Kitty was lounging in the chair with a drink in one hand and taking cell phone pictures with the other. “You need to learn to knock,” she said, taking his picture.
He flipped her the bird.
He noticed she was wearing the larimar jewelry that Mikelina had sent her. A pang of hurt lanced through him and he flopped down into the chair next to her. Snagging her drink, he drained it in one long gulp.
“I never want to see his skinny ass like that again.” Bastien pointed to Jace.
“Works for me, bro,” Jace said and flipped a few burgers.
Max came over with the bottle of Gentlemen Jack and a bottle of Coke. He even brought over a glass for Bastien and filled it with the whiskey.
“Don’t you dare,” he said to Max when he went to pour the soda on top.
“I’ll have some of that,” Kitty said, having him top her whiskey off.
“I taught you better than that,” Bastien said. “Use the regular Jack Daniels if you’re going to do that.”
“It’s my honeymoon and I’ll drink what I want,” Kitty said primly.
“About that...” Bastien started and then took a deep pull of his drink. “What the absolute fuck is going on and why are you and the girls here?”
“Jace and I eloped.” She showed him her wedding ring. “I couldn’t take all the bullshit from the wedding planner and the pressure to have everything perfect, so I said screw it and flew out here and kidnapped Jace.”
“That’s where he’s been the last three days? You could have told me. I’ve just spent the past few days trying to hunt him down. I even hired a private detective.” Who told Bastien more than he’d ever wanted to know about the woman he had been planning on getting serious with.
Bastien rubbed his hand over his face. “Does Mom know?”
“Not yet. I mean, she knows I flew out for my bachelorette party. She just doesn’t know there was a change of plans. I know how much that makes you crazy.” She patted his arm. “But it just seemed like the right thing to do.”
“Mom and Dad paid a lot of money for your wedding.”
“Yeah, it’s the wedding of their dreams. I barely had a say in it. Don’t worry. We’ll still show up and go through the costume party. Now, I feel like I can relax because all the important stuff has been taken care of.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? I would have liked to have been there for the actual ceremony.”
“It was a quick civil ceremony on the beach in Key West. It lasted all of five minutes and then we partied the night away before coming back here this morning. Mikelina arranged everything. I don’t know what I would have done without her.”
“What?” Bastien choked on his drink.
“Yeah, I invited her to come over tonight to help us celebrate.”
“Here? Tonight?” Bastien couldn’t suppress the happy leap his stupid heart took. He wanted to see her and talk about all of this. He had jumped to the wrong conclusions and he should have taken a step back and listened to her. He hoped she could forgive him.
“You can’t get mad at her.”
Too late.
“I asked her to keep all of this a secret from you. She didn’t want to do it, but I begged her.”
“Why?”
“I was afraid that you would tell Mom or Dad and that they would try to stop us.”
“You’re adults. They can’t stop you.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to hear it. I just wanted to let loose and have fun. Do you even remember what that’s like?”
“I remember,” he said hoarsely.
“But that’s not the best part. She sold us this house.” Kitty gestured all around her. “Can you believe it? This is our house.” She got up and threw herself at Jace.
Holy shit. Why hadn’t Mikelina told him? Why did she let him rant and rail at her without defending herself? She hadn’t lied. She wasn’t the owner anymore. It had been Kitty and Jace. The private investigator had old information, probably because the deal was going down as he was gathering information. Bastien had jumped to all the wrong conclusions. He had let what Gina had done to him color how he saw Mikelina and that wasn’t right at all.
He needed to talk to her. But when he texted her, the message never delivered and when he dialed her number, it just kept ringing. She’d blocked his number. He couldn’t blame her.
“Bastien, what’s wrong?”
“I made a terrible mistake.”
“Is it about Mikelina?” Kitty asked.
Bastien gave her a sharp look. “Why do you think it has anything to do with her?”
“Jace mentioned that you and Mikelina were getting pretty close these past few weeks.”
“Jace should mind his own damn business,” Bastien said.
“Says the man who burst into my bedroom.” Jace brought them over a plate of grilled sausages and shrimp.
Bastien wasn’t hungry, but Kitty dug in like she hadn’t eaten in weeks.
While he had been waiting for eight o’clock to roll in, he had driven around South Beach hoping to catch sight of Mikelina. He had even parked outside her hotel, but he hadn’t seen her car.
“It seems weird that she’s not here. Unless she’s avoiding you for some reason,” Kitty said.
Bastien nodded. “She is. And she has good reason.”
“What did you do now, you prick?”
“I messed up and I don’t know how to fix it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH, her mother was home when Mikelina got there. Tawny and Aunt Crystal were playing cards while Fox News blasted in the background. They dealt her in while she discreetly switched to the History Channel.
“Your mother tells me that you sold the beach house,” Crystal said, putting down a set of threes. She was a shark at gin rummy.
“It was time.”
“You’re telling me. Now Tawny doesn’t have to shack up with that Diamonte guy.”
“What if I want to shack up with him?” Her mother laid down a straight.
“Ew,” Mikelina said. She could only lay down a three. She wasn’t really paying attention to the cards.
“Shouldn’t you be at that bachelor party’s beck and call?” Tawny asked, looking at her critically.
Mikelina was pretty sure her mother knew she had been crying. “I’m done. They’re the new owners of the house. Their itineraries are set. It’s over.”
“It doesn’t seem to be over,” her mother said.
“Trust me. It is. Lots of doors closing for me lately. I told you what Dad said.”
“Your father is a selfish jerk. Don’t give him a second thought.”
“Easy for you to say, Tawny,” Crystal said. “You can get a new husband. It’s not like she can get a new daddy.”
“I don’t need a new daddy, Aunt Crystal,” Mikelina broke in before a brawl started. “I don’t need a man in my life at all.”
“Oh,” her mother and her aunt said at the same time.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mikelina asked suspiciously.
“Who is he?” Tawny asked. “Do we need to get involved?”
“No. It’s over. He’s going back to New York and I’m...” Well, that was the hell of it, wasn’t it? She didn’t know where she was going to go. New York had seemed like the right decision until Bastien turned out to be a bastard. With the house sold, she didn’t need to be in South Beach as the concierge. Maybe she could find another city to become an expert in.
Somewhere the last name Presley made people think of The King instead of her father.
“You’re what, dear?”
“I’m waiting for my next assignment.”
“I’m sure Kirk will have something for you soon. Gin!” Her mother laid down all her cards in glee.
Aunt Crystal threw hers
on the table in disgust. “You guys distracted me. And who changed the channel? I was watching the news.”
* * *
Mikelina rolled her suitcase into the condo in Maui that she was sharing with Selena. Selena was busy at the client’s house, cooking a romantic dinner for two.
Must be nice.
After stowing her clothes in the spare bedroom, Mikelina powered up her laptop and brought up the email Kirk had sent her about what the couple wanted to do this week. It wasn’t like him not to dish about who they were and what potential scandals to avoid. It was a last-minute arrangement and Kirk couldn’t get his usual Hawaii concierges to step up. She was a little nervous because Maui wasn’t her area of expertise, but she did know a few people and Selena said she would hook her up with some of her contacts, too.
Mikelina was grateful because she just had to get out of Florida. The pain of Bastien’s condemnation of her hit harder than she wanted to admit. She fell in love with the big jerk and that was on her. But he judged her for her father’s actions and that was on him.
Focus.
She stared back at the wish list and saw that the couple wanted the usual Hawaiian things. She booked them a snorkeling tour of Molokini. Of course, her mind went straight back to Bastien making love to her in the dressing room after they went snorkeling.
Groaning, she got up and took a bottle of POG from the fridge. The papaya, orange and guava juice was sweet and refreshing and helped her get back on task. The happy couple also wanted a fishing trip and she booked them on a party boat, forcing the image of her and Bastien catching fish together.
Finally, she booked them an authentic Hawaiian luau and that didn’t bring up any memories for her at all. Her text message alert sounded and her heart jumped in her chest, but of course it wasn’t Bastien. It was her mother.
The divorce was going to be final in six months.
Tawny was going to marry Kirk in a civil ceremony and she wanted Mikelina as the maid of honor and to plan the bachelorette party.
Mikelina closed her eyes. It shouldn’t be this hard. She decided to hold off on texting her mother until she could agree to do it with a clear conscience. Her father chose his path in life and made his decisions and was now living with the consequences of his actions. There would never be a beach house reunion. That house was slated for happy memories with another family.
Her father would never again toss a quarter in the pool so she could dive for it, while her mother blended up piña coladas and Celia Cruz played over the speakers. Those people didn’t exist anymore.
It was time that they all got on with their lives. Maybe once her mother did, other people who weren’t affected by Tanner’s crimes would be able to as well. Tawny would become Tawny Diamonte and her new life would begin.
Mikelina would still be Mikelina Presley—no relation to Elvis, but daughter of Tanner Presley, the crook.
Maybe she’d ask Kirk to adopt her. Mikelina Diamonte sounded pretty flashy.
She closed her laptop with a snap and checked her watch. The couple should be arriving at the client’s house in another hour and she wanted to be there to greet them and show them around the house. Mikelina had only represented this house once and she wanted to familiarize herself with it so she sounded confident. Besides, she could help Selena in the kitchen and maybe sample some of the dinner she was making.
She was looking forward to spending some quality time with Selena and a lot of mai tais. They could take in a luau, too. Mikelina had never been to one, but it sounded like fun.
The house wasn’t on the ocean. It was more upcountry, but the views were incredible, and it was only a short drive to the beach. It was attached to a coffee plantation, very private and secluded. As she pulled into the driveway, Mikelina felt a pang of envy. It was the perfect escape from civilization, with all the comforts of home.
“Smells good in here,” Mikelina called out, her stomach growling. Whatever was simmering in the kitchen beat the hell out of airplane food and the bag of chips she had grabbed for lunch.
The small dining room table was set with shining silverware and porcelain china on a lace tablecloth.
“Fancy,” she murmured, admiring the plumeria pattern on the china.
A bottle of Perrier-Jouët Rosé was wedged in among the ice in the bucket. Mikelina swallowed hard. When would everything stop reminding her of Bastien?
The kitchen was empty and she couldn’t resist peeking into the slow cooker on the counter.
“It’s kalua pork,” a deep voice said behind her. “Selena wanted me to apologize that she used a Crock-Pot instead of an underground oven, but we did kind of throw this together at the last minute.”
Not believing her ears, she whirled around. “Bastien?”
He handed her a plumeria blossom. She couldn’t resist sticking her nose inside it while she recovered. The smell was light and beautiful and for some reason she wanted to run away and cry.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered.
“Apologizing. I told you I was a prick.”
This couldn’t be happening. Mikelina turned her back on him and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She didn’t want him to see her crying. She trembled when his warm hands touched her shoulders.
“I was a jerk. My head was so far up my own ass, I couldn’t see clearly. I was pissed off about Jace. I thought I was over Gina’s betrayal. And I really fell hard for you. None of which I was expecting or dealing with like a rational adult.”
Mikelina gasped. She couldn’t have heard that correctly. Fell hard? They were great in bed and enjoyed each other, but she could have sworn that the falling-in-love part had been one-sided.
“Can you forgive me for being an asshole?”
“It’s all right,” she said, her voice catching as she tried to get a hold of herself.
“It’s not all right.” He gently turned her to face him. “But I’m hoping it will be. I’m sorry I hurt you. I was wrong to jump to conclusions. Believe me when I say, Kitty has already read me the riot act about that. I was an idiot to think you were like Gina. I know in my heart you’re not and could never be like her or your father.”
Mikelina blew out a shaky breath. “What makes you so sure now?”
He brushed away a stray tear with his thumb. “I was sure then, I just was too blinded by hurt and rage to see it. And I took it out on you.”
“You really hurt me,” she said. “I let my guard down around you. I thought I was safe and then it was my worst nightmare.”
“I’m so sorry. Will you give me a chance to regain that trust?”
Mikelina hugged herself. She wanted to. Every fiber in her being wanted to. But she knew if he hurt her again, she might not recover from it. “I don’t know.”
“Give me these two weeks?”
Her head came up. “What?”
“You and I are the couple Kirk sent you here to be a concierge for.”
Blinking, she realized that should have been obvious the moment Bastien had stepped in the kitchen. “Give me a minute. My brain is trying to catch up here.”
“All I could think of during the bachelor party was how I would much rather spend the time with you, getting to know you better than spending it with Jace and his groomsmen. I’m not the type to believe in love at first sight, but damn, Mikelina, I’ve never felt this way about anyone. Ever. Will you stay with me? Here, for the next two weeks and see if we want to take this to the next level?”
“Bastien, I can’t just leave my job for two weeks.”
“Yes, you can. I cleared it with Kirk. Two weeks paid vacation.”
She gaped at him. “What about you? You’ll be away from your job for over a month?”
“My dad owns the company. And I’m owed a lot of vacation time. Besides, we had scheduled a light month because of Kitty’s wedding anyway. Bottom line, tho
ugh? You are more important than any of that. What we have? This connection? This explosive passion? It’s worth exploring. Please say you agree.”
“Bastien, I’m overwhelmed.”
“Well, let’s start with lunch then. It would be a shame to let the pork go to waste. There’s even some jasmine rice in the rice cooker already made. We can save the champagne for later, when there’s something to celebrate.”
“Selena’s pork is something to celebrate,” Mikelina said, her insides shaky and raw. She slid her hand into Bastien’s and gripped it.
“Let me make it up to you. I want to be in your life. We can work out the details as they come up. But right now, I need to kiss you more than I need to breathe. Is that—”
Mikelina didn’t want to talk right now. She wanted to be in his arms and feel his mouth on her again. She wanted to make love in every room in this house and then, and only then, indulge in Selena’s romantic dinner.
She was dimly aware of Bastien carrying her into the bedroom. But once they were there, they tore off each other’s clothing until they pressed against each other skin to skin.
“Missed this. Missed you,” he moaned, kissing down her neck to her nipples. “I’m not sure if I can go slow this time.”
“Feel how wet I am,” Mikelina said, grabbing his cock and guiding it through the folds of her pussy.
“Works for me.” And with a quick thrust, he was deep inside her.
“Yes,” she groaned, her toes digging into the bedspread.
Bastien fucked her with long, sweet strokes that seemed to go deeper every time he rocked against her.
She laughed in delight as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Mikelina was afraid this wasn’t real, that she was still sleeping on the overnight flight to Maui. But the hard pounding of his body against hers was too thrilling to sleep through. She grabbed his ass, probably leaving half moons from her fingernails.
Yes, he had been a dick and jumped to conclusions. And yes, he hurt her with his careless words and attitude. But he was here, and he had been spontaneous to arrange all of this last minute. It had to mean that he cared for her, that he was as head over heels in love with her as she was with him.
Wild Wedding Hookup Page 16
