The Prize: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance (Diamond Lake Romance Book 3)

by K. L. Middleton

  “What’s going on over there?” Blair murmured, noticing it too.

  “Looks like they’re flirting with Adam.”

  Rory hadn’t stopped and was already on his way to the bungalow. I tried not to let Adam’s flirting with the women bother me, but it was irritating. “I thought he had to get back to the room for a shower.”

  “Maybe they just recognized him?”

  “Right,” I said dryly. “I think they’re just hot for him.”

  Blair looked amused. “Well, you can’t really blame them.”

  One of the women, the brunette, said something. He looked surprised and then waved his thumb toward the bungalows. They talked for a little longer and then the woman held up her bottle of sunscreen. He took it and she turned over onto her stomach.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, watching as he put some on his hands and began lathering it onto her back.

  Even Blair looked irritated this time. “No shit. Why couldn’t her friend do it?”

  “Exactly.”

  Watching him touch her made me sick to my stomach. At least he didn’t put any on her ass or thighs. She wore a thong, which irritated me even more. Even my bathing suit covered more than hers.

  Adam set the bottle of lotion down on the ground next to the woman. A few more words were exchanged and then he left.

  “At least they didn’t exchange phone numbers.”

  “Who cares if they did? We’re not together,” I muttered.

  She smirked. “Come on. You look like you’re ready to rip that woman’s head off right now.”

  I didn’t reply.

  “Maybe you should give him another chance?”

  “I doubt he wants another chance. I mean, he looked ready to jump that woman’s bones.”

  Blair laughed. “He did not.”

  I didn’t reply. I knew that I was overreacting, but I couldn’t help it.

  “Now who’s the jealous one?” she asked, studying my face.

  “Oh, shut up.”

  She laughed harder.

  34

  Adam

  I walked into the bungalow and set my keycard down on the credenza. “Hey, Rory, remember the two chicks checking us out by the swimming pool?”

  “Yeah. One of them was Mara. Our medium. I’m on the phone with her,” he called out from the bedroom.

  She’d recognized us from the web show, which was why they’d been staring at us earlier.

  Rory walked into the living room, still on the phone. “Okay. We’ll see you then.” He hung up. “She’s going to meet us at five also. In the atrium.”

  “Cool.”

  We took showers, grabbed our EMF meter, Gopro cameras, and camcorder and then headed out to meet Earl and Mara. When we arrived, the medium was already there waiting. She’d thrown a sundress over her swimsuit and still smelled like the tanning lotion I’d applied. I had to admit, her body was hot and she was pretty cute for an older woman. It was also pretty obvious that she was attracted to me. But, my heart belonged to Chloe. In the pool, I’d wanted to grab her and kiss the anger right out of her. But, she wasn’t ready to forgive me yet. Hell, she could barely look at me.

  “So, you’re a medium. Are you also psychic?” I asked as we waited for Earl.

  “I have some psychic abilities. Like, my gut instinct is almost always spot on. But, my talents, for being a medium, are much stronger.”

  “What’s it like to have spirts trying to talk to you all the time?” Rory asked. “Do they follow you around town?”

  She smiled. “They’re always trying to connect, especially when they have a message for a loved one. It’s very distracting at times.”

  “Is anyone trying to connect right now?” Rory asked.

  “Not yet. The night is young though. Give it time,” she replied, smiling.

  We talked more about her gifts until Earl arrived, ten minutes late. He had his street clothes on and looked a little nervous.

  “Sorry. It took me awhile to get my hands on some key cards.” Earl’s eyes moved to Mara. His eyes swept over her body and he grinned, liking what he saw. “And who do we have here?”

  “She’s the medium you recommended,” Rory said.

  “Nice. I’d better watch what I’m thinking then,” he said with a wicked grin.

  “A medium connects with Spirit,” she said, smiling coolly. “I can’t read your mind.”

  He chuckled. “That’s probably for the best. You’d probably slap me if you could.”

  “Let’s keep this on a professional level,” I said, wishing we could lose the asshole right now.

  Earl’s smile faded. “I’m just joking around. No harm in that, right?”

  “As long as it doesn’t offend the lady,” I replied.

  “It’s fine,” Mara said. “We’re all here to do a job. Nothing more.”

  Earl nodded.

  Rory rubbed his hands together. “What do you say? Let’s do this.”

  “Let’s do this,” Earl repeated. “I’ll show you the way.”

  We followed him to the elevators and stepped inside. He hit the button for the eleventh floor. The doors shut and we started going up.

  “So, the floor we’re going to has been closed off to the public for a long time. Because of the hauntings,” Earl said.

  “So, none of the rooms are being used?” Rory asked.

  “No. They have recently started doing some renovations. Things haven’t worked out as planned. I’ll explain more when we get there.”

  The elevator stopped at the eleventh floor and we all stepped off.

  “Hold on. Let’s start filming,” Rory said, fiddling with his GoPro camera.

  I turned mine on as well, along with the camcorder. We then followed Earl down the dimly lit hallway.

  “You’ll notice that the carpeting and wallpaper is very outdated,” Earl said, walking ahead of us. He glanced back over his shoulder. “Every time they attempt to remodel, things seem to get postponed.”

  “What do you mean?” Rory asked.

  “Last time a few workers got hurt. Oh, and the carpeting that was supposed to get installed? It disappeared from storage.”

  “Interesting,” I replied.

  “They don’t want you to change anything,” Mara said, stopping in the middle of the hallway.

  We turned around and found her staring off into the distance.

  I turned the camcorder toward her. “Who are they?”

  Her eyes came back into focus. “The original owners. They lived and died here. They… they don’t like changes. They don’t like intruders either.”

  “So, they definitely aren’t happy with us showing up I assume?” Rory replied.

  Mara smiled grimly. “Be prepared.”

  The hair stood up on the back of my neck. “For what?”

  She suddenly looked frightened. “Nothing good.”

  That shut all of us up. Then Earl broke the silence, chuckling.

  “I’m not going to get my undies in a bundle just because some ghosts don’t want us around,” he said. “I mean, what harm can they really do?”

  “Didn’t you mention that some of the workers here were injured?” Rory asked.

  His smile fell. “Good point.”

  “If you’re listening, Spirit… pardon me, Spirits, we mean you no harm. We’re here to validate your existence and offer you a chance to communicate,” Rory said loudly.

  The light down the hallway flickered.

  “You getting that, Knight?” Rory said to me.

  “Yep.”

  Earl grinned. “I told you. I told you this place really was haunted.”

  When the lights stopped flickering, I aimed the camcorder on Mara. “Does this spirit have any messages for us?”

  She was silent for a few seconds and then nodded. “Yes. There’s a female here. I believe it’s the wife. She’s inviting you to keep searching.”

  “Thank you, we will,” Rory said loudly. He turned to Earl. “Hey,
why don’t you lead us to the suite you were talking about?”

  He nodded. “Yeah. It’s just down at the end.”

  We followed Earl to a room at the end of the hallway. He opened it up with one of the keycards, flipped on the light, and we all walked in. The first thing I noticed was the musty smell and chill in the air.

  Rory’s phone began to vibrate. He picked it up and looked at the screen. “Just what I thought. It’s seventies. They want their wallpaper back.”

  I chuckled. It was pretty outdated. Ugly, in fact. It had yellow and green stripes and definitely had a sixties or seventies vibe going on.

  “Sorry, it was just a text from my parents.” Rory put his phone away. “So, nobody has used this room for a long time, I imagine?”

  “No,” Earl replied. “Like I said, nobody stays up here.”

  The suite had a small kitchen that overlooked the living room. The cupboards were outdated as were the counter tops. There were sheets over the furniture. The carpeting was a brown and orange shag.

  “You guys notice how chilly it is in here?” Earl asked, rubbing his forearms.

  “A little.” Rory turned on the EMF meter and started walking around the room.

  “I’m really sensing some negative forces here,” Mara said, looking uneasy.

  “The spirit said that we were free to look around, though,” Earl said. “That doesn’t sound like we have much to fear.”

  “That also doesn’t mean we’re safe,” she replied in an ominous voice.

  One of the bedroom doors slammed shut, startling all of us. Rory and I quickly headed over to it.

  “You getting anything?” I asked as he tested the air again.

  “No.”

  He opened the door and we stepped into the master bedroom. It was large, with a walkout balcony that faced the ocean.

  “He’s with us right now,” Mara said in a haunted voice.

  “He? Who’s he?” Rory asked, moving out of the way for her.

  She stepped into the room. “The husband. This was his mistress’s suite. He doesn’t like that we’re in here.”

  “He’s protective of it?” I asked.

  “Yes.” Her eyes widened as she stared off again. “It’s also where his wife murdered the two of them and committed suicide.”

  Rory looked shocked. “What? I didn’t read anything about a murder-suicide happening at the hotel.”

  “That’s because the rest of the family didn’t want a scandal,” Mara replied. She closed her eyes. “There’s so much energy here.”

  “You getting anything on the EMT?” I asked Rory.

  “No.” He tapped and then hit it. “Maybe it’s not working right.”

  I snorted. “That would explain a lot.”

  Like why we hadn’t had any readings for a long time.

  Rory gave up on the meter. He walked over to the door leading to the balcony and tried it. “It’s unlocked.”

  “Oh, yeah. It always is,” Earl said. “The lock is busted.”

  “The balcony is where the wife shot the mistress,” Mara said, holding her hand out, as if trying to feel the spirit’s energy. “So much anger. So much rage.”

  “Let’s go look outside,” Rory said, opening up the door.

  The four of us went outside. It was warm and windy.

  “Feel any presence?” Rory asked Mara.

  She shook her head.

  We took some more video footage of the balcony and then headed back inside.

  “It’s gotten warmer in here. Did you notice that?” Rory said.

  I nodded.

  “That’s because they spirits have left already,” Mara said with a shaky sigh. “They’ve retreated.”

  There was a loud rap on the door in the living room, making us all jump. We hurried out of the bedroom and Earl threw open the door leading out to the hallway. “Nobody here, guys.” He stuck his head out the doorway. “Nope. Nobody.”

  Rory looked at me, a grin on his face. “What the hell is this, Ding Dong Ditch? Spirit style?”

  I smirked. “No shit.”

  Suddenly we heard a shriek. Like a woman screaming. The noises came from outside of the suite. We all stepped into the hallway.

  “I think it came from one of the rooms down the hallway,” Earl said.

  We heard it again.

  “You have keycards for the other rooms?” Rory asked.

  “Not the ones down there. I didn’t think we’d need to see them. This room has always been the most haunted,” he replied. “I can probably get my hands on some keys, though. It wouldn’t be until tomorrow evening, though.”

  “No problem. We can wait. This is already more activity then we’d seen in a long time,” Rory said, his eyes alive with excitement.

  I agreed.

  We went back into the suite for a while, but all remained quiet.

  “What do you think, Mara? Getting any more spirit connections?” Rory asked.

  She shook her head. “No. Nothing.”

  Rory suggested we break off until Saturday night.

  “Sounds good,” I replied, shutting off the camcorder.

  We left the suite and headed back down the hallway, to the elevators.

  “So, what does everyone think?” Earl asked, hitting the Main Floor button.

  “It was pretty cool,” Rory said, checking the EMT meter again. “This thing worked worth shit though.” He looked at me. “Waste of money.”

  I nodded.

  “There’s definitely spirits here,” Mara said. “I connected with the wife mostly. She’s still filled with anguish over her husband cheating.”

  “Can you tell her to move on?” Earl asked. “Maybe she can break free of this place?”

  “I’m going to try tomorrow night,” Mara replied with a sad smile. “But, it’s not always that easy.”

  “So, you didn’t connect with the husband?” Rory asked.

  Mara frowned. “Yes, actually. I did. He’s the dark force that worries me. He’s also the one responsible for the injured workers.”

  “I thought it would have been the wife,” Rory said. “Since she murdered the two.”

  “No. He is actually the one drawn to pain. And… he wasn’t just having a normal affair with the murdered mistress. I think there may have been some S & M involved.”

  Earl looked surprised. “You learned that just now?”

  She nodded.

  “How do they communicate with you? You hear voices?” Earl asked.

  “I see images. Symbols,” she replied.

  Earl frowned. “No voices?”

  “No.”

  We stepped out of the elevator.

  “Well, it’s been interesting,” Rory said. “Thanks for showing us around, Earl.”

  “Yeah. No problem.”

  “What are you two doing for dinner?” Mara asked.

  “We have reservations at Leonardo’s,” Rory answered.

  “Maybe we could have dinner together tomorrow? Before we return to the eleventh floor?” Mara said, this time looking directly at me.

  “If you don’t mind our girlfriends tagging along,” Rory said.

  She smiled. “Of course not. I’d love to meet them.”

  “Girlfriends?” I said, when we were away from Earl and Mara.

  “Dude, did you see the way Mara was staring at you? Seriously, man, that cougar wants to eat you up alive. Now maybe she’ll back off.”

  “She’s going to figure things out tomorrow night, when Chloe gives me the cold shoulder.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Chloe. She can pretend to like you for one day.”

  “Right.”

  He smiled. “Come on. She’s going to warm up to you eventually. In fact, let’s take the girls to the club after dinner. We’ll get them a couple of drinks and who knows, maybe she’ll forget why she was mad at you in the first place.”

  I highly doubted things would work out that easily, but I was willing to try anything.

  35
r />   Chloe

  Blair and I stayed at the pool until five-fifteen. Afterward, we explored the hotel and shopped at the gift store before returning to our bungalow.

  “What are you wearing tonight?” Blair asked, looking through her luggage.

  I showed her a teal sundress I’d purchased the summer before. “I haven’t even worn it yet.”

  “It’s super cute. It’ll make your eyes pop.”

  I smiled. “What are you wearing?”

  “I bought a white dress. I’ll probably wear that.” She looked at her arms, which were pink from the sun. “It’ll show off my nice sunburn.”

  “Put some Aloe Vera on that,” I reminded her.

  “I know. I know. You’re so lucky. You never burn, do you?”

  I glanced down at my skin, which was slightly tan. “Not much.”

  “I knew I should have went to the tanning booth before our vacation.”

  “Yeah, but you don’t want skin cancer,” I reminded her.

  “Yeah, yeah.” She disappeared into the bathroom.

  An hour later, we were dressed and ready to go.

  “Are we meeting the guys at the restaurant?” I asked, checking my reflection in the mirror.

  “They’re supposed to be picking us up.”

  As I was applying lip gloss, the doorbell rang.

  Blair answered it. “Hey, there.” She flung her arms around Rory and kissed him on the mouth.

  “Damn, girl. You know how to greet a guy,” he said, squeezing her butt.

  “Maybe Chloe and I should just meet you two at the restaurant?” Adam joked, standing behind him.

  “No way. I’m freaken starving,” Blair said, letting go of Rory. She grabbed her purse. “We have all night for dessert.”

  Rory wiggled his eyebrows. “That’s what I’m talking about. A girl after my own heart. Among other things.”

  She smiled.

  I grabbed my purse and followed them out the door. They made such a cute couple and I was happy for her. If only things would have worked out between Adam and myself. But, here we were. Still barely speaking. What made it worse was the gnawing in the pit of my stomach. Or, maybe it was the ache in my chest. Regardless, I missed the guy and being around Rory and Blair, watching them flirt and have fun, wasn’t helping.