Chapter 83: Chapter 76: Travel

Shane Sterling wasn’t in a suit today, which made him look less intense than usual. He was wearing a muted Harrington jacket and a pair of jeans—a clean, simple, and stylish outfit that made him look a couple of years younger.

He saw Isla Prescott and smiled at her from a distance.

It was a deep smile, like a crescent moon breaking through the clouds, making his stern brow look incredibly soft.

Isla Prescott heard Annabelle Leighton’s voice drift from the other end of the line. “Can you believe this guy? Just so he could have a legitimate excuse to join our trip, he cooked up this scheme to invite everyone’s partners. And you know what’s even more infuriating?”

“What?”

“The most infuriating part is that all of you have boyfriends, while I’m the only single one here! I was planning on relaxing, and now I have to watch you all be lovey-dovey for the whole trip!” Annabelle wailed over the phone. “I wish I could just go and kidnap Officer Hayes and bring him here!”

Isla Prescott laughed. “Kidnapping is a crime, you know. And you’re bold enough to target a public official.”

“If I could really bring him here, I’d be willing to spend a few years in jail.”

“You’re willing to go to jail for him, but when will Officer Hayes ever understand how you feel?”

“I’d also like to know when that block of wood is going to finally get a clue.”

As they spoke, Shane Sterling reached Isla Prescott’s side.

Isla Prescott hung up the phone and looked at him, pretending she knew nothing. “What a coincidence. Are you here on business, Young Mr. Shaw?”

“Not for business.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“To stick to my girlfriend.” He was completely open about it. “I thought about it, and I can’t be apart from you for that long.”

“It’s only for seven days.”

“Not seeing you for seven hours is torture. Seven days would kill me.”

’That mouth of his used to do nothing but talk back to me, but now he uses it to sweet-talk me. Either way, I’ve completely fallen for it.’

Half an hour later, everyone had arrived.

Besides Annabelle Leighton, everyone else had brought their boyfriends.

They were all young, and with all the talking and laughing, they quickly hit it off.

At his company, Shane Sterling was Young Mr. Shaw, with people waiting on him hand and foot. But here, he did it all—waiting in line, carrying suitcases, and holding bags.

’Watching him bustle about,’ Isla Prescott suddenly thought, ’bringing our partners along was a great decision after all.’

For this trip, they had booked economy class.

Shane Sterling was used to flying first class, so he wasn’t quite comfortable being squeezed into such a small space. However, he didn’t want to make a fuss by upgrading just him and Isla, so he simply closed his eyes, tuned out the surrounding noise, and slept the entire flight nestled on Isla’s shoulder.

「By the time the plane landed, it was already evening.」

At dusk, the island seemed to be plated in a layer of crushed gold. The waves licked at the sand, leaving behind winding tide marks before quietly receding.

Except for Annabelle Leighton and Shane Sterling, who both came from wealthy families, no one else in the group had ever seen the real ocean. Having spent their lives surrounded by towering skyscrapers, they had only ever witnessed this shade of blue on screens and in photographs. The colors before them now, however, were a thousand times more vivid than any screen or pigment.

The sea breeze, carrying specks of salt and the sun-baked scent of plants, rushed toward them in waves, instantly washing away the stale air from the plane. Everyone instinctively took a deep breath, as if trying to inhale the vastness itself into their lungs.

“The ocean! I’m finally seeing the ocean!” Kiki Ford shouted happily.

The girls dropped their suitcases and immediately started taking pictures of each other.

Annabelle Leighton waited on the side for a while, growing impatient. “Girls, can we please go check in first? We still have a few days here, so don’t rush. I even hired a photographer. I’ll make sure everyone gets some gorgeous shots!”

“You hired a photographer? Annie, you’re so thoughtful!”

“Of course!” Annabelle Leighton glanced at the men present. “You weren’t expecting this group of clueless guys to take your pictures, were you?”

Everyone laughed.

—

「The hotel was by the sea.」

Shane Sterling had worked up a sweat on the stuffy plane, so the first thing he did at the hotel was take a shower. When he came out of the bathroom, he saw Isla Prescott leaning on the balcony railing, video-calling her mother, Susan Dudley.

“Mom, look! It’s the ocean!”

She aimed her phone’s camera at the sea. Susan Dudley said something on the other end, and Isla said, moved, “I’ll definitely bring you and Sienna with me next time.”

The mother and daughter chatted about the sea for a while. Shane Sterling waited patiently inside the room, not wanting to disturb them.

’He really should have said hello, but he and Isla were traveling and sharing a room. Her mother might be a bit old-fashioned, so he decided it was best not to complicate things.’

After about ten minutes of chatting, Isla Prescott hung up. Only then did Shane Sterling slide open the glass door to the balcony and step out.

“I’m done showering.” He walked up to Isla, ruffling his semi-dry hair. “Are you going to?”

“Yeah.”

Isla Prescott grabbed a change of clothes from her suitcase and went into the bathroom.

The bathroom was still filled with the warm steam from Shane Sterling’s shower and an unignorable, masculine scent. Her heart fluttered, and a strange mix of excitement and heat surged through her.

’Her body was far more honest than her mind.’

When Isla Prescott finished washing up and came out of the bathroom, she heard the familiar strains of “Embracing the Moon.” She and Annabelle Leighton had been using it as the background music for their dance practice the past few days, so she recognized the melody instantly, even from just a brief listen.

The music was coming from Shane Sterling’s phone.

“What are you watching?” Isla Prescott asked.

Shane Sterling turned his phone around to show Isla Prescott the screen.

He was watching the latest video their studio had uploaded.

Isla Prescott hadn’t expected Shane Sterling to follow their dance videos.

“I didn’t think you spent much time watching videos,” she said.

Though Shane Sterling looked like a playboy, he was actually very self-disciplined. He managed his time and phone use strictly, never getting sucked into social media or endlessly scrolling through short videos. When Isla peeked at his screen while he was holding his phone, nine times out of ten he was just handling work.

“I do, but mainly to watch you,” Shane Sterling said.

“Watch me for what? You see me in person every day. Why go online to watch me? Isn’t that redundant?”

“You’re different when you dance.”

“How am I different?”

“More powerful, and yet more graceful.”

’That sounded like a contradiction,’ Isla thought, but before she could ask him to clarify, he grabbed her by the wrist.

With a slight pull from Shane Sterling, she fell into his arms.

He was in a bathrobe, his chest exposed, reminding her of a peacock displaying its feathers.

Isla’s bare arm pressed against his well-defined V-line, and she could feel his body temperature rising rapidly.

“Since you can dance, you must not be in pain anymore, right?” Shane Sterling murmured, caressing her collarbone as his hand slowly moved lower.

As his hand covered one of her breasts, Isla let out an instinctive moan.

“Isabelle, seven days have passed.” His voice had grown a little hoarse—a sign he was aroused.

’Wasn’t she also counting down the days?’

’She had just casually said seven days. The truth was, the pain had vanished after only three. But who knew Shane Sterling would be such a gentleman, actually keeping his promise not to touch her.’

’And since he didn’t make the first move, she couldn’t bring herself to initiate things.’

“So?” She looked up at him.

Shane Sterling’s hand had already slipped past the barrier of her nightgown. He planted a kiss on her chest, his eyes deep as he gazed at her. “So, make love with me.”

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