All I Believe by Alexa Land Read Free Book Online

obvious you really couldn’t see what was in front of you.”
    “That’s incredibly observant.”
    “I’m an observant kind of guy. Oops, look out.” He grabbed my upper arms and quickly spun me around.
    When we came to a stop, I looked up at him. The sun was just starting to set. It cast warm, bronze highlights in his slightly long black hair and made his olive skin look golden. He stared back at me for a long moment, and then I asked, “What was that move just then?”
    “Jellyfish. One had washed up on the beach. I don’t know if they can still sting you once they’re dead, but I didn’t want to take any chances.”
    “Thank you.”
    He kept looking in my eyes for another moment before asking, “What’s your name?”
    “Nico. What’s yours?”
    “Luca. Is that short for Nicolaus?”
    “Nicolo, actually. Is Luca short for anything?”
    “Luciano, but I don’t use my full name.”
    “It’s a pleasure to meet you officially, Luca.”
    “I should have introduced myself earlier, after the café incident. Please forgive my lack of manners.”
    “It’s okay. You were distracted by the pack of not entirely wild dogs.”
    “No I wasn’t. I was distracted by the beautiful guy in tiny, red briefs.”
    “Do you make a habit of calling strange men beautiful?” I asked, deflecting the compliment.
    “Definitely not. Only ones I’m hitting on.”
    I grinned at that. “What makes you assume I’m gay?”
    “The fact that you almost gave yourself whiplash by checking out my ass right before the dogs started swarming.”
    My eyes went wide and I said, “You couldn’t possibly have seen that! You never looked up from your phone!”
    “When I reached the door to the café, I saw your reflection in that big plate-glass window beside the entrance.”
    Busted! I murmured, “I’m usually not that blatant.”
    “Thanks for making an exception for me.” His tone was light, bordering on teasing.
    “Well, you are exceptional,” I said, then immediately felt stupid. I had no game. Zero. What was I doing trying to flirt with this man? I quickly changed the subject by asking, “Do you know what time it is?”
    He glanced at the silver watch on his wrist and said, “Just past seven.”
    “Crap, I’m late. Are we close to the hotel?”
    “We’re almost there. Do you maybe want to borrow my t-shirt?”
    “Why?”
    “Well, because your suit’s pretty revealing and there are a lot of people up ahead.”
    “I know it’s skimpy, but it’s not like Speedos are that uncommon in Europe.”
    “See-through ones are.”
    I looked down at myself, and even with my bad eyesight, I saw way too much of my junk through the now incredibly sheer lime green fabric. I immediately cupped my hands in front of my crotch and exclaimed, “Oh my God! What kind of swimsuit turns see-through when it gets wet?”
    “I think that’s actually underwear.”
    “Yes please to borrowing your t-shirt.” He took it off and handed it to me, and I put it on quickly. It was long enough to cover everything, but I kept the front pulled down to mid-thigh anyway, just to be sure.
    When we finally reached my stuff, I put on my glasses, pulled on the white shorts, and wrapped the towel around my waist, since sheer over sheer wasn’t exactly getting the job done. I also swapped my t-shirt for his, and as I handed his shirt back to him I said, “Thank you again for giving me a hand. I’m not normally this scattered. Or naked. Just so you know.” I stole a quick glance at his tight, muscular body as he pulled the shirt over his head.
    “Glad to help.” We returned to the hotel lobby side by side, and when we reached the elevators, he asked, “Will you join me for a drink?”
    “Oh man, that’s such an obvious pity date after all of this.”
    “No it isn’t!”
    “It is. I’d still take you up on it, but I have a family thing to go to. I’m already late.”
    He paused for a moment, studying me, then said, “Another time then. Take