by Ann Denton
“BJ!” I call out. He doesn’t answer.
I try again. “BJ! Help me!” His eyes flicker briefly over the trees, but then he speeds up and disappears around a bend. Fuck.
I stumble toward the path, but I’m feeling dizzy. Shit. I hope BJ had to take a shit and he’ll turn around and be back…
I hear another set of hooves. Danny’s horse trots around the corner.
“DANNY!” I scream like I’m out of my mind.
He stops the horse. So, I feel justified. And a little bit like puking.
“Danny,” this time my voice comes out as more of a moan.
Danny dismounts and stomps through the brush. He finds me clinging to a tree. He doesn’t even ask what’s wrong. He just scoops me into his arms.
He grabs his horse’s reins and starts walking back toward the stables where we started. “What the hell happened?”
“You’re ruining your rescue,” I croak.
“How can you ruin a rescue?”
“By talking… and not sweeping me up onto the horse.”
“I’m pretty sure we’d both fall off if I tried that.”
I shrug a shoulder but stop because it makes my neck hurt. “Fine. Be a mediocre hero. Whatever.”
That makes Danny’s entire body stiffen. “I. Am. Not. Mediocre.” He drops the reins and stomps to the side of the horse, throwing me up onto the grey beast so hard I almost slide over the other side. Then he smashes his foot into a stirrup and lifts his leg to mount—and the horse moves. It takes a step forward, causing Danny to fall backward, legs and arms flailing like a cartoon character until he lands right onto his ass.
I burst into laughter.
“Fuck! That’s not funny,” he grouses. Danny climbs to his feet, rubbing his ass. He walks to the front of the horse, snatches the reins, and yanks forward so that the beast and I both jolt a bit.
“Hey, that hurts my neck.”
“Well, you deserve it for laughing,” he narrows his eyes at me.]
“How’d you get hurt again?”
“The monkeys attacked me.”
He doubles over in laughter. “Animals have good instincts, I guess.”
“You mean like the horse not letting you ride him?”
He flips me the bird.
I stick out my tongue then grin. I’m enjoying this side of him. Picking on him. Having him pick back. It’s kind of like we’re friends. It’s what Heather and I do.
I suddenly feel vulnerable. Like somehow, that revelation means something. Nervous bubbly energy bounces around in my stomach and I don’t know why. Who cares if we’re friends? I’ve been friends with a guy before. But I realize … I kind of haven’t. I haven’t really let a guy be my friend since Michael. Since I was twenty-one years old.
“What the hell’s that face?” Danny asks as he yanks the reins of his unwilling horse again to force it into a walk.
“That horse is gonna bite you.”
“Horses don’t bite,” Danny scoffs.
“Fine. They don’t.” Let him find out for his arrogant self.
“You’re avoiding the question,” Danny needles. “What the hell was that face? Is there something on my ass?” He twists, trying to look, but the horse is moving so he has to keep walking.
I glance down at his sports shorts, which do absolutely zero to hide the fact that his ass is like sculpted marble. Each step shows it flexing and relaxing. I realize what a fantastic view I have. Fuck the ocean. The undulation of the waves ain’t got nothing on Danny’s ass. I swallow. I realize what the nervous feeling in my stomach is.
I look up to meet Danny’s knowing grin; he’s turned and is watching me over his shoulder. That grin says, ‘I caught you.’ So does the wink that follows.
“You’re gonna walk into a tree that way,” I tell him.
“No, I won’t.”
“Happened to me at Disneyland when I was a kid,” I tell him. “Got distracted looking at a character and wham! Tree jumped out of nowhere.”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Danny presses but does turn and briefly look at the path in front of him before turning his bright blue eyes back to me.
His eyes rake over me, causing the swirling nervous energy to overtake the headache pounding in my head. My emotions dance like … like a toddler that needs to pee. Awkwardly. Reluctantly. I’m a toddler who wants to deny reality because she wants to keep playing play-dough, dammit. I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and not have to think about unpleasant things. Like toilet bowls or rejection.
How the hell can I have a crush on Danny? Not fucking possible. Nope. No. Especially not when I’m supposed to have an arrangement with Kenneth. Nope. This is not attraction. It’s just I’m not used to having male friends anymore. That’s what this is. That’s all.
I glance at him and find I can’t hold eye contact. Fuck! But he’s waiting and I have to say something. I twist my hands nervously over the saddle’s pommel as I squeak out, “I just realized that we’re … friends.”
Danny doesn’t say anything as he leads me up over the final hill before the stables. He leads me all the way to the barn. I swing my feet over to one side of the horse so I can jump down. But Danny stops me. He puts his hands on my hips and lifts me off. He pulls me into his chest and slides my body slowly down his.
My breath catches. My nipples pebble. That nervous energy inside me whips itself up into a cyclone. Danny leans into me, his hands brushing up along my waist.
“I’m not the only one who’s a liar,” he whispers.
Then he grins and walks off, whistling, while I stand next to the stable with a swollen head, a swollen heart, and a very soaked fucking thong.
Chapter Sixteen
I avoid Danny and Alec on the plane ride back to the island by hiding in the bathroom the entire flight. I don’t care if the entire world thinks I’m shitting myself. I cannot deal with the stomach-roiling mess I turn into when I stand next to either one.
I’m still pissed at Alec. And Danny’s long stares ever since he called me a liar make my knees tremble. I can’t deal with that shit. Any of it. I’m here on business. I’m here for Heather. They are distractions from what I’m really here to do. Work. Build a business and a life for myself. Something bigger and braver than I would have had if Heather had never won the lotto. Something better than Doc Strife’s office or mom’s critique-filled family dinners. Those men are nothing but emotional vipers, out to poison me. I don’t have time for that. I’ll stick with Kenneth and his offer of no-strings sex. That’s all I’ve ever needed anyway, I think as I brace my arms against the bathroom walls during our descent.
Heather knocks on the bathroom door and asks, “You okay?”
I just yell, “Puking!”
I wait until we’ve landed and taxied to a stop to exit the bathroom. Then I force my way between Jeremiah Bible and Andrew so that I can exit in peace. I ignore Danny trying to get closer to me and speed walk down the tarmac.
I just need to fuck Kenneth. Then, all these stupid feelings and anger over an insult that doesn’t really matter will go away. It’s all just hormonal bullshit anyway, I tell myself.
I hit the trees and the path to the villas. I’m about to shed my shoes and book it toward the kitchen but Heather’s hand on my arm stops me.
I turn to face her, and she looks serious. She leans in and whispers, “I need to make another cut.”
I fake smile at the guys and pull Heather down the side path to her villa. “Thanks, guys for the excellent group date! There’s parasailing available later this afternoon for those of you who want to go, and I’ve got something special planned for dinner!” I make sure to put myself between them and Heather and wave like a happy maniac so no one can try to talk her into an individual date.
I follow her to her villa and steal some headache medicine from her bathroom. She paces her bedroom, alternating between playing with the gauzy canopy and wringing her hands.
“I want to cut Tim Wu,” s
he tells me. But, unlike normal Heather, she sounds a bit nervous.
“Did he do something? What’s wrong?”
She rubs her brows, circling like she has a headache. “I think he’s gay.”
“What?”
“I think … I think he just signed up for this as a way to meet other guys.”
I see red. I’m pissed. Did I miss something in my evals? Dammit! I probably did. I’ve hardly paid attention to Tim since he arrived. He’s a hot Asian guy, but kind of quiet. He never shocked me like Peter Brown or felt overly aggressive like One Up.
Fuck, I didn’t even give the guy a nickname in my head to sort him from the others. That’s how little I’ve paid attention to Tim Wu. I go over to Heather’s dresser and pull open the drawer where I initially put the guy’s files so she could review them in her spare time. I yank them out, saying, “This is my fault. I’m sorry—”
“No!” Heather grabs my hand. “It’s not like you could have screened for this! And … I feel guilty asking him to leave. Because … honestly, I think he and Matt have a connection.”
I pull up Tim’s file and Matt’s and glare at their photos. I’m really pissed I didn’t notice this. But then, maybe, if today hadn’t gone so wonky, I would have. “Want me to cut both?”
“No … I mean, they’re both sweet! And kind. And Matt, he and I have a little connection. But I don’t feel anything with Tim. Super awkward. But, should it all be about me with this harem thing? I mean … should the guys only be into me?”
“I thought that was the point of a harem.” It’s the fucking point in all my books.
“You’re supposed to be the center. Like Emelle.”
“You made me the ditzy character, didn’t you?” Heather scowls. “You always make me the ditzy one. You bitch!”
I hold up my hands to pacify her. “She’s the only main RH character with hair half as good as yours. But you’re missing the point. You know, Emelle’s the one that helps the genfins bond and see through their dumb guy feud and stuff. She helps them be better people.”
Heather sighs. “Yeah. Maybe … I don’t know! It just seems … not fair. I mean, I’m keeping the twins. But, seriously, I think they’re bi. And the sex with them …” She fans herself. “But I think it’s unfair to keep Tim around when I’m not even into him.” She growls and throws herself on the bed. “This was supposed to be easy and fun!”
I set down the files and move closer to her. If she’s not having fun, then I’m totally failing at this job. If she’s not having fun, I’m failing as a friend, too.
“It hasn’t been fun?” I ask nervously. “Not even snorkeling when you saw the sea turtle?”
She gives a little grin. “Okay, that was fun.”
“Or when you got naughty desserts for days?”
She rolls her eyes. “And that.”
“Or when the guys came up with that rap, sat you in a chair, surrounded you so they could sing, and ended up spitting all over you with their beatboxing?”
She narrows her eyes at me.
“What? I thought that was fun.” Andrew and the twins had paired up for that, changing alliances for the night to create … the worst rap in the world. So, so bad. So hilarious. I swipe tears away at the memory. Then I imitate the guys and repeat my favorite verse, which I made them perform multiple times until I had it memorized. “Some fellas go for the triple crown,
Three holes in one, they’re turkey bound.
Some guys bounce a girl like ping pong,
Gonna rama lam her with their ding dong!
Who’s at the back door?
Peter Brown is back for more!
But our lady shoves him aside,
She wants to rev her engine and go for ride.
She knows just what to do.
We’ll work her over ‘til our lips be blue.
She’ll drive us like a cat outta hell,
Stick shift’s her jam, she knows it well. Holla!”
I even add my own beat box. I collapse into a chair, laughing until my ribs hurt. I swipe at another tear or two. “They really outdid themselves with that one. Gah. I mean, the slam on Peter and everything. And Russian rapping …” I put my hand to my heart. “That’s gonna be your anthem for life now, you know that right? When we’re old and in retirement homes, I’m totally making you an embroidered pillow that says ‘Stick Shift’s Her Jam.’”
Heather laughs and throws a pillow at me. “Shut up. They tried. Which is more than most guys do. They’re so sweet. All of them.” She grows pensive again. “I mean … I didn’t think this would be hard.”
I shrug. “Sorry. I guess … life is complicated when you like multiple guys.” I know mine is.
“Fuck. Don’t be wise right now. Just get me alcohol.”
“Yes, ma’am!” I salute and raid the minibar in her fridge. “Tiny bottles of wine?”
“Midget wine!” she squeals.
“Pretty sure it’s dwarf wine.”
“Fairy wine.”
“Imp wine.”
“Gnome wine.”
“Shit—I’m outta little magical creatures,” Heather admits.
“Pixies, leprachauns, brownies.”
“Show off. Now I want a brownie.”
“Me too.”
We clink mini bottles and I unscrew the lid to the white wine. I down half of it with a sip. Heather takes hers like a shot, then opens another.
I clear my throat and say, “I’ll tell Tim he can pack his things and have him on the plane before dinner. I just have to check on how many flight hours we have left with Alec. I’m going to have to re-up soon. Anything else?”
“Yes. What’s up with you and Danny? He’s totally been making doe-eyes at you.” Heather waggles her brows.
My face heats. “He was not.”
She laughs. “Your face says otherwise. Was I right? I knew I saw the spark between you guys. I was r-i-i-ght.”
“He’s a liar!”
She shrugs. “So are you. But you’re calling him on it, right? Wouldn’t want to have to dock your pay.”
“Yes, I’m calling him on it,” I grumble as I down the second half of my wine.
“Fine, you don’t want to talk about him, then tell me about the pilot,” Heather demands, sitting up at the head of the bed.
I whirl around to look at her.
“I’m not totally oblivious, you know!” she smirks. “I think you could have a really fun threesome.”
“I’m not sleeping with either of them.”
“Why the fuck not? They’re hot.”
“I have an arrangement with the chef,” I sniff.
Her eyes widen. “What the hell?” She laughs and drinks a third wine cooler. She shakes her head. “You’ve got your own damn harem going.”
“I do not!”
She stares at me with disbelief. “Um. Yeah. You totally do.”
I cross my arms. “Not true.” I don’t tell her how Alec rejected me. Because a little part of me is still hurt about that. Even though a bigger part of me is mad at the stupid-ass assumptions he made about me. “I told you I have an arrangement with Kenneth.”
“Oh, Kenneth. He made all those naughty desserts? He’d totally be down for sharing. Let me tell you, having one guy eat you out while another sucks on your—”
“NO!” I cover my ears and shoot out of my seat. “I don’t want the details.”
“Since when?”
“Since I’ve got to look each of these guys in the eyes in a couple hours. It’s different if I only see the guy every couple months. The embarrassing details fade.”
She shakes her head. “Yeah. Shane Paul was a shit husband. Always gone.”
I go over to her and wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Hey, you kicked him to the curb, won the lotto, have tons of hot guys here just dying to be with you—I’d say you’re pretty much beating him at life.”
She gives me a smug smile. “I am, aren’t I?”
I shrug. “Well, you’ve always
had him beat in the friend department. But, now … I mean …”
“Want to know something? Not like super-detailed so you can still look at the guys but like a little detail?” she bites her lip, all excited.
I can’t tell her no. “What?”
“I never knew that the orgasms Shane Paul gave me were just, like, ‘meh’ orgasms. But now, I know what a rolling fucking orgasm feels like. OMG. Never going back!”
I grab two more mini bottles, twist off the tops and raise my bottle. “To guys who know how to properly go downtown!”
“To the poon monsoon!” Heather cheers.
I groan. “Way, way to graphic.”
She just laughs.
I take a sip of my new wine but set it down. I’ve still got shit to do. “Alright. I’m on my way to boot Wu. Anyone else you want to get rid of?” I stop in her doorway.
She squints at me. “Can you do me a favor? Like a weird one?”
“Like the time we swapped bras on that double date because yours didn’t push your boobs together enough?”
“Kinda but not really.”
I roll my eyes. “Just ask already.”
“Would you keep an eye on Tony?”
“Anthony Drake? The real estate guy? With the great white smile?” I cock my head.
“Yeah. We have good chemistry, but I don’t quite trust him. But I don’t know why.”
I shrug. “Go with your gut. You have other guys here. You could boot him.”
She bites her lip. “Not ready for that. Tim’s hard enough. Can you just maybe … follow him around a little? See if he’s weird or something.”
“Sure. Why not?”
My phone buzzes with another calendar reminder. “Alright. I better go. I need to get another embarrassing photos slideshow ready for after dinner.”
Heather’s jaw drops. “What?” she shrieks.
I giggle as I run out the door. “Kidding!”
Next time I embarrass her, it’ll be much worse.
Chapter Seventeen
I change from my horseback riding get-up into a bright yellow dress and flip flops. It’s too warm and muggy to stay in jeans all evening. Then I deal with Wu. He doesn’t look surprised when I tell him Heather’s cutting him. But when I tell him he needs to leave, he does look heartbroken.
