Her Perfect Revenge (14 page)

Christina was lying on a beach—a white, sandy, hot beach—and she was wearing her favorite bikini, the one with the tiny cherries plastered all over. The sun was shining its healing warmth on her body and the ocean breezes were fanning her skin back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this good. It was a perfect day and she never wanted it to end.

Suddenly, there was a movement beside her. She turned her head and saw Bill Havenwood lying there—naked, tanned and perfect. He gave her a smoldering look and without saying a word, he rolled onto her and covered her body with his. Skin plastered to skin, he began to kiss her, a deep, penetrating kiss that reached down to her soul.

It felt yummy.

It felt delicious.

It felt hot.

Especially hot. Christina was on fire and it was for him… only for him... all for him.

She never wanted him to stop. Her hands began to travel over him, feeling every square inch of his skin—as his were doing to her—and the cool ocean breezes continued to fan them both.

His hands slipped her bikini top straps off and they began their slow descent down to her breasts. It felt so good to have him touch her like that—so good.

From somewhere off in space, Christina heard a distant, far away voice—a very, very angry voice—shouting at full volume…

"What in bloody, all mighty hell did you do to her?"

It was William's voice but what was William doing on the beach?

She heard another voice, equally angry, yelling back, "Me? You were the one who was pressuring her with all your goddamn wedding plans."

Wait. That was Bill's voice! But how could Bill be speaking if he was, right now, kissing her? That didn't make sense.

And then Christina heard a woman's voice say, "Maybe we should call an ambulance?"

Ambulance? Who needed an ambulance? That was odd.

Oh well, whatever, she thought as she kept on kissing Bill's scrumptious lips. She just couldn't get enough of him—nor him her. And all the while those cool, comforting ocean breezes continued to gently fan their overheated bodies…

"Once again you have royally screwed up! Can you be trusted to do anything right?" Christina heard William's furious voice say.

"Your marriage wasn't exactly a raging success, so stay out of this! This doesn't concern you." It was Bill again and he was livid.

"If it's in this family, it bloody well concerns me," William angrily responded.

Father and son were both shouting at each other, a full-blown fight. But how could Bill be arguing with his father if he was passionately kissing her—wait a minute—
Bill Havenwood was kissing her?

With an anguished gasp for air, Christina's eyes finally fluttered open. She found herself stretched out on the couch in William's office; and there were two Fido Foods Annual Reports being fanned over her body, cooling off her hot skin. One was being held by William and the other by Bill.

"She's coming to," she heard a worried Bill say. She focused her blurry eyes on him as he crouched down to her level. "Christina?" he whispered softly. "Are you feeling better?"

Both William and Mindy lowered their faces to peer into hers.

Christina's eyes flitted from one to the other. "What… what happened?" she croaked. God, her throat was parched and someone had put a wet washcloth on her forehead.

Bill tenderly pushed her hair off of her face. "You were sick and then you fainted."

"Faint… fainted?" she stammered, as she gazed into his eyes. That wasn't possible. She had never fainted in her life, not even when she'd broken her arm skiing at nineteen.

Bill nodded. "Do you want to go to the hospital?"

"Hospital…?" Confused, Christina briefly closed her eyes and the memories of what had happened came flooding back to her. She'd been kissing Bill Havenwood—Bill Havenwood!! And she'd enjoyed every second of it! How could her body betray her like that? Ashamed, she groaned out loud.

"That's it, I'm taking you to the emergency," Bill ordered.

"No! I'll be fine," she pleaded. Ashamed, she could barely look at him, as she covered her face with her hands.

"You're not fine." Bill was very worried. He'd never had anyone faint in his arms before, although the 'being sick part' was nothing new to him from all of the drunken nights he'd had over the years with his friends; that didn't faze him one bit.

"Maybe she's pregnant?" William, wickedly, piped up.

"No, she's not pregnant," exasperated, Bill shouted at his father. But wait, what if she was? What if her boyfriend had gotten her pregnant? Suddenly, he felt a fury of white, hot jealousy consume him. Unsure, he turned back to Christina. "Are you?" he questioned forcefully.

Christina lowered her hands from her face and glared at Bill. "No! No, I'm not pregnant!" she retorted, just as forceful as him. What bozos they were, the pair of them!

She saw Bill visibly relax. Of course, he would. A pregnancy would definitely put a glitch in his devious plan to scam his father. Her eyes lowered to the vomit stain on his suit and suddenly it all came back to Christina. She'd thrown up—on him? How embarrassing! No one had ever seen her throw up before, let alone be the recipient of that honor. But—if it did have to happen—might as well be on this scumbag.

Suddenly, Christina felt a giggle rise up in her throat. It bubbled out, followed by another giggle, and another…

"Sorry… sorry… about your suit," she said to Bill before bursting out in a fit of laughter. This was just about the most ridiculous mess she'd ever gotten herself into, and the most embarrassing and the most humiliating. Christina continued to laugh and couldn't stop.

"My God," William said, "She's becoming hysterical." And at that remark, Christina laughed even harder.

That's when Mindy, the wedding planner took charge. "Okay, you two," she addressed the men. "Out of here."

"I'm not leaving her," Bill stated.

"Yes, you are." Mindy was adamant. "This is nothing more than bride-to-be jitters. I've seen it a million times. I'll take Christina into Mr. Havenwood's private washroom and fix her up." She patted Christina's hand. "You'll feel better, honey, once we splash some cold water on your face."

Bill squeezed Christina's other hand gently. "I'll be right outside if you need me," he softly told her.

"Me too," William announced from over Bill's shoulder.

Bill rose up from his crouching position, glared at his father and walked out. His father glowered at him too, before following him out.

* * *

In William's private bathroom, Mindy was patting Christina's face with a wet towel.

"I'm sorry, Mindy," Christina, sheepishly, remarked.

"Honey, if I had a quarter for every time a bride threw up and fainted on me, I could quit this lousy job and buy myself a Trump Tower penthouse."

Christina giggled. "I guess it comes with the territory."

Mindy smiled. "You know, your man out there really loves you, and your father-in-law too. I saw how worried they both were when you were out cold. I thought they were going to come to blows."

Bill Havenwood in love with her? How ridiculous was that? People really did see what they wanted to see.

Mindy continued speaking as she grabbed a brush from the counter and started to comb Christina's hair. "Now, I don't want to put anymore pressure on you but we don't have much time to plan this shindig so how about if I come by tomorrow… if you're feeling better, of course."

Christina sighed deeply, "Sure, why not?" Might as well get this over with. She'd make some silly decisions about flowers and food, and get William off their backs for awhile.

* * *

Both Bill and William were in Charlotte's outer office, pacing like two expectant fathers waiting for the baby to be born.

Bill gave his dad a dirty look as he passed him again for the fiftieth time. This was all his fault, the bastard. His old man shouldn't have been making wedding arrangements behind their backs.

William glared back at his son. This was all Bill's fault, the bastard. He shouldn't have been forcing himself on that sweet girl. William knew his womanizing son had been attracted to her from the get-go but if he was pressuring her into doing anything she didn't want to do, there'd be hell to pay.

The door opened and a refreshed Christina and Mindy emerged. Both men rushed over to her.

"Are you feeling better?" a concerned Bill asked.

"My dear, you gave us all a fright," William quickly added.

Christina put her hands up. "I'm fine. I just want to go home and rest."

"I'll drive you," Bill replied, as he wrapped a protective arm around Christina's shoulders.

At his proximity, Christina felt her cheeks flush as she blushed at the memory of his hot kiss. She could feel his body heat start to envelope her again and it was making her dizzy.

She quickly moved away.

"I'll drive myself. The BMW is outside," she affirmed

"No, you're not well enough to drive and the BMW will be driven home by one of the employees here," Bill was adamant and Christina could see he wouldn't budge.

Still feeling weak, Christina reluctantly agreed and said her goodbyes to William and Mindy.

* * *

As William's private elevator descended, Bill studied Christina's gray pallor.

"You're not fine, you know," he piped up.

"I am fine."

Standing so close to him, in the small elevator, Christina began to feel the physical attraction she seemed to have for him. Her body was such a traitor, she thought as she could feel the imprint of his hot kisses on her lips. She took a step away from him and her still wobbly legs made her stumble.

"That's it!" Bill firmly announced and as the elevator doors slid open, he scooped her up in his arms.

"What the hell are you doing?" Christina shouted, trying to wriggle down.

"I'm not having you fainting all over the place again," he shouted as he carried her outside, through the GME protesters and through the media cameras that began to click away at the boss' son carrying a woman.

Christina fumed, as he carried her to his Jaguar. "You're making a spectacle of us," she yelled.

"I don't really give a big goddamn." He opened the passenger door and gently lowered her in. He then took off his stained jacket and threw it into the trunk before getting in himself.

Christina was really angry now. That display hadn't been necessary. He could've easily had his car driven to the back of the building and they could have gotten in there. What had he been thinking of?

She gave him a quick look. He'd rolled up his shirtsleeves and was now maneuvering the car into traffic.

"How much did you pay for your suit?" she asked reluctantly, afraid to know the answer.

He glanced at her before returning his attention to his driving. "$5500."

"Ohhhh no! You're not going to add that to my tab too, are you?"

"No, I'm not. You really do have a low opinion of me, don't you?"

Christina didn't answer him and there was silence in the car for a full minute. And in that minute, Christina was again becoming aware of him as a man. What was the matter with her today?

"I'm sorry about throwing up on you," she said. She wasn't really sorry but she had to say something to break her treacherous thinking.

Bill laughed. "Christina, it's not the first time, believe me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I've got a PhD in vomiting."

And at that Christina laughed, the first genuine laugh she'd ever had in his presence.

Bill glanced at her. God, she looked beautiful when she laughed like that. He returned his gaze to the traffic. "I'm sure you've heard my father allude to my partying days?"

"I guess."

"Well, what he didn't tell you was about the one time I came home so drunk, I threw up all over him." Christina burst out laughing again. He continued. "And his suit was custom-made and cost $10,000."

Christina laughed even harder at she pictured William's stoic face as he stood there with vomit all over him.

Bill laughed too because she was laughing and he was somehow making her happy. He didn't know why but it just seemed to matter to him that he was the one bringing her such joy.

Christina caught herself, as her laughter subsided. What the hell was she doing, enjoying his company? She'd better stop it right now. She had a revenge plan to execute on him and she needed to be focused on that.

* * *

He had insisted on carrying her into the house, up the stairs and into her bedroom—and he wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

He had then placed her gently on the bed before leaving to get Eudora, the head maid who'd been with the Havenwoods since before Bill had been born. Eudora had helped Christina undress and get into bed. She'd then been royally propped up against a mountain of soft pillows and left to rest.

Christina was now on her cell phone to Jenny letting her friend know that she'd have to reschedule their mac and cheese night because she'd been sick that day.

Jenny was worried about her friend. "Chrissy, I'm coming over," she was saying on the phone.

"No," Christina shouted the word. "You know you can't. He might recognize you."

"But…"

"Don't worry, I'm already feeling better." Christina had told her friend about being sick all over Bill, which had elicited a giant laugh from Jenny but she'd said nothing about the kiss that had preceded it.

There was a knock at the door before it opened and Christina saw Bill come in, carrying a tray of food.

"I've got to go. We'll make it tomorrow night, okay?" Christina was careful not to mention her friend's name, as she said goodbye to Jenny.

Bill gave her an eyeful, as he positioned the tray in front of her. "Your boyfriend upset about you canceling tonight?" He tried to sound casual.

Christina was evasive. "I didn't cancel, just rescheduled." She looked down at the food in front of her.

Bill smiled proudly. "I made it myself. Plain toast and flat ginger ale for your upset stomach."