by Cee, DW
“Beach house? Where did that come from?”
“Remember I was meeting a client the other day whose house was right off Pacific Coast Highway?”
“Yeah.”
“I got lost on the way to his house and found a cluster of these tiny homes on the beach. This one had a for sale sign on it, and the owner of the house happened to be in, so I took a look inside.”
“And?”
“And it’s tiny, but perfect for anyone who loves water.”
“Like my cousin?” There was that sly but stupid smile again.
“Like me!” I derailed his train of thought. “The guy wanted to sell immediately, and this house has been on my mind for a while.”
“Only to be brought to the forefront after seeing a certain someone make every water sport look so easy?”
“Shut up and stop talking nonsense. Take a look at the property and tell me what you think.”
Jake scrolled through all the pictures and answered, “Buy it. You’ve already made up your mind. You only want to hear me agree with you.”
There was a reason why we’d stayed best friends all these years. “Thanks!”
Back at the villa, Kate was waiting for me with drinks out on the lanai.
“You’re doing a hell of a job avoiding me this trip, Donovan Taylor. Had I known you’d be this hard to get, I would’ve accepted your proposal back when you were a nobody.”
The usually serious Kate Beauvais’ attempt at a joke was funny. We laughed at what she’d said, what we’d become, and the grim future awaiting our admission. We toasted to our future, albeit a separate one, and drank in peace. I looked out to the serene Pacific Ocean, and saw the silhouette of the girl I most wanted next to me. She sat on the beach with her right cheek resting on her knees. She faced the opposite direction from me, so I had no clue what she was thinking and feeling. I was lost not knowing how she felt.
“Donovan.” Kate brought my attention back to her. “What’s the plan for this evening?”
“You want to join everyone at the luau?”
“Would you like to join me here, instead?” I hesitated. “I didn’t think you would.”
“Let’s go to the luau, Kate. I promise, we’ll talk tonight.”
“You go ahead. I need to catch up on some work and I have a client to call.”
I didn’t refuse her offer to let me go.
Delaney and I almost collided into one another as we came down from opposite aisles that merged at the luau check-in. My heart dropped when she jumped at my presence and stepped away from me.
“Delaney.” I called her tenderly.
“Hi.” She blinked back tears and literally started stepping back. “Excuse me. I forgot my shawl in the room.” She bolted out of there like a bat out of hell.
Fuck! How would I make this right with her?
Everyone sat to dinner and as often as I searched for this girl, she didn’t show.
Jake noticed my impatience and asked, “Anyone seen Laney? She’s missed dinner, and the show’s about to begin. Doug, will you go check up on your sister?”
Doug looked my way and I wanted to volunteer for him, but didn’t want to make like I was anxious to be with her.
“Yeah...” Doug waited and kept glancing my way.
He got up to go, but it was all for naught. Delaney walked to our table and said hello to everyone. It didn’t go unnoticed that she never went and got her shawl. I had no idea where she’d been all this time.
“Laney, come sit here,” Josh called her over. “Remember, you promised to sit with me at dinner.”
“Sure.” She gave him a small smile, and sat between Josh and Garret.
She hadn’t eaten at all, and that idiot Josh wouldn’t stop talking to allow her to get up and grab some food. Whether or not it was purposely done, Delaney had her head turned away from me so I couldn’t make eye contact with her at any time during dinner.
Minutes before the show began, I got up and grabbed a red velvet cupcake and a cup of coffee and put it in front of Delaney. She looked up but didn’t speak.
“You should eat something.” This was my olive branch.
She nodded and turned her attention to the show that was starting.
As soon as I got to the villa, I explained to Kate what had happened to Delaney on the beach and how Jake and I thought it was a good idea to have her stay here with us for the night so I could check up on her. That’s when Kate lost it.
“She’s the reason why, isn’t she?” In all my years of knowing Kate, she’d never raised her voice. Damn. She could be cold and scary. I felt like a little boy being scolded by his schoolteacher.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re in love with this girl, aren’t you? That’s why you don’t want us married, that’s why you’ve been sleeping in the room next door. You and I...”
“Hello.” Delaney knocked on our door, and interrupted us. “If you’ll show me where I’m to stay, I’ll go there now and not bother you,” she whispered and followed me. Was I glad Delaney got here when she did and broke up our argument? Or was I scared Kate would escalate this war of words while the star of the argument was here?
I showed her to the third bedroom, and that’s when the shit hit the fan with me and Delaney as well. “I’ll be here in about an hour so go to sleep now.” I informed her a bit forcefully.
Obviously, she didn’t like my tone of voice. “Who the hell died and made you God?” Fucking hell! Did this girl need to pick this second to be angry with me for the past two days?
“Do you have to be a bitch about everything? Why can’t you just take what I say as fact and follow the program?” Not the best thing to say, but it was what came out of my mouth.
“Because you can’t program me. I’m not a part of this crazy harem-thing you have going on here. You accuse me of flirting with men, but you’re the man-whore!”
“What the hell are you mouthing off about? How did we get into talking about me, and how the hell did I become a man-whore?” Was this entire night real? Just put me out of my misery!
“You think we don’t see you flirting with my cousin Jane, a woman with a boyfriend, when you have a girlfriend of your own? You’re physically with one woman, mentally thinking about another woman, but don’t have the fucking guts to emotionally love the right woman! You can accuse me all you like of flirting with other men, but when I find that right man, he will not doubt my love for him. Go back to your woman. She didn’t look happy to have me here.”
Fuck! “Where did we go so wrong today?” I thought I said this only in my head but apparently I’d said it aloud.
If round one was a draw with Kate, round two was definitely a KO in favor of Delaney, and shit, now I was headed to face round three. I was more than paying for my sins of the past.
“I don’t understand why you had to insist on bringing her here.” Let’s get ready to rumble...
“It’s just for a night. We have two empty rooms. What’s the big deal?” I was tired of this shit. After tonight, I was done with women!
“We have no privacy, is what the big deal is. We can’t talk, we can’t argue, we can’t have sex with her next door to us.” Damn woman said this loudly enough for Delaney to hear.
“What’s the matter with you? It’s one fucking night. She’s injured, we have a room, and she’s Jake’s cousin.”
“Jake wanted to take her with them but no, you had to bring her here. Do you know when the last time was when we were intimate?”
“We haven’t fucked since I don’t know how long because I don’t want to be with you anymore!” I closed my eyes, and had to count to ten before apologizing to Kate. That was another dickhead move on my part. Kate was hurt. “I’m sorry, Kate. That was an asshole thing to say. The way it came out was wrong.”
“...but it was the truth...”
“Yes. I haven’t been in love with you for years, and I know you don�
��t love me either. So, let’s stay friends as we have in years past.”
“Just friends?”
“Just friends and colleagues, now.”
“If who you want is the woman in the third bedroom, I say stop pussyfooting around her and grab her. Unless I’m reading her wrong, she’s in love with you too but scared as hell with your Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine.”
“Neither of us is in love with the other. I’ve been an overbearing asshole to her and she hates that I try to act as her older brother. I’ll make things right with her, but I’d like to know that we are all right, first.”
“I understand what we are now. I wish you luck with her.” This wasn’t the best ending for us, but it was an ending.
Now, it was time to finish this ridiculous match. I’d promise Delaney to stop being an unwanted older brother, and I would have her promise me that we’d get along like old times.
“Delaney?” I knocked on her door. “Delaney?” I peaked in, hoping she was asleep and impervious to all the fighting right outside her door.
Walking in to an empty room, I panicked. It was like earlier in the day when I thought I’d lost her. I searched the villa and she was nowhere. Once again, I felt as if I was forever treading water in the middle of an ocean, falling into an endless well, wandering the desert without direction—I needed this girl. I could only find my way with her in my life.
“Kate.” I interrupted her from going to bed. “Have you seen Delaney?” She shook her head no. “She’s missing. She’s taken all her stuff and she’s gone.”
“I’m sure she went back to her family. Where else could she go on this island?”
I ran over to Jake’s room.
“This is becoming too commonplace—you hanging with us like a third wheel.”
I didn’t bother to answer Jake’s snide remark. “Is Delaney here?”
“Didn’t Josh bring her to you?”
“She’s gone. I don’t know where she went.” I felt like I was losing my mind.
“Calm down. Let me call my brother. Maybe she went back to her room.”
“Nick. Is Laney with you guys? Go next door and see if she’s with Jane, for me.” Jake tried to get me to calm down. “She’s not with Nick, but I’m sure she’s with Jane and Max. Where else would she go?”
It was absolute chaos with all of us trying to figure out where Delaney might have gone. Emily was frantic. Jake tried to be the voice of reason so his wife wouldn’t worry so much. Jane was being a bitch, letting us all know she wasn’t happy to be here. Max was doing his best to keep her out of my hair. The rest of the guys asked useless questions. It was only when we went back to the room and found a note left by Delaney that we understood she had gotten her own room in this resort.
We went through another round of catch-me-if-you-can and finally, Jane had the brilliant idea of looking for Delaney under the pseudonym, Briar Rose. Even in the midst of all the anger and craziness, this girl had the sense of humor to hide herself away as Briar Rose. If I wasn’t so anxious, I would’ve laughed.
Emily knocked on the door of Room 321 and I found her! The way her hair knotted and teased in the back, looked as if she’d slept on it wet. Her eyes were sleepy, and she had nothing under that thin t-shirt, which left nothing to the imagination. I wanted to tell all the men to turn their asses around and stop staring. Always the wise one, Emily took her inside and after a quick chat, brought her back out, covered in a sweatshirt.
“Delaney, are you OK?” After today, I didn’t know how she’d respond to me.
“Yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry to have caused you guys any worry.” She apologized to her family. “I told you not to tell my family that I left.” She was upset with me again. We needed to resolve this situation.
“Jake, can I have a word with Delaney, alone?” Delaney looked horrified, but didn’t have a choice when Jake nodded an agreement. “You!” I accused, immediately after the door was shut. “Don’t you ever, ever scare me like that, ever again! I lost at least ten years of my life when I couldn’t find you. What the fuck were you thinking, disappearing on this island like that? How irresponsible can you be to scare all of us, especially your pregnant cousin...”
The shit hit the fan, again! “Do NOT accuse me of being irresponsible, and do NOT give me guilt about scaring Emily. I don’t give a rat’s-ass whether or not you ‘lost ten years of your life.’ I left you a letter asking you not to tell my family. I told you in that letter that I would see you tomorrow, or in another lifetime, if I was lucky enough!”
The girl was angry, vulnerable, and seriously adorable. In a move I knew I’d regret, I grabbed her by the waist and put my mouth over hers. She didn’t respond at first. Shock probably got her tongue...until I got to it. Once the surprise wore off, her mouth responded and at the first taste of her tongue and the first sound of her moan, I had to stop or we’d be here all night with everyone waiting outside. Damn. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t as hard as a rock right now. I pulled away as fast as my body would let me.
“Don’t ever do that to me again or I’m going to spank your ass till you can’t sit for a good long time. You got it?”
I schooled the smile on my face before greeting everyone outside.
“What’s with the cat got the canary smile? You look like my daughter right now.” Jake goaded me into talking about what happened just now. However, I decided I wanted to keep this memory between the two of us.
Kate caught a red-eye back to LA, and eventually London and I stayed on the lanai for a good part of the morning. I saw Delaney run on the beach and waited for her to sit at what’s become her usual spot on the sand.
“Hey.” I plopped myself right next to her.
“Hi.” She smiled sheepishly.
“You ran?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d be productive and exercise.”
Even in shorts, a tank top, her hair tied back and no makeup, this girl was a beautiful sight. Maybe it was time to wonder if what I felt for her was more than brotherly. First Jake and Emily, and now Kate told me to open my eyes. Were my eyes really that closed to the truth?
“Why couldn’t you sleep?”
“Oh, I don’t know...” She gave another sheepish smile. There was nothing I loved more than her genuine smile. “Maybe it had something to do with an intruding girl in a large villa, a frantic family looking for this same girl with a poorly attempted disguise as Briar Rose, and this same ratty-haired, frightening-looking, woken-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night girl who had a kiss stolen from her amidst all the mayhem and drama.”
“Yeah...” I laughed with her, but what I really wanted was to kiss her again. “I guess we should talk about that kiss, huh?”
“Not necessary. I’ll consider it a bad dream, a crazy passer-byer, a figment of my convoluted imagination—in short, I won’t cause any more trouble with you and Kate.”
Was it really a bad dream for you, Beautiful Girl? It was a sweet dream for me.
“When I realized you had left last night, and couldn’t find you, I didn’t know what to do. I was wholly lost. When we found you and you went off on me...”
“After you went off on me...”
“You can’t let me win an argument, can you?” I gave in and embraced her. We sat as close to one another as Emily had done the other night with her husband. “Yes, after I went off on you, first, I was in a state of distress, and somehow that translated into a stolen kiss. I’m sorry. It shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“I know that kiss meant nothing to you, and I won’t say anything to Kate. I heard part of your argument last night with Kate, and I hope you were able to explain to her that I don’t mean anything to you other than being ‘a pain in your ass.’”
Oh Delaney... “You mean more to me than I think even I understand. Don’t worry about Kate. I’m sorry about last night. I hope you’ll forget any of this ever happened?”
She looked at me with those gorgeous blue eyes.
I wish that kiss didn’t mean so much to me. I know you’re too much of an innocent for me. I’ll do my best to stay away, Sweet Girl.
“Jake!” I called his room after lunch.
“Yes, Donovan? How can we help you, again?” Jake’s voice was as condescending as ever.
“You and Emily want to go shopping?”
“Not really. This is our last full day here. We just want to veg.”
“That’s all you’ve done this entire week. Let’s get out and take in the Hawaii air.”
Jake groaned his displeasure. “Emi. Donovan wants to know if we want to go shopping.” After a brief hand-over-mouthpiece discussion, Jake answered, “Only if you’re buying my kids a present.”
“I’ll see you at car rental in ten.”
Jake and Emily showed up right on time and I, too, was right on time to grab Delaney before she got on the hotel shuttle.
“Delaney,” I yelled, “get in.”
“So that’s what this was all about...” Jake smirked, while Emily warmly greeted her cousin-in-law.
“You look beautiful in your Hawaiian sarong.” Emily hugged and kissed her. Emily wasn’t wrong. This girl was a beautiful sight.
Jake and I listened to the women chitchat and once we got to the shops, it was Jake who led the way. He found a perfect watch for Emily that was feminine and yet a classic. Emily almost fainted when she saw the price tag, but he put the watch on her wrist and wouldn’t let her take it off. As I watched this scene, I saw Delaney’s admiring expression. Jake’s stock had risen again.
The next stop was at the Louis Vuitton store and while I perused through loafers, Jake found a pink monogrammed canvas “diaper” bag. Emily and I both thought he was nuts for buying a diaper bag at that price. Who knew what kind of shit would end up on that bag? Delaney stayed near the entrance and watched the “argument” unfolding between her cousin and his wife. Her cousin got his way, of course.
Before I could figure out which shoes I preferred, Jake took us to the next store and explained, “Emi needs new shoes. She has edema already and I don’t like seeing her suffer.” None of us was going to argue with him so we followed.