And then I did something that granted, was pretty foolish, but I wasn't thinking straight. "Okay, I'll take that bet. Another twenty...another twenty says not only will she go out with me...but she'll be my girlfriend."

He laughed at that and looked over at Jewls. She was busying herself doing nothing and pretending to be not looking our way. "Oh, I will take that bet, Mr Machvaya!"

I shook his hand, sealing the deal, wishing I had kept my mouth shut.

I felt a twinge of worry maybe he was her type, not me. He was my polar opposite tall, slim, blonde hair and blue eyes. Maybe she went for blonde over tall, dark and handsome? If that were true, if Jewls liked Alex, I had no chance at all. My mouth dried up instantly and I couldn't stop a small sigh escaping when she returned his wave uncomfortably. And then to my horror, she came over.

Truth be told there had been a lot of other staff I could have introduced her to today and hadn't. I had avoided introducing her to ones I didn't like, or couldn't trust, or who the girls seemed to like...I didn't want her hitting it off with anyone else, at least not until I had established a proper...what? I didn't know. Friendship, maybe. I wanted to be the main one she talked to, hung around with...turned to. The idea of her hitting it off with any of the clowns on this park sat bitterly in the pit of my stomach.

"Jewls, this is Alex...Alex, Jewls."

"Hi..." Jewls said. G.o.d, she was cripplingly shy. It was s.e.xy as h.e.l.l.

"h.e.l.lo, Jewls..." Alex purred. "Nice to meet you, has Micah been looking after you? First day gone okay?"

She nodded and glanced at me, just briefly. Why couldn't she ever seem to maintain eye contact with me for more than a few seconds?

"Yeah, it's been great."

"So our shift is done," I heard myself say, "and you're free to go home, whenever you're ready." I hoped my tone wasn't as sulky as I thought it was. "You're on four until midnight tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah..." she said with a nervous smile.

"It's a whole other place at night, but I'll look after you..."

Alex scoffed at that, making no attempt to hide it and I shot him a look that said back the f.u.c.k off. I wanted to knock him out. Jewls looked from him to me, and that uncomfortable expression was back. d.a.m.ned if I was gonna let her go feeling like that.

There was a f.u.c.king awful long silence that followed that, and then Jewls slung her bag over her shoulder and shrugged.

"Well thank you for today, Micah. And I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

At that she turned on her heels and walked off. Alex had got to work and I groaned to myself and went after her, jumping the three steps off the waltzer in one to catch up with her. For such a short little thing she didn't half move fast.

"Jewls!" I yelled, a little louder than I had intended.

"Yeah?" She said, stopping and turning to me.

My mind had gone completely blank, and I just stood there for a moment or two, my mouth opening and closing like a d.a.m.n goldfish before one word finally slipped out.

"Chips!"

f.u.c.king idiot.

She frowned, as confused as I was by that. "Huh?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Chips. Do you want to go get some chips? With me? Together?"

She considered that, and I waited for the yes that was evident on her expression. But then she frowned.

"Uh...thanks but I'm pretty shattered. Reckon I need a long hot bath and my bed..."

I could help with both of those...

I thought, but didn't say. "Awe, come on. One bag of chips...between us. I'll even shout you a can of pop."

She smiled at that, and then seemed to remember something that took that smile and wiped it clean away. She seemed...upset? Why would she be upset? Nah, it had to be something else?

"Uh...no, really. It's fine. You have your other job to get to, and I need to get home. You don't need to waste any more time on me."

She closed her eyes, as though unable to believe she had said that, and let out a sigh. I sighed too. How was any time with her wasted? The girl made no sense at all. But that just made me hungry to know more. To find out what made her tick, and find out just what went on in that head of hers.

"What I mean is...our shift is done, and I'm sure you have better things to do with your time than hang around with me. You've been great today, I enjoyed it. But you don't need to do any more than what Mason asked you to do. You're relieved of your duties for today."

She said that last bit with possibly the most pained smile I had ever seen. So she thought she was some sort of burden, like I had been lumbered with her. Well f.u.c.k that, I wasn't going to let her think that.

"I really enjoyed today too, Jewls. I enjoyed your company, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow, with you."

She smiled weakly, unable apparently to take the compliment and nodded again. "Um...yeah. See you tomorrow?"

I nodded despondently. "Tomorrow. Sleep well, Jewls..."

Because I sure as h.e.l.l won't...

With one final smile, she was gone.

Jewls I was cursing myself for most of the walk home. A chance to spend more time with Micah, to sit and drool over him with a bag of chips, and I had turned it down. Why? What the h.e.l.l was wrong with me?

I tried to tell myself it was because he was only asking me to be polite, but he seemed genuine enough. The truth of it was I had seen him talking to Alex whilst looking at me, seen them both smirk at least once, and my paranoid brain was on overdrive trying to figure out what was going on there, what they were saying about me. I had a feeling none of it was complimentary. Two boys looking like they did were used to being surrounded by fit girls, and then there was me. I had a feeling with Micah I had been slotted immediately into the friend zone, which was unsurprising to me; it had been that way with me since my school days. Lads didn't want me in that way; they just wanted me as a mate.

But what had they been saying about me? That's what was driving me nuts.

He was probably daring Micah to try it on with me...see if I took the bait...s.e.xy waltzer guy and fat ginger new girl who had probably never had a man look at her that way hilarious...

I scoffed at that thought, until the idea settled in my mind. I could have sworn a couple of times that he was trying to make a move on me. And the whole let's go for chips thing what was that? Was that him asking me out? Why would someone like him ask someone like me out, unless it was a dare, a bet?

They shook hands! It was a bet!

Oh jeez...I really thought this fresh start was going to be the making of me, but now I could see how easily Micah could be the breaking of me.

All it really depended on was how far he was willing to take the joke.

Now thoroughly depressed, I stopped for some chips and took them home to my empty flat and ate until I couldn't move, cursing myself for being so d.a.m.n fat, frumpy and paranoid, wishing not for the first time in my twenty five years that I could be someone anyone else.

Like for instance, someone worthy of someone like Micah.

Chapter Two.

Micah Evening shifts at the restaurant really suck, especially following an eight hour shift at the park. When you work evenings, you don't go home until the last of the customers have finished and the last table has been cleared. You can get most things cleared up while they're finishing their meals or their conversations, or their coffee...but its bad practice to rush them or tidy up around them, so often you find yourself just waiting around.

The only plus to a busy, late night is that the tips are usually pretty good. That night I made thirty pounds in tips, just because there happened to be a pretty girl at one of my a.s.signed tables who apparently had a soft spot for me. Every time I glanced over I could see her watching me, and sometimes she would flash me a smile and I would smile back politely. She took every opportunity to touch me when asking about the specials my arm, my back and at one point I felt her fingers actually brushed across my b.u.m when I leant over to take an empty plate.

Ordinarily I would have flirted back, most likely gotten her number, and be f.u.c.king her by the end of the week, but for the first time in my life I had no desire to chase or be chased by anyone.

It was nearly one before I got home and I was exhausted. I kicked off my very shiny but pretty d.a.m.ned uncomfortable shoes, pulled off my stupid bow tie and my cufflinks, and pulled my white shirt off over my head.

It was a hot, sticky night...the kind that it's only worth sweating like a pig if there's a girl there getting hot and sticky with you.

But I was alone. I paced my room a couple of times, feeling oddly lost, detached, trying to figure out what it was that had me feeling like something was missing. I padded up and down, my bare feet slapping on the wood floor and walked over to my balcony door, opening it wide to let in some air. I was met with the sound of the sea and it was soothing, a little.

We were blessed to live in a nice house a very nice house, something my brother had worked his b.u.t.t off to provide for us all. We all worked hard, all with the same common aim, to have a comfortable, happy life, free from financial worry, and it paid off in every sense.

So why did I feel so empty?

I flopped on my bed, expecting sleep to overtake me fairly quickly, but an hour later I was still wide awake.

I groaned and stood up, resuming my pacing. I lit myself a cigarette and sat in a chair at the open door, staring idly out into the darkness of the night.

And then quite naturally, my thoughts shifted to her Jewls and suddenly she was all I could see. The way she fell into my chest and then sort of slid down my body to land on her knees at my feet. I remembered looking down and getting an eyeful of the most awesome cleavage I had seen in a long, long time. My attraction to her was like nothing I had felt before; I was drawn to her like a magnet. Of course it hadn't helped that the first time she looked up at me she was on her knees at my feet, wide innocent blue eyes, her face just inches from my...my...well, you get the idea. My reaction to her was palpable and physical. I hoped to Christ she hadn't noticed that, although it would explain why she seemed to think I was such a weirdo. It didn't help that I made that stupid 'while you're down there' comment, which thankfully, I don't think she registered properly.

I squirmed in my seat and had to stand up again. Christ I had a raging hard on that just would not shift. I only had to think about her and my body instantly reacted, and I was powerless to control or stop it.

I let out a groan of frustration, threw my half smoked cigarette outside, and headed for the bathroom, being mindful not to wake anyone. I looked at my reflection in the mirror above the sink and groaned again. I looked as tired as I felt and realised I was going to have to think about cutting some hours down somewhere. Thank G.o.d at least that I could lie in tomorrow.

I thought about Jewls, taking a long hot bath and crawling into her empty bed, and just like that the erection was back again. f.u.c.king h.e.l.l, working with her was going to be torture if this kept happening.

I switched the shower on to the coldest temperature, stripped off and climbed in, letting the icy water spill over me. It cooled me down nicely but did nothing to sate my desire, my intense need of the girl I had only just met, who had completely invaded my thoughts. Yeah, I was going to have to do something about that myself, if you catch my drift.

Half an hour later, I was strewn across my bed, naked as the day I was born, thinking about her again.

She was completely different to any girl I had come across before, with strawberry blonde hair, those bright blue eyes and small, perfectly formed lips. She was beautiful to me, mostly because I didn't think she had any clue how beautiful she was. The combination of her natural beauty and her innocence turned me on beyond belief.

I clock watched for the rest of the night, tossing and turning and punching the c.r.a.p out of my pillows until eventually I gave up on sleep and got up. It was the first night that girl kept me awake, but it wouldn't be the last.

Show her the ropes, my boss had said. f.u.c.k, I'd love to. Whoa, where had that thought come from? I could take my pick of girls, why did I keep thinking about her? I suppose at the time I saw her as a sort of challenge, because she didn't seem to like me much. Of course, now I know different. I was drawn to her because I already loved her. And she loved me.

We just didn't know it yet.

Jewls I lay awake all night, listening to my clock tick and thinking of Micah. Safe to say, the man had firmly gotten under my skin.

Part of me would have preferred him to be a rude, horrible person. Then I would have been put off instantly and he wouldn't have affected me like this.

But d.a.m.n him, he was so...nice, so friendly. He was quite simply...perfect.

I kept thinking over the way he had been with me all day. If I had been a normal, functioning woman with confidence, I would have recognised that the man genuinely liked me. I would have been over the moon to have caught the eye of such a handsome, lovely man like Micah.

But I was me, and my instinct was to instantly think the worst of everything, especially myself. Seven years married to a miserable, abusive man has a way of bringing a girl down and making sure she stays there.

I still couldn't shake off the thought I'd had, that he and Alex were up to something, something that involved me and it wasn't a good thing. I didn't imagine that Micah could ever be deliberately malicious, but he certainly had a playful streak and it wasn't like he knew about me, about where I came from or how I felt about myself to understand how damaging any games he played could be. His bit of fun could be my undoing, and I so badly wanted things to work out here, I had taken a huge leap just packing up and coming here alone like I had. It needed to work out.

I made a decision, that I would be strong and stand up for myself no matter what, and I would be okay.

With newfound confidence beginning to settle within, I relaxed a little, and allowed my thoughts to drift. I could feel an idea brewing for a new book. Micah sure was inspiring. I reached over for my notebook and jotted a few notes quickly as they popped into my head.

'...he looked at her as though she were a precious diamond, as though he had never seen anything so wonderful, so perfect in his life before. He smiled and his eyes danced with love for her, warming her through. He crawled on to her; his whole body stretched against hers, and leaned down to kiss her tenderly...'

Whoa. Since when did I write stuff like that? Since Micah, apparently. And suddenly I was hot for him, and I realised it was much too late to save myself now. I was well and truly smitten, and there was only one way this was going to end for me badly.

As the sun began to rise outside, I finally drifted off to sleep.

Jewls I woke at two in the afternoon, stunned that I had slept so late and in more than a bit of a panic at the prospect of another eight hour shift in the company of the gorgeous Micah.

As I got dressed I thought long and hard about what I was going to do, how I was going to handle this. Micah didn't know me he didn't know anything about what had happened to me, or how I had come to be living here in the first place, he didn't know that I had crippling confidence issues...all he knew was that I was beyond clumsy. And the way I had been yesterday...well, he would probably put that down to first day nerves.

It occurred to me that if I set my mind to it, maybe this was an opportunity to be the person I would have been should have been had Andrew not broken me down and messed me up. No one knew me here; I had a golden opportunity to reinvent myself.

It was a great plan, but I didn't know if I could execute it in the company of Micah. It would take a lot of guts, and a lot of concentration and the man made me feel like a giggling school girl.

I had a crush on him, pure and simple. I was smart enough to recognise it for what it was. I had been through a rough time, been isolated for a long time, and then just like that, thrown into a new life and a new job and introduced to this breathtakingly gorgeous man of course I was going to fancy him. I bet every woman who laid eyes on him did, I was no different. Therefore, it was no big deal. As I got to know him, spent more time in his company, and we hopefully became friends, the intense feelings he seemed to conjure up in me would undoubtedly fade a little. And if they didn't...well, I would just offload them in my writing. Wouldn't be the first time I had used writing as a means to escape reality.

So long as my instincts were wrong, and he and Alex weren't planning some daft bet or dare at my expense, I would be absolutely fine.

I needed to go there today and hold my head high, let him know I was not a weak, silly little woman like I had no doubt come across the day before.

I had to walk in there and pretend I was on the same level as him, just as confident, just as happy and just as comfortable in my skin.

f.u.c.k, it was not going to be easy.

Micah I had never felt nerves in my life before; I just wasn't that kind of person. Nothing ever bothered me.

But that afternoon I arrived for work half an hour early you could never keep me away from the place, I was drawn to it like a magnet and I found myself pacing up and down waiting for Jewls. I wanted to see if she would affect me like she had that first day. I wanted to know if she was as beautiful as I thought she was, I wanted to make sure I hadn't imagined it. If I hadn't, I certainly wasn't going to waste any time making my intentions known. She had gotten under my skin and I wanted to make her mine, no matter what.

It was a stiflingly hot day, not a hint of breeze which was unusual considering we were literally on the beach, and just taking my usual stroll around the park I felt like I was cooking from the inside out, even though I was only wearing my combat shorts and my work polo shirt. As I rounded the corner back to the waltzer, I pulled my shirt off over my head, and as I pa.s.sed the hook-a-duck stand, I saw my friend and work colleague Izzy, like me, one of the longest serving employees of Pleasurland Amus.e.m.e.nts. In her early fifties, she was like the mother of the team, and she'd always had a soft spot for me. We sort of half flirted, but it meant nothing, in reality she was literally old enough to be my mother, and she was happily married. But I knew she loved our banter, and so did I.