Heavy Turbulence

by Kimberly Fox

  When he’s not looking, I quickly unhook the strap on my convertible bra, attach the rings to it, and clip it back into place with Kara’s rings fastened securely inside of my dress.

  “Do you think we’ll sell any yachts?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood. My half-finished glass of champagne is getting me giddy again.

  “We better,” he says with a laugh. “Or Marv is going to fly us out to Mongolia and leave us there.”

  “Then I think we better push it a little harder.”

  “The fake marriage?” he asks, grinning at me. “Great idea. I could stick a baby in you for real. That would sell it.”

  I narrow my eyes and fight back even despite getting lightheaded all of a sudden. “You try to stick anything in me, and you’ll spend the rest of the weekend in the emergency room.”

  He laughs softly as he refills my glass. It’s different with him now. We’re still at each other’s throats, but it’s like we’re playing now and not trying to actually suffocate each other.

  “I was talking about pushing the sale a little harder,” I say. “It’s in both of our interests for him to buy the yachts.”

  “It’s in your interest,” he says quickly. “You’ll be off to become a pilot, and I’ll be stuck here without you.”

  My shocked eyes dart to him. He’s breathing slowly as he picks up a handful of sand, letting the grains slip through his fingers.

  “Don’t try to deny it,” he says, looking sad as he watches the waterfall of sand fall from his hand. “I know you’re going to leave once you get your money.”

  A heaviness settles in my chest as his words play over in my mind. I guess I always knew I would quit, but I didn’t think that anyone would care. Hell, I didn’t think that I would care.

  Things are starting to change.

  “We can still be friends,” I say, nearly laughing at the ridiculousness of the statement. Me and Dex as friends. It’s laughable. This is the guy who soaked me with ginger ale half an hour after I met him. He’s the guy I nearly killed when he grabbed my breasts and ass without permission. This is the guy who’s made me grind my teeth so much over the past few days that I might need dentures when I get home.

  And what’s even more laughable is that I think I might want more than to just be friends. As frustrating and cocky as he is, I’m kind of attracted to him.

  “Just friends?” he asks, looking at me with a softness on his face. His eyes are asking so much more than the two words that slid out of his mouth.

  I take a deep breath before vomiting out a string of arguments against why we should be anything more than friends. “We’re co-workers, Dex,” I say, staring at the fire but not seeing the flames as my mouth rambles on. “It’s never a good idea to date people you work with. We’re so different. I like safe and orderly, and you like wild and reckless. You’re a bit too tall for my height. We can’t stay next to each other for two minutes without arguing. You’re a Leo, and I’m a Taurus. It would never work.”

  “So that’s the con list,” he says, chuckling. “The very long con list. Now, what are the pros?”

  You’re the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. I can’t stop thinking about you. You make my body react in a way that no one else has ever done.

  “I don’t know,” I lie.

  “Let me think of some reasons why we should be together,” he says, tapping his chin as he looks up at the sky. After a few seconds, he looks at me and shrugs. “I can’t think of any, but I still want to be with you.”

  He turns to face me and like in a trance, my body follows his. He reaches up and tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear as I get lost in his deep eyes.

  He’s so close. My mouth waters as his warm hand moves to my cheek and cups it, gently pulling me toward him.

  Jesus. If my heart was a jet, it would be shattering the sound barrier right now.

  His lips press softly against mine, and I lean into him, letting him take my mouth with his tongue. The world vanishes around us. There’s no more crackling fire or gentle ocean. There’s no more bright stars or swaying palm trees. There’s only his sexy lips on mine and his silky tongue claiming my mouth.

  I’m breathless when he finally pulls away, and I have to place my palm on the cool sand before I fall over. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to process what just happened, but my mind is as clear as a Jackson Pollock painting.

  Did he just kiss me? Did I just like it?

  It’s not fair. He looks so calm and cool as he licks his lips and reaches for the champagne bottle, refilling his glass like the world didn’t just come collapsing down.

  I swallow hard as I try to analyze his intentions, try to figure out his game.

  Guys like him are not interested in girls like me. This is all part of our war. He’s trying to make me fall for him so he can trap me like a marionette and then cut the strings that are holding me up.

  “What the hell was that?” I say, wiping his sweet taste from my lips with the back of my hand. “This was not part of the deal.”

  He lowers his glass, turning to me with a look of confusion on his face. It’s all an act. He’s playing me. And I almost let him win. I almost let him get the upper hand.

  “Riley, I—”

  “You what?” I ask, tightening my grip on the glass in my hand. “You want to hump and dump me like all of your other girls? You want to make me have feelings for you and then hang me out to dry? Well, I’m not falling for any of that!”

  “Wow,” he says, shaking his head as he looks at me with sadness in his eyes.

  He’s good. I’ll give him that. That sadness almost looks genuine.

  I jump to my feet, pouring the rest of my champagne onto the sand. “If you try that again, I’ll slap a sexual harassment suit on you so fast it will make your head spin.”

  “Riley,” he says, looking desperate as he opens his hands. “I was just trying to—”

  “I know what you were trying to do,” I snap. I place the champagne flute beside him and wipe the sand off of my dress. “Don’t try it again. I’m going back to the room.”

  I storm back to the villa with my shoulders back and my chin held high, but I feel like crumbling in on myself and crying. I take one last look at Dex before I turn into the hall. He’s still sitting in front of the fire, but he’s abandoned his glass and is drinking straight from the bottle.

  “I hope you get alcohol poisoning,” I whisper before marching back to our room.

  Dex comes back into the room two hours later, and I’m still awake. I’m lying on my side of the bed, feeling stupid and embarrassed about my little scene on the beach.

  He made such an effort and we were actually getting along and having a connection when my insecurities came bubbling up and I freaked out.

  I feel horrible. I wish I could go back in time and replay the moment after the kiss. I wouldn’t have been so quick to judge. I wouldn’t have been so aggressive and inflexible. I wouldn’t have been ‘too much,’ as my ex Andy had said.

  I keep my head on the pillow, staring at the wall of drawers between us as Dex lies down on the bed. He can’t see me and I can’t see him, but I know that he’s there. I wish he would stand up and knock down the wall of drawers between us, crawl onto my side of the bed, and take my body. I want him. I need him.

  I’m still not certain he’s playing me, but it’s worth taking a chance. It’s worth it for the shot at happiness that I know is possible with Dex.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper, so softly that he can’t hear me. “I’m sorry I ruined the night.”

  I picture him on the other side with his head on the pillow, facing me like I’m facing him. I breathe softly as I drag a fingertip along the soft oak of the drawer, pretending it’s his chee—

  “What are you doing?”

  The shock of his voice jerks me out of my haze, and I spring up to a sitting position on the mattress like Linda Blair in the Exorcist.

  Dex is not lying on the other side of the wall of dr
awers like I had imagined. He’s standing at the end of my side of the bed with a toothbrush sticking out of his smirking mouth.

  “Nothing,” I say, shaking my head defensively. I quickly turn from defense to offense, raising my voice as I glare at him. “What are you doing on my side of the bed anyway?”

  I jump off the bed and yank my pillow under my arm. “You’re spying on me, you pervert!” I shout as I struggle to rip a sheet off of the mattress. It gets stuck under the wall of drawers, and Dex chuckles as I nearly fall trying to aggressively yank it off.

  “Need some help?” he asks casually as he takes the toothbrush out of his mouth.

  I want to stick it in his eye.

  “Not from a pervert who likes to watch me when I’m sleeping!” I yell. Finally. The sheet comes flying off the mattress, and I quickly wrap it up into a ball under my other arm.

  “It doesn’t look like you were sleeping,” he says, chuckling as he watches me storm across the room. “It looks like you were longing for me and wishing that I would give you another kis—”

  “I was sleeping!” I shout, trying to block out his words.

  “You were doing something,” he says, giving me a frustrating grin, “but it wasn’t sleepi—”

  I slam the bathroom door closed and lock myself inside. My ears are burning with embarrassment as I lie on the cold tiles for the second night in a row.

  My first week on the job is going just fucking great.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dex

  I guess it’s no surprise that Riley avoids me all morning.

  She’s gone when I wake up, and she doesn’t show up at the dining room for breakfast. I rub my eyes as I have my first sip of coffee. I barely slept last night. I kept tossing and turning, thinking about that kiss.

  My cock was rock hard as I kept picturing how soft her lips were, the feel of her hands on my chest, the sound of the little whimper that escaped from her throat when I pulled away. I spent hours trying to remember every detail of the moment from the roaring fire beside us to the way my heart was hammering in my chest.

  It was perfect.

  And then it all went to hell.

  I’m still shaking my head over what happened. One minute she’s leaning into my kiss, sliding her sweet tongue across mine, moaning as I take her mouth, and then in one beat of a pounding heart, she snaps, yelling out accusations that I’m trying to play her and threatening me with a sexual harassment suit. I’m not worried about that one. Even if she tries to sue me, the judge will take one look at her beautiful face and smoking hot body and let me off the hook. Anyone who takes one look at her would know that I had no choice in the matter. How could I not sexually harass a girl like her?

  “Where’s the wife?” Kara asks, smirking at me as she sits down at the table with a single slice of watermelon on her plate. That’s all she’s eating for breakfast.

  “I don’t know,” I say, trying not to glance at her chest, but it’s hard with the way that she’s pressing her big tits together for me.

  “Maybe she’s in my room,” she says, licking a finger, and then sliding it down her chest. “Want me to go help you find her?”

  I glance over at Marv who’s bossing the breakfast chef around, yelling something about how omelets should have bacon in them. I must admit, he’s making some good points.

  “So, I guess you’re feeling better?” I ask, grinning as she looks away in embarrassment. “Maybe if you eat a little more than a watermelon slice for breakfast your stomach can handle some more action.”

  “There’s only one type of action that I’m interested in,” she says, giving me fuck-me eyes as she takes the pink piece of fruit and licks it from the bottom to the top without ever breaking eye contact.

  “Mmmmmm,” she moans as she slides it between her glossy lips, sucking on it like a cock.

  “You should have gotten a banana,” I say, peeling my eyes off her as I stand up. “It would have made a better visual.”

  “I like it juicy,” she says, licking her fingers. “Our deal is still on, Dex. Why is she still here?”

  I’ve suddenly lost my appetite as guilt takes my hunger’s place and makes my stomach harden. I should never have made that deal with her, and I’m about to tell her that when Marv walks over, huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf.

  “Can you believe this guy?” he asks with his shoulders tight. “He only put vegetables in my omelet!”

  “The bastard,” I say, getting up from the table. I down my coffee and look at Kara. “I can find my wife by myself, thanks.”

  “Your loss,” she says as I leave the room. I would have jumped at the chance to be alone with the stunning Hidden Pleasures model a few days ago, but I’m a married man now, even though my wife hates me and she refuses to give me any action. Yup, it certainly feels like I’m a married man.

  I walk around the monstrous villa looking everywhere for Riley but I can’t find her anywhere. After I pass the twentieth expensive-looking painting, I walk outside, exploring the north side of the island. The waves are fierce up here, and I’m tempted to grab a surfboard and head into the water.

  That idea quickly drains as the prince comes walking out of the ocean with a surfboard tucked under his arm.

  “Good morning, Dex,” he says, waving to me as he approaches.

  Shit. This is the last person I want to talk to.

  “Did you think about my offer?” he asks, shaking the water out of his hair.

  The look I give him makes him take a step back. “With all due respect, Dex,” he says, choosing his words carefully. “We’re both men who love women. So, let’s put any petty jealousy aside and do what we do best, enjoy the beautiful women at our disposal.”

  At our disposal. He makes them sound like fucking ice cream cones. Lick ‘em and toss them aside when you’re done. But I guess I should expect that from a man who has a harem of sixty women at his disposal.

  “Sixty of the most beautiful women on the planet,” he says, his eyes pleading with me. “All on their knees for you. What do you say?”

  I step forward, gritting my teeth as I picture holding his head under the water until he sinks to the bottom of the ocean where he belongs.

  “You can stick your offer up your royal ass,” I say, slowly spitting out every word. “With all due respect.”

  “That’s too bad,” he says, looking disappointed. “Riley is quite the woman. I would have enjoyed having her warm my bed.”

  Yeah, so would I.

  I’ve had enough of this guy talking that way about my girl. Riley may not know it yet, but she’s my girl.

  “If I ever hear you speak about my wife in that way again,” I say, glaring at him with cold hard eyes. My legs are planted in a fighting stance and my chest is thrust out like an alpha gorilla defending his territory. “I’ll rip your tongue out of your mouth.”

  He lets out a heavy sigh as he walks over to the little hut and places his surfboard on the rack with the others. “I was afraid you were going to respond like that,” he says, running a hand through his wet hair. “But please. I beg you to reconsider.”

  He points to a cluster of palm trees with a stone path snaking through them. “You should head down that path before you make your decision final,” he says. The way he’s smiling makes me think it’s a trap. “Truly see what you’ll be missing.”

  Without another word, he grabs his towel and walks away, leaving me staring at the turbulent waves that are crashing onto the rocky shore.

  I glance over at the path when he’s gone, wondering what is up there. After a minute, curiosity gets the better of me, and I’m quickly walking down the path. It takes about fifteen minutes of walking through tropical bush before I’m out on the other side of the island.

  Oh.

  I stop mid-stride when I see what the prince was talking about. I’m on top of a hill looking over a white sand beach on the north west-side of the island. There is a cluster of villas to my left, but I don’t even
give them so much as a glance from my spot on the path because to the right are sixty stunning women frolicking in the sand. Most don’t have their bikini tops on, some have nothing on, but they’re all gorgeous.

  So, this is where he hides them.

  This is where the harem lives. They have villas, inground pools, a white sand beach with calm turquoise water, and a bar with unlimited drinks.

  As I’m staring at a spectacular set of tits from a girl on the beach volleyball court, the magnitude of what Prince Kalib is offering hits me like a kick to my nuts.

  Sixty women.

  How can I turn that down?

  By turning around and walking back down the path.

  I listen to the voice inside my head for a change and run down the path before my other head makes me turn around and introduce myself to the ladies.

  My frustration grows with every slap of my flip flops on the path. My chest is tight, my head is starting to ache, and I want to punch down a palm tree.

  I don’t understand why this is happening, why I’m turning down this amazing opportunity.

  But I know the answer. It’s because of Riley.

  I don’t even like her, and she fucking hates me. So why is she the only thing I can think about?

  Every time I consider going down to the beach to meet the ladies, I see her disapproving face, and it makes me sick to my stomach.

  I’ve wanted to sleep with her since the moment I saw her, but this is different. This is getting beyond lust. I told her about dancing with my mother, and I’ve never told anyone that.

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  Am I falling in love with her?

  I’m still amped up when I decide to take the plane out to blow off some steam. Flying planes always helps me focus and usually helps me work through a problem.

  And believe me, falling in love with Riley is definitely a problem.

  I was hoping to have a friends with benefits type of relationship with her when we first met, but this, this was never in the plans.