Southern Seduction ; Pleasure in His Arms

by Carolyn Hector

  Chase nodded. Intent on reaching Jonas before it was too late, he strode toward him, wondering what his twin brother was up to. Not everything was a game, and he wasn’t competing with his brother for Demi’s attention. To prevent him from joining them at the corner booth, Chase stepped in front of Jonas, blocking his view of Demi. They were identical twins, but Jonas always got the girl. And if Chase let his guard down, he’d screw him over—like he had countless times before. “What’s up?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest. “What do you want?”

  Jonas gestured to the booth with a nod of his head. “Who’s the girl?”

  “None of your business,” Chase said. “I’ll meet you guys back at the hotel.”

  “You and I both know that’s too much woman for you.”

  “Whatever, Jonas. See you in the morning.”

  He wore a sympathetic expression. “She’s not interested, bro. Better luck next time.”

  The young, well-dressed crowd chanted Geneviève’s name, seizing his attention, and Chase glanced at the raised stage. The pop star, in all her celebrity glory, was dancing to her smash hit “Savage” and the club was going wild. All around him, partiers screamed and cheered.

  “You’re not leaving with her, so let’s go—”

  “Oh really?” he said, interrupting Jonas mid-sentence. “Just watch me.”

  Anxious to escape, Chase turned around and stalked through the crowd. His gaze combed the lounge area, searching for the beauty in the tangerine dress. His feet slowed then stopped on the dance floor. Damn. The corner booth was empty. Demi was gone.

  Chapter 3

  “We’re going to the carnival-themed party at Tropicana Beach Club tonight,” Jonas announced, picking up his coffee mug. “Amber Rose is the special celebrity guest, and I’m dying to meet her.”

  Chase sat at the round table with his brothers and cousins, picking at the vegetarian breakfast entrée he’d ordered from the hotel restaurant. His thoughts were a million miles away. An hour earlier his chief operating officer, Mercedes Williams-Apeloko, had called him from Manhattan in a panic and their conversation still weighed heavily on his mind.

  His cell phone buzzed and he glanced down at the table. He’d received another email from his COO—the third one that morning—and reading the Ivy League graduate’s message caused his eyes to narrow and his temperature to rise. Last Monday, to coincide with National Romance Day, his company had launched its new dating app, Sparks, but to disappointing results. Sales were low, reviews were poor and, for the first time ever, Chase had doubts about the success and profitability of one of his company’s apps.

  Is this a sign? The beginning of the end? Is Mobile Entertainment in trouble? Chase dismissed the thought. From day one he’d given a hundred percent to the company and he couldn’t imagine Mobile Entertainment ever failing. Not after all the sleepless nights, the personal sacrifices he’d made and the fourteen-hour days he’d spent slaving away at his desk.

  His gaze fell across his gold, class ring on his left hand. It seems like just yesterday I was a freshman at Columbia, but it’s been eight years since I graduated. After obtaining an honors master’s degree in software development, he’d searched for a job with no luck. Out of boredom, he’d created a kid-friendly mobile game to entertain his nephews and nieces and, when he’d learned they were obsessed with the app, he’d created more. He’d sold his first app for a million dollars and caught the eye of several influential businessmen who’d provided him with venture capital funding.

  Six years later Mobile Entertainment had both mobile and web games, international investors and celebrity fans. Last November he’d won the Innovator of the Year award from the Wall Street Journal and his life had changed overnight. He’d been invited to do a Ted Talk, to speak at conferences all over the world, and had been featured in dozens of business magazines. Through sheer drive, determination and hard work, he’d made a name for himself as an internet entrepreneur, and he wanted to achieve even greater success in his field.

  Hanging his head, Chase slowly rubbed the back of his neck. Had he made a mistake creating the dating app? Had he gotten in over his head? Encouraged by the marketing department to create an app to rival the online dating giants, he’d worked tirelessly on Sparks for months, confident millennials would love its unique features. He’d given his marketing manager, Katia Fedorov, unlimited funds to promote the app, but all for naught. Sparks was a bust, a colossal failure, and Chase didn’t want to spend another dime on it. And, regardless of what Katia thought, hiring a celebrity spokesperson was out of the question.

  Chase picked up his glass and drank his orange juice. He needed to do something to relax, to take his mind off his troubles. His cousins, Kendrick and Antonio, had planned an afternoon bus tour to Ibiza Town, and Chase was looking forward to spending the afternoon with his family, checking out the sights.

  “Are you still sulking because baby girl ditched you last night at Infamous?”

  Chase glared at Jonas, envisioned himself wringing his neck. Last night, after Demi had left, he’d joined his brothers at the bar. It hadn’t mattered how many tequila shots he’d had, he still couldn’t get the fiery beauty out of his mind. “I’m not sulking, and Demi didn’t ditch me, so shut up.”

  One by one, his family members admonished him about his demeanor, and they were so annoying Chase regretted joining them in the restaurant for breakfast. Pain stabbed his side, stealing his breath. Pressing his eyes shut, he willed it to stop. It intensified, flooded every inch of his body.

  Bitter memories filled his thoughts, and a cold chill flooded his viens. Last year, while horseback riding at his favorite equestrian club, he’d fallen off his horse, resulting in serious injuries. He’d broken his collarbone, fractured his wrist, elbow and shoulder, and had to have emergency surgery on his right leg. Worst of all, the force of the fall had caused testicular trauma, ruining his hopes of ever being a father. He’d spent weeks in the hospital and had endured months of physiotherapy, but he still had excruciating headaches and back pain. Since his horseback riding accident, he’d relied on prescription medication to deal with his symptoms, but sometimes the inflammation in his back was so intense tears came to his eyes. “LeBron’s here,” he lied, gesturing across the room with a nod of his head. “Is that D-Wade with him?”

  Everyone at the table turned around, searching for the NBA superstars.

  Chase reached into the front pocket of his navy blue shorts, retrieved the plastic pouch and ripped it open under the table. He put the pills in his mouth then took a swig of water.

  “That’s not LeBron.” Kendrick forked eggs into his mouth. “Dude’s too light.”

  “Damn, bro, you may wear glasses but you’re still blind as hell,” Jonas said with a laugh.

  “It’s too bad Lyndsay missed,” Chase grumbled.

  Everyone erupted in laughter and the grin slid off Jonas’s mouth. Chuckling, Chase bumped fists with Ezekiel and Remington. Two years earlier, Jonas had been shot with a BB gun by an enraged ex-girlfriend at a Memorial Day barbecue, but his brother still hadn’t learned his lesson. He was still breaking hearts for sport, and Chase feared one day he’d be mistaken for Jonas and caught in the crossfire of his brother’s lies.

  “Chase, don’t joke about that. I could have died,” Jonas scolded, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “If I hadn’t taken cover behind that bouncy castle, she might’ve killed me and you’d be crying in your orange juice now...”

  Chase’s cell phone rang and he glanced down at the table. His ex-girlfriend’s picture and number popped up on the screen. Why is she blowing up my cell? he wondered, strangling a groan. Can’t she take the hint that I don’t want to talk to her?

  Chase pressed the decline button, and finished eating his entrée. Juliet Wilmington was impossible to please and from day one their relationship had been plagued with extreme highs and lows. He couldn’t
win with her; one minute he was the man of her dreams, the next he was an insensitive jerk with no heart. If he’d learned anything from his horseback riding accident, it was to live in the moment, not the past, and that’s what Chase was going to do—move on once and for all.

  “Have you spoken to Juliet recently?” Kendrick asked, glancing down at Chase’s cell phone.

  “No, and I don’t plan to. We’re over for good this time and I don’t want to be friends.”

  “That’s going to be hard.” Ezekiel wore a skeptical expression on his face and Chase worried his brother was going to give him another long-winded lecture about relationships “We’ve known the Wilmingtons our whole lives, and Juliet’s tight with Mom, Moriah, Antonella and Kym. In fact, they’re planning a humanitarian vacation to Nepal in May.”

  Chase cursed. “Seriously? She’s unbelievable.”

  “Damn, bro, you sure know how to pick them,” Remington said with a wry smile.

  “Not, Juliet. Mom. You know how she is. She hand-picked your wives and she thinks she can do the same for me, but she can’t. I’ll decide when and whom I marry, not Estelle.”

  The waiter returned, cleared the empty plates from the table and left.

  “Mom didn’t hand-pick our wives,” Remington argued, in a shaky tone of voice.

  Chase wore a knowing smile. “Yes she did, and you hapless fools had no say in the matter.”

  Ezekiel cursed. “That’s a lie. I wanted to get married and have a family.”

  “Right and I’m a born-again virgin looking for true love!” Jonas joked with a laugh.

  Everyone cracked up. They traded stories about their scheming but lovable mother, but Chase was thinking about his ex. They’d called it quits last year, but these days his mom and Juliet were closer than ever. Drumming his fingers on the table, he made a mental note to speak to his mother—again—about her friendship with his ex-girlfriend. Bright and brilliant, from a family of esteemed doctors, it was no surprise his parents adored Juliet and wanted her to be their daughter-in-law, but the horseback riding accident had changed everything and Chase didn’t want to rekindle their romance.

  “Let’s take some pictures,” Antonio said, taking his iPhone out of his shirt pocket.

  “Why? So you can prove to Evette you’re not in Ibiza with another woman?”

  Everyone snickered but a frown darkened Antonio’s narrow features.

  “To be honest, yeah. I love my wife, but ever since her breast cancer scare, her insecurities have gotten worse and I feel like I constantly have to prove myself,” he explained.

  “Evette has nothing to worry about. She’s the only one who wants your sorry ass.”

  Antonio crumpled his napkin into a ball and hurled it across the table, hitting Jonas in the face. “Keep it up and you’ll be wearing your spicy lobster stew!”

  The cousins laughed and soon everyone was cracking jokes on each other.

  “Come on, guys. Let’s do this!” Raising his iPhone in the air, Antonio positioned it in front of the group, then tapped the camera button repeatedly. “Say Ibiza!”

  “Ibiza!” shouted a sultry female voice.

  A floral fragrance perfumed the air, tickling Chase’s nose as someone bumped into him from behind. Glancing over his shoulder he noticed Demi standing behind him, snapping selfies with her bejeweled iPhone. She was wearing a cheeky grin, gold hoop earrings and a canary-yellow jumpsuit that complimented her flawless brown complexion. She’d photobombed their family photograph, seizing the attention of everyone at the table, and Chase wondered how long it would take for Jonas and Kendrick to ask her out.

  Straightening to her full height, Demi wore an apologetic smile and waved at the group. “Sorry for hijacking your selfie, but I couldn’t resist. It’s not every day I see a table full of handsome men and I wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass me by. My followers are going to go bananas when I post these selfies.”

  “No problem,” Antonio said. “You made the picture look a hundred times better.”

  “I did, didn’t I?” Nodding, Demi winked then pointed at her mouth with an index finger. “It’s my raspberry sorbet lip gloss. It makes my lips pop!”

  Everyone laughed and, realizing his cousins and brothers were as enamored with Demi as he was, Chase hoped they didn’t do anything to embarrass him. He introduced her to his family, and everyone greeted her with a nod and a smile—except Jonas. He kissed her palm then brushed his fingers against her skin. “As you can see, I’m Chase’s older, sexier twin.”

  “Twins, huh? Cool.” Her gaze darted between them and an amused expression covered her face. “Jonas, tell me something. Are you the good twin or the bad twin?”

  “Gorgeous, I can be whatever you want me to be.”

  Demi pursed her lips, as if she was trying not to laugh. “You’re the kind of guy my mother always warned me to stay away from.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. The only way to know for sure is to have dinner with me tonight. I’ll meet you at the Ibiza café at seven o’clock.”

  Chase felt his eyes widen. His throat was so tight he couldn’t swallow. Jonas had a reputation that rivaled 007 and every scandalous, salacious story circulating around the Hamptons about his sexual exploits was true. He wanted to smack the smug grin off Jonas’s face, but he kicked him under the table instead and moved closer to Demi. “Ignore him,” he whispered. “He suffered a concussion last year playing flag football and never recovered.”

  Demi burst out laughing and Chase felt five inches taller, was proud of himself for outwitting his brother.

  “What happened to you last night?” Chase asked. “I returned to the table and you were gone.”

  “I wasn’t about to miss Geneviève’s performance, so I pushed my way through the crowd until I was directly in front of the stage and danced my ass off for the rest of the night,” Demi explained.

  “I should have known. Party’s your middle name, huh?”

  “No, actually, it’s Marilyn, and I hate it. It’s so not me.”

  Chase chuckled. He seemed to laugh a lot when Demi was around, and being with her instantly bolstered his spirits. “Where are you rushing off to looking like a beautiful ray of sunshine?” he asked, awed by her bright, dazzling smile.

  “Wherever the day takes me!” Demi opened her purse, took out a travel guide and showed him the cover. “Ibiza has some incredible sights and I plan to see them all, starting with Es Vedrà. Did you know the island is shrouded in myths and legends? I met a local fisherman yesterday who claims he once saw a UFO hovering above Es Vedrà five decades ago.”

  “Was that before or after Happy Hour?” Jonas asked with a hearty laugh.

  “I’m a huge history buff, so I also want to check out some of the museums, castles and cathedrals,” she continued. “Castillo de Ibiza is the first stop on my list. I heard it’s...”

  Chase glanced around the table and noticed his family members were leaning forward in their chairs, hanging on to every word that came out of Demi’s mouth. As she gushed about the natural beauty of the island’s beaches, Chase devised a plan to get her away from his wide-eyed brothers and cousins.

  “It was nice meeting you guys, but I have to run. I’m anxious to see the sights.”

  Everyone at the table groaned in disappointment then begged her to stay.

  “You’re not nervous venturing out alone on the island?” Chase asked.

  “No, why should I be?” Shrugging a shoulder, Demi put on her oval sunglasses. “I’ve traveled all over the world and aside from a few hair-raising moments on a tuk tuk in Thailand last summer, I’ve never had any problems.”

  His frown deepened. Yesterday, while strolling the streets with his family, he’d seen firsthand how aggressive male tourists could be. They whistled, shouted dirty jokes and grabbed at women passing by. No, it wasn’t a good idea for Demi to go sig
htseeing alone. Her figure-hugging outfit was sure to turn heads, and Chase didn’t want her to be accosted by drunken, belligerent men desperate to get lucky. “You shouldn’t go out alone. It isn’t safe.”

  “Fine, then join me. You can be my bodyguard.”

  Chase checked his sports watch. He had a scheduled conference call in thirty minutes, but he didn’t feel like strategizing with his marketing team about how to save Sparks. Not when he could spend the rest of the day with Demi. “It would be my pleasure. I’m going to be the best bodyguard you’ve ever had.”

  “You better,” she teased, wagging a finger at him. “Let’s go. Adventure awaits!”

  Stepping past him, she sashayed through the restaurant, switching her hips. Chase fished his wallet out of the back pocket of his shorts, took out several hundred dollar bills and put them beside the bread basket. “Guys, breakfast is on me. See you later.”

  His brothers and cousins protested, threatened to disown him if he ditched them for Demi.

  Antonio’s voice cut through the noise. “You can’t bail on us for a girl. I don’t care how fine she is.”

  “Sorry, guys. I just got a better offer.” Chase wore a broad grin. “Don’t wait up.”

  Chapter 4

  Dalt Vila, the cultural and historical, stone-wall-fortified city in Ibiza Town had stunning castles, cathedrals and museums. Strolling through the winding streets with Chase by her side made Demi feel giddy, like she was on top of the world. Locals were warm and welcoming, the atmosphere was delightful and the ancient buildings gave the city a magical, ethereal ambience. Musicians strummed acoustic guitars, street performers wowed tourists and teenagers in soccer jerseys played in the cobblestone streets.

  Sipping her water, Demi reflected on her favorite moments from the afternoon. For hours they’d taken in the sights, wandering from one impressive monument to the next. They’d viewed the Roman ruins, art galleries filled with unique artifacts, and hiked through the forest, exploring the landscape. It was a nature lover’s paradise, offering breathtaking sights.