by Piper Page
* * *
The last bite of the sickeningly sweet ice cream melted in my mouth, and my wine glass was empty by the time the show was over. I flipped off the television and dimmed the lights in the living room. “Might as well take a shower and head into work,” I said to my puppy feet as we walked to shut the front window blinds. I pulled on the cord, and headlights blinded me momentarily before pulling away with tires squealing on the pavement out by the roadside near my front yard. I screamed and covered my mouth with my hand as I simultaneously jumped out of view to the side of the picture window. Had Cole followed me home?
I dared to peek from behind the fabric of the blinds. A car was driving by in the opposite direction, far too slow for my own comfort. Where was my cell phone?
My fingers trembled as I dialed my parents’ house.
“Hello?” My father’s voice was sleep-laden.
“Daddy,” I whispered, covering my mouth and the mouth piece of the phone, in case there was someone outside listening. “C-can you drive by my place?”
I heard the rustling of bedding and then the familiar sound of my father putting on his boots. “What’s going on Sunny? Are you okay?” He was fully awake now, concern in his voice.
I tried not to cry and sound scared. It was only a car. It probably wasn’t Cole. Why would he drive here after me? I was being paranoid. Maybe I was overreacting to the whole situation. Cole never made us an official or an exclusive item. We slept together, that was all. In my old-fashioned brain I had made it out to be more than it was. I needed to move into the new decade. Men and women had casual sex without total commitment. How was I going to explain that to my father of all people? I couldn’t.
“Sunny? Sunny, are you there? I’m coming over,” he said, sounding more panicked with each word.
“No, no Dad, it’s okay. I’m fine. I’m sorry. I thought,” I paused, “I thought I saw a cougar in the yard. It was the trash can on the curb. I’m sorry. Go back to bed, I shouldn’t have called.”
I heard him give a heavy sigh of relief and frustration with his youngest daughter. “Sunny, you go to bed, you sound like you need it.”
“Yes, sir. Love you.” I clicked the line off and stood there staring at my lit screen. The text icon showed eight text messages, and the phone icon showed several missed calls with voice mails. I opened up my text box and deleted everything but the uber receipt. When I saw the total, my breath caught in my throat. “There goes my monthly budget, and he took the darn tip too.” I threw my hands in the air and went to take a long shower.
15
Cole
The engine whined and cursed at me as I shifted gears and the speedometer hit ninety. I dialed her number again.
“You’ve got Sunny! Leave your name and number, and I’ll call you back. Have a great day!” I felt my mouth silently repeat the words of her voice mail message before I hit ‘end’ on the dash screen.
“Goddamn it, Sunny, why don’t you answer?” My hands hit the steering wheel hard several times out of anger. Not anger with Sunny. I couldn’t be angry with her. I was pissed at myself for letting this happen. How did I let her slip by unattended? I had no one to blame but myself. I fucked up here, I was to blame, and if anything happened to her I would never forgive myself. The entire drive to Galveston, I couldn’t help but think that she was under duress. If the man I thought was behind the pictures had done anything to her, there was about to be a war in the streets of Houston.
My God, I brought her into this with no fucking prep, no defenses. She wouldn’t understand what was happening or why. She was innocent, and that bastard would pick her apart just to get at me.
* * *
Please be safe, please be safe.
* * *
If she was unharmed, if she was safe, if she was anywhere I could get to her, I vowed I would keep her under my protection for the rest of my days. I already arranged for a crew to come out and install a surveillance system in and around her house. I would have them do it while she was out. She’d never be the wiser. I wasn’t being creepy or manipulative, but I couldn’t tell her why I was having it done. How would I? “Oh, by the way, I’m a fucking rainmaker, doll, and there are men in this town that want me, my family, and all that we love to go down in flames, including you, to get their hands on our cocaine fortune.” Yeah, that would have her falling into my bed.
I dialed her number again. Voicemail. “Fuck!”
My car pulled up to the curb of her house. It was quiet. The sun was coming up. I took a few moments to look around from the protection of my vehicle. Sunny’s car was in her driveway, right as she always parked it, slightly crooked. Her blinds were drawn shut. It was early, so maybe this wasn’t unusual. Then again, Lenny Filippo, the piece of shit who was fucking with me, could be in there doing God-knows-what to her. My knuckles turned stark-white as I gripped the leather steering wheel. I needed to pull my car out of his line of sight. I should have called my brothers for backup, but that took time, and I wasn’t about to give him any more fucking time with Sunny.
Leaving my car three streets up, the soles of my shoes scuffed up with scratches and gauges as I ran the distance back to her house. I resituated the pistol I had tucked into the waistband at the small of my back and straightened my jacket down over the grip to conceal it. Wiping my brow and my upper lip with a linen handkerchief, I went with my instincts. We’d play this game old school, like when the von Larsen boys were still coming up in the ranks. Knock on the door and blast in, fists and guns on fire. I took a deep breath and hit the wood of the front door with the flat of my palm, my other hand braced on the handle of the pistol.
After a few moments, the click of the lock and the whine of the hinges were deafening. My fingers tightened their grip.
“Cole? What are you doing here?” Sunny was standing in the doorway, wrapped in a towel.
My eyes darted out over her toweled head to see past her into the living room. She looked surprised, but in no way frightened or injured. “Are you alone?” My tone was low, in case someone as listening behind the door.
“No Cole, I’m here with the church congregation and we all just got out of the bathtub. Yes, I’m alone, but why do you care?” Her voice was biting with sarcasm, and it stung my heart.
“Can I come in?”
I watched her lips pucker, but she stepped aside, tapping her bare, pink-toenailed foot and holding the door wide open for me. “What do you want, Cole?”
I glanced down the hallway and into the kitchen.
“Cole? What are you doing?”
My body began to relax, and my muscles felt like I had just carried a 500-pound man on my back for miles. I looked at Sunny. She was staring at me like I had lost my mind. I didn’t blame her. I nearly had. “Why did you leave?”
“Excuse me?” She shut the door and latched the lock.
“Earlier tonight, why did you leave without telling me?”
She gave me an incredulous look. “Seriously? Cole, I’m an adult. I don’t need your permission or anyone else’s to go home when I want to.”
She was pissed at me for some reason. What had I done wrong? I couldn’t help but think that even in anger, she was gorgeous. I closed the gap between us and dared to reach for her. “I’m glad you’re safe.” My hands relished the feel of her skin as she allowed me to touch her bare upper arms.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Sunny yanked her arm away from my hands and moved to sit down on the sectional. “You’re just like my dad, always so worried.”
“Sunny, please,” I whispered, moving to sit beside her. I needed to be on her level. I wanted her to feel that I was with her and not lording over her. I dared to touch her again, laying my palm on her thigh. “What’s happening here?”
Her eyes darted away, and my heart shattered with the tremble in her tone. “Nothing’s happening here. You made that pretty clear with that model who was hanging all over you last night. I can’t compete with your other girlfriends, Cole, I know that mu
ch.”
* * *
Oh, my god, are you serious Sunny?
* * *
I had to rewind my brain in warp speed. I left her sitting to get drinks, talked to a few investors and clients and then…she saw me with Beverly.
* * *
Damn it.
* * *
I started to laugh, unable to help myself. Sunny’s jaw dropped, and her eyes showed the offense she immediately took. I snapped my mouth shut and tried to control the humor of the full situation. “Sunny, doll, listen to me.” I pulled her thighs toward me, and she resisted. “If you don’t listen, how can I explain what really happened.”
“You mean to tell me you don’t know that model? You have an odd way of chit-chatting with a strange, gorgeous women, Cole.”
I tried to control my laughter. My hands drew her up onto my lap while my eyes implored her to listen to my explanation and apology. Her body felt amazing on mine. I wanted to kiss her, but I knew she needed to hear my words first. “First off, you are far more beautiful to me than any other woman in the world. As corny as this sounds, Sunny, I only have eyes for you. Since the first morning I saw you running on the beach, I knew there would be no one else I’d rather be with. You’re gorgeous inside and out.”
I saw her features soften. She was listening.
“Secondly, I’m not the only one that can attest to that. Beverly, the woman I was talking to, she was ready to swoop you up for her own girlfriend.” I leaned in close. “Fortunately, I think you prefer my gender in bed over your own, at least I’m hoping so. I mean, if not, I can always introduce you two.”
Sunny giggled and playfully slapped at my chest.
* * *
There’s my girl.
* * *
“So, she’s not a girlfriend?”
I shook my head. “Nope, she has her own girlfriends. It’s kind of a no-boys-allowed club. Beverly works for me.”
Sunny laid her head on my shoulder. The towel that had been wrapped around her head fell free and landed on the floor behind the couch. Her wet hair brushed against my cheek. “Oh god, Cole, I’m so sorry. I feel like a childish brat. I’m sorry, I just got jealous.”
Her admitting that she was jealous stirred deep desires within me. I liked that she wanted me to herself. The feeling was mutual. There was one thing we needed to get straight right now, before this went any further. I lifted her chin from my shoulder and looked her straight in the eye. “I never want to hear you say you aren’t beautiful, or that you aren’t good enough for me, ever again. Is that clear?”
Her lip caught in her teeth, and she bobbed her head. “Yes, sir.” Her eyes squinted, and her brows knitted. “But tell me something.”
I kissed the tip of her pert nose. “Anything.”
“You met me at the Grill. How do you know I ran on the beach that morning? Were you on the beach? Did you see me before the Grill? What were you doing there so early, if you live in Houston?”
The flood gates were open. I needed to shut them fast. “I was out doing some soul-searching.” My eyes locked to hers, and then I kissed her. I felt her body tense, then relax into the embrace. Her tongue traced my mouth, and my lips searched her neck, trying to commit her scent and taste to memory. Her fingers entangled in my hair, and her breath became deep and wantonly warm while her lips kissed my cheeks, my eyes, and my earlobes. She was driving my nerves into a frenzy. The blood in the rational part of my mind drained to lower regions. I craved her. I knew what lay beneath the single scrap of towel material between her and my hands.
* * *
Damn it, control yourself. You need to get her out of here.
* * *
My crew would be here any minute. I scheduled them to show up while she was at work. Except she wouldn’t be at work, she’d be with me. I held her face in between my palms, licking her lips and giving her one last kiss. “Let’s get out of here.”
Her eyes searched mine. “What? No, I can’t I have to go to the hospital.”
“Not today.”
“Yes, today. I have to work, Cole.”
“I have a surprise for you. I cleared time off for you at work.”
Her jaw went slack. “You did what? How?”
I gave her a sheepish grin. “I paid your friend Cheryl more than overtime to cover your shift.” I fluttered my eyelashes. “She was more than happy to help me out.”
Sunny kissed me again, a flurry of numerous, quick pecks. She clutched the collar of my jacket and gave me a faux stern look. “You are a very bad, bad man. Don’t do that again.” She kissed me again.
* * *
If only I could tell you how bad.
16
Sunny
“Are you going to sleep all day?” Cole’s voice sounded above me and his shadow blocked out the Caribbean sun as I lay sprawled out on the cushions of the yacht’s sundeck. I shielded my eyes from the bright rays and squinted up at him, tuning my nearly naked form from its sun baked side
I yawned. “It must be all this fresh sea air. I’m sorry.”
Cole crawled up beside me. His bare chest attested to the number of days we had been out in the beautiful sun, tan and smooth. His skin literally glistened. I adored his body, his skin, his eyes, everything about him. I knew I was wrong in assuming he didn’t want me, or I was only a notch on his proverbial bed post.
In the days that followed my childish tantrum we had made up. Cole asked me to go on vacation with him. I agreed and two days after he asked, we were on a private jet, with my passport in hand, flying out of the country. I was certain we were going to Mexico. I was wrong. Laying there on the edge of sun filled slumber, positioned on the cushion next to Cole, while he stroked my arm and my cheek, I allowed my mind to drift back over the last several days, how they began and brought us to this moment in time.
“Won’t you tell me where you are taking me?”
Cole shook his head and grinned.
“Cole,” I whined, “please?”
He kissed my nose. “Nope.”
I crossed my arms and pouted. “Cole, my parents are going to put out a missing person’s report on me.”
“We’ll send them a postcard, and you can text.” He pretended to flip through a magazine. I took his hand and kissed the back of it. His attention went to my mouth.
* * *
Two can play at this game.
* * *
I leaned over the armrest and snuggled into his shoulder. I let my voice grow low and breathy. “Have you ever heard of the mile-high club?”
Cole slowly folded his magazine. He eased it into the leather pocket of the seat, placed his table tray in the upright position and stood up.
“Where are you going?”
Cole grabbed my hand and yanked me up from my seat with a wicked smile spread across his face. He pulled me along the center aisle until we reached the airplane lavatory. The metal door closed behind us and the latch slid into the occupied position. Cole pressed me up against the narrow wall and started to kiss me. “How shall we go about this?”
I looked at him and gave him my most devious grin. “Well, I suppose the first thing you should do,” I paused and bit my lower lip, popping the buttons open on my blouse so he could see the sheer lace cups of my bra underneath. “The first thing you have to do is tell me where we are going.”
His jaw dropped. “You little devil. You tricked me.”
I shook my head and smiled more. “It’s not a trick, it’s a business deal. See, I want something you have, you want something I have, and well, you know how it works.”
Cole’s mouth attacked my exposed neck. “I think I’ve met my match.”
I guided his mouth back up, so that he had no choice, but to look at me. “Well?”
He nuzzled my cleavage. “Well, what?”
“Cole von Larsen, you tell me right now, or I’ll walk right out of this restroom and leave you to reach the mile-high club on your own,” I threatened.
He reached around
me and grabbed my bottom in both hands, squeezing. He growled into the hollow where my collarbones ended, at the base of my throat. “Woman, you’re too good for me.
I yelped with the power of his grip. He lifted me upward and I wrapped my legs around his hips. My skirt worked its way up over my thighs. The thin layer of fabric form my panties was the only barrier between me and Cole’s stiff excitement. “Tell me.”
I heard the audible noise of a zipper.
“Tell me.”
Cole kept one hand on my bottom, and with his other, I felt him reach between my pinned body and his standing one.
I wiggled away. “Tell me.”
The filmy material barrier moved to the side, and Cole let out a long, exasperated groan.
“Please,” I begged.
“Aruba, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands,” he hissed.
My head went back against the wall and I moaned as Cole sank into my insides. I was living a dream. We moved together as best we could in the small confines of the cubicle room. Cole held onto my backside, guiding himself deeper with each thrust. My hands clutched at the back of his neck, and I bit down hard on his shoulder to quiet my cries of pleasure.
* * *
So much better than a massage.
* * *
His knees shook with the strength and force of his release. My own body quivered in his hands. At one point, I think the plane could have gone down in flames and neither one of us would have been the wiser. I didn’t want to let go of him, so when he reached over to release my hold on his body, my lips pouted. He kissed them and straightened his clothing so that he was decent again. “Don’t pout, doll, we’ll have all the time we want for the next several days. If you want to sit naked in my arms every hour of it, then that is what we will do.” He kissed me again. “You play a hard game, Miss Banks. I like it.”