot of the time I had worked from home, and I did everything with Jack. I had a sheltered life with him.

“Well, I’d be happy to teach you.”

“Thanks. My bestie is an Aussie. She’s been patiently trying to teach me to say mom the right way.”

“Mum,” Blaze corrected me.

“Mum,” I repeated.

He laughed at my failed attempt at the Aussie accent.

“If you’re looking for something in the garage, I would check now if I were you. Bin day is today. You can access the garage by pressing B1 on the lift.”

“Shit!” I dashed for the lift before I quickly turned to Blaze. “Thank you!” I pressed the button and the doors promptly opened.

Just as they closed, I heard Blaze call out to me. “Coco, wait!”

***

It took me a while to rummage through the tip bin, but the moment I found the jumper, I smiled to myself and made my way back up to the apartment.

“You got it?”

“Yep.” I nodded.

“What are you going to do?”

I grinned mischievously. “I’ll need to take Bobo for a walk when the other stuff gets delivered.”

“Shit.” Christina smirked.

“Exactly.”

“And this is why you’re my bestie!” Christina pulled me in for a hug before she left to go to work.

I spent most of the day at home, lazing about on the couch waiting for her to return. My mind kept shifting to Blaze, wondering what he did for a living.

My body physically reacted whenever I thought of him. My heart fluttered and I shifted in my chair, biting my lip. Ugh. Stop it Coco. You made the right choice saying no to him.

Needing some air, I got off the couch and grabbed my bag and keys before I walked out of the apartment. While I was in the lift, the doors suddenly opened on Level 1 and someone stepped inside.

I glanced up and saw Blaze laughing with some gorgeous girl outside the tattoo parlor, who tried extremely hard to get his attention.

He turned his head and noticed me as the doors were about to close. I dipped my head low to avoid his stare.

Needing a caffeine fix, I decided to go to the café a few doors down from the apartment, which had an unobstructed view of the beach.

I sat down and glanced at the menu before I settled on a Mediterranean salad. I had my eyes on the foamy ocean in the distance when suddenly someone sat opposite me in my booth.

“So, what’s your fucking deal? Are you a downright bitch?”