Beware of Boys (8 page)

Charly shrugged her shoulders when Eden wasn't looking. She was glad she wouldn't see M
kel, and couldn't care less what Bobsy thought about anything. “Whatever it takes,” Charly said, following her into a tastefully decorated immaculate space that served as an open kitchen and den. She leaned on the island's granite countertop, wanting to lay her head on the coolness. “Where's the butler? I didn't see him in the pantry.”

Eden laughed and opened the Sub-Zero fridge. “You're really funny, Charly. I guess a butler should come with a butler pantry. I don't know why they call them that.” She bent over and stuck her head inside one of the refrigerator's glass double doors. She was moving her arms around, obviously looking for something. “Aha. Here it is,” she said, backing out of the icebox with a bottle in her hand. “This is the flavor that I recommend above the others. It's Lex's sports drink. It'll hit markets and vitamin stores in a couple of weeks, then will be released internationally.” She turned around and handed a nicely wrapped, black-colored bottle to Charly.

Charly ruffled her brows, looking at the bottle. She was glad Eden had taken her ignorance of a butler pantry not having a real living butler as a joke. “I don't like drinking or eating anything that I can't see, and you definitely can't see through this,” she said, twisting the cap until she heard the seal break. She put it to her nose, and took a slight whiff. It smelled good. “Kind of flowery, kind of fruity.”

Eden nodded. “Yes and yes. It's all-natural, of course, and it has some botanicals and fruit. However, the main ingredients are vitamins, herbs . . . plant extracts—that's why it's in a dark bottle, to keep the flavors and maintain the strength of the good stuff. There's nothing in there that isn't from the earth. But what else would you expect from a tree-hugger?” She laughed. “Lex is vegan, you know. All the way down to his boxing gloves and boxing shoes. No leather, no animal byproducts. Nothing.”

Charly nodded, impressed.
A vegan bad boy
. She really dug Lex's lifestyle, but not enough to make it her own. “Does he really drink this?”

Eden nodded. “Sure. In fact, his father's family has been brewing it forever. It's Lex's special recipe, and one of the reasons he has so much energy in the ring.”

The bottle rim was pressed to her lips and she was gulping the juice mixture down before she knew it. If it was natural and gave Lex energy, she knew she couldn't do anything else but benefit from it.

“Hold it. Hold it!” Eden said, grabbing Charly's hand and pulling it away from her mouth, causing the juice to spill and dribble down Charly's chin. “It's super strong. You're not supposed to drink it all at once.”

Charly wiped her chin with the back of her hand, then belched. She smiled big and wide. “Too late.”

H
er heart was racing. Speeding. Going one hundred and eighty miles per hour in a sixty-mile-per-hour zone. Charly grabbed the sides of her head, then put a hand on her chest, then took her index and middle fingers and laid them across the inside of her wrist. She had to check her pulse. “Whew. It's off the meter!” she said, then grabbed her toiletry bag and cell phone and made her way into the en suite bathroom that was situated off of the fabulous bedroom she was staying in during her visit. The suite was laid out in plush fabrics and furniture that screamed expensive, and she couldn't help but touch them. As her travels had taken her across the States, she'd bunked in some of the most luxurious hotels and grown accustomed to finer things, but she'd never before seen the richness that was throughout Lex's guest cottage. “Handmade furnishings. Has to be,” she determined, speed walking across the wet-looking marble navy floor that mirrored the deep blue ceiling above, which she noticed had the zodiac painted in a perfect golden circle. She set her toiletry bag on the marble-topped sink, grabbed the thickest bath towel she'd ever touched from a bar on the wall, and carefully rested her phone on a nearby built-in teak shelf. Reaching in to turn on the spray, she stopped. There were nine huge circular disks with spray holes in them; one gigantic one on top, and four on either side. She laughed. The rain shower resembled an automatic car wash. Then something else caught her eye. There was a waterproof docking system on the wall, housed in an enclosure. Upon closer inspection, she realized it would fit her phone. She nodded her head in approval and grabbed her cell. She docked it, selected her favorite playlist, then safeguarded it behind the wrapped glass casing. “Voila!” she said, then turned the temperature dial to medium heat and opened the spigots. Jumping back to prevent herself from getting splashed by the massive spray she'd just unleashed, she accidentally dropped the bath towel. Reaching down to get it, she now saw the constellations that were above were also on the floor too. As she ran her finger over one, she discovered it was just a reflection from the ceiling. “Wow, as above, so below. Hermetic,” she said, then caught herself. A design reflecting wasn't such a big deal, and she knew her over-the-top impression had probably been caused by the adrenaline rushing through her veins. Ever since Lex's athletic juice had kicked her system into fast gear, she hadn't been her normal self. Her movements were quick. Her brain was zipping from one thought to another. Every detail was magnified. “There has to be something in that juice, and it can't be natural, either. Not the way I'm zipping around and sweating,” she said, disrobing and hopping into the human carwash at top speed.

Covered in bubbles, she was dancing and singing at the top of her lungs when the playlist was interrupted by a new M
kel single. It was Liam's special ringtone, which she'd forgotten to change after her run-in with the chart-topper. “Ugh!” Charly stopped. She squinted her eyes, careful not to let the suds seep between her lashes. Reaching out her soapy fingers to pop open the enclosure so she could answer and make M
kel's powerful voice go away, she tried to convince herself that his raspy tenor wasn't appealing, but she couldn't. Every note he hit, every word he sang, was as delicious now as it had been before he'd ticked her off. “Whatever. Oops.” Moving her wet and slippery fingers too fast, she fumbled. “Slow it down,” she chastised herself, then took her time, finally selecting
ACCEPT
.

“Hey love.” Liam's voice boomed like a nuclear explosion through the bathroom's surround-sound speakers, making Charly jump from the vibrating bass.

She already had an anxious feeling throughout her body, and his blasting voice only made her jitter more. “One sec,” she said, trying to turn down the volume. Her wet fingertips moved wildly until she was certain she had pressed the correct button. “You there?” she asked, closing the plastic enclosure.

Liam's laugh sounded; this time his tone and volume were more acceptable, and no longer blaring. “Yes, love. I'm here, and it seems I'm there too. Ooh la la. Seems you've really taken to the bubbles.”

Charly's eyes widened in panic, and a burning sensation set in. She groaned, reaching for something to wipe the soap from her face. “Oh. God!” she screamed. If Liam knew she was covered in bubbles that could only mean one thing. “You can see me, Liam?” She dropped to her knees, embarrassed.

Liam laughed. “Yes!” he continued to giggle. “There, there, love. No need to panic. I could only see your face and neck. Promise. Where'd you go? Come back. I can't see you anymore.”

Charly stayed in her crouching position. There was no way she was going to stand without being sure Liam couldn't see more than he'd admitted to. Sure, she would be able to see what he saw on the minuscule screen within the main screen, but in order to do so she'd have to risk exposing herself. That she wasn't willing to do. “Hang up, Liam!” she screamed. “Hang up! I'll call you back in two seconds.”

“Aww, c'mon, love. I told you I didn't see anything.” He laughed again, then conceded. “Okay. If it makes you more comfortable, have it your way. I've already learned to live with suffering, working so close with you and yet not being able to really have you,” he said, then hung up.

Her panic almost prevented her from finishing her shower. Worrying that Liam had seen too much of her, she had a hard time concentrating. Her heart was still rapidly beating, her body refused to slow down, and even though she was under a spray of water, she was sweating bullets. She hopped out of the stall, zipping to and fro, from towel bar to sink to clothes. She'd lost control, and knew the juice had everything to do with it. Her fingers were moving so quickly she couldn't tell that they didn't have their own brain, and, in a way, she was thankful. If the whole getting-dressed scenario were up to her—the way it normally was—she'd have failed. Epically. Without the rush, she would've been too discombobulated to complete the everyday task on time, and she was definitely under clock pressure knowing she needed to work out the project plans with Lex, then outline ones she thought would appeal to Faizon's profession. Finally, thanks to her “mind of their own” hands, as she now referred to them, she completed her getting-fabulous-for-the-sizzling-hot-boy mission, aka being the cutest she could. Pivoting in the mirror, she raised her brows in awe. Somehow, even in a simple tank dress, she had upped her usual style, and in fewer than fifteen minutes—a world record, as far as she was concerned. She even had Liam back on the cell.

“So, you still don't believe me?” he was saying, just as she was checking her pulse again.

“Oh my gosh, Liam. I'm
so
high,” Charly sung into the phone, while wiggling her nose. Her heart was racing, her eyes were wide, and, though she'd been set on much-needed rest earlier, she couldn't have gone to sleep now if someone paid her to. “I can't stop moving. Can't stop talking. I can't stop. Can't stop.” She laughed, then began dancing in place. “Like the old Bad Boy song. I thought I told you that I can't stop. Thought I told you that I won't stop,” she sang, changing the lyrics. “Guess it's my own song, right? You can't really change someone's lyrics and still call the song theirs,” she rattled.

“What, love? Slow down. Slow down, Charly!” Liam yelled. “What do you mean you're high? High how? Off life, I hope.”

“Not high
high
, Liam,” she tried to explain. “I was just so tired. The allergy medicine, the run, the lack of sleep, you name it, it wore me out, so Eden—she's my guardian who's really Lex's family, which he doesn't seem to be too happy with if you ask me, but I guess you're not asking me . . .” She was rattling again, this time at a thousand miles per hour.

“Stop! Stop! Charly. Take it from the top. What about this Eden character?” Concern filled Liam's voice.

“Eden. Fabulous Eden. You'll really like her. Anyway, I was so tired, and she gave me something to help me wake up because we have a lot of work to do today, and because Lex told her to.” She stopped, then gasped for breath. “Oh god. I have a full schedule, and here I am talking to you. I really gotta go, Liam,” she was saying as she reached to end the call.

“Charly! Wait . . . before you hang up,” Liam said, out of breath. “What did this Eden character give you?”

Charly laughed. “Just some juice. And it must've been laced with something,” she began jokingly, then reared back her head when she realized she couldn't finish her statement. Liam had hung up in her face.

A knock on the door told her it was time to get back to work.

“Yes, come in,” Charly called out, slipping her feet into a funky pair of flat sandals, deciding to forego her usual boots or heels. It wouldn't be a good idea to house her feet in shin-height leather in such hot weather, or be so high up in the air moving at the pace she was—plus her soles weren't too comfy after running. Besides, she told herself, they were meeting to discuss the project, not hang out, so she didn't need to be dressed to the hilt. “This will do,” she whispered to herself, giving herself the once-over as the door opened.

“Oh, what you're wearing isn't going to work, Charly. Not if you're working today. That might not be good for the promotional event either, but you'll have to check with Eden on that,” a voice said nicely.

Charly looked up, her eyes wide with shock, which she would've blamed on the juice, but couldn't. She'd stretched her eyes because the nice voice belonged to Bobsy. “What's the plan for today? And when's the promotional event?” She questioned the supposed event, the sincerity of the messenger, and her now-foggy memory. She was put off by Bobsy's niceness. The dude had a straight attitude earlier, so she doubted the sudden shift in his demeanor.

Bobsy stuck a hand though the door. “Here, I think people call this a peace offering, right?” he said, holding a bottle of water. “Sorry about earlier. I woke up with a terrible headache, and it's normally not my job to do anything besides helping with training or other things related to the camp—not the guests, so Lex having me chasing after you . . . well, it didn't sit too well with me. I'm not a flunky. You get it, right?” He was smiling and shrugging, and he looked apologetic.

Charly blinked twice, hesitating before she took the water. She only took a couple of seconds to consider if she would believe Bobsy or not before deciding that Bobsy's sincerity really didn't matter that much to her. She wasn't here for Bobsy; she was here on business. “Thanks,” she said, accepting the water. “Now what were you saying about today?”

“You mind?” Bobsy asked, gesturing toward the room.

“It's cool,” Charly said, curious.

Bobsy walked in, but still kept some distance between them, standing just inside the doorway. “It's just landscaping today, but that won't start for a couple of hours. I guess the bulldozers have to finish leveling the land. Nothing you're required to do. The promotional event for girls is first thing in the morning. You're going to have to get down to the nitty-gritty, as Lex's pops would put it. You know, grime to shine? And knowing the guys' publicists, I'm sure it'll be televised. So you might want to rethink the sandals.” He shrugged. “Just a heads-up.”

Charly nodded, remembering Eden mentioning something about a gala for girls, and knew Bobsy had a point. She couldn't show up to that event dressed down, especially since it was promoting the guys' project of aiding girls who were fighting for their lives—a major mission that required Charly's beauty and design skills to make them look as good on the outside as they wanted to feel on the inside. “Yes, proper dress is key,” she said, more to herself than Bobsy. Then she grabbed her cell, opened her calendar, and entered the gala event into the next morning's schedule. She put it down, slipping out of her sandals and thinking of what she could wear to do yard work today and what she could rock tomorrow for the event. She exhaled, suddenly feeling her energy drain and a hint of a headache brewing. “I know I keep saying this, but I can't help sell an idea if I don't look like the idea.” She yawned, then grabbed her temples, which started throbbing when she stretched her mouth. “Right?”