“Actually, anything that goes on with one of you will be important to all of you,” Reina says, walking in with a scowl on her face and her girls at her back. “The bond you form with one another is just as important as the training you’ll be receiving. You’ll have to depend on each other, and trust each other, while you’re on missions. And it will be the support and help from your friends that will help you get through this training. I’ve leaned on these nine women more than I ever thought I would, and they all know I’d do the same for them. Sisterhood is paramount to us. We would never hurt or betray one another, and we expect you all to feel the same way about each other. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s get started.”
Darcy comes over and gives me a hug before leading me to her office. I take a seat, and she motions to a packet on the table in front of me.
“This has everything you need to know for right now in it. Someone from Ainsley’s team will be by to do your hand and retina scans. Those will get you into the elevators and our rooms here, as well as your apartment. Chloe Griffin took your color choices and style into consideration, and created an apartment for you that I think you’ll love. Your place isn’t as big as ours, but if you pass, you’ll be moved to a custom place on a higher floor.”
“I’m sure the apartment will be perfect.” Hell, I’d live in a box if it meant I could work here.
She nods, and then looks serious. “We have to go over the results of the tests we had you take last month.”
“Okay.”
“You scored high in technology, weapons, sparring, fashion, and research. You did okay in analysis, etiquette, science, and blending. Languages is where it looks like we may have a problem.”
“I took Spanish in high school. I still remember most of it.”
“I know. That helps a little, but you’re going to need to master at least three other languages, and one of them has to be complex. I think you’ll be fine with French, and Italian for two of them. For the other one, you can choose between Arabic, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew, Turkish, or Russian.”
“Do I have to decide now?” I ask, panicking. I knew training wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t expect a big obstacle so soon.
“Not right now, but Reina will want to know what you choose by the end of the week so she can plan out your studies.”
“Reina is teaching languages?”
“Yes. She’s fluent in pretty much every language on the planet.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, I know. She’s all that, and a bag of chips. No pressure for the rest of us.”
“What are you teaching?”
“You can’t laugh.”
“Okay,” I tell her with a shrug. I know she used to be a cat burglar, so I’m guessing it’s blending.
“Etiquette.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh. Apparently all of my princess training has made me the expert. It’s pretty embarrassing.”
“I think you’re still a bad-ass.”
“Thanks.”
We spend the rest of the day going over the paperwork I need to fill out, my salary while training—which is more in a month than I made in the last year an assistant at the auction house in Seattle—and various policies and procedures. Basically, everyone else in the building will think we are Foundation interns, and we have to act the part. It’s a simple form of on-the-job training, but an important one. We can’t slip up. Not that I intend to. I had no problem playing the part of intern while flirting with the junior execs from C&C in the cafeteria this morning. Now I just need to worry about mastering a complex language.
Chapter 1
Joel
I don’t know what I’m doing here. Actually, I do—I just don’t want to admit it to myself. Zack Taylor, invited me over for some kind of celebration for his sister, and I came running. Not to see Taylor, who I became friends with a few years ago when we were both participating in a charity event. Oh, no. I’m hoping to see his sister. The one who took my breath away when I saw her walking down the aisle at his wedding, and then had my dick coming to life when she threw back shots, and shook her ass on the dance floor during the reception. She seemed to be going out of her way to ignore me, and even turned me down when I asked her to dance, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. Which explains why I’m standing here in the middle of Taylor’s living room, despite the lack of single females who’d be willing to blow me in the backyard.
There are a few single ladies, but that’s just it—they’re ladies. No bat bunnies, although admittedly, I haven’t had one of those in over a year. When I got hurt, and had to come here to Vegas to get back into shape with the farm team, the ones back home forgot about me. Until the rumors about my return started circling, and now they all want a piece of me again. The problem is, I don’t want them anymore. I didn’t really know what I wanted until I saw Sierra Taylor in her bridesmaid dress. After that, no one else has held my attention, and my teammates have given me the nickname of “Eunuch” because I haven’t taken anyone home—or into a random bathroom—for months.
I’ve been back in Las Vegas for the past couple of months, working on getting back to 100% so I can rock Spring Training, and go back to the team. I haven’t had a woman here, either. My dick and I are both hoping Sierra will want to play tonight. If not, my hand might just fall off soon.
My phone rings while I’m waiting, and I smile when I see it’s my mom. I walk outside and answer, spending the next ten minutes filling her in on what’s been going on with me and how my shoulder’s doing. We speak in English, until the end where she tells me she loves me in our native Portuguese. I answer her back with a smile on my face.
“Eu também te amo, mãe. Adeus.”
“What language is that?” I hear from behind me.
I turn around, annoyed until I see that the object of my fantasies is the one who asked the question. She’s wearing one of those bandage style dresses. It’s strapless, and goes from pink on top to shades of blue, green, and white, before ending above her knees. Her long brown hair is down, and loose, making me want to grab it and pull her to me.
“Hello? Did you hear me?” she asks.
“Huh? Oh yeah. I was speaking Portuguese.”
Her eyes go wide. “I need to learn that.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. My internship with the Corrigan & Co. Foundation requires me to learn a few languages. Portuguese is one of the ones I can choose from.”
“I could help you.”
“What’s in it for you?”
“What are you offering?” I ask, stepping closer to her.
“What do you want?”
“You. I want you, Sierra.”
“In what way?” she asks, her eyes narrowed.
“In every way. I want your body in my bed, and all of you at my side for every event I have to attend while I’m in town. I want you to cook me dinner, and basically anything else I can think of. I’ll help you learn one of the hardest languages in the world, and you’ll be mine. Whenever, wherever, and however I want you.”
“I’m not that kind of girl.”
“It’s what I want,” I tell her with a shrug.
“What else can I give you? I have some money.”
I laugh right in her face. “I don’t need your money, lindeza.” I can’t help but slip that term of endearment in. She is more than pretty.
“You can’t have me.”
“Good luck, then.”
I start to walk away, but she grabs my arm. “Wait.”
“Yes?”
“Yes. I’ll do it. I have some terms—things I won’t do sexually—but I’ll sleep with you, and be your arm candy.”
“Don’t forget the dinners, and whatever else I can think of.”
“Why are you doing this? You could probably have any woman you want.”
“I only want you. Only you,” I reply honestly.
“My internship has to
come first. I can’t always be at your beck and call, and I may have to cancel on you if I’m required to work.”
“I understand.”
“What if we’re not compatible.”
“In bed? I promise you will love everything I do to you, Sierra. Your pleasure is of the utmost importance to me.”
I don’t miss the shiver than runs through her body at my words. She wants me. I’m pretty sure she wanted me at the wedding, but for some reason, she fought her attraction to me. This internship must be really important to her, and I couldn’t be happier.
“When do we start?”
“Right now,” I tell her as I pull her to my side, and walk back into the house. Game on.
* * *
Sierra
I’ve never had all conversation stop when I’ve entered a room before, but it does now. Joel has his arm firmly around me, and my brother looks like he wants to commit murder. “Relax, querida,” Joel whispers in my ear.
“What does that mean? And the other word you said to me. Lind-something.”
“Lindeza,” he says, spelling it out for me with a smirk on his face. “You’ll have to tell me next time I see you. What kind of teacher would I be if I just told you the answers?”.
“This isn’t a joke to me.”
“Nor to me. I plan on taking our agreement very seriously.”
“Hello, Joel. I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Reina says, walking up to us, along with Matt.
“Hi, Reina. It’s great to see you again,” he tells her, kissing her cheek while Matt growls.
Now I remember. When Reina was in Europe, she made out with Joel at a club. I’m pretty sure it was for some kind of mission, but I don’t know if Joel is aware of that. Matt must be, but he still looks pissed.
“I should go mingle,” I say, pulling out of Joel’s embrace. I’m not in the mood for a testosterone contest tonight.
“Go see your friends and I’ll find you before I leave,” Joel tells me.
I nod, and practically run to where I see Jen, and some of the other girls gathered. She laughs as I walk up. “He’s bloody hot.”
“Yes.”
“You have to give us more than that,” Kalila tells me.
“Yes, please. I need to live vicariously through someone, and since Jen won’t talk about her hot boy bander, you’re my only hope at the moment,” Neveah tells me.
“Wayne’s not mine,” Jen insists.
“I don’t think he knows that,” I reply with a wink. He’s definitely hers, or he would be if she’d give in and claim him.
“Anyway. Back to you and the baseball stud. What’s the deal? You’ve never even mentioned him.”
“We met briefly at Zack and Ainsley’s wedding, although I doubt he remembers that. I went outside for some air and I heard him finishing a phone call. He was speaking in another language, which turned out to be Portuguese.”
“Ooh, did you ask him to be your sexy tutor?” Matissa asks.
“No. Yes. I mean, we’ve come to an arrangement.”
“Sex and education. I like that,” Jen tells me.
“I have to cook for him, and be his arm candy sometimes, too.”
“I wish I could help you more,” she tells me getting serious.
“I know.”
I do know. We all have things we need to work on, and while we’ve promised to help each other as much as we can, we all have to pass. Most of us are meeting for two hours a day to do all we can for each other, but we need to work out things on our own as well.
“No more talk about our training. Sierra’s brother is throwing this party to celebrate our internships. We need to make sure all this food and booze doesn’t go to waste,” Harlow reminds us all.
Camari shakes her head, but follows her into the crowd, along with the rest of us. We have fun, eating, dancing and drinking for the next couple of hours. I know where Joel is at all times, because I can feel him staring at me like he’s physically touching me with his eyes.
Ainsley kept Zack in line when I got up the nerve to go over and see him. Joel was on the other side of the room, so that helped ease the tension. He just congratulated me, and gave me a big hug. I love my brother, but his tendency to be overprotective can be a bit much at times. Thank God for Ainsley.
“Are you ready to go, querida?” Joel asks from right behind me. His hands go to my waist, and I have to fight the urge to melt back into him.
“I’m not sure my brother’s going to be okay with us leaving together.”
“He’s going to have to get used to it. Unless you’re backing out.”
“I’m not.” I can’t.
“Let us say our goodbyes, then.”
I square my shoulders as he puts his arm around them, watching Zack’s eyes narrow once again as we approach him. “Cruz,” he growls.
“Taylor. This was a great party. Thanks for inviting me.”
“I wouldn’t have if I’d known you were going to hit on my sister. There’s a code, you know.”
“I live by my own code and no one else’s.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Zack,” Ainsley says, a warning in her voice, reminding him that I hate it when he gets like this with guys.
“Goodnight. Thank you again. For everything,” I tell them, pulling Joel to the door with me.
“That went well,” Joel tells me when we reach my car.
“Should I follow you?” I ask, ignoring the sarcasm in his voice.
“Follow me where?”
“To your place? Or were you wanting to come to mine?”
“Not tonight, Sierra,” he tells me, taking my keys from my hand and opening my door for me. He places a kiss on my cheek, and hands the keys back to me before turning to walk away.
What the Hell? I’m still standing there as he gets into his sports car and roars off without a glance back to me. Maybe this was all a joke to him. I don’t even know if he really meant what he said about helping me. We didn’t exchange numbers or anything. I shake my head to clear it a little, and then drive myself home. I need to pass my language tests. With or without his help.
Chapter 2
Sierra
I’ve been ignoring my brother’s texts since I left the party with Joel last night. I don’t know what to say to him. I know what he’s thinking, but he’s wrong. Joel walked me to my car, and kissed me on the cheek. I know I won’t be getting off that easy for long, and I should be worried about that. I’m not, which scares me. I shouldn’t want to to be with a man who’s only helping me so I’ll sleep with him, no matter how hot he is. And damn, if he’s not the hottest man I’ve ever come in contact with. My panties pretty much burst into flames when he spoke to me with that slight accent of his.
The banging on my door tells me I better think of something to tell my brother, and fast. “Open the damn door, Sierra. I know you’re in there.”
“What’s your problem, Zachary?” I ask, complete with eye roll, when I open the door.
“Well, let’s see,” he says, storming into my apartment as I close the door. “I throw you a party and you end up leaving it with Joel Cruz.”
“Okay, and?”
“You don’t date athletes.”
“Maybe I do now.”
“You’ve just all of a sudden changed your mind? For him?”
“Do you talk about all your friends with such scorn?”
“No.”
“Is he an ass?”
“He’s cocky, but no. He’s a good guy,” he admits with a sigh.
“Then why shouldn’t I date him?”
“I don’t know. Dammit. You’re my baby sister.”
“I’m not a baby.”
“If he hurts you, I’ll kill him. I’m telling him that.”
“Go ahead and play the protective big brother for one conversation, but then you leave him alone. I mean it.”
“Fine. I love you, Si.”
“Love you too, Zack. Now go home to your wife, and let
me get back to studying.”
“I’m really proud of you. You can do this. I know you can.”
“Thanks,” I tell him, as he pulls me into a hug before leaving.
I sit on the couch, pulling my Society laptop onto my lap, and bringing up the Italian software. Reina gave me an oral exam for Spanish, which I thankfully passed, so I’m onto Italian now. She thinks it will be easier for me to try this language next since it’s got some words similar to Spanish. So far, so good.
I’ve only been in training for one week, but it’s harder than anything I’ve ever done in my life. The main focus of my studies is languages since I’m lacking there, but I also have classes in the other nine components as well. I have classes once a week for the areas I showed a strength for, three days a week for the ones I did okay in, and five days a week for languages. We work at our own pace towards passing, so while I share classes with all nine other girls, I see some more than others, depending on our strengths.
I don’t know how long I’ve been at it when I get another knock on my door. Since I know no one but Society women and their guys can get to these floors, I yell out for whoever it is to come in. I’m not surprised to see Jen open the door. I set my book aside and smile as Neveah, Matisse, Rose, and Rhieve enter behind her.
“Hey, ladies.”
“We’re thinking of going out tonight. You in?” Rose asks.
“Sure. I could use a break. Are the other girls coming?”
“I want to invite Harlow, Kalila, and Camari, but I can barely stand to be in the same room as Greta, so I don’t know. It will be obvious if we don’t invite her,” Jen tells me.
Greta is the blonde who was bitchy to us on our first day. She hasn’t been any nicer since then. I don’t think she understands the meaning of sisterhood, or cares about what Reina told her. She seems to excel at everything else, though, so I guess we’re stuck with her.
“I don’t think she’ll care,” I remind her. “By the way, good job on not letting any ‘British’ slip into your explanation.” She struggles with blending in since she’s used to her slang and standing out everywhere she goes.
Society Girls: Sierra Page 2
