by Amy Brent
I surveyed the room a little while longer before I started to get discouraged. No one in there matched the description Destiny gave me, nor did anyone look like they were obviously hiding something. Every time someone walked by, I would sniff a little deeper than usual. If he’d dyed his hair a new color, I’d be able to still smell the ammonia from the dye. But with every passing person, there was always something that was off.
I kept looking toward the bar, waiting for a spot to open up. Every time I thought I had an in, someone would slip in and take their place. It was obvious the cabana didn’t do tableside service, so I slid to my feet and began to meander around the bar.
Then, when another place opened up right by the register, I darted in and held out my hand.
“Excuse me,” I said. “Excuse me. Yes, I just have a question.”
“Shoot,” the bartender said.
“Does a Wesley Fox work here?” I asked.
“What’d he do now?” The bartender smirked.
“So, there is a Wesley Fox here,” I said. “Tall, maybe six feet. Striking eyes. White smile.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” the bartender said before he rolled his eyes. “Hey! Wesley! Got another woman here for you! Doesn’t look your type, though.”
I scoffed at the remark, but I was ecstatic he was here. This was the only lead I had, so I had plans to pursue it as far as I could. I looked around anxiously, readying my nose to lean in and sniff his hair if it wasn’t blond. My mind began to spin while I concocted several plans. If he looked the way he was described, then I intended to simply flash a picture of Destiny to him on my phone to gauge his reaction. If he didn’t look anything like the description, then maybe I could pull him in.
I didn’t care if the bartender thought I wasn’t his type. Fifteen minutes of his time was all I would need to get the answers to questions I wanted in order to pursue him further. Especially now that I had a name and people who knew him.
I’d suddenly gone from one solid lead to four in the span of thirty seconds.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” a voice said. “Someone said something about a lady who wasn’t my type?”
My blood ran cold at the sound of the voice. I was ripped back to reality while my head snapped over toward the familiar sound, and suddenly, my body froze. Those eyes I remembered from high school connected with mine, and in an instant, I felt my knees grow weak.
Holy fuck, it was Wesley Wilton.
I could see the shock rolling over his features while he murmured to the other bartender. They both nodded at one another before the bartender looked back at me, and then Wesley slowly approached me at the bar. He slung a dirty rag over his shoulder, no doubt trying to ruin my appetite for any drink I might have wanted to order.
But all I could do was stare.
“Olivia,” Wesley said.
“You changed your last name?” I asked.
“That’s what happens when you wanna get away from people.”
“From me or your mother?” I asked.
“Don’t be absurd,” he said. “You weren’t that important.”
My jaw clenched. I was painfully aware of the people eavesdropping on the conversation. I could tell everyone was getting defensive, which told me he was not only a regular worker here, but a beloved soul as well. He might have some bullshit aliases to rob rich women blind, but here he was at the top of the food chain. That meant I had to treat him with respect if I wanted to keep all the solid leads I’d suddenly stumbled into.
“Wesley Wilton,” I whispered.
“Is there a reason you’re coming around here, looking for me?” he asked.
That’s when I remembered the research I had done. The piece of property that had popped up underneath the name Wesley Fox. No face, no address, no phone number. Just a Wesley Fox and a piece of property that had been on the market for a little under a year. The alias I had created for myself in case I could get close enough to talk with him started flooding back to the forefront of my mind. The speech I’d planned out sat at the tip of my tongue, ready to tumble off and slowly tangle him within a web of my own lies.
I wanted to see how much he liked a dose of his own medicine.
“Well, I’m not sure what you’re doing with your life, but I’m a real estate investor,” I said. “You’ve apparently got a piece of property that I’m looking at purchasing. I was told to come see a Wesley Fox. Didn’t think I’d be running into the likes of you.”
Wesley’s eyes were trained hard on me. I knew when I was being clocked, read, and put through the ringer. He was weighing me, gauging my every move to see if he could clock the lie. After all, a liar like him knew the tells and ticks.
The great thing about me was that I knew them, too.
“What do you have in mind for the piece of property I’m selling?” he asked.
“Does it matter if I’m willing to invest in it?” I asked right back.
“It does,” he said. “What if the piece of property is near and dear to my heart?”
“We both know nothing’s near and dear to your heart, Wesley.”
His eyes bored into mine, but I didn’t move a muscle. I was in this for Destiny and for the fifteen-year-old boy he stole that money from. I was in this for what happened in high school. For the bullshit he rained down on my life. I was in this for all the times I thought about him, even after knowing the type of special asshole he was.
I was in this until the very end.
“Real estate investor, huh?”
“Yep,” I said.
“What vision do you see for the property?” he asked.
“The building’s dilapidated, but it’s in prime territory. I’d have to completely tear it down and start over. It’s the location I’m after, honestly.”
“I thought you said you were a real estate investor,” he said. “Not a developer and contractor.”
“While you might not be a man of much, I’m a woman of many talents,” I said. “We both know that.”
“Oh, I promise you we both know that.”
The smirk on his face caused my stomach to roll with disgust. Who the fuck did Wesley think he was? Obviously, he was still the arrogant, cocky dick he was back in high school. I kept my face straight, although I simply wanted to spit in his face for what he’d done to my friend.
Still, I could catch him. Not only could I give Destiny proof, but I also knew I could catch him and get her money back. If he was good, he’d probably wait until the heat wore off on the money before depositing it.
Which meant it was probably at his place somewhere, if he was still the special type of idiot I knew him to be.
“Since you’re so interested, I’ll throw you a bone,” I said. “I want to take it over and turn it into a resort hotel.”
“We’ve got plenty of those around here,” Wesley said.
“But what you don’t have plenty of is money,” I said. “Which is something I do have.”
I could tell that got Wesley’s attention, and I knew from the look in his eye that I was in. He was probably trying to mark me now. He’d probably turn on his charm, attempt to wiggle his way in with a little bit of that smile Destiny had melted at, but instead, he leaned onto the edge of the bar and brought his face close to mine.
“I assume you know the address,” he said.
“I do.”
“If you can wait for me, I get off in two hours,” he said. “I’ll take you to go see the place myself.”
“I wait for no one,” I said.
“Funny, I remember high school a little differently,” he said, grinning.
I wanted to slap him, right then and there. I wanted to crack my hand right against his cheek. I wanted to scream at him. To throw every single bottle back behind his damn bar at him. I wanted to castrate him for what he did to me, and for what he did to Destiny. I sniffed slowly, controlling my anger while his eyes penetrated mine, and that was when I smelled it.
The slightest hint of ammonia.
His hair’s been recently dyed.
“Fine, I’ll wait,” I said.
“I figured you would. Pick any table you like. Would you care for a drink?”
“A water’s just fine.”
Then, I sat and waited.
Chapter 5
Wesley
I poured drinks and watched her the last two hours of my shift. I studied her body language, the way she leaned back in her chair. The way her leg crossed over her knee, showing the slightest hint of skin around her calves. She was nothing like I remembered. Nothing like the self-conscious girl in school. The one who believed all the rumors while still keeping to herself. She was my first mark. The one I tried to get stuff from. Not money, or things, or credit cards, or sex.
No, I tried to pull from her the depths of her life. I wanted to see if I could get a self-conscious woman like her to tell me what was happening. To engage with me, despite the rumors. To feel every part of me when my mother wouldn’t. When she refused. While she was blinded by her alcohol consumption.
But now, she was a confident woman. A real estate investor whose skin shone of the money she boasted of. Her silky dress must have cost her a fortune, and it was a dress I would rip off any body remotely akin to hers any day of the week. My eyes danced along her frame while her lips curled around the plastic glass, and every once in a while, she caught me staring.
And she smirked.
I could smell the ocean water air bleeding through the tent. I could see the humidity condensing on her skin. I could see the way the ocean looked on her as sweat slowly dripped between her breasts. I watched while her skin flushed, drinking water after water, but never once rising to go to the bathroom.
The ocean breeze looked good blowing through the flyaways she had around her face. I wanted to rip that ponytail out just so I could see what her hair looked like fluttering down her back. In high school, she’d kept her hair short. I’d hated it, but she never would grow it out for me. I asked her to. Told her how wonderfully it would accent her eyes. I’d wanted something to hang onto the first time she’d ever sucked my cock.
But I never could get her to grow it out for me.
“Wesley?”
“Yeah, Chad?” I asked.
“You’re done,” he said. “Go deal with whatever drama that is, and don’t bring it back into my bar.”
“She’s wanting to buy that piece of shit property,” I said, smirking. “If she pays enough money, I’m not fucking coming back to this dump.”
“You’ll always come back,” Chad said. “It’s where you pick up all your unsuspecting victims before you squish their hearts around underneath your feet.”
“Wow, tell me how you really feel,” I said. “See you in a couple days.”
“Let me know how the sale goes.”
“You’ll know if I don’t show up for work!”
I walked over to her and offered my hand, but she simply slid from the chair. I studied her while she walked to her car, and I couldn’t help but notice all the differences between the version of her I was getting and the version of her I’d already had. She walked with confidence instead of with her shoulders slumped. The fat rolls of her pubescent years had spread out along her body. She now stood at five foot, nine, and she’d rounded out well in her hips and tits. She’d finally grown out that long black hair. Instead of sitting at her ears, it now cascaded all the way down her neck.
But her eyes were the same. They were still the steely, piercing gray I remembered from high school.
“Some things don’t change,” I murmured.
“You following me, or am I following you?” she asked.
“Why don’t I take a backseat for a bit?” I asked. “I’ll follow you.”
I wanted to see if she really knew where the place was. I was testing her identity, trying to see if I could puzzle through it. I, of all people, knew everyone wasn’t always what they seemed, but with every turn she made, she solidified her cover.
That was the thing about what I did. I simply assumed everyone had a cover.
I parked my car next to hers while we kept our lights running on the property. The small building sat on a great deal of land. The rundown shack overlooked the ocean and was part of the property that stretched across the road and ran parallel to the ocean’s coastline. Olivia got out of her car and began walking toward the building, and I watched as she tugged at the door.
“Is there a point to keeping a place like this locked?” she called out.
“Yeah. So, women won’t just go barging in like they own the place.” I got out of my car and went to unlock the door, pushing it in so Olivia could enter. The place was completely empty, save for a few chairs in the middle of the floor. I watched her as she walked around the nine hundred square foot property, but I could see her cogs turning.
I wanted to know what she was thinking about.
“So?” I asked. “Any first thoughts?”
“Yeah. I’ll knock the entire damn thing down. Doesn’t serve a purpose, really.”
“Figured,” I said. “Any other thoughts?”
“Well, I’d use the land. I could blow hard enough and knock this thing down. The property it’s taking up, however, is very valuable. The entire split lot it sits on would be perfect for a luxury resort. You know, one of those all-inclusive type packages you can tailor and buy.”
“I think it’s a wonderful idea,” I said.
“Funny. At the cabana, you figured Malibu had enough of those types of places.”
“Just sniffing you out,” I said. “You know, people aren’t always what they seem nowadays.”
“Don’t I know it,” she said.
I studied her body again while the moonlight bounced off the ocean and cascaded through the broken windows. I couldn’t take my eyes off that ass of hers. How it slowly swayed with every step she took. The fabric of her dress was uniquely tailored to her body type, and the moment she turned to the side, I caught a glimpse of her voluptuous tits. My mouth began to salivate, and my fingers began to twitch. I could smell the money dripping from her, and she’d be the easiest target of all.
Because I’d already practiced with her.
I wanted every inch of her, and I’d have her before we walked out of this building tonight. I didn’t care if she didn’t purchase it, nor did I care about what she did with it if she did. All I wanted was to taste those beautiful lips of hers before I dove straight into that pussy.
The pussy I’d wanted all throughout high school.
“The moonlight does you wonders,” I said.
“Down boy,” she said. “I’m just looking at property.”
“I see you’re no better with taking compliments in your older age.”
“Some things simply don’t change,” she said. Olivia looked over at me, and I knew she was studying me. Trying to read me. Scanning her eyes over me. Peeling me back and picking me apart like I’d done for the past two hours in the cabana.
Like I was doing now.
“There are things about me that haven’t changed, you know,” I said.
“Like what?” she asked.
“Like my attitude,” I said as I walked toward her. “Or my drive to succeed.”
“Didn’t realize you had a drive to succeed in high school,” she said.
“I did when it came to you.”
Olivia whipped her head in my direction just before I stopped in front of her. For a split second, I saw her falter. I saw the real Olivia bleed through, the vulnerable, isolated, quiet little girl I tried to coax out of her shell. I reached my finger up and slowly traced it down her arm, and I watched with delight as her skin puckered underneath my touch.
“I see that hasn’t changed, either,” I whispered.
“What are you doing, Wesley?” she asked. “How the hell could you have been successful with me in high school?”
“I wanted to knock down your walls the way you knocked down mine. I never could get you to stop listening to all
the incessant chatter those girls fed you when we dated. All the ‘Wesley’s cheating’ and ‘Wesley’s writing me notes.’ It was so childish. I never could capture your attention long enough to show you what you’d done to me.”
I knew I had her attention. She was hanging on to every word. She was watching my lips, silently screaming for me to tell her what I was going to do. I imagined that I’d been on her mind for years. Wondering the same things I was. Wondering if things could’ve worked. Wondering if we could’ve run off together. Wondering if we could’ve conquered the world and left our bullshit lives behind and lived to see a better day.
The thing was, I was thinking none of those things. But I could see in her eyes that she was.
“What did I do to you?” she whispered.
My lips approached hers, my hand slinking around her waist and pulling her curves close. Her tits pressed into my chest as she rose up on her tiptoes, and suddenly, the smell of her breath took me all the way back to high school. To the first time I’d pinned her to the stairwell and brought my lips down to hers. She’d blurted out that it was her first kiss, and it had been so endearing to me.
