by K. A. Linde
They all laughed. Whitley was known for outrageous dating stories. But I’d thought that was temporarily behind her since she started dating Robert Dawson. My eyes glanced over all my friends in one place. Court Kensington, Sam Rutherford, and Gavin King were at the bar, talking animatedly to Camden. But, hmm… Robert wasn’t among them.
“Maybe I do want to know,” I conceded.
“We’ll tell you later,” Lark said, pulling me away to grab a beach towel as she dragged her ginger-red hair up into a high ponytail.
God, it was good to see Lark not working. The last year, she had been dedicated to Mayor Kensington’s reelection campaign. Of course, it had been worth it for more than the fact that they’d won. She’d met her boyfriend, Sam, on campaign, and he was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
I grabbed two towels and laid them out next to the girls’ chairs. Then I plopped down next to them.
“How was the flight?” English asked.
“Fine.” Of course… it had actually been one of the strangest moments of my life. But no one needed to know that. I turned to Whitley. “Where’s Robert?”
“That’s the story!” Whitley said.
Lark rolled her eyes. “It’s not as dramatic as usual.”
“Well, you didn’t put glitter on his ceiling fans, did you?”
“That was one time!” Whitley cried. She grinned. “And he had it coming.”
It was still probably my favorite Whitley story. How she’d found a guy was sleeping around and to retaliate she’d put glitter on all of his ceiling fans in the middle of the summer. So, when he came home, he’d turned on the fans. Poof. Glitter everywhere!
“Well, tell me. I thought things were going well with Robert. Wasn’t he supposed to be here?”
Whitley nodded. “Yeah. I guess, like, ten days ago, he heard that he wasn’t going to be able to take the time off. His company needed him to stay on through the holidays.”
“That’s bullshit. You broke up with him because he couldn’t come with you?”
“No,” she said fiercely. “I broke up with him because… I think he just… likes me more than I like him.”
“Story of your life, huh?” I asked.
Lark huffed. “She did it because she was scared.”
“I was not scared,” Whitley said.
“You had feelings for someone for the first time maybe ever, and you ran away,” Lark said with raised eyebrows.
“Damn, Lark,” English said. “Get straight to the point.”
“I did have feelings for him,” Whitley admitted. “He didn’t care that I liked my space. He wasn’t clingy. He thought my strange relationship quirks were adorable. But… he didn’t challenge me either. I could walk all over him. The only time he ever had to stand up to me was about this vacation. And you know what I felt when he said that he couldn’t come?”
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. I wasn’t even sad. I was like, ‘Okay, bro. Maybe next time.’ Is that normal?” Whitley shook her head and then drank from her piña colada. “I don’t think so.”
“Maybe you should talk to him about that,” English suggested. “Maybe, when you get home, you should sit down and have a real conversation with him. He might have been acting like a pushover because he thought you’d run scared otherwise.”
“Yeah… maybe. I don’t know. I’m not going to think about it. We have another week here. I’m augmenting some rich girl’s tits,” she said, making light of her job as one of the top plastic surgeons in New York City. “Maybe I’ll find an uncomplicated girl to hook up with while I’m here.”
“Didn’t you just say, like two months ago, that girls were more complicated than guys?” Lark asked.
“Hmm,” Whitley said. “Maybe you’re right. I do love eating out though… but dick is nice, too.”
“You are one outrageous person,” I commented with a smirk.
Whitley was an acquired taste. I’d thought she was crude and extreme the first couple times I met her. We clashed like oil and water, but she’d grown on me… kind of like a fungus. Now, I enjoyed her crazy tales and wild personality.
Camden returned with my piña colada, complete with a pineapple slice and umbrella.
“Thanks,” I said, taking it from him.
He leaned down then and cupped my chin in his hand. I was so startled by the contact that I just saw the hint of his smirk before he claimed my mouth. When he pulled back, my heart was fluttering.
“You’re welcome.”
He strode back over to the bar, leaving all of my girls speechless.
I took a sip and avoided their gazes. I had no explanation for that. Camden wasn’t… like that. He was a hard man. That was what I’d come to expect. What had our truce done?
“What was that?” Lark asked.
“Um… a kiss?”
“Yeah, no shit,” Whitley whispered. “He just fucked your mouth in public.”
English shrugged. “Even I can admit, that is not normal behavior from Camden Percy.”
I sighed and leaned in closer to them. “Well, we have a sort of… truce.”
“Truce?” Lark prompted.
“Yeah. We’re not going to argue at all while we’re here. Going to just… see how it goes.”
Lark opened her mouth to clearly speak the disbelief that was evident in her green eyes. But then she looked up over my shoulder, and her smile ignited. She waved. “Penn, over here!”
My body seized. I felt frozen in place. But slowly, I loosened enough to turn around to see none other than Penn Kensington strolling over to our party.
11
Camden
I closed my eyes and breathed out slowly. My grip tightened on my beer. I had one hour. One hour where I could be out with my friends before I had to take my conference call back in our villa. The last thing I wanted to deal with was Penn Kensington.
Court put his hand on my shoulder. He didn’t have to say anything. We both knew that this wasn’t good. It was ironic really that my closest friend was brothers with the man I despised the most. Of course, up until recently, Court and Penn hadn’t gotten along either. It had been easier for me that way.
“Just let it go,” Court finally said.
But I couldn’t. I couldn’t just let it go.
I turned and found Penn striding toward my wife. His wife, Natalie, was nowhere to be seen. Convenient. I didn’t trust him. Not an ounce. And I couldn’t see that I ever would.
“It’s not worth it,” Court continued.
Gavin laughed next to him. “I mean, I would like to see who would win that fight.” Court shot him an exasperated look. Gavin held his hands up. “What? They should get it over with.”
Gavin was our resident instigator. He didn’t take much seriously. Not even the work he did for his family’s oil company, Dorset & King. But he reaped the benefits. I’d begrudgingly learned to like him when he was at Harvard with Court and me. I didn’t mind when he spoke to my baser instincts.
“They should not just get it over with,” Sam said automatically.
He was the newest member of our group. In fact, he hadn’t even been born Upper East Side. He had come from some small town in North Carolina. It was amazing that I even tolerated him. But the first time I’d met him, he’d hustled all three of us at poker. It had been a big enough jackass move, clearing out thirty grand from the lot of us, that I decided he could stay.
I gritted my teeth. Penn had finally reached the girls. He smiled effortlessly, like he had not a care in the world. Katherine was looking up at him. I couldn’t see her face, but I could picture it. I’d seen her stare at Penn Kensington enough to know what she looked like around him.
“Why do you even care so much?” Gavin asked.
“That’s his wife,” Court said.
“And? It’s a contract, right? You and Katherine got, like, an old-fashioned arranged marriage. You can both fuck whoever else you want.”
Sam frowned, always so solemn.
“I don’t think it works like that.”
“Yeah, but Fiona…”
“We’re not talking about Fiona,” I growled.
“All right, all right. I was just asking,” Gavin muttered.
“Well, don’t ask,” Court said. “It’s complicated.”
I didn’t know how to explain any of it to Gavin. Let alone myself. I’d wanted Katherine long before I got her to agree to marry me for my money. And I’d hated her relationship with Penn even longer. The way they fed off of each other. Hurt each other. Abused each other. All in the name of love. I didn’t miss the irony, considering my relationship with Katherine now. But it didn’t mean I liked seeing her around Penn either.
Before I questioned what I was doing, I pushed away from the bar and headed toward where Penn stood with my wife. I could feel Court follow behind me, there to intercede if need be.
Penn looked up at my approach, and his mouth turned down in a frown. He did not look pleased to see me. Not one bit.
Katherine and Lark rose to their feet. I saw that they both looked unsettled by my approach. But neither said anything. What would they say? They were crew. The core group of people that Katherine had grown up with—Larkin St. Vincent, Penn Kensington, Lewis Warren, and Archibald Rowe. They were her family as much or more than the people who had raised her. They protected their own.
“Percy,” Penn said with no love lost in his voice.
“Kensington,” I said with the same tone, only harder, rougher.
Katherine cleared her throat. A little cough and a pointed look in my direction. She crossed her arms over her ample chest. My eyes flicked down and then back up at her. “Camden…”
Fuck.
Oh fuck.
The goddamn truce. Why had I suggested that?
When Monica had mentioned it, I’d never thought that Katherine would agree. It had seemed out of the realm of possibility. But now, we were here, and we’d both agreed not to argue or fight for the next week. I’d meant with each other, but if I laid into Penn right here, would it be any different?
No.
I ground my teeth together. I couldn’t say a damn word that I wanted to say. I had to bite my tongue. Even though it was the last thing that I wanted to do. I wanted to tell Penn how much of a self-righteous prick he was and to stay the hell away from my wife, but it wouldn’t even matter. Katherine wouldn’t listen. She and Penn circled each other. It was inevitable.
“Hey, man,” I said finally, releasing my anger.
As much as I hated him, I was not risking this chance with Katherine.
Penn startled, as if surprised that I’d said anything else to him. That I’d said something pleasant and not bitten his head off was even more of a shock.
“Uh, hey…” Penn said.
His eyes darted to Katherine’s, and he raised his eyebrows in confusion.
She shook her head, just barely perceptible.
Court stood next to me, his mouth hanging open. Then he shook himself out of it and held his hand out to his brother. “Hey, bro.”
“Court.”
“Where’s Natalie?” Court asked.
Thank fuck for Court Kensington. Way to bring everyone back to the real matter at hand. Penn was married. To Katherine’s enemy.
“She’s back at the bar with Addie and Nicholas,” Penn said, pointing across the property. “They’ve abandoned Lewis and Rowe. I was coming to check on you all.”
Because he couldn’t do it with his wife in tow. There was a schism in their crew. Natalie had broken something that had been impenetrable for decades. I wasn’t saddened by it.
“We’ll come over later,” Lark told him quickly.
Katherine nodded. “I want to see Rowe in board shorts. He hates them.”
Penn laughed, clearly forgetting for a moment that I hovered over them. “He really does, but it’s too hot for pants.” He shrugged. “I’ll catch you later.” He nodded to the girls and his brother, skipping right over me before disappearing the way he’d come.
Good riddance.
Court jerked me back from Katherine, who shot me a small smile. It felt like a victory. Even if it tasted like ash.
We headed a few feet away. Not quite back to Sam and Gavin, but far enough away from the girls. Court’s gaze was skeptical. Even more so than the surprise his brother had given me.
“Okay. Who are you, and what have you done with Camden Percy?”
“Very funny,” I said dryly.
“No, seriously. Did you just say something nice to Penn?”
“I said something neutral.”
Court shook his head. “When have you ever been neutral with my brother?”
“I’m not,” I said darkly. “It took all my self-control not to call him the bitch that he is.”
Court snorted. “Well, I can’t really deny that. He’s family, but god, does he know how to brood.” He eyed me again. “I didn’t know you had said self-control.”
“How do you think I survive a boardroom?”
“Fair,” he said. “I’ve never known you to use it outside of that. Does this have something to do with the business?”
“No.” Then I relented, bringing Court in on my plans. “Katherine and I have… an arrangement.”
“Well aware of that one.”
“A new arrangement,” I told him. “We’ve agreed not to argue or discuss our issues while we’re here.”
Court raised his eyes. “That’s great. To what end? Are you finally going to admit that you’re in love with her?”
I blew out an exasperated breath. “No.”
“If not that, then why bother?”
“You always think I have to divulge every explanation for everything that I do, don’t you?”
Court grinned like the Upper East Side prince that he was. “You just answered my question with a question. Oh, you’re in deep.”
“I no longer wish to discuss this.” I pushed past him and returned to the bar… and my drink. I downed a large gulp of my beer and flagged down the bartender for another round.
Gavin leaned into the bar, seemingly oblivious to all that had happened a minute prior. “You know, I think I really want to get laid tonight.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Dude, you want to get laid every night.”
“Who doesn’t?” Gavin asked with a laugh.
Court returned then. He eyed me warily. Perhaps he’d hit too close to home. Not that I was in love with Katherine, but I did feel as if I was in too deep with her. I wanted to figure out a way to navigate our relationship if this was going to continue, and I couldn’t do that if we were down each other’s throats every minute of every goddamn day.
“I’m the only guy here without a girlfriend,” Gavin pointed out. Then he gestured to me. “Or wife. All of you have to fucking wingman for me.”
“No,” I said at once.
Sam shook his head. “Pass.”
“Court?” Gavin asked hopefully.
“I think English might chop off his balls and feed them to him for dinner,” I mused.
Court laughed. “You are not wrong, sir.”
“Fuck, fine. I’ll convince Whitley to do it,” Gavin grumbled.
My eyes narrowed. “That doesn’t seem like a hardship.”
“Well, she’s probably better at it than all of you shits. Women aren’t put off by her at least.”
Sam laughed. “Keep telling yourself that.”
“Yeah, dude,” Court continued, “you’ve had a thing for Whitley since day one.”
Gavin’s eyes rounded. “What the hell are you all talking about?”
“You believe that you are subtle,” I told him. “I don’t think that you are.”
“Look, it’s not like that. She just got out of a relationship with our friend. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t do that to Robert,” Gavin said valiantly.
“If you say so,” Court muttered.
Sam looked unconvinced. And I had no doubt that Gavin King, the infamous flirt, wo
uld move in on Whitley if she gave the slightest indication that she was interested. The problem had always been that she was not. Whitley was easily distractible and flirted even more than Gavin. They were a match made in hell. Two people who refused to settle down. Gavin was setting himself up for failure with those feelings.
But who the hell was I to talk? My gaze shifted to my wife. She’d nearly finished her piña colada, and she was leaning back in her chair, soaking up the sun. Weren’t we also a match made in hell? Wasn’t that what I had wanted?
“I have to go,” I said, pulling my gaze from her.
“Go?” Court asked.
I nodded. “I have a conference call. Unlike you lucky fuckers, I still have to work.”
“That blows,” Gavin said.
“Sorry, man,” Sam said.
They had no idea.
I strode away from the lot, taking my beer with me. Working wasn’t the problem. In fact, it gave me the out I needed to escape. The problem was Katherine Van Pelt wearing nothing but a tiny bikini where her pert ass was all but hanging out. And that look. The one of approval. That made me want to scoop her up and carry her back to the villa. To hear her approval ring through the room again… and again… and again.
12
Katherine
Camden didn’t return the rest of the afternoon. I didn’t know how long his call was supposed to be, but I hadn’t thought it’d be three hours. What the hell was his father making him do while here?
Granted, it was just our first night. He’d probably have more time to enjoy the beach. But I still didn’t like it.
I extracted myself from my friends, promising to meet them for dinner before heading back to my villa. It was a short walk, and I was already anticipating what I would find when I entered. Would Camden still be working? Would I be interrupting? I could never predict his mood. Even though we’d agreed not to fight and he had held up his end of the bargain with Penn, which I was still shocked by, I didn’t know if he’d be upset that I was barging in on him.
I softly crossed the threshold. “Camden?”
No response.
I narrowed my eyes and continued inside. Past the bubbling hot tub and the desk where his computer was shut down and then past that to the enormous bed. To my surprise, Camden lay completely naked, passed out in the massive bed.
