Booked for 2

Chapter One

I hurriedly booked the little beach house for 3 weeks. I'd received notification in my emails of my bookings. Hazel Page...my married name that I still needed to get changed back to my maiden name. Seeing my married name was also a trigger for me. It was the night before my trip and I'd cried most of it. Slept maybe 2-3 hours altogether, but I'd made it. I was on my way to Edisto Island in South Carolina, not far from the therapy ranch that I intended on visiting again while I was in the area to say hi to some old friends I'd made while there.

We'd arrived at the airport and the driver was sweet enough to help me with my luggage. I tipped him and headed for my gate.

I let out a huge sigh of relief when I was finally in my seat and in the air headed for South Carolina. It was only about a 2 hour flight but I slept the entire way. Once we landed I ordered an Uber to my air b&b which arrived in perfect time as I made my way into the warm South Carolina air. I felt a weight lift off of my shoulders when I felt the intense sun hit my face and exposed shoulders.

It was about a 25 minute drive but we finally pulled up to the adorable little beach house where I'd be staying for the next 3 weeks.

I climbed the stairs to the door, punched in the code on the lockbox of the door and retrieved the key to unlock the door. Inside the whole place smelled like fresh ocean breeze and was of course beach themed from floor to ceiling. It was adorable. I pulled my sneakers off and walked through the house a bit. I made it to the back balcony and opened the door, letting the ocean breeze hit me in the face along with the sound of seagulls squawking and the waves crashing. I couldn't WAIT to get my feet in the sand. I hurried back into the house and retrieved my suitcase from the front door and walked it towards the back of the house to the master bedroom.

I opened the door and nearly yelped when I noticed somebody laying in the bed.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" I shrieked when the figure in the bed started to stir and sit up. To my absolute horror, when the covers fell and the figure sat up in bed, I was met with a familiar pair of green eyes. Right there in front of me was Forrest. He looked equally as shocked to see me standing there in the doorway.

"Hazel?! What are you doing here??"

It had been year since I'd physically SEEN Forrest. The covers fell down to his waist. He was obviously sleeping in his briefs as he'd always done. I couldn't help my eyes from traveling up and down his built upper body from years of training in the army. He had a thick beard now and more chest hair along with a sexy happy trail that traveled all the way down...

'Snap out of it!' I heard my subconscious say.

"I...I booked this place for vacation...what are you doing here??"

He looked confused but slightly amused. "I booked this place for vacation, too."

"But...how is that possible?"

"I'm not totally sure, but I can find out pretty quickly." Forrest threw the covers off of himself and stood, walking over to his jeans hanging on the arm of the chair. I tried not to stare at his toned body as he fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number, placing it to his ear. He turned around to face me and I immediately looked away, not wanting him to think I was checking him out in his fitted briefs that didn't do much to conceal the bulge in...

'You're doing it again' my subconscious reminded me.

"Hi Mrs. Bishop? Yes, it's Forrest Page. I'm great, how are you?...that's wonderful...hey, listen...I have a bit of a situation here at the house. As you know I booked this place for the next month and someone else is here claiming that she also booked for the same time....yeah...uh huh...he made eye contact with me for a moment too long before looking away and pacing the room. "I see,...no, I totally understand the confusion...no that's okay, we will figure it out. Thanks. Goodbye." He hung up the phone and sighed.

"What is it??"

"Well, seems that since we both have the same last name, Mrs. Bishop assumed we were married and staying here together."

"Oh my god..."

"Yeah.", he scratched his head nervously.

"Well, what do we do now?"

"You probably know as well as I do that this island is booked up for weeks. I'm certainly not going anywhere, and I imagine you feel the same. There is a guest bedroom down the hall and I can definitely stay there and let you take the master."

"You're suggesting that we stay here...together?! No way."

"You have a better idea?"

"Yeah! I paid to stay here! You go find another place to stay!"

He scoffed. "I guess you didn't hear me when I said there is no other place, and I paid to stay here too, princess."

"Don't call me that." I warned.

"I'm sorry, I just don't see another way. I'm not going anywhere. I can try to avoid you while we're here together, but I'm not leaving."

I groaned as Forrest gathered his things into his army sack and headed for the doorway I was standing in.

He hesitated as he squeezed past me, close enough to feel the heat radiating from his chest. I met his intense gaze as he paused in front of me.

"This is all kind of wild, but it's really good to see you Hazel. You look great."

Before I could respond he continued.

"I will do my best to stay out of your way." With that, Forrest squeezed past me the rest of the way and I watched his fine ass walk down the hall and into the second bedroom.

I hurried into the master and closed the door behind me, planting myself against it as my mind raced. How the fuck does something like this even happen?! What the hell am I even doing? I can't stay here in this house with my ex husband for 3 weeks! This has to be some sort of a sick joke.

My mind raced through a million different scenarios but ended on the fact that I needed this vacation and I wasn't going to let Forrest or anyone ruin it for me. I sighed and drug my suitcase over to the bed that Forrest was just sleeping in and plopped it on top, opening it up. I stripped out of my clothes and into my yellow bikini with my white lace shawl over top. I applied lotion, grabbed my shades and my towel, and headed out to the kitchen with my canteen which I filled with ice water at the fridge. I could hear shuffling around in the guest bedroom where Forrest was but I tried not to think about it. I grabbed my phone and bag and headed for the beach.