The Unwilling Executive

by Miranda P. Charles

  *****

  Jade stared at herself in the mirror. She wasn’t a prude, but this new one-piece swimsuit with a deep V-neck she was wearing was making her blush. It was by far the sexiest thing she’d ever worn.

  “If Lucas’ eyes don’t fall out of their sockets when he sees you in that, then definitely move on to the next guy,” Erin said.

  “I agree,” said Cassie. “Anyone who doesn’t drool over you today is blind—man or woman.”

  She laughed. “Oh, girls. You sure know how to boost my ego.”

  Erin grinned. “What are best friends for? But for the record, we mean every word. Don’t we, Cass?”

  “Absolutely,” Cass said.

  “Well, you girls look just as hot,” Jade said, casting her glance at her friends, who were wearing less revealing, but equally sexy, swimsuits.

  The door clicked and Lexie came bounding in the hotel room they’d booked for the day. “Wow, Jade! Look at you!”

  “Gosh, you guys are really making me nervous,” Jade said.

  Lexie laughed. “Let me get changed and we can go.”

  Jade took a deep breath, praying that this day would end the way she hoped.

  Brad, Lexie’s older brother, was celebrating his thirtieth birthday. He’d reserved several cabanas for the afternoon on the rooftop pool bar of one of Sydney’s entertainment venues. While Brad had only planned to invite family and close friends, Lexie had managed to convince Brad to also invite his old chum from school—Rick. Then Lexie had asked Rick to take Lucas as his plus one.

  “What if he doesn’t turn up?” Jade asked, looking at her friends’ reflection in the mirror.

  “Rick has RSVP’d for both himself and Lucas. I’m sure Lucas is coming,” Lexie said from the bathroom.

  “I just hope he doesn’t learn that Rick’s friend Brad is your brother, Lex. He’d get suspicious and pull out.”

  “He’ll turn up,” Lexie said. “He has no clue you’ll be here. I asked Rick to make sure of that.”

  “Quit worrying, Jade,” Cassie said. “You’re supposed to be the seductive siren today. A worried face doesn’t go with the picture. Now why don’t you practice your sexy look? Pretend you’re in front of Lucas.”

  Jade chuckled and posed in front of the mirror, pouting sultrily.

  “Great!” Lexie said, coming out of the bathroom. “Now, ladies, put on your wrap-around dresses and let’s go. The party’s already starting.”

  “Okay,” Jade said with quiet determination.

  She had no idea what she was going to say to Lucas today. But she planned to chat him up and flirt with him, whether he liked it or not. And hopefully convince him to take her home.

  *****

  Jade’s breath caught in her throat when she spotted Lucas in one of the cabanas by the pool. He was chatting to Brad and Rick, looking relaxed and oh, so handsome.

  Two women occupying a cabana on the other side of the pool were already eyeing the guys, giggling and taking off their dresses to reveal their bikinis underneath.

  Whoa. Talk about skimpy. Now Jade wondered if her one-piece would be adequate for keeping Lucas’ attention.

  She walked towards the guys, her heart hammering in her chest. Lucas could very well ignore her all afternoon, but she’d psyched herself not to give up until he literally told her to leave him alone. Even then, she might not obey, knowing he was acting from a place of hurt. Since she’d caused that hurt, she hoped to heal it, too—if he’d let her.

  “Hello, girls,” Brad said, spotting them approach.

  Lucas and Rick turned around, and Jade noticed that Lucas wasn’t surprised to see her. Perhaps he’d already learned that Brad was Lexie’s brother. Well, shouldn’t he be flattered that she was going out of her way to get his attention?

  “Happy birthday, Brad,” Erin said.

  While the other girls greeted the birthday boy, Jade smiled at Lucas. “Hi,” she said.

  “Hi,” he said with a small smile.

  “Glad to see you here,” she said a little breathlessly.

  “Yeah, you, too,” he said before bringing his attention to the girls greeting Brad.

  “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about your conversation with Penelope,” she said tentatively.

  “Come on, Jade. We’re at a party,” Lucas responded, not even looking at her. “This isn’t the time.”

  She repressed a sigh. He was hiding his hurt. And still mad at her.

  A cocktail waitress came with a tray of drinks. Jade was picking one when a small beach ball came flying their way and hit Lucas’ leg.

  “Oops, sorry,” said one of the women in skimpy bikini. She gave Lucas a smile while biting her bottom lip. No prizes for guessing her level of interest in Lucas.

  “No worries,” Lucas said with a smile. He picked up the ball and walked to the edge of the pool to hand it to Miss Obvious.

  “Thank you. I’m Sandra, by the way.”

  Miss Obvious was fast. And annoying.

  “I’m Lucas.”

  “Thank you, Lucas,” Sandra said, giving Lucas another winning smile before returning to her friend.

  When Lucas turned back to their group, he was smiling. And ignored Jade.

  Ouch.

  It wasn’t even five minutes into the party and Jade was already starting to feel glum.

  She felt a hand on her arm. It was Lexie, smiling at her encouragingly.

  Right. Plenty of time left. She couldn’t let a small hiccup ruin her plans.

  *

  “You all right?” Cassie whispered.

  She nodded. It had been a couple of hours and still no indication of Lucas thawing. Sure, he’d chatted with her, even sounded friendly, but only to answer her questions. There was no sign of him wanting to flirt back no matter how high she turned up the flirt dial.

  It was depressing.

  “I’m going into the water,” she said.

  Miss Sandra Obvious and her friend were back in their cabana, munching on some kebabs. This would be a good time to show off her swimsuit without those two bombshells to compete with.

  She took off her wrap-around dress and laid it on a bench with her towel. Then she walked gracefully to the pool steps and went into the water. She glanced back to see if Lucas had noticed.

  Yes! He was looking at her. But in the next instant, he turned to resume chatting with the other guests.

  She huffed. What should she make of that?

  With a sigh, she settled herself on a step, the water reaching to the tops of her breasts. She tried to relax to let new ideas in. Perhaps she needed to be more aggressive. But how?

  A few minutes later, there was loud splashing near her. Three of Brad’s friends had jumped into the pool.

  “The water’s nice, guys,” one of them said to their group.

  Soon, some of Brad’s other guests had joined them in the pool.

  Including Lucas.

  She swooned as she stared at his muscular chest. She missed seeing him naked.

  Putting on an impish smile, she waded to where he was and playfully splashed him.

  “Hey,” he said, wiping the water off his face.

  She splashed him again, grinning and hoping he’d reciprocate in kind.

  “Stop it, Jade,” he said, his smile forced. He glanced around as if to find an escape.

  She swallowed her hurt. Hadn’t she been obvious enough? She’d been making a fool of herself all afternoon. Couldn’t he tell she was trying so hard?

  Tears rushed to her eyes and threatened to fall. She swam away before anyone could see.

  And no, Lucas didn’t follow.

  When she climbed out of the pool, she heard Sandra call Lucas. Jade didn’t look to see how he responded to Sandra. Her heart couldn’t take any more today. It needed a rest.

  She walked back to the cabana, disheartened.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Lucas bit his tongue to distract himself from the pain in his chest as he watched Jade swim away. He’d bee
n surprised by the way she’d flirted with him today, and for a while there, hope had flared.

  But he squashed it. She was just being friendly, wanting to make sure they were fine with each other.

  Wasn’t she with Gordon now? And worst of all, hadn’t she tried to give him away to her friend Penelope?

  That fact still cut him like nothing ever had.

  He wasn’t ready to be friends with her. He didn’t know when he would be—if he ever would be.

  “Hi, Lucas!”

  Lucas turned just as Sandra came into the water beside him.

  “Which of your buddies is having a party?” she asked.

  “Brad. That guy over there,” he said, pointing to the man he’d just met today. He still couldn’t believe Rick had conned him into coming to Lexie’s brother’s birthday. He hadn’t had a chance to confront his friend on it, but he bet Rick—and Ruby and Thomas—just wanted him and Jade to be comfortable around each other. But couldn’t they see he needed some time before he could get there?

  “Hey, you must work out a lot,” Sandra said, touching his arm. The full-on flirtation had started.

  Lucas was mildly amused, but mostly disinterested. He wondered how he could get rid of Sandra.

  “Lucas,” Rick called. “Can I borrow you for a minute?”

  Relieved, Lucas excused himself and got out of the pool to follow Rick in a quiet corner.

  “What are you doing?” Rick demanded.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re flirting with that woman and ignoring Jade.”

  “I’m not flirting with Sandra and I’m not ignoring Jade,” he declared.

  “Oh? So when you don’t respond to Jade trying to chat you up all afternoon, that’s not ignoring her?”

  He gulped. “I can’t, Rick.”

  “You can’t what?”

  “I can’t be friends with her.”

  “Who says she wants to be friends?” Rick asked with disbelief.

  “That’s all she wants. She tried to give me away,” he answered, not attempting to hide his hurt.

  “No, she didn’t,” Rick said with exasperation. “You dumped her and told her you don’t do relationships. Then she found out you’re called Mr. Fuck King. When she mentioned that in passing to that Penelope woman, it was because she was hurt and frustrated. She was being sarcastic because Penelope’s a player and you’re the same.”

  “Was,” Lucas interrupted.

  “What?”

  “I was a player. I haven’t been for a while now,” he said softly.

  Rick smirked, shaking his head. “Jade didn’t give you away to anyone at all, Lucas. Obviously, Penelope took her words seriously even though Jade never meant for her to.”

  Lucas stared at Rick.

  “The two of you should just talk and lay everything out,” Rick continued. “Right now you’re doing nothing but hurting each other and yourselves.”

  “I’ve never heard you speak like this, bro,” he said.

  Rick shrugged. “Lexie was very impassioned when she told me Jade’s side of the story. I think Lexie’s emotions about the matter have rubbed off on me.”

  “So it was Lexie’s idea for you to take me to Brad’s party so Jade and I could talk?”

  Rick rolled his eyes. “No. This was all Jade’s idea. You keep rebuffing her, so she asked Lexie to plead with Brad to invite you and me. Didn’t you notice this was supposed to be family and close friends only? I haven’t seen Brad in years, but we’re here.”

  Lucas’ gaze went to the cabana, looking for Jade, his heart thundering in his chest.

  She wasn’t there.

  “I saw her leave with Cassie,” Rick said softly. “I think she was in tears.”

  Lucas’ own eyes moistened. “Thanks, bro. And could you tell Brad I said thank you? I have to find Jade.”

  *****

  Lucas knocked on the door of the girls’ hotel room. Lexie and Erin had told him where Cassie had taken Jade, but not before giving him a verbal serve for his hurtful behaviour.

  He’d grinned at them, not minding their words at all. Jade wanted him back.

  Cassie opened the door.

  “Hi, Cassie. May I come in, please?”

  “Why?”

  He inhaled deeply. Cassie seemed to like interrogating him at the door.

  “Let him in, Cass,” Jade said from the inside, sounding sniffly.

  With a little reluctance, Cassie motioned for him to walk in.

  “You can rejoin the others at the party, Cass,” Jade said, staring at Lucas from her sitting position on the bed. Her eyes were red and puffy.

  His heart pinched and he walked towards her.

  “Call us if you need us,” Cassie said softly before leaving the room.

  “Jade,” he said, sitting next to her on the bed. “I’m so sorry, baby.”

  Her eyes watered again and he cupped her face. His heart compressed at seeing her distress, but at the same time he felt it start to mend.

  “I thought you were just trying to be friends,” he said, running his thumbs on her cheeks. “And I just couldn’t handle that. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “I’m sorry, too. I never meant for Penelope to take me seriously. And I shouldn’t have ignored your earlier pleas for us to talk.”

  “I can see why you felt you had to stay away from me. I don’t exactly have the reputation of a saint,” he said dryly. “I’m sorry I kept it from you. I was afraid you’d never want to see me again if you knew.”

  “Are you still Mr. Fuck King?”

  “No, baby. That title isn’t for me anymore,” he said, unable to stop caressing her face. “I haven’t been with anyone else since I met you.”

  Jade smiled. “Really?”

  “Yes, really. In fact, I haven’t had sex since I was last with you. And that was such a long time ago now,” he said with a grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever gone without sex for that long.”

  She giggled. “You must have incredible pent-up sexual energy seeking for release, then.”

  “That I do. But you know what feels like bursting inside me more than anything?” he asked, his voice breaking.

  Jade sniffed, a tear running down her cheek. “This?” she whispered as she placed her hand right above his heart.

  He nodded, looking deep into her eyes. “I love you, Jade.” He pressed her hand on his chest so she could feel how hard and fast his heart was beating. “Only you can do this to me. I love you so much.”

  Jade sobbed softly. “I love you, too, Lucas.”

  With a shaky, happy smile he kissed her.

  Jade’s arms curved around his neck and she pulled him down on the bed with her.

  “Who’s taking the title Mr. Fuck King now?” Jade asked against his lips.

  “No one,” he answered, his hand roaming her body.

  “Can you keep the title?”

  He reared to look at her in surprise. “Why?”

  She grinned. “I kinda like the idea of having Mr. Fuck King all to myself.”

  He laughed. “I’m sure no one would mind. Now, do you want Mr. Fuck King to do his thing?” he murmured, untying her robe.

  “Mm. Yes, please,” Jade responded, shifting to help him get her naked.

  “I hope your friends don’t interrupt us,” he said, eagerly stripping his own clothes off.

  “Oh, I better text them.” Jade got off the bed to retrieve her phone from her bag.

  He watched her. Or rather, he devoured her with his eyes. He missed her so damn much and it had been so long.

  His hand went to his burgeoning erection, unable to resist giving himself a few strokes as he gawked at his naked girlfriend while she tapped a message on her phone.

  “Maybe tell them to get another room so we can have this one to ourselves all night,” he suggested.

  Jade snickered and glanced at him. Her mouth dropped open as she watched him touch himself, her eyes taking on a dreamy look.

  “Send that m
essage already, babe,” he implored. “I’d really prefer you to be doing this.”

  Jade’s lips tugged into that sultry-shy smile he loved seeing. “Yes, I think I’ll ask them to get themselves another room,” she said, tapping for a few more seconds and dropping her phone on the table.

  Then she slowly made her way towards the bed, running her heated eyes on his body. His cock jerked.

  “See? I missed you so much, honey,” he said, grinning at her and loving the way she made him burn by just a look.

  Jade straddled his thighs. “So you want me to do this?” she asked, prying his hand from his hardness and replacing it with hers.

  He moaned his answer.

  “Like this?” Jade whispered, tugging him just like she knew he wanted.

  “Jade...” he whispered. He sat up so they were nose to nose, and he ran his hand up her breast. He flicked an already excited nipple with his thumb.

  She arched her back to him.

  “Did you miss me?” he whispered, kissing her neck while her hand continued to pleasure him.

  “So much,” she answered.

  “Me, too.” He dipped his head to take a rosy bud in his mouth.

  Jade gasped. “I missed that.”

  “Glad to know, sweetheart,” he murmured before he paid attention to the other one.

  Jade ran her thumb on the tip of his cock, spreading the wetness that had formed there.

  “Honey,” he cried.

  To his surprise, Jade pushed him back so he was lying on the bed.

  “Do you want something else other than my hand?” she asked softly.

  “What do you have in mind?” he croaked, loving this game.

  “Well, there are two things I can think of, but I’ll save the best for last. So for now, you can have this.” She bent down and took him in her mouth.

  “Ahh, babe... yes,” he gasped, throwing his head back on the pillow in sheer pleasure.

  “Hmm. I missed doing this,” Jade said, licking his length while both hands continued to caress.

  He grinned as he moaned. She was incredible.

  He propped himself on his elbows and watched her, loving what she was doing with her mouth. She was so damn beautiful. But she couldn’t have all the fun.

  Sitting up, he gently pushed her head away. “My turn,” he said.