by Shannyn Leah
He chuckled at her dry humor. “This is usually where I find you, unless you’ve been roped into helping your sister with an event. Remember the talent show a few years back?” He laughed as he reminisced.
“That was about as entertaining as this conversation,” she said sarcastically, turning her attention back to the dancing crowd.
“You had fun.”
“If by fun, you mean pleasure in watching you make a total ridicule out of yourself, than yes. Best ten minutes of my night.” She looked at him. “Bet the timing is in a tight competition to your bedroom performance.”
Laughter rippled through him. “Oh, darlin’ if only you knew.”
“If only I wanted to.” Emma looked away.
“Stop playing hard to get.”
Her head flew his direction. “I am not playing.”
“So you are hard to get? Must be why you’re not married or engaged, or even dating anyone.” Maybe he was as curious as his family as to why she was still single.
“You haven’t changed at all since university,” Emma said, ignoring the question and changing the topic, just like a Cohen.
Grayson sat straighter, flexing his muscles, giving her a little show under his tux. “I would like to think I’ve changed quite a bit since university.”
Emma shook her head, but her half smile told him he’d struck an amused chord in her. “I was talking about your personality.”
University was sort of a blur to Grayson. He was the kid that had partied, breezing through grades, knowing regardless, his career was already lined up with his dad in the family business. Schooling was about appearance and his grades showed he seldom tried.
Emma, on the other hand, had been book-smart, always studying. She’d also been a stuck-up snob in school...did she forget that part?
He let the gun show down, stopped a waitress and got them each a drink.
“Trying to get me drunk?” she asked, before sipping the champagne.
He dipped in closer to her. “That all depends. Are you a fun drunk?”
She dipped in closer to him. “I don’t know. You tell me.”
Ouch. “Still remember that, huh?” he asked.
“It’s hard to forget the one time I agreed to go to a frat party and...let’s call you my, company...liquored me up, forgot about me, was probably off banging some willing girl, and then I ended up getting arrested for public intoxication, and spending the night in jail, because I couldn’t find my way back to the dorm. Yeah, I still remember that.”
“I think you’re making it sound worse than it was.”
“I slept in my own vomit.”
He made a disgusted face.
“Exactly.” She sucked in a deep breath. “It was my own fault for thinking there was more to you than what you let others see. I’m used to the facade we live in, and like yourself, I wear a constant mask, hiding my life from the cruel high-class society that will drag us into the trenches if we give them too much. But fool me you did.” She pointed at him, shaking her head. “Fool me you did.”
“Are you talking about while you were tutoring me?”
“I could see why you were failing. You’re a little slow to catch onto things.”
Grayson laughed. He took a drink, reminiscing the days long past. “That was such a long time ago,” he said.
“Oh stop,” Emma said, almost in a panicked holler. “You just mentally banged the whole academic club right before my eyes.”
“Actually, I just mentally TP-ed the university garden.”
Emma laughed suddenly, surprising him.
He looked down and found her smile was real.
“No, you didn’t,” she said.
“Yeah, I did.”
“That’s so juvenile.”
He nodded, guilty.
They hadn’t gotten along back then either. They might have run in the same social circles, but they had always been polar opposites.
“It’s amazing how easy it is for you to be so bad.” Emma sighed loudly. “You were a jerk from the moment you sat in front of me at the library.”
He’d wanted to play footsies with her then, too.
“I was charming.”
Emma laughed, and again, the sound stirred something in him. “That was not charming. Just because you tell a girl she’s pretty doesn’t make it believable if you tell every single girl she’s pretty. That’s not charming, it’s scheming. You were trying to sleep with your tutor.”
“At least it wasn’t a professor.”
“Are you sure about that?” she asked.
Grayson leaned back and spread his arm across the back of the chair, not about to disclose who he may or may not have had sexual relations with in university. “You were the only girl I had ever used the word ‘pretty’ with.”
Emma shot him an unconvinced look. “Liar,” she said.
It was true. Pretty wasn’t exactly the pick-up line he used on women, back then or now. If he had said it to her, it wouldn’t have been to scheme her.
“If you think back, my tutoring you was like a bad eighties teen crush movie. A cliché. Rich, bad boy gets forced into tutoring with the smart girl because he’s failing a class and his father won’t allow it. Smart girl has a secret crush...”
Grayson angled his head. “You had a crush on me?”
“No.” Emma said, and he caught he’d been euchred.
He laughed again.
“I like to think it was the smart girl in me wanting to try a little bit of bad, which had nothing to do with you personally, just that you were trouble.”
He sat up straighter. “I can show you a little bit of bad.”
Emma frowned. “Is this about sex?”
“Seriously woman, you think about sex way more than I do.” He held his hand out. “Do you want a little bit of bad or not?”
She eyed his hand as if she were considering his offer. She had to be. It wouldn’t take her this long to deny him with a quirky insult. When her eyes found his, he saw her contemplating his offer, and also fighting her loathing of him.
Take my hand, darlin’. We can have a good night. A great night, and you will be surprised to learn it’s not always about sex.
“Last time I took that hand, I landed myself in jail,” she said, in a breathy whisper.
“I promise no drinking and no jail.”
Just you and me. That was a first.
Emma slipped her hand into his and he helped her to her feet. She leaned into him, as he had earlier that night, and whispered in his ear, “You would have better luck convincing the cute little bar tender.”
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving him with nor more than a nice view of her derrière.
An amused smile danced on his face. She was proving to be the wonderful entertainment he’d been anticipating.
EMMA WALKED AWAY FROM Grayson making sure to add a little more sway to her hips. If he wanted a show, then she would give him a show.
Her unusual attitude caught the features of her face by surprise and she was glad her back faced him.
Where had that come from?
Such thoughts weren’t anything like her. But it felt good to put him in his place and walk away with the upper hand. Darn good.
Grayson deserved it. Women swooned all over him, feeding his already inflated ego. He needed a reality check. Not all women wanted to sleep with Grayson Cohen. He might be rich and handsome, had everything in the world people only dreamed of, but he didn’t have to be such an overstated jerk about it. Which he was. Hands down.
Speaking of hands, Emma’s trembled at her side. She pressed them against her dress, but then her nails only wanted to dig into her outer thigh, as if justified pain for pulling them out of Grayson’s tender touch.
Emma found a drink to occupy them, letting the liquid smooth a path of comfort down her throat, while she deciphered why her hands were shaky in the first place.
Grayson.
Her rare thoughts were nothing compared to he
r unusual reaction to his touch. It had taken all her strength to tell him to stuff it and walk away. She should get an award for that action. Women didn’t simply walk away from Grayson. Especially when the little bit of bad he offered sounded good. Real good. Emma would never admit it, but she’d been tempted, even as an adult, to be a part of his little bit of bad.
What would they have done? Where had he planned to take her on the spur of the moment...for a little bit of bad?
The questions stirred a little bit of bad curiosity inside her. Feelings she didn’t know she possessed.
But with Grayson? No. It was wise she found the strength to walk away and not let him charm her into another disastrous evening. Their age didn’t matter. Kids, adolescence, or adults, he was trouble with a capital “T.”
His smile had been responsible for liquefying her caution walls all those years ago. That and her head-stupid moment, believing she had caught glimpses of more than the guy everyone else saw. Real moments she couldn’t explain and smiles she’d never seen again.
Grayson had been like the jock, only he wasn’t a jock, nor was he preppy or even the joker. He’d been his own confident self, and maybe that was what drew people to flock around his cocky, but smooth manner. Emma only saw fake. Then and now. Everything from his smile, to his laugh, to even the way he walked, like he’d mastered a walk that didn’t belong to him, but a walk everyone noticed.
Emma found Melissa and the other girls now, and dived into the conversation with them...partially. Her attention still strayed to Grayson, who had found the attention of a tall slim, blonde-haired woman. Big surprise.
He was smart. Emma would give him almost brilliant. Even back in school, he hadn’t needed a tutor. She’d caught that in one afternoon of studying with him. If he’d paid better attention in class, or had merely shown up, he would have passed with flying colors. Grayson grasped everything she explained the first time around, and yawned through the things he already knew. The yawning had been annoying to endure when she was taking out her time to help him, but easier than his short attention span. When he started throwing tiny balled up pieces of paper at her and flaring up random conversations, she’d been ready to go back on the promise to her father to help Grayson. That wouldn’t have gone over well either.
Hours, days, weeks had passed. They’d had to cover everything, making sure he was prepared. Emma didn’t mind the studying aspect, she would have tackled the task on own, but then, to allow his charm to fool her into believing there was more to him than his cocky smile. She’d learned her lesson back then, but only realized now that fake wasn’t the right word. He was self-centered, and no matter how much her body reacted to him, she was a smart enough woman to walk away.
Emma headed to one of the decks with the girls to watch an evening water light show. Her mind was back on track. It had been quite an emotional roller coaster of feelings today, knowing the camera was focused on her, anticipating Grayson, but not expecting him to hit on her, and then to discover her body liked it when he had.
One positive note for the evening was, Grayson’s brief interest in her would dissipate altogether, after his failed attempt to...what...sleep with her? It sure sounded like that was his intention. Wasn’t it always? Yes, but never with her.
Surprisingly, getting through the photos and taking the time to have a conversation with Casey and Micah, made her months of fretting over this drip dissolve. For the first time since she’d agreed to come, she felt relaxed, and content. She had three weeks with great ladies and could bring her experience back to the resort to share with guests, encouraging them to take their own Caliendo/Cohen vacation.
Yes, this was going to be a good trip.
Chapter Four
WHAT COULD BE better than waking up every day in a five-star resort with the sun beaming through your bedroom window? The answer was easy this morning, waking up on a five-star cruise with the sun gently kissing your cheek good morning.
Emma had slept like she was in heaven, floating on the clouds, and awoke ready to spend the day sunbathing in the uplifting sunshine.
“Good morning,” she said to Melissa, who must have been up for hours. She already had her makeup on, and was primped and ready to go, wearing a cute white sheer bathing suit cover-up dress. Melissa sipped her coffee and glared at Emma, as she walked down the stairs still in her pajamas.
“Are you sure?” Melissa asked. “You look like death left you on the street for the animals to tear apart. What are you wearing?”
Emma looked down at her grey jersey shorts and tank top. “My pajamas?”
“You sleep in those?”
Emma scratched the back of her head, not understanding the problem. “Yes.”
“No wonder you look like the dogs dragged you through a field of thorns. If I had something travelling up between my butt cheeks all night, I wouldn’t sleep worth a damn either.”
Melissa was in her semi-good mood. A good mood Melissa, would have cracked a cunning smile with her biting remarks. A bad mood Melissa, wouldn’t even be able to push a word out through a clenched face of anger. Semi-good mood Melissa was perfect morning company.
Emma stretched her arms over her head. “I slept amazing.” She stretched the last word out for the pure pleasure of watching Melissa hike her eyebrows up.
“How wonderful for you. I slept on a couch,” Melissa muttered.
“I offered you the bed,” Emma pointed out. She’d expected pampered Melissa to be dramatically displeased on the sofa.
Emma poured herself a steaming mug of coffee, inhaling the fresh aroma. Coffee smelled better on a cruise. She sipped the warm liquid, and looked out the window at the gorgeous water. Beautiful.
“That’s lovely, because I plan on taking the bed tonight,” Melissa said.
Emma thought about stepping onto the balcony and enjoying this coffee in peace and quiet, but then Melissa took that from her.
“I’m starving. So, anytime you fancy getting ready we can head to the breakfast buffet. It closes at eleven-thirty, and it’s ten-thirty now.”
Considering there were all day buffets to eat in after the breakfast buffet closed, Emma hadn’t been concerned about rushing out the door, but from the impatient look on Melissa’s face, Emma realized Melissa needed some food in her−like pronto.
“Give me five minutes,” she said, heading back up the stairs, this time with her coffee.
“Take ten and groom yourself,” Melissa called up after her and Emma couldn’t help but laugh.
It amazed Emma that with their immense differences in personality and priority, they still maintained a strong friendship. As the saying went, opposites attract.
A brief, opposites attract moment, popped into her head, in the form of a tall handsome Grayson. She pushed it away, annoyed she allowed herself to let him swoop in and disrupt her wonderful morning. This was a huge cruise ship which would make it easy enough to avoid Grayson. The occasional dinner and lunch with the Cohens wouldn’t be so bad, especially once he got his claws into a new sex interest.
Emma had a quick shower and slipped into a long floral dress with flowing chiffon sleeves. Running her fingers through her hair, she debated heading out with her fresh face and wet hair, but then she thought of the magazine and Casey jotting down every detail while Micah lurked around with his full lens camera.
Ugh, she wasn’t a fan.
She also wasn’t a fan of a caked on makeup face, promising to melt off in the sun.
Emma dug out the basic essentials: powder, waterproof mascara, and a nude shade for her eyelids. She swiped some gloss on her lips, and scrunched a palm full of mousse into her hair and they were off.
Knocking on Abby and Izzy’s door and getting no answer, they headed to the buffet alone.
The restaurant was packed. A lineup, a cranky Melissa, and a shared table later, they got to enjoy the delicious cruise breakfast. The pancakes and fresh fruit were as heavenly as the plush towels after her shower. Emma might take cruises more
often.
“Good morning ladies,” Grayson’s charm oozed from his lips.
Maybe not Cohen cruises.
“If it isn’t the world’s most rich and eligible bachelor,” Melissa said dryly, not even giving Grayson the time to look up at him.
“Are we jealous you didn’t make the bachelorette column?” Grayson’s comeback let even a small smile creep onto Emma’s face. She wiped it away quickly when Grayson winked at her.
“I hear suffering through a photo shoot with you is grueling,” Melissa stood. “Besides, we all know you toured over here to try another sleazy pickup line on Emma. Don’t let me interrupt.” Carrying her empty dishes, Melissa stopped beside Grayson. “When are you going to catch on that you don’t have a chance with this one? She doesn’t dip that deep into the ocean where the seaweed scum lives.”
Emma choked on her coffee. One evening Melissa was telling her to sleep with him and the next morning she was calling him seaweed scum...to his face.
Melissa left, and Emma could only wish she was at the bottom of the ocean mingling with the seaweed to escape Grayson’s amused and playful eyes. Why was everything always so entertaining to him?
“I think she likes me,” Grayson said, slipping into the empty chair beside Emma.
“Then go bother her,” Emma said.
Grayson took a piece of bread off her plate and started eating it. “What are your plans today?” he asked.
Emma’s eyes watched him eating her breakfast. She’d planned on finishing that piece of freshly baked, butter soaked scrumptiousness.
“Sun bathing? Casino? Rock climbing?” Grayson continued to list off the amenities of the cruise like he was trying to sell her a vacation. His voice was easy to listen to, deep, smooth and breathy and she found herself staring at his perfect white teeth. Emma’s top priority for the day was going to be trying to avoid Grayson, and his smooth white teeth.
“Emma?”
Her eyes snapped back up to his. “What?” she snarled.
He smirked in reply, and the sunlight danced in his eyes, along with danger. She found herself mesmerized. Mesmerized like every other woman on the planet.
