Reverie

by Shain Rose

  I turned to him and said it would be the best way to get rid of the mud but he scolded me about my clothes getting wet.

  So I started to pull my shirt over my head, undeterred, but he growled as he grabbed my arm and told me I’d better fucking not. I wasn’t sure if he was possessive or concerned others would judge us, but I let it go. Instead, I waded in with my outfit on and made sure to tell him how amazing the water felt. I sighed and moaned as I washed the mud off, like it was the most pleasurable experience of my life. I told him it was even better because I'd fallen and could wash the mud off.

  Then my last morning in Kauai came. I sat on top of a cliff, watching the water down below.

  The day was chilly and cloudy, but the sea was calm, waves barely lapping at the rocks. The soft breeze blew through my hair, reminding me to relax and let the wind whisk away any anxieties.

  I ducked under the chain fence that kept people away from the cliff’s edge and stepped right up to it. All I saw was green mountains and water meeting the clouds on the horizon. Standing on the bluff, witnessing nature in all its glory, made me feel bigger and smaller than ever before at precisely the same time. I sat down and let the feeling wash over me.

  “Fuck me, woman. You shouldn't sit so close to the edge.” His voice made me jump.

  "Jesus! Warn someone when you're behind them. Especially when they're on the edge of a cliff."

  "Like I said, move back. There’s a reason for the fence," he commanded as he wiggled the chain.

  I turned back toward the sea. “I'm not moving.”

  I heard a low grumble and then he sighed. "God damn it."

  I turned to find him maneuvering under the chain before sitting right behind me. I furrowed my brows. “What are you doing?”

  He tucked his legs on either side of me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. "Making sure you don't die on this trip because apparently you have a death wish."

  I glared. "No, I don't."

  "You went on about a hundred dangerous hikes and whenever you came across a sign saying danger or caution, you did exactly what it said not to do."

  I shrugged. "You only live once, right?"

  "Can't enjoy it if you're dead because you fell off a cliff."

  "I'm aware that I can't enjoy things if I'm dead, Jett."

  "Could have fooled me," he murmured as he nuzzled into my neck and looked out at the sea.

  I let the conversation die. I didn't want to argue while I took in the sun on the water or the waves breaking against the rock wall. We stayed cuddled against one another for too long. So long that I memorized the way I felt secured in his arms. I memorized how he smelled—like a citrus soap mixed with sea water—and how his chest felt like solid, steady ground against my back. I tried to catch my heart as it fell for Jett but it may as well have been plunging over that cliff. The slope was steep, jagged, and too severe to correct.

  Just as I was about to drag myself away from Jett, I saw a movement against the waves. At first, the tiny splash drew my attention because it deviated from the natural current. When nothing more happened, I scanned the water one last time and started to stand.

  Jett’s hand grabbed my thigh, holding me there. He pointed just a little way from where I had seen the first splash. "Baby whale," he whispered.

  I tried not to blink.

  Beep. Beep. Beep.

  The sound in my head reminded me to absorb this moment as once in a lifetime, as a moment I may have never gotten.

  My eyes scoured the water again. I didn’t want to miss anything. I stared so hard I began to think I’d imagined the splash. From the water, breaking the slight ripples, jumped a baby humpback whale. Right after, the mother followed. She soared through the sky like she could fly and the sun rays caught the water glistening over her body. She sparkled, she glimmered, she erupted with life.

  I didn’t realize I was squealing until Jett nudged his chest into my back. “They can’t hear you, Vick.”

  “I saw a humpback whale.” I looked over my shoulder at him and he attempted to hide his grin, but his lips curled at the corners.

  “Yes, you saw a humpback whale and a baby one too.”

  “It jumped out of the freaking ocean, Jett.” I couldn’t be quiet if I wanted to.

  “They do that sometimes, Pix.”

  “This is officially the best trip I’ve ever been on. I can’t believe that happened. I mean, we were just sitting here, and they jumped out like they wanted us to see them, like they wanted to be a part of my day.”

  “They jumped out because that’s what they do. They have to breathe,” he deadpanned.

  “Fine.” I would give him that. “They probably didn’t care if I saw them, but still ….”

  His smile finally came out to play, and it reached all the way across his face, enough to crinkle the corners of his eyes.

  He was so appealing when he smiled, like he had all this happiness bottled up in him he didn’t want to share with anyone. When he unleashed it, it blinded me to everything but him. The wind had tousled his jet black hair, and his blue eyes mirrored the sea below us.

  On the edge of the world, I didn’t question myself when I leaned in and kissed him.

  He wrapped a hand around my neck and kissed me back.

  He tasted of Hawaiian sea and sun and love.

  We made out on the edge of that cliff for maybe a minute. Maybe an hour. I lost track of time. I was more focused on how his hands slid over every part of my body he could reach, how his mouth owned every part of mine.

  When he finally leaned back to stop us from going too far, he raked his gaze over me and grumbled, “I would screw you on the edge of this cliff if it wasn’t so dangerous.”

  I smirked. “I’m game if you are.”

  “You have a death wish, Pix.” He stood up and pulled me with him, lifting me over the chain with no struggle.

  “I don’t. I just like to--”

  “Have fun. I know. But vacation ends today when we fly back. You ready to face the real world?”

  “My real world is still fun. I’m happy to get back to my day-to-day.”

  We started walking back to our places. “You enjoy the city that much?”

  “I’m loving it.” I practically burst with emotion. The city had always seemed out of my reach. I was so damn happy to be experiencing the hustle and bustle of it all over the past month that I would tell anyone about it. “The jostling to get to work every morning, the way people are so driven they would literally fight you to get one step ahead. Sounds weird, but the pulse of the city is amazing.”

  He grunted.

  “I’m lucky. I get to work near my best friend and do what I love. Steven gave me a great opportunity.”

  He nodded. “Yes. Sounds like Stevie really does you a lot of favors.”

  “He’s an exceptional friend.”

  Jett looked my way, and his smile was slow. “If that’s what you call it.”

  I quirked a brow. “That’s what I call it. And I know what you’re insinuating. I’m honest. I’d let you know if I’d slept my way into a position. But I’m an associate and Steven hasn’t even asked me out yet. I hope he does though.”

  We came to the fork in the road where our paths separated. Jett didn’t stop walking like I expected.

  I thought maybe he would confess that he wanted my number, that we should try to give it a go back home. He turned to the right and said over his shoulder, “I hope he does too. I’m sure, even having only seen him on your annoying FaceTime, you would make a picture-perfect couple and your wedding would be just as beautiful as Brey and Jax’s.”

  I glared at him. “You say that sarcastically, but it could happen.”

  He kept walking away without looking back at me. So I yelled after him, “One day you’ll come across the love of your life and your cynical ass will miss it. You’ll regret it too. Just wait and see.”

  His laugh carried over the wind. “Goodbye, Victoria.”

  I let him go.
That man wasn’t mine to change.

  He was a glorious distraction that I had gotten too wrapped up in.

  I had indulged myself and allowed everything I did with him to touch me deeply. But I refused to have regrets.

  On the flight back, I wrote him off.

  And back in Chicago, I forgot all about him.

  Or so I told myself.

  7

  Jett

  Living in a city either makes or breaks a person. The constant movement—the way the streets are always alive, the lights always on, the noise persistently vibrating through your walls at night—can drive a person to work harder or fold under the pressure. It can irritate someone into leaving for the suburbs or lull them into the rhythm they were made to follow.

  I was made for it.

  The city pumped to a steady beat, and I loved knowing that I could alter that beat if I worked hard enough.

  Stonewood Enterprises was one of the largest investment companies out there. We bought up businesses and turned them into lucrative ventures. We also invested companies’ money and pulled in so much that the market felt our every shift. Stocks moved when we moved.

  I called those shots.

  I focused on some of the largest accounts as well as a few small clients. One of them sat across from me, back straight as she went over her portfolio.

  “I want to make sure this goes back into funds for your family.”

  I sighed. “Brey, you are family. You were before and now you are legally.”

  She cleared her throat. “Still, if you could keep this confidential …”

  I slammed my laptop shut. The woman, I swear, did this shit just to irritate every one of us Stonewoods. She couldn’t handle that my mother and father gave her a trust fund when her dad went off the deep end and her mom died. Now she kept trying to pay it back, much to the irritation of me, my brothers, my father, and my mother.

  Her ideas were actually respectable in my opinion, but I wasn’t going to honor them. The money had been a gift from my parents, one we all got as their children. They saw Aubrey as one of theirs. It was their choice, not mine. “I commend you for trying. I understand why, and I would probably try to do the same thing. But the whole family’s been pretty clear about this.”

  “You go around them all the time,” she quickly retorted.

  She had a point. She worked under me exclusively, and as my intern, she knew I had a habit of writing off my brother’s and father’s business suggestions.

  “That might be true, but Jax—”

  She cut me off. “He would probably try to kill you, I know. I’ll talk to him.”

  I chuckled. “My brother fooled you into thinking he can one-up me? I’d still beat his ass if he came at me. That said, he has some leverage when it comes to that app of his. I know him. He’d threaten to tank that app if I helped you funnel money back into the family funds.”

  She sighed. “Can you just think about it?”

  “You want honesty?”

  She nodded.

  “No. You’re family.”

  Her cheeks reddened, not in embarrassment but anger. There it was, the spitfire she tried to hide from everyone.

  “It will never happen and every time you ask me, you waste more of my time and more of your time. And your time is my time when we have work to do.”

  She glared at me, and I waited. I nudged my closed laptop so it sat perfectly straight on my desk.

  “Right,” she sighed. She knew the conversation was over for me. She opened her laptop and pulled up a list of businesses. “We handled your two biggest clients. They accepted your offers. We’ll have a merger happening by the end of next week with the other, and you told the investment team to handle the rest of the businesses. It looks like all but two have accepted our team’s offers.”

  “And the two are?”

  She named a company I knew wouldn’t accept. I didn’t want them to, which was why they hadn’t.

  It surprised me to hear that Samson and Sons had walked away from our offer though.

  “Reason given?”

  Aubrey squirmed. “Ah, this feels like something I shouldn’t be involved in, but you know Vick too. So, I guess she and Steven spoke. He wants what’s best for his employees and didn’t want to give up the firing and hiring ability along with retirement plans.”

  “Hmm,” I said as I pulled up information about the company on my computer. As I did, I mumbled, “Tell me more about their request.”

  “There wasn’t a request.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  She smoothed her hair. “I can send you the email, but there wasn’t a counter request. They just refused.”

  “Send me the refusal letter.”

  Aubrey’s eyes widened. “Jett, Vick and I are close friends and—”

  “And what?”

  “Well,” she cleared her throat. “Our communication is a bit informal because we all know each other. I can have her send an official letter today. I only got word from her earlier this morning.”

  “Actually, I’d like to see the informal e-mail.”

  She licked her lips and looked down at her laptop. Her poker face was slipping, which meant that e-mail wasn’t one they wanted me to see.

  Aubrey was a decent intern, good actually. Her investment style jibed with mine. She took risks, did her research, and remained professional. She also never stepped outside of bounds and was exceptionally well-mannered. I liked her from a work perspective.

  I also knew she wasn’t someone I could fire considering my brother had just married her. So sometimes, in these moments where I wanted to tell her to do as she was told and send the e-mail over immediately, I’d become frustrated with her.

  “Brey?”

  Her eyes snapped up.

  “Send me the email now, please.”

  She started typing on her laptop. “Okay. Before I do …”

  I didn’t have time for the explanation and warning she would give me regarding the email. “Never mind. I’ll pull it up myself.”

  “What?” she stuttered out.

  I already had her email opening on my own laptop.

  “This is Stonewood Enterprises. I need access to all my employee’s emails. For security and efficiency purposes. You’re being inefficient right now.”

  She huffed.

  I shot her a look. “You’ll have the research we need for our two o’clock meeting?”

  She got the hint and stood up as she slammed her laptop closed. “Access to everyone’s emails is—”

  “Company policy, Brey. You read the handbook?”

  Her eyes narrowed. Sometimes I wondered if she knew how big a temper she had for someone so small. “Of course I read the handbook. Did you?”

  “I helped write the handbook.”

  “Then you know that the way you are talking to me isn’t right. Don’t be that boss. Or that brother-in-law.”

  I felt the need to crack my neck. She had a point. I wondered if sisters-in-law were supposed to be this annoying. “Just be ready at two.”

  “I plan on it.” With that, she walked out, and I took a few deep breaths. I needed to talk to my brother and my dad about her working under me. I couldn’t keep reining in my temper around her. I needed an intern or assistant I could yell at if I needed to yell at them, and one who listened to me right when I asked for something.

  On that note, I pulled up the email that Vick had sent Aubrey that morning.

  From: Victory Blakely

  To: Aubrey Whitfield

  Yep. Steven said there was no way he was selling just for the money. He’s not going to hand over firing authority to your dick of a boss. He’s honestly such a moral guy. I’ll draft the legal document later.

  * * *

  Sorry not sorry we won’t be working together :-P

  * * *

  Drinks at the club on Saturday? Just tell Jax we need a girls’ night. He can live wit
hout you for a little while. Or he can come and watch us like a hawk. I know he’ll pick the latter.

  Vick

  Such a moral guy? As opposed to what I was? Funny that the woman who’d slept with me multiple times just a week ago didn’t have anything remotely nice to say about me when it came to my business.

  I rolled my eyes and closed the e-mail. I’d brought little Stevie’s company up for no other reason than the principle of the matter.

  His numbers were good, his company prospered. There were holes though. Just by glancing over the data, I could see where he could make more money, where he could succeed, and where he was faltering.

  His type of business was a dime a dozen. Even so, I found myself wanting to prove a point.

  Jett Stonewood

  Victory Blakely

  Dear Ms. Blakely,

  I was informed Stevie doesn’t want to sell at the price point my team offered. Why don’t you have a talk with him and let me know what price point he thinks is fair?

  Sincerely,

  The Dick of a Boss

  PS Your full name’s Victory. You didn’t correct me in Kauai. Why?

  * * *

  I wasn’t surprised that she responded almost immediately, and I found myself smiling at her words.

  From: Victory Blakely

  To: Jett Stonewood
  Dear Mr. Stonewood,

  Steven wanted me to be clear it wasn’t a monetary issue. I have attached the formal rejection letter. We appreciate the offer and hope to maintain a cordial business relationship in the future.

  Sincerely,

  Vick Blakely