Crazy in Paradise (8 page)

The question caught me off guard. “I didn’t say
you
were my boyfriend. I just told him I had one. I’d appreciate your not telling him I lied.”

“What happened?”

“He asked me out on a date.”

Zach rocked back in his chair and laughed.

“I’m glad you think it’s funny. I certainly do not. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but I’m not going out with him,” I scowled. “I just blurted out the boyfriend story.”

“What’s my silence worth to you?”

“Worth?” I said. “I only met him doing you a favor. In my opinion, this is your fault.”

“Blaming me isn’t going to work. I want my own IOU.”

“You have to be kidding.”

“No, I’m not.”

“I’ll cancel out one of mine.”

“No way. I want one of my own.”

“Fine,” I said. “This date’s beginning to suck.”

“I promise the night will get better. I already took care of Spoon. I told him you belong to me. And his scurvy friends are off limits.”

“Belong to you? Like a piece of furniture?”

“Relax. He thinks we’re serious, so he won’t be bothering you. I have to warn you…our being a couple is probably all over town.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you caught up in my lie.”

“Now that we’re in a relationship, can I expect benefits?”

“Sex?” I squeaked. My stomach started doing flip-flops. The idea was a total turn on. “How are you feeling?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Don’t think I’m going to forget what we were talking about.” He ran his finger across my lips.

“How’s the bullet wound?”

“It’s healing. My shoulder still hurts.”

“And your case?”

“I’m a little frustrated. I expected it to be wrapped up by now. The team ran into some complications we didn’t anticipate. It looks like it’ll be a couple more days.”

“Be careful,” I said softly.

“Are you worried?”

“You can’t collect IOU’s from a dead man.” I did worry, but I wasn’t going to tell him.

The waiter appeared with our food. My enchiladas tasted as good as they looked. I’d already had two margaritas. Liquid courage.

“Another round of drinks?”

I did want another, but one more and I might not be able to walk out of the restaurant on my own. “No, thank you.” One drink too many and who knew what outrageous thing I might do. Zach didn’t need to see me dancing on the table on the first date.

“Let’s go to the bar,” Zach said. “Can you play pool?”

“I’m not bad.”

“You surprise me.”

“I play on occasion. You up for a game or not?” I asked, challenging him.

“Oh, I’m up for it. I just don’t think this will be an even match up.”

“You worry about yourself; this won’t be as easy as you think. Want to put some money down?”

“Twenty bucks says you don’t stand a chance of coming close to beating me.”

“You’re so arrogant.”

He gave me a long kiss on the lips. “Shut up and break, darlin’.”

* * *

“I had you on the ropes a couple of times,” I told him. I’d played a decent game, but I was no match for him.

“When?” he laughed. “Did you actually think you were going to win?”

“Maybe.”

“Keep your twenty bucks. I want this.” He picked me up, put me on the edge of the pool table and kissed me thoroughly. One hand was wrapped in my hair, the other running down my back. He nibbled on my neck, kissed the swell of my breasts, then pushed me back and stared at me. “Time for us to leave.”

The drive to my house seemed all too short. I’d relaxed a little from the double dose of tequila. I tried hard not to be nervous, but I definitely had a case of the jitters.

At my house, we walked through the back patio area. We stopped and stood beside the pool, kissing. It had been a long time since I wanted to kiss a man, and I enjoyed every moment; the roughness of his mouth, the sensation of his tongue. He was tall and I considerably shorter, yet our bodies molded together in all the right places.

Was I making a mistake? Too late. I didn’t give a damn. There’s no bigger turn on than to make love with someone you’re hot for.

He slowly pushed the straps of my dress off my shoulders, exposing my breasts. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered, his tongue caressing my nipples with a great deal of expertise. The sensation of Zach touching me in such intimate ways took my breath away.

Waves of desire overwhelmed me. I hurriedly unbuttoned his shirt, desperate to feel his skin against mine, as his hands moved down my back, unzipping my dress the rest of the way.

“This isn’t fair,” I murmured. “I’m standing here naked while you’re fully dressed.”

“You standing there naked has been my dream since the first time I watched you walk across this very patio. I had all kinds of hot thoughts while you nursed me,” he whispered in my ear.

“Take off your clothes,” I demanded, kicking off my shoes, and stepping out of my dress.

“You’re so bossy,” he said, his teeth nipping my neck. He took his shirt off and let it fall to the ground. He played with his belt, slowly unzipping his pants.

“You’re deliberately taking too long.”

He threw them aside.

I stood, admiring his hard body.

Neither one of us was able to hold off another second. He wrapped his arms around my waist, then lifted me straight up and laid my body down onto a chaise. He was on top of me, and then we reversed positions, I astride him. It felt so damn good!

The sex was hot, frenzied, carnal. We were both so into each other. It went on and on before we reached climaxes together.

“You do not disappoint,” he said rolling off me.

“And neither do you,” I murmured, every fiber of my body tingling.

He stood, pulling me to him, and lifting me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he carried me upstairs to my bed. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this satisfied, my skin still tender from his touch.

“Why did we wait so long?” Zach whispered.

So long and so quick at the same time. I couldn’t help smiling. The sex was sensational and he’s easy to be around. Not what I expected. I laid my head on his chest, and drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 10

Instead of Zach stretched out next to me, only Jazz lay there. I felt tender all over, the imprint of Zach’s fingers etched into my skin.

I listened to the sounds of the house. It was too quiet; Jazz and I were alone. A piece of paper lay on the pillow next to me. It was a sure sign he’d left and, instead of a good-bye kiss, a crummy note.

‘
Call you later, Zach
’.

I started to cry. I wanted morning sex. I wanted to hear I was the best something. And, what did
later
mean? An hour? Next month? What a letdown; a fun evening with hot sex had ended with three words. Four, if you count his name.

I dragged myself into the shower and cried until I got all wrinkly and the water turned cold. I put on a sundress with a built-in bra to keep the girls from jiggling. They were sensitive and I wouldn’t be able to tolerate them moving around.

I walked downstairs to the kitchen. Jazz stood there waiting by his food bowl, howling at the top of his lungs. He wanted fresh water and his bowl of kibble topped off. He stared at me with a ‘fill it up now’ look on his face. I knew if I didn’t, the howling would never end.

“Sssh, Jazz please. I always feed you. Do you have to do this every morning?” I quickly filled his bowl. He took a bite, then moved to the water bowl and waited, looking at me. “Meow.”

“Okay, okay,” I picked it up and gave him fresh water. Jazz had me fully trained. He meowed, and I jumped.

I opened the refrigerator door knowing I couldn’t make breakfast out of condiments. What I wanted was a caramel latte with lots of whipped cream from the Bakery Café. “I’m leaving now,” I told Jazz.

He had gotten what he wanted and had already gone back to sleep.

* * *

I sat at the curb listening to a Jimmy Buffett song, when I noticed Zach sitting at a table at the end of the walkway. Beside him sat an attractive woman. They were laughing and talking. It appeared as though they just finished breakfast. She licked her fingers, reached across, and rubbed his cheek.

I sucked in my breath and hunched over the steering wheel. The whole scene reminded me of my cheating, faithless, jerk of an ex-husband. Zach had jumped out of my bed to meet another woman for breakfast. I wanted to cry all over again, but I didn’t have any tears left. Last night was about sex – incredibly hot sex – but it was not a commitment.

I’d seen enough. I jumped out of my SUV. On the way across the sidewalk, a pitcher of water sat on a nearby table, just begging to be used and, two steps later, I dumped it all over Zach’s head. “You bastard.”

The woman began laughing and my anger turned to embarrassment, watching the water drip down his face. But as I spun around to leave, I walked right into a uniformed sheriff.

“You just assaulted Mr. Lazarro,” he said. We both stood staring at Zach, stunned disbelief written on his face.

“Assault?” I protested. “The pitcher slipped out of my hand.”

“Zach, you want her arrested?” the sheriff asked.

“You’re friends?” I said.

“This is a small town Ms. Westin. Everyone knows everyone else.” He returned my stare.

He looked familiar. “Aren’t you Julie’s brother, Kevin? The same Julie who lives in one of the cottages I own?”

His eyes turned steely. “What are you saying?” He clearly wanted to strangle me, but only if he could do so without going to jail.

“I’m not going to evict her. It’s hard to find a good place to live when you have a child.” Maintaining eye contact with him was hard, but I refused to turn away.

“Zach, whatever happened here you probably deserved,” Kevin told his friend.

“Kev, you’re a big pussy. Did you forget we’re friends, and grew up together?”

“I’m not telling Julie she got evicted because of you regardless, of what this one says she may or may not do.” The sheriff continued to stare. “Try and stay out of trouble,” he said and returned to his car.

I got back into my SUV and realized Zach had never said a word. The woman had sat there and continued to laugh the whole time.

Once I started towards Zach, I’m not sure anyone could’ve stopped me. Common sense and restraint vanished. Throwing water on Zach hadn’t been as satisfying as I’d hoped.

It was inevitable that he would meet my other personality: “crazy”. But this was definitely too soon.

When I started the day, my plan had been to get coffee and go to Tucker’s office. But the morning had gotten off to a bad start. So much for the coffee. The restaurant was a favorite of mine; I hoped I wouldn’t be banned.

Adrenaline was still pumping through my body when I arrived at Tucker’s office. I hadn’t given a lot of thought to my plan to try and talk to him. I hoped by going in person under the pretense of making an appointment, he’d take a few moments and talk to me. The man needed to know I had every intention of taking over the management of The Cottages.

Eventually, I’d get rid of Will, but at this point, I needed to be reasonable. In the meantime, I’d tolerate Will. First, I wanted to go through all of Elizabeth’s files. Since I’d been unable to find them in her home office, I assumed they must be in the offices at The Cottages. I knew her to be detail-oriented, so everything should be well documented and in order.

“I came to make an appointment with Mr. Davis,” I said to the receptionist. “Or, if he has a few minutes, could I speak to him?”

Ann appeared instantly. “You don’t have an appointment.” Her face was drawn into an annoyed smile.

“No, I don’t. I was just telling your receptionist…,” I began.

She waved her hand, cutting me off. “I heard everything you said. What’s this about?”

“I have a few things I’d like to go over with Mr. Davis.”

“What things?” she demanded.

“The Cottages.”

“I’ll tell him you came by. He can call you and schedule something if necessary. Good management is already in place at The Cottages. Please don’t stir up problems where none exist. I assure you Mr. Davis is looking after everything.”

There was a long pause while we both stared at one another.

“Here is Mr. Davis’ card.” She handed it to me. “Call next time and save yourself a trip.” She walked to the front door, and held it open.

“Thank you,” I mumbled. I was shocked speechless. The receptionist kept her eyes glued to her desk.

What in the world
? Maybe I had overstepped, but I was anxious to get started. Frankly, I didn’t understand the resistance. I was the beneficiary. No one was contesting.

* * *

I love coming home. I live in a tropical paradise. A fence runs the entire length of the house. Within the gates is a courtyard filled with plants and flowers. I can either walk across the courtyard and enter the house through the front door, or go around the back and in through the French doors by the patio. On the first level are the living room, dining room and kitchen all looking out to the pool area.

I went around back. I always love seeing the pool before going inside. I walked by the kitchen window toward the French doors, and the woman who had been with Zach at the café stood in my kitchen. She gave a friendly little wave.
This day just keeps getting better
. I certainly didn’t want to face what’s-her-name.

“Is Zach here?” I demanded, when I got into the kitchen.

“No he’s not. I came on my own.”

“How the hell did you get in?”

“Getting in was the easy part. I picked your lock.”

“Is that how Zach gets in?”

“Probably not. Zach’s lock-picking skills aren’t as good as mine,” she smirked.

It was hard to find anything wrong with her. A dangerously seductive woman with the bluest of eyes, full sensuous lips, a tangle of waist-length brunette hair and a dark tan. She wore a white skirt and a tank top that molded to her rock hard body.

She extended her hand. “My name is Fabiana Merceau, but please call me Fab.”