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Authors: Jami Alden

Tags: #Fiction, #Erotica

Private Party (9 page)

BOOK: Private Party
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Julie oohed and ahhed appropriately, all the while keeping an eye out for Chris to have a break. She polished off her drink with one last gulp, noting as she stood that her legs were a little bit wobbly. Two drinks on nothing but a crab cake in someone her size packed a powerful punch. She made a mental note to visit the cheese and cracker tray after she talked to Chris.

Chris was by one of the bars, casually leaning on one elbow as he sipped his drink. She raised her hand in greeting. His gaze flickered, so she knew he had seen her. But he couldn’t seem to tear himself from conversation with a model Julie vaguely recognized. The model and her rock-star boyfriend were among the guests who had already been at the resort for several days, and it seemed that she and Chris were already fast friends.

Julie steeled herself and continued her approach, trying to ignore the uncomfortable clenching in her gut, the tightness in her throat. She’d never considered herself the jealous type—not even when Brian had given her more than ample reason to be. But if that woman tossed her hair and giggled just one more time, Julie was going to pull out every perfectly highlighted strand by the roots.

She worked her way through the crowd until she was standing next to Chris, who smiled at her but made PrivateParty

no move to end his conversation with the model. Finally Julie ordered another margarita to make it look like she had a reason for being at the bar.

Finally Megan or Madeline or whatever her name was said, “Oh, there’s Johnny. I’d better go cut him off before he decides to go skinny dipping.”

“Chris,” Julie grabbed his arm before he could find another reason to escape, “I need to talk to you.”

“What’s wrong? Is something wrong with your accommodations?” he asked, knowing damn well that wasn’t the problem.

“No, the problem is that I’m getting the sense you don’t want me here.” He resisted the urge to laugh. Not want her here? Hell yes, he wanted her here. Wanted to lift her up onto the bar and shove her skirt up around her waist to see what color her panties were. Then he wanted to peel those panties off with his teeth and spend about the next hour finding out if her pussy tasted as good as he remembered. Then he wanted to haul her off to his villa and keep her there, naked for the entire week. Fucking her every which way but sideways in the futile hope that maybe he’d work her out of his system, since one night clearly hadn’t been enough.

But he had to keep working the party, mingling with guests. And when he was through doing that, he had to go back to his office to continue working on this stupid wedding happening in two weeks, the wedding that had initially seemed like such a great idea but now threatened to drive him insane.

Hell yeah, he wanted her. Too much. And that was precisely the problem. So rather than allow himself to be distracted by Julie and her considerable charms, he was determined to keep his distance. She wanted to run away to paradise for a week, fine, but he had too much riding on the next two weeks to get caught up in her little game of sticking it to Daddy.

“Of course I want you here. I want all of my guests to feel welcome.” Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly as her tongue scraped salt off the edge of her margarita glass.

He swallowed hard, wishing he could chase that sweet little tongue with his own, suck it into his mouth.

“I know I surprised you,” she said. “But with everything going on, I just needed to get away to some place quiet, some place where I could lay low, you know?” She set her drink on the bar and took a step towards him. The scent of fresh flowers and warm skin nearly sent him to his knees. Somehow he remained standing, composed.

She placed her hand on his arm, her cool palm burning through his skin. “And I was hoping to…spend some more time with you.” Oh, fuck, she couldn’t make it easy for him, could she?

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Though it nearly killed him to do so, he removed her hand from his arm. “I wish I could give you what you want, but I don’t think I can.”

Confusion furrowed her perfectly arched blond eyebrows. “I don’t know what you think I want, but really, all I was hoping was to rekindle our friendship,” she gave him a saucy smile, “with a few added benefits.”

Exactly as he’d thought. He hadn’t thought it was such a big deal, but somehow, having her say it out loud pissed him off all over again. “Friendship? Julie, I hadn’t seen you in five years, and then you show up on your wedding night for a revenge fuck.” The vitriol-laced words were out of his mouth before his brain could turn on the editor. “I don’t see how that makes us friends.” Shock, hurt, and, finally, abject humiliation suffused Julie’s face, and Chris felt his stomach free fall, stopping somewhere around his knees. Fuck. Now he’d gone and hurt her. Maybe she did want to use him for a little revenge against Brian and her father, but Julie was still the same sweet, wholesome girl who conjured up a whole host of protective instincts. Seeing her hurt made him feel like shit, and knowing he was the one hurting her made him feel like double shit. “I’m sorry.” He reached out a hand, but she was already backing away.

“Thank you for making your feelings clear,” she said, and to her credit, her voice only trembled a little.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m sure I can find quite a bit to keep myself busy, thank you very much.” Darting from his hold, she wove her way quickly through the crowd. He started after her but was quickly waylaid by guests, forced to exchange polite greetings and small talk.

Pausing to refill his drink he halfheartedly engaged in a conversation with a software mogul from Silicon Valley. He wasn’t particularly interested in how the next generation of software was going to revolutionize the corporate database, but Chris had perfected his interested smile over the past four years.

His gaze kept returning to Julie, who returned to her group of bachelorettes and divers, laughing and talking as though she didn’t have a care in the world. He’d always admired her ability to so quickly regain her composure when rattled.

And he had definitely rattled her. He hated how harsh he’d been, but he couldn’t help thinking maybe this was the best thing. If Julie thought he was a complete asshole, she’d do her part to keep her distance.

Besides, what he said was true. Sure, they’d been friends once, but they hadn’t even been in touch until the day before her wedding to his half brother. Her recent behavior notwithstanding, Julie was obviously content in her safe, sheltered nest. A world where she always did what was expected of her, never questioned Mommy and Daddy, and in return she would always be very well taken care of.

He nodded in agreement at something the software CEO said, but his attention was focused squarely on Julie. She laughed at something that Mike guy said and put her hand flirtatiously on his arm.

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Though his brain insisted that he keep his distance, that didn’t stop the coil of jealousy knotting in his stomach. It was all he could do to fight off the primitive urge to walk over there, punch Mike in the face, and haul Julie off, caveman-style, to his lair.

Instead he tossed back the last of his drink and kneaded the back of his neck. His headache returned, creeping up the base of his skull, and it took all his strength to maintain a friendly smile.

It was one of the things that really sucked about his job. Most of the time he loved it. He was by nature a social creature, the kind of guy who made friends wherever he went and was always up for a party.

Building the resort from nothing had been a dream come true, and he was well suited to the role of the dashing host. Meeting new people, feeling their genuine pleasure when he provided them with a uniquely luxurious environment that even the most spoiled of the fabulously wealthy could appreciate, gave him more satisfaction than just about anything he could think of.

And knowing that he had done it all by himself, without a lick of help from his father or his father’s money—well, that was just a big fat cherry on top.

But sometimes, like now, he just wished he could have a break. Not only from the work itself, which had tripled in the last year with the resort’s growing popularity, but also from the social burden he had to bear as owner and manager at Holley Cay.

He had no one but himself to blame. From the moment Holley Cay opened for business, Chris had populated the guest list with his friends and acquaintances, all other young, ridiculously wealthy people like himself. Holley Cay immediately took on an insider’s club feel, and the burden was on Chris to make everyone feel like a member, even as the guest list grew to include fewer friends and more strangers. The result, which was part of Holley Cay’s great appeal, was that guests felt like they were at one giant house party in the Caribbean, and Chris was the host of the century.

But tonight he just wanted to sink down on a lounge chair on his deck, crack open a beer, and maybe read a book. Or maybe just stare out at the turquoise sea until he felt drowsy enough to sleep.

Or, best of all, take Julie back to his villa and make love to her until he was too tired to move.

Instead he started up a new conversation with some minor member of British royalty, and watched as Julie walked to the railing overlooking the beach, Mike casually holding her arm.

At long last, the Lord whatever wandered off to find his girlfriend, and Chris leaned over the bar and retrieved a bottle of Caribe Lager and two Tylenol from the bartender.

“You shouldn’t take those with alcohol, you know,” Carla told him as he washed down the pills. “It’s not good for your liver.”

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“Right now the pain in my head gets top priority, and the liver will just have to deal.” Chris took another long drink of his beer.

“That bad, huh?” Carla eyed him speculatively.

“I’m just overtired.” He yawned and cranked his neck side to side for emphasis.

“Um-hm.” Carla looked past him, over his left shoulder toward the railing. A knowing smile crossed her full lips. “Why don’t you go for it?”

Chris didn’t bother to pretend he didn’t know what Carla was talking about. “She’s married to my brother, for one…”

“But she’s getting an annulment,” Carla interrupted.

“She is? How do you know?”

“Amy told me.” Carla’s curly brown head nodded in the direction of the bachelorette group. “I hung out with them by the pool earlier this afternoon.”

“Even if she is getting an annulment,” Chris said, ignoring the little pang of excitement and relief that ran through him, “that doesn’t change anything. Julie’s not the kind of woman I can just sleep with and leave.”

“But what if she doesn’t care? What if she just wants a little vacation fling to help her get over it?” Chris didn’t bother to explain that the problem wasn’t on Julie’s side. “Trust me, Carla. This can only end ugly, for both of us.”

“You think it hasn’t ended ugly before?”

Chris felt his temper heat. “Not like this.” Not for me, anyway.

“Just because you’re honest and try to keep things casual doesn’t mean people don’t get hurt. The difference is that you never cared before.”

Maybe this was the Universe getting revenge on him. After all of his meaningless flings, all the women who’d left him with a wistful smile, now the one woman he wanted more than anything had showed up and only wanted a casual affair. And his cousin was laying out all the reasons he should take Julie up on it.

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Chris didn’t reply, and after a minute Carla continued. “Look, women make their own choices, bad and good, and if they tell you all they want is a casual thing too, you don’t have any responsibility to look beyond for any hidden agenda. Some of them are telling the truth, some of them aren’t, but it’s not your responsibility to protect them from themselves.”

“Julie’s not like the other women,” he said, “She’s less experienced.”

“So what? Once upon a time so were you.”

Jesus, for once in his life he was trying to do the right thing—even if it was selfishly motivated—and all he got was grief.

“You might have missed your chance, anyway,” she said, gesturing with her chin across the room. “I think someone else will be seeing to her entertainment.” Chris turned just in time to see Mike, his arm curved around Julie’s waist, follow his friends and the bachelorette group off the patio and into the restaurant.

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7

C
hris hauled himself out of bed at five-thirty the next morning. Since he had been awake for two hours already, he might as well get up. After a quick five-mile run around the island, he showered and strolled over to the office.

He needed to go over the plans for the big celebrity wedding set to take place at the resort in ten days. It was the first time they would be hosting such an event, and Chris and Carla were twisting themselves in knots trying to make sure everything went perfectly. Complicating matters, the bride was one of the top-paid actresses in Hollywood, and she was determined to keep her wedding location top secret from the press. It was a huge challenge, even with Holley Cay’s dedication to privacy. Carla and Chris were reduced to speaking in code with all the staff, the vendors, and anyone else who might leak to the press.

On the upside, if the wedding went well, Holley Cay would be known as the most exclusive place in the world to host a wedding.

Even better, once the news of his success hit, his father would finally have to admit that even though Brian was the heir to the kingdom, it was Chris who really had what it took to rule an empire.

In the meantime, Chris thought as he dug his fingers into his nape, he was grateful for the work to take his mind off Julie. Visions of her tangled up with Mike the diver dude had been driving him insane all night.

Carla was already at the office waiting for him. “Thank God you’re here. She’s already called me five times this morning to go over the budget.” Carla looked at her watch. “And it’s like what, four A.M. on the west coast? That woman is psycho. Oh, and that security manager of hers…” PrivateParty

Chris poured himself a cup of coffee, only half listening as Carla went off on Jane Bowden’s head bodyguard. “He thinks we’re completely incompetent,” she fumed. “He wants detailed background checks on every staff member, down to the last chambermaid!” He took a seat behind the desk across from Carla’s.

BOOK: Private Party
10.05Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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