“Mr. Weston,” an older man greets Daniel. “It is our upmost pleasure to have you as a guest tonight, at your request we have roped off the VIP area. If there is anything else you would like, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you, as long as the drinks are flowing, we should be just fine.”
When we enter the VIP area, I stand there in amazement. We have this whole room to ourselves?
“You set this up?” I ask looking over at Daniel.
“Yeah, I wanted Vegas and strippers, but Nicky wasn’t going for that, so Matt came up with this.”
“You fronted this whole night?”
“Yeah, Matt’s my boy,” he states as if it weren’t a big deal.
“So… no strippers?” I give him a sad face as a joke.
“I could arrange a private show, if you’re interested.” Daniel’s sexy smile creeps across his lips and his fingers whisper down my arms. I have to squeeze my legs together because he is starting to truly get to me.
“I’ll keep that in mind, Westy,” I say before I walk away from him. I wander over to the open breezeway to look out at the ocean. This is amazing. A club right on the water.
“Let’s pop the champagne,” Nicky yells, “I need my maid of honor.” Like a good MOFH, yes, I just made that up, it stands for Maid of Fucking Honor, I walk over to her and fake smile. I hope the cork hits something and nails her in her damn head.
“To me! Bitches!” she screams as the cork pops and champagne sprays out all over me. I stumble back, horrified that I fell for that. I wipe my eyes, not sure if it’s champagne or tears I am wiping away. She got her way, that bitch.
“To Matt and Nicky!” I look up and see Daniel popping another bottle and spraying Matt and Nicky.
The screams that come out of her mouth are ear piercing.
“What the fuck, Daniel?” Nicky screams as I start to laugh hysterically.
“I thought we were all joining in. Why is Kayley the only one getting to have fun?” Daniel questions through a devilish smirk.
“It was an accident, you idiot!” she yells.
“It was an accident that you shook the bottle before opening it?” I shudder because I have never seen anyone stand up to Nicky before. Matt even freezes.
But he doesn’t give her a chance to reply. “Let’s go swimming!” Daniel yells as he comes barreling towards me. He throws me over his shoulder with ease and starts to run towards the ocean. Everyone follows.
“Take off your shoes, sweetheart,” Daniel instructs before he slaps my ass.
“Are you out of your mind?” I shout, as I try to kick off my heels.
“Nope, I’m just getting all that champagne cleaned off of you.” With that Daniel catapults me into the warm water.
The sky is dark and the only light we have is from the moon. I can hear everyone laughing and I see Matt walking down to the water with Nicky over his shoulder. He doesn’t make it look as effortless as Daniel did and that makes me smile, till I get dunked. I swim away from Daniel underwater, making my way out into the ocean. When I pop back up I can’t stand, so I tread water. Daniel pops up a second later and is able to stand.
“Come here.” He pulls me to him, and I go. I surprise him when I wrap my legs around his waist and place my hands behind his neck.
“Am I clean enough for you now?” I feel him harden. His hands push my dress up, then dance slowly up my thighs. They stop when he feels my black lace panties.
“I thought you weren’t wearing any?” he whispers in a raspy tone as he leans closer to me.
“Why did you stick up for me?” This question throws him off.
“What do you mean?”
“In there, with Nicky,” I point to the club.
“Because, you didn’t,” he answers honestly.
“Is this some kind of joke?” I can’t help myself anymore.
“What?”
“Did Nicky put you up to this? Is this some kind of game?”
“Kayley,” his right hand runs up my side, lightly brushing against my breast before he slides it around the back of my neck, pulling me into him. “I don’t find anything funny about the way she treats you.” Our lips are less than an inch apart. He has one hand on my ass and the other around my neck, and it’s then that I pull away.
“I don’t either.” My legs unwrap from around him and I swim away.
I gather myself as I swim to shore, not turning to see if Daniel is following me. Of course this is a joke, and a mean one at that. I need to keep my distance from all of them. I need to end this ridiculous friendship. Starting off by growing a backbone and standing up to Nicky, but I will wait till after her wedding. I will let her have the perfect day, with the perfect dress, the perfect flowers, and the perfect speech. I can hold on a little longer.
As I walk out of the water I notice Nicky getting out looking like one of the sewer rats I often see in the subways at home. This makes me giggle. I am sure I don’t look much better, but her looking like that makes me feel better.
“Look at what Daniel did. Can you believe he ruined my party?” she snaps. Of course she would say that. He is the one paying for this party, so you would think she would laugh and go along with their big joke. No, not Nicky.
“Matt we’re leaving.” I look out into the water and notice Matt swimming to shore.
“Come on, Nick, have a little fun. Look, everyone else is.” He motions his hand to where everyone is swimming and laughing.
“Not going to happen, Kay and I are taking the bus back to the hotel. I’ll send it back to get you guys.” With that said she storms off.
Like a good MOFH I follow letting out a frustrated groan as I start to catch up to her. Just a couple more days. Looking in the sand I see everyone’s shoes and a few articles of clothing. I can’t find my shoes. I try to backtrack, but Nicky is yelling for me to come. Letting out a sigh, I say goodbye to my five hundred dollar sparkly shoes.
The ride back is quiet and I know Nicky is seething. I bet she is plotting all the ways to make Daniel’s life a living hell for the rest of this trip, but then again I bet Daniel is doing the same. When the bus pulls up Nicky doesn’t even look at me. Her hair is knotted and disheveled all over, her dress is still wet and her makeup is running down her face. I look over myself and laugh.
“We look like a hot mess,” I say trying to cheer her up.
“Shut up Kay, you look fine, you always look fine,” She barks, then storms off leaving me standing alone at the hotel’s entrance.
Chapter Three
The next morning I woke up to pounding on my door.
“Kay, wake up, it’s me.” Nasty Nicky is back in action. Her voice sears through my head. Getting up I take my time walking to the door, because I know I will be greeted with the wrath of Nicky.
“I need to see what you are planning on wearing tonight. I don’t need you showing up looking like a slut like you did last night,” she says as a greeting.
“Well good morning to you, too.”
She walks right over to the closet that only holds a summer dress, the cocktail dress I will be wearing tonight, and the ugly-ass dress she has me wearing to her wedding.
“No, this will not work,” she states as she holds up my pale pink vintage dress. “It’s too close to white and you can’t be wearing white to my rehearsal dinner.”
“It’s pink.”
“It looks white!” she shrieks.
“I have something you can wear.” She walks out the door and comes back in with a dress. What the hell? Does she have a traveling suitcase of ugly clothes in the hall?
“I brought this just in case.” She hands it to me.
“Try this one.” Like a good MOFH I try the dress on. One more day I remind myself.
“Nicky, I can’t wear this,” I say looking down at the dress. The dark red material is hanging off my body. Nicky is a few inches taller and a few sizes bigger. “This isn’t going to work.” I look her right in the eyes.
�
��Well, make it work, cause you’re not wearing this,” she takes my dress, rolls it up in a ball and walks out the door with it. I stand there in shock as I see her hand it to Matt in the hallway telling him to “get rid of this” before my door shuts.
What the hell just happened? Why does she always act like this? I rub my hands over my face in frustration. It’s eight in the morning, I haven’t even had coffee yet and Nicky just stole my dress. This is going to be a great day!
After showering and getting ready for breakfast, I choose shorts and a simple loose tank over my bathing suit instead of the sundress I had planned on wearing today. I will have to wear that tonight. It isn’t dressy enough, but I think I can make it work.
When I open my door I see Daniel standing there about to knock.
“I found these last night,” he says holding my sparkly heels off of two fingers.
“My shoes!” I exclaim in joy as if they were a long lost friend. I walk back into my room with them smiling. At least I got my shoes back.
“And I found Matt disposing of this in the men’s room.” I turn to see him holding my pale pink vintage dress. Tears almost well up in my eyes.
“My dress!” I run right over to it and hug it.
“I had a feeling it was yours,” he sighs. His eyes look sad.
“Why was Matt throwing away your dress?”
“Nicky said I couldn’t wear it because it was too close to white,” I let out in a puff.
“Ah, the green-eyed monster reared her ugly head again,” he chuckles walking over to lie down in my bed again. Why does he do that?
“What?”
“She’s jealous.”
“No she isn’t, she’s just mean.”
“Are you kidding me? Look at all the signs; you looked better last night, so she had to ruin your night. Your dress is pink but she knows you will look better than her tonight so she takes it from you. Why can’t you see this?”
I ponder his question. Why would she be jealous of me? Thousands of scenarios begin to swirl in my head as I think back through our sixteen years of friendship. My hand flies over my mouth.
“Oh my God!”
“Took you long enough to realize it,” he muses as he takes the extra pillow next to him and places it under his head. I can’t stand it anymore as I think of all the things she has done to me over the years. My body slumps onto the edge of the bed next to Daniel.
“Hey, don’t worry, I got your back now.” His fingertips trace different patterns on my thigh. I look over at him.
“I thought she set you up to embarrass me,” I admit.
“Do I look like the type of man that would do that to a woman?”
“I don’t know what type of man you are,” I say honestly looking at my hands in my lap. I haven’t been out on a date in two years. I submerged myself into work and I haven’t given anyone the time of day.
“Hey, look at me,” he says softly taking my chin in his hand. “I don’t like the way she treats you and I told Matt he needs to get her in line because I won’t hold my tongue.”
I laugh nervously at this.
“Like you have?”
“You have no idea how much I was holding back.” This is getting a little too intense for me so I stand up.
“I was just going to have breakfast, did you eat yet?” I take my key card from the night stand and slip it into my back pocket.
“Are you asking me out, Frost?”
“In your dreams, Westy.” I walk out with him hot on my trail. In the hall his lips get close to my ear.
“In my dream last night, you were… Uhhh,” I elbow him right in the gut before he finishes his sentence.
“Behave and I will let you eat with me,” I say as I press the down button on the elevator. His lips dance with a smile, I know he wants to comment, but he keeps it to himself.
We have breakfast at the small restaurant on the water. Daniel and I have easy conversation, and I find myself laughing a lot. Something I haven’t been doing for a long time. When our plates have been taken away, Daniel just stares at me. I don’t have any makeup on because I was planning on going down to the beach. I bet he is reconsidering hanging out with me.
“What?” I wipe my mouth thinking I have something on my lips.
“Nothing, I can’t admire a beautiful woman when I see one?” I turn in my seat and look around.
“Where is she?”
“This is what I like about you Kayley, you’re real.” He stands so I follow.
“What do you have planned on your three hours of free time?” he jokes.
“Beach, water, and a lounger,” I tell him as I walk down the few steps onto the sand. I stop to take my flip-flops off, so I can feel the sand between my toes.
“Mind if I join you?”
“Not at all.”
We make our way down and Daniel guides me over to a cabana.
“I reserved one,” he explains when I look at him confused.
“Nice.” I make myself at home as I remove my top and shorts. I glance over at Daniel as he takes off his shirt. I stare because that is what any woman would do. His abs are ridiculous, and the deep “V” that runs down into his shorts are making me stupid. Close your mouth, Kayley.
“Like what you see Frost?”
This time I answer honestly.
“I actually do, Westy.” I give him a smile and start walking to the water. I make it a few steps before I feel Daniel’s hands on my lower back and behind my thighs. I struggle for a few seconds then turn around and wrap my arms around his neck.
“You’re not throwing me in the water again,” I say face to face with him as he walks into the water. Our lips are close again, but everything blurs as a wave hits us and I loosen my hold from around his neck. It’s that moment he throws me in the air. When I come up from the water I don’t see Daniel around. A few seconds later I feel something between my legs. It’s not until I am in the air and on his shoulders that I look down at Daniel.
“If you wanted to get between my legs you could have asked,” I say playfully pulling his hair a bit. He drops me back into the water and comes back up facing me. My legs wrap around his waist like they did last night. He plants his hands firmly on my ass. I smile at him because we are face to face again. He has the most beautiful eyes.
“What are you thinking?” he asks leaning close to my lips again.
“How peaceful the water is,” I answer running my hands over the top of the water. I lean back and float stretching my hands out at my sides with my legs still wrapped around his waist. I feel him getting hard.
“What are you thinking?” I ask with my eyes closed as I float.
“How I never want to forget this image of you.” His hands move to my lower back and up to my ribs.
“I’m not ticklish,” I inform him, ignoring his comment. When his hands reach the back of my neck, I feel one hand leave my body. Then I feel a finger trace from the hollow of my neck, between my breasts, down to the top of my small bikini bottoms. My eyes open at this, as my body breaks out in goose bumps. I sit up and look him fiercely in the eyes. His pupils are dilated and I can feel him harden further. This time I don’t swim away.
“Just don’t play games with me, OK?” I say against his lips. When our lips finally press together, he holds them there. Slowly he kisses me again as he brings his hands to cradle my face. My hands are on his chest and I can feel his heartbeat growing faster, but his kiss is painstakingly slow. He withdraws again, this time he kisses my bottom lip ever so softly. His gentle bites making me moan. I push into his kiss and one of his hands slides into my hair gripping onto it. Holy hell, he is hot. I open my mouth slowly, giving him access and he takes it cautiously. When our tongues finally meet fireworks go off inside of me. This is a kiss to rival all other kisses. I find my body working on its own accord, my hips rocking into his as I feel him grow even harder. It’s when he starts to trail kisses down my chin and neck that I know I am losing control. With one hand in my hair th
e other traces down my side.
“You know this is a PG-rated beach right?” He stops kissing me when we hear someone yell that. He leans his forehead against mine while we both recover from our kiss.
“Think of your dad going down on your mom,” I say laughing.
“What? Why would I think of that?”
“Because if you are ever going to get out of the water, you have to get rid of this, my friend.” I let my hand slide down between my legs. Daringly, I glide my hand over his length.
“Race you to the shore.” I push off of him and begin swimming. I laugh all the way to my lounger as I see Daniel swimming around. That was some kiss.
“You looked like a whore out there.” I hear Nicky’s voice and it doesn’t bother me like it normally does.
“That’s the look I was going for.” I don’t even look at her as I settle into my lounger.
“Why are you in a cabana? I don’t have one.”
“And you’re not invited in this one,” I hear Daniel say as he walks up to us. I smile as I throw a towel at him.
“Whatever, I don’t like you anyway,” she snarls before walking away.
“That is how you lose a raging hard on,” he grunts pointing at Nicky’s receding form. Then he leans over me. I watch as water drops onto my chest.
“You do not play fair,” he whispers close to my lips. I grab his neck and bring him in for a kiss. His arms are on each side of me and I wish he would just crawl on top of me so I can feel his hard body again. I bring his bottom lip between my teeth then sweep my tongue over it before I release him.
“I never said I would,” I respond as I regretfully push him away. I can’t be that easy. I watch as he stares at me while holding the towel around his waist. I smirk because I know what he is trying to hide.
“Do you need to look at Nicky again?” This earns me a smile. I close my eyes and enjoy the sun warming my skin and the sound of the gentle lapping water.
“You need to put sunscreen on.” His voice shakes me out of my peaceful rest a few minutes later.
“You do my back and I’ll do yours,” he says with a cocked eyebrow.
It's in His Kiss Contemporary Romance Box Set Page 12
