“The hinges on the door to the towel hut are a little rusty. Can you please make a note to have maintenance look at them?” he asked, gesturing to the clipboard in her hands.
She nodded, making the note in the appropriate section of the form that had been created for these walks. Sneaking another glance over toward the growing crowd, she tried to tell herself she wasn’t jealous. That it didn’t matter that there were pretty women, and one rather feisty looking grandmother, trying to flirt with Cullen. It wasn’t like she was his girlfriend. He could flirt with whomever he wanted.
“You two seem to be getting along better,” Vaughn commented, having moved on to some loose rocks in the knee-high wall that acted as a barrier between the concrete and the sand leading to the waterfront.
Leona wasn’t sure how to respond to that comment, or if it even required a response. She knew that Vaughn was aware they’d been spending more time together, a good deal of time, since Cullen kept asking for her to accompany him on things. It had also been no secret to anyone who knew her, even remotely, that prior to this trip, she hadn’t wanted to be within fifty feet of the man.
“Errr…mmmhmmm,” she mumbled.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it. Took long enough.”
“Pardon?” She snapped around quickly, forgetting all about the scene behind her. Looking at Vaughn, who was still wobbling the same loose stone, she tried to figure out what he had actually said. Because it certainly was not what she heard.
“I am not blind, nor am I stupid, Lee. Although I can understand why recent history might lead you to believe otherwise,” he remarked. She couldn’t help but smile at the comment. Though she hadn’t been there for the actual event, she’d helped Drea sort through the aftermath of Vaughn’s reaction to finding out about her and Kyle. It hadn’t been pretty, but they’d gotten through it.
“If you ask me—not that you did, but I’m the boss so you’re gonna listen anyway—but if you ask me, it’s been a long time coming.”
“I….I don’t follow, Uncle Vaughn,” she told him.
“Look, Lee, you’ve been running around here since you were five. And I know that by now you have figured out that I am a little bit…” he trailed off, looking for the right word.
“Uptight? Of a control freak?”
He scowled at her. “I was going to go with overprotective. And that urge extends to you too. I remember how enamored you were when he was here that first year. And then how you wanted nothing to do with him the next. I’ve been here for all the special requests, the insistence that you were the only one to take care of his rooms. At first, I just thought it was the celebrity thing, wanting to make sure he knew and trusted the person who was dealing with his stuff, which I get. But then I watched you two, and there was something there.”
“There’s nothing there, Uncle Vaughn.”
“I realize you’re going to deny it because it’s against policy, but I’m not going to fire you over it, Lee. I’ve learned my lesson in that department.”
“Really, Uncle Vaughn, there was never anything going on, he always—” She was cut off.
“He always had all those women with him. Yes, I remember them too. Was very happy to hear he was traveling alone this year,” he answered. “They were such nightmares. Always expecting something simply because they were here with a VIP guest.”
Leona nodded. She remembered the women clearly. The thought of them made her stomach churn.
“Anyway, all this to say, I realize that he is a big deal and that he’s charming and attractive and famous, yadda yadda yadda. And he’s a good guy—he is. I have always respected him and in the last couple of years have come to count him as a friend in ways.” He paused. “And, I know you girls are now adults and can make your own choices, but I’m not a very good uncle if I don’t tell you to be careful. You deserve someone who is going to act like you walk on water. Our grandfather used to tell us to ‘treat a woman like she was the only thing on this planet that mattered.’ And if he’s not going to do that, if he’s just going to treat you like all the other flavors of the month, then he doesn’t deserve the time of day.”
Leona didn’t know what to say to everything Vaughn had just told her. So she did the only thing she could think of. Walking over to where he stood on the sand, she threw her arms around him in a great big bear hug.
“Thanks, Uncle Vaughn.”
It was easy to understand why the bonfire was such a popular event at the Indigo Royal. Actually, popular wasn’t the right word. In some ways, the Tuesday night bonfire was the event at the Indigo Royal. And while Cullen could understand it, it had never been something that had excited him before. Maybe because every other year he’d been here, he’d been accompanied by someone who had the goal of being seen, especially with him, and wasn’t looking to just hang out, making the night a lot more of a chore than he felt was worth it. Or maybe it was because the first time he’d ever laid eyes on Leona, she’d been dancing with Drea to some stupid, overplayed pop hit the DJ had put on.
Tonight was different, however. Tonight, he was actually looking forward to it. He just hoped that it wouldn’t turn into a free-for-all like the pool did this morning. Maybe everyone had gotten it out of their system, and he could have a nice quiet evening with Leona and her friends.
Oh, who was he kidding? He knew better than that. There would be a few people who had missed seeing him, or who had “heard he was here,” or “hadn’t wanted to bother him” earlier. What was worse than all that was that he knew that those few people wouldn’t even be the worst of it. He’d seen exactly how those women had looked at him this morning. He would know that glint in a woman’s eye anywhere. It was the look of a woman who saw the chance at her fifteen minutes of fame, and maybe more, all on the arm of some pro athlete. He hated that look. Not that he hadn’t taken advantage of it more than his fair share of times over the years, but it still bothered him that he was looked at like that at all. Though, right now, more than anything, he just hoped that none of those women tried to ruin this time with Leona.
Much to Cullen’s surprise, when he arrived at the bonfire area he found that there was a section cordoned off on the far side on the bonfire, closest to the water. Two chaise lounges and three sling beach chairs sat off by themselves, with a literal line drawn in the sand marking them as special. A piece of paper folded in half had the word ‘reserved’ written on it, keeping people away from that area as they searched out their own spot for the evening. While nothing specifically said his name, he knew the area was meant for him and whomever else Leona had invited to join them, since it was her handwriting on the paper.
“You have this whole area to yourself?” a voice he didn’t recognize said from behind him. He turned around slowly, finding a pair of women who had approached him earlier. Oh, bollocks, here we go…
“Waiting on some mates, that’s all,” he replied. He gave them the practiced, polite smile he gave media whenever they hounded him on the street. Although now he wasn’t so sure that he would have to keep up the same PR image as he’d had to manage the last twenty years.
“Want some company while you wait?” the one giggled, while twirling her long, straight brown hair.
He had absolutely no desire to flirt back with her, not even the polite kind of flirting. He just didn’t know how to get rid of her without being a complete jackass.
“They should be here any moment,” he offered up, wishing someone, anyone, into existence.
“Really, we don’t mind.”
He was about to make another excuse when he saw Leona approaching them, with a look he couldn’t name spread across her face. She looked absolutely adorable in a short black denim skirt and a white halter top that had a deep v-shaped neckline, showing off her cleavage. Just the sight of her in such an outfit made his dick spring to life and his mouth water. If they hadn’t been in public, those clothes would be ripped off her so fast. Thinking of being in public, however…
“There you are,
darling,” he said loud enough for Leona to hear him as she approached. The look on her face changed to confusion, undoubtedly since he’d never called her “darling” before. But he needed to get the message across. Walking past the two women who were still just standing there, he closed the gap between him and Leona, reaching out to grab her by the waist. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her in greeting. It wasn’t some deep, mad passionate kiss, but he hoped it made it perfectly clear that she would be the only one coming into contact with his lips tonight.
“I see you found our seats. Hope you don’t mind it’s kind of far from the bar,” she said, as he pulled back from their kiss.
“It’s perfect, baby.”
“Right, great,” she said, stepping out of his arms and grabbing his hand. Looking over to the two women who had finally registered her presence and her claiming gesture of holding his hand, she nodded to them, “Ladies.”
The pair smiled politely as they turned to go, thankfully taking the cue that they were given. Cullen just hoped that would be the last he saw of them. Not only tonight, but for the rest of his stay.
“Friends of yours?” Leona asked, when the women were finally out of earshot.
“Not at all. Couple of score whores.”
“Score whore?”
“Generic term for a woman looking to hook up with a pro athlete. Hockey calls them puck bunnies, in football it’s a pitch bitch, but generically it’s a score whore,” he explained.
“Ah,” she said, sitting down in one of the sling chairs.
“Is something wrong?” he asked her. He couldn’t explain why, but she seemed off somehow.
“No.”
Curt answer, that wasn’t good.
“Menina…what’s going on?”
“Nothing. Had I known there was going to be a fan club gathering, I would have saved more seats.”
So that was it. She had been bothered by the unsolicited visitors. Not that he blamed her—he hadn’t exactly been thrilled to see them either. But this attitude was still something new. She’d never shown any indication of that kind of thing bothering her. Quite the opposite actually. She’d been very helpful during the autograph session with the kids at camp, making sure they all got everything signed, and had even let a couple of other people sneak into the line. They had not been hot women shamelessly flirting with him though.
“Lee, I promise I wanted them to go away just as much as you did,” he said, trying to mitigate her feelings.
“No man has ever wanted hot women to go away,” she snarked.
“Oh, trust me, that is not true,” he answered. He walked over to where she was sitting and crouched down in front of her. Placing an arm on either side of her, holding on to the chair for balance as he remained crouched, he closed her in so she had to listen to him. “Menina, you rescued me by showing up when you did. Promise. And I think you know me well enough by now that ‘promise’ isn’t a word I just throw around.” He looked her straight in the eye, hoping she was hearing him completely. “Tonight is about you and me, hanging out at the bonfire you enjoy so much, together. Or well, with your people, as it is.”
She held his gaze for a moment longer, as if she were searching his eyes for a sign that he was full of it. When it seemed like she was satisfied that she wasn’t going to find one, she smiled slightly. She started to say something, but was cut off by a voice that Cullen had heard before.
“Sorry to interrupt!” Maeve called out. “But I come bearing gifts!”
She sauntered over with a tray of drinks as if she were a member of the waitstaff. Cullen stood up so she could hand him a beer and a plastic cup filled with a frothy pale-brown frozen concoction that he assumed was meant for Leona. He looked at the drink and then her, raising an eyebrow in question. She reached for it, making grabbing motions with her hands as if she were a small child. He laughed lightly and handed the cup to her, but not before taking a gulp himself. Immediately his taste buds were flooded with a mix of different liquors with a slight hint of chocolate.
“Bloody hell, what is that?” he asked, shocked that someone as little as Leona would drink something as strong as that.
“That,” Drea said coming up behind him, “is a Bushwacker. Vodka, Kahlua, Crème de Cacao, coconut liqueur, triple sec, and a little bit of milk.”
“Christ…” Cullen swore. “How does that not knock you on your arse?”
“Oh, don’t worry, it does,” Kyle said, as he sat in one of the chaises and pulled Drea into his lap. “Very easy to make some really bad decisions after a couple of those. Just ask Dalton.”
“Do not ask Dalton,” Dalton drawled, referring to himself in the third person. “No one needs to relive some of those stories.” He grabbed the last beer off of Maeve’s tray and dropped into the sling chair on the other side of Leona.
The group laughed at Dalton’s response. However, it didn’t stop Kyle from offering up his favorite story of Dalton’s misadventures. According to Kyle, shortly after starting to work at the Indigo Royal, Dalton had gone out with a couple of the other employees and had been treated to his first Bushwackers. Drea and Kyle showed up to the boats the next morning to find Dalton passed out, naked as the day he was born, curled up on the bar.
“There was not enough disinfectant in the world that morning to clean off that bar!” Drea said. “It was quite the wake-up though, hopping on the boat and seeing his naked ass.”
“I was not naked, Drea,” Dalton corrected her. “I was nekkid.”
“Is there a difference?” Cullen asked.
“Naked is when one is sans attire,” he explained, playing up his accent. “Nekkid is sans attire and up to no good.”
The group burst out into laughter.
“Drea, I can promise that you won’t ever find me naked, asleep in the spa,” Maeve said.
“But what about nekkid?” Dalton asked.
“That either,” she remarked, smiling sweetly.
They’d continued on like this for a while, and Cullen found himself enjoying the relaxed, easy atmosphere, as well as the company, just as he had on the boat trip last week. It was a nice change of pace for him, being able to just be himself, easy and relaxed, hanging out with people who did not care that he was some household name. Even Maeve seemed more comfortable with the group and was actually participating in the conversation, rather than just hanging on the sidelines.
Cullen looked down at Leona, who was leaned over in her chair, whispering something to Drea. The smile on her face gave away just how happy she was too. She must have felt his gaze on her, because she turned to look at him, her smile growing wider when he didn’t look away. She winked at him, and then turned back to Drea.
“There you are!”
The conversation stopped abruptly as the voice stole their attention. Cullen turned toward the bonfire and the large group that congregated around it. Luckily most of the people were too engrossed in their own smaller groups to notice the angry, hulking man who was storming their way.
“You no good, lying, sack of shit,” Carlos spat as he approached Cullen. “Think that because you play football that rules don’t apply to you, huh? You worthless British bastard!”
Cullen had no idea what was going on, or why this guy was so upset. But he had no time to figure it out either. As soon as he opened his mouth to ask, Carlos took a swing.
Connecting full-on with Cullen’s jaw.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The crack that came from Cullen’s jaw as it made contact with Carlos’s fist seemed like it could be heard around the world. Maybe Cullen just felt that way since he not only heard that crack, but heard and felt his jaw rattle at the same time. It wasn’t the first blow to the face he’d ever taken. Hell, it wasn’t even the first one he’d taken this year, but it had caught him off guard enough that it felt like it. Stumbling backwards a step or two, he caught his balance and rubbed his jaw at the point of contact.
While he had no intention of retaliating—after all, that
wasn’t going to solve anything here—Leona was on her feet, stepping in between him and her colleague.
“What the fuck, Carlos?” she snapped.
“Stay out of it, Leona, this is between me and him.”
“You picked a rather odd time and place for a private conversation, mate,” Cullen commented.
Carlos surged at him, looking like he was ready to take another swing, but Kyle and Dalton popped up out of their seats in time to catch him and hold him back. He shook them off, telling the guys to stay out of it.
“We’ll leave y’all alone to talk, but you have to promise no more of this,” Dalton answered him, waving his hand in Carlos’s direction, indicating the boxing stance he was still in. “Y’all don’t need to be drawing any more attention to yourselves.”
Cullen watched out of the corner of his eye as Kyle steered Drea and Maeve away from them and back toward the bigger group around the bonfire. Kyle pulled Drea in close and whispered something into her ear before rolling her away from him in a swing dance type move. The two started dancing to the beat of the music the DJ was still playing, turning the attention of most of the guests toward them.
Dalton backed away slowly, keeping his eye on Carlos as he did so, making sure he didn’t do anything rash. When he was satisfied, he turned toward the bonfire and grabbed Maeve’s hand, pulled her into a quick embrace, and dipped her as if they were ballroom dancing. When the DJ suddenly switched over to Poison’s “Nothin’ But a Good Time,” they didn’t miss a beat changing up their moves to start rocking it out and singing along. Between Kyle and Dalton, they were doing everything possible to keep everyone’s eyes on them and away from the trio now standing alone off to the side. Cullen had never been so thankful to a pair of guys in his life.
“Explain yourself, Carlos,” Leona said. Her arms were folded across her chest, just under her breasts so that they were pushing up, her cleavage almost spilling out of that low-cut halter. If it wasn’t for the scowl on her face, the fire in her eyes, and the steam that you could all but see coming out of her ears, she would have been the sexiest thing Cullen had ever seen. Actually, even like this, she might still be.
Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort Book 2) Page 21