by Sarah Curtis
His head tipped, and his eyes entered her field of vision. As she'd feared, she couldn't look away. A small smirk played across his lips. "I kind of like that I have a stalker."
"Had. I haven't stalked you in years."
"Well, now that's a shame."
"My point is," she emphasized, countering his smirk with a glower. "In all the years I'd followed you, I'd never seen you photographed with the same woman twice. I find it disconcerting Victoria Lee is the exception. So yes, it would matter to me if you've slept with her."
He reached out, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear before tracing his fingers down her neck to caress along the bare expanse of her shoulder, his hesitancy to answer, drawing out River's apprehension. "I've never slept with her. Never kissed her." He smirked. "Never even had dirty thoughts about her. Now, you on the other hand." His finger trailed over her collarbone and shallowly dipped into her cleavage. "I've had some very dirty thoughts about what I'd like to do to you."
River hid the embarrassment his words created behind a snort of disbelief. "She's beautiful. I can't believe you've never had one dirty thought about her."
Alec shrugged a shoulder. "She's not my type."
That made River laugh. "She's exactly your type. Tall. Dark. And exotic."
Alec shrugged again. "Not sure how true that is. A petite blonde with the face of an angel certainly took me by surprise."
"Surprise being the operative word. You just proved my point." She gave him a smug look, daring him to try and contradict her again.
"She's a friend, nothing more. We'd agreed it would be refreshing to take someone to an event without them expecting something from us in return. So she went with me on a few of mine, I went with her on a few of hers."
She supposed that made sense, or maybe she was just rationalizing because she wanted it to be. She did believe he hadn't slept with her. Alec Throne may bluff, but he wasn't a liar. That left just one last hurdle she needed to jump over. "I'd made myself a promise I'd never date a poker player." She gave him a long look. "But then, that's not really what this is, is it."
She watched him closely and didn't miss the flexing of his jaw or the darkening of his eyes. She'd meant her words as a statement not a question and hoped he took it as such and didn't answer her. She wanted to pretend, for just a little while that Alec could be hers, and she could be his. She wanted to spend a few days living out a fantasy before going back to her real life. Her boring but stable life with her nine-to-five job and one bedroom apartment.
As if done with the conversation, he once more invaded her space. "Now, I'm going to kiss you."
Apparently learning his lesson, he didn't give her time to protest. His hand cupped the back of her head while his lips descended down on hers. His tongue swept in, effortlessly invading not only her mouth but her senses as well. A low groan vibrated up her throat, eliciting a growl from Alec in response. His fingers tightened in her hair, and he tilted her head back to deepen the kiss.
The sounds of the blaring music and raucous laughter faded as the swoosh from her fiercely pounding heart became all she could hear. His free hand slid along her lower back, pressing her closer. Her hand landed on the swell of his chest, and she felt his heart beating against her palm in time with hers.
Slowly, he loosened his hold on her, his deep kiss becoming a soft caress against her lips. The hand, tangled in her hair, gently massaged her scalp as he whispered against her lips so softly she almost didn't hear, "This is what it is."
They learned a lot about each other that hour in the booth, sitting close with their heads bent toward each other to be heard. Not usually a sharer, River found herself opening up, telling him about her life in Vegas. She learned bits and pieces of Alec's childhood with most of the stories he'd shared coming from his time spent in boarding school. His hesitant speech gave her the impression he didn't share a lot with others, either.
Taking another small sip of her warm cocktail, she eyed the dance floor, hoping to get a bead on Silvia and Jason.
Alec leaned into her ear. "You ready to get out of here?"
"I was hoping Silvia would've made an appearance by now, but yeah, let me just send her a text to let her know."
* * * * *
The quiet street after so long in the noisy club was almost a shock to Alec's senses. He'd gotten a glimpse of the real River tonight, which left him craving more. She was funny, sexy, and smart. He didn't usually care if he got to know the women he took out for an evening. Knowing his time with them would be short, he didn't bother making the effort.
That didn't work for River, though. From the first moment he'd seen her at the airport, he'd had an unusual reaction to her. He wasn't one to usually believe in love at first sight. Lust, yes but not love. But River called to something dormant living inside him. Something that was primitive and raw that wanted him to scoop River up, hide her from the world, and make her his.
This something inside of him also got pissed the fuck off when River spoke of their time together as no more than a vacation fling. She may think that, and if it kept her by his side until he could convince her otherwise, he would let her go on thinking that. But he knew the truth. He wasn't giving River up.
He looked over at her now, a barely detectable smile coated her lips as a few stray locks of her hair blew in the light, warm breeze. He wondered what she was thinking to put such a smile on her lips. He wanted, no needed, to know her thoughts. She was his obsession.
Knowing his thoughts bordered the line of crazy, he forced his eyes from her perfect fucking face, letting them slowly travel down the length of her. From her cock-hardening curves on full display in her skin-tight dress to her fancy fuck-me shoes that did fantastic things to her legs. What they didn't do was make it easy for her to walk on the cobbled street.
Giving her hand a squeeze, he said, "Hold up."
She stopped, turning to face him, smiling until she noticed his frown. "What's wrong?"
"Your shoes."
She looked at her feet. "What's wrong with my shoes?" She picked up a dainty foot and gave it a little twirl at the ankle. "I think they're cute."
"They're sexy as fuck, but you're having trouble walking in them."
She smiled again, obviously liking he thought her shoes were sexy. Women and their logic, Alec would never understand. If shit were uncomfortable, he wouldn't wear it.
Positioning himself in front of her, he gestured to his back. "Hop on." He heard her giggle behind him and he looked over his shoulder. She was looking at his ass. He barely contained a smirk.
"You want to give me a piggyback ride?"
He turned to face her, raising a brow. "Problem?"
"Yeah, my dress is short. If I hop on your back, my butt will hang out."
He thought a moment. While he didn't mind the thought of her flashing him her ass, flashing the whole island was out of the question. He slid out of his suit jacket. "Tie this around your waist."
She looked at his jacket. "The sleeves will get wrinkled."
"I don't give a fuck. What I do care about is your feet hurting." He gave the jacket a shake for her to take it. "Put it on."
He heard a small huff as she took the jacket from him and this time he did smirk. "Good. Now jump on." He turned his back to her again, crouching a bit when he felt her hands on his shoulders.
With a little hop, her legs wrapped around his waist, and he grasped her firmly under her thighs. He started walking, and she pressed herself closer, moving her hands from his shoulders to hug around his neck.
"Thanks for the lift." Her voice whispered into his ear, and his step faltered. "Am I too heavy?"
He hadn't thought the
plan through. Worried only for her comfort, he didn't think about the ramifications of her legs spread around him, and the warmth of her pussy pressing into his lower back. Or that her heat would penetrate the thin dress shirt he wore. Now he was the uncomfortable one. His cock had woken up for the party and with his hands preoccupied, he couldn't adjust himself accordingly. He gave her a little hike up, rotating his hip in the process, hoping to relieve some of the pressure.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, why?" he asked sliding his hands a little farther up her thighs.
"You didn't answer my question."
"Sorry, my mind wandered." To thoughts of your pussy and my cock. "What was the question?"
"I asked if I was too heavy."
He gave her thighs a squeeze. "You're light as a feather."
She wiggled her hips, and he picked up his pace. It was going to be a long fucking walk back to the hotel.
Chapter Eight
River's first thought when she woke up the next morning was she hadn't packed anything she could wear to a fancy gala. Her second thought was to panic over this realization. Thankfully, her third thought came quickly, reminding her there was a whole tourist-friendly island for her to shop on.
She continued her morning ritual of sitting on the balcony with a cup of in-room coffee before heading back in to get ready for the day. Naked, soaping herself in the shower, her hands sliding over her skin, she couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting to Alec.
After arriving back at the hotel, he'd walked her to her room, told her he'd pick her up for the gala the next evening at six, gave her a chaste kiss on the lips, and then... left. Confused, she'd watched him from her doorway as he'd walked down the hall and disappeared from her sight.
Had she read his signals wrong? After everything that had transpired at the club, she'd thought for sure he'd make a play. Try to accompany her into her room. She would have put up a token resistance, but she would have given in. She wanted Alec in a way she'd never wanted anyone before and using her vacation as an excuse, she was free to act on her rash impulses. But Alec hadn't acted. And now she wasn't sure what that meant.
Although she'd grown up surrounded by men, she was the first to admit she didn't know much about them. And she'd been so busy starting her career, she hadn't had time for guys and dating the last couple of years. Her only two relationships had been in her first and third year of college.
Pete, boyfriend number one, had been a jock but one with a brain. The only thing stereotypical about him had been the string of girlfriends he'd kept, but being smart, he'd kept all his girls from knowing about one another. River had been smart too, but unfortunately, she'd been smart just a little too late. She hadn't found out about the other women until after she'd let Pete into her panties. What she'd learned from that relationship was even though Pete hadn't been the love of her life, cheating hurt. She also learned to be more cautious.
Mark, boyfriend number two, had been a bit of a nerd. He'd been a chemistry major and had been in one of her numerous math classes. Loyal and super cute, it still took more than three months before she had let Mark anywhere near her panties thanks to the cautious lesson learned from boyfriend one. River wasn't really sure what had happened in that relationship. Things just kind of fizzled out. Not that things ever really fizzed in the first place. He'd been a year ahead of her in school, and after he'd graduated and gotten a job offer out of state, River hadn't felt the desire to trail after him nor had she had the dedication to attempt a long-distance relationship. They'd remained friends, staying in contact for about six months then that had just fizzled away, too. What she'd learned from that relationship was good guy didn't necessarily mean the right guy.
So other than the bit of male logic she'd learned from her brother over the years, that was basically all she knew of the inner-workings of the male mind. Which was why she was perplexed by Alec walking away last night when she knew he'd wanted her.
A knock sounded on her door as she stepped from the shower. Quickly slipping on a plush terrycloth robe, she made her way to the door, opening it when a look through the peephole showed a hotel employee.
"Good morning, Ms. Kingston. A delivery for you." He held out a large white box and a handled shopping bag.
Awkwardly taking the packages while holding the door open with her shoulder, she asked, "Can you hold the door? Let me just find my purse so I can tip you."
"No tip is necessary, ma'am, it's already been taken care of. Have a nice day." He gave her a nod before turning on his heel and walking away.
"Thank you," she called out before letting the door close and depositing the packages on the bed.
A note card was taped to the outside of the box.
You'll be the belle of the ball - A
Curious, she pried the lid off the box first and spied black velvet peeking through several layers of tissue paper. Sliding off her robe, she pulled out the dress and excitedly tried it on. The back zipper was a challenge but she managed, though becoming a contortionist in the process.
She attacked the bag next, pulling out a brown shoebox, her heart nearly stopping at the name printed across the lid. Nestled inside were a pair of black pumps made of mesh with a leather trim. She stepped into them. They fit perfectly and she wondered how Alec guessed so accurately at her shoe size. A sexy T-bar traveled up the top of her foot to fasten with a delicate strap around her ankle. Sparkling crystals decorated the mesh covering her toes while the trademarked red graced the soles.
Finding a full-length mirror in the wardrobe, she took a step back and admired herself. Not bad. The black velvet hugged her curves ending mid-thigh and transcended into a flared, mesh ruffle that matched the shoes. Strapless, the heart-shaped bodice made her boobs look fantastic and turning, she saw the martial hugged her ass perfectly. Not usually a clotheshorse, it was love at first sight. Alec had good taste.
Retrieving her phone, she typed a text.
The dress and shoes are beautiful, thank you. But you shouldn't have spent so much.
Her phone pinged a few seconds later.
Do you like them?
I love them.
Then they were worth every penny.
Smiling a goofy smile, her phone rang before she could set it down. Silvia flashed on the screen. "Hey!" she said, happiness still lacing her voice.
"Shh, not so loud. My head feels like it's about to split open."
River lowered her voice. "Hangover, huh," she chuckled silently, shaking her head. "What time did you guys finally leave the club?"
"Late. About two. Or would that be early? Ugh, I can't think. Anyway, I was calling to see if you wanted to go hang by the pool. Jason has some promo thing he's doing, and I can really use the sun and maybe a Bloody Mary to get rid of this headache."
River looked down at her dress. No longer needing to go shopping, she was free for the day. "Sure. I'll meet you there in about an hour."
"Sounds good."
She set her phone on the table then got undressed, hanging the dress in the closet so it wouldn't wrinkle. It felt like a sin to remove the shoes but knew she'd get to wear them again soon.
Knowing she'd be going swimming, she didn't bother with makeup and piled her still damp hair into a messy bun. Deciding on a black bikini, she covered it with a pair of jean shorts and a racerback tank before sliding on a pair of flip flops. Grabbing her phone and room key, she headed out in search of coffee.
Even at only ten in the morning, the pool was packed. River slowly scanned faces looking for Silvia. She spotted her at the bar, presumably ordering her hangover cure-all.
"Ugh, remind me to never drink so much."
River gave Silvia a
pity smile then took a sip of her coffee. Doing another scan of the pool area, she said, "This place is pretty crowded. Are you sure you don't want to find a quieter place to hang out?"
"Nah, I need to soak up some rays, and I'm not a huge fan of sand. It gets in all the wrong places." Silvia gave a little shudder, picking up her drink. Thanking the bartender, she stepped away from the bar. "There's a couple empty loungers over there."
River's eyes followed to where Silvia pointed, nodding. "We'd better go grab them before someone else does."
They got comfortable on the loungers. Both were quiet as they sipped their drinks, enjoying the sun.
After a few minutes, Silvia asked, "You nervous about the tournament?"
Funny, River hadn't thought much about it in the last day. She hadn't even called to check in with Royal this morning. It seemed Alec was more a distraction than she gave him credit for. Her brother needed the money. Badly. So her focus really should be on the tournament. And it would be, she told herself, once it started. In the meantime, there wasn't much she could do but worry herself into a panic. So maybe her time with Alec was a good thing. Stop her from fixating on the game ahead.
River took another sip of her coffee before answering. "Maybe a little bit." She shrugged, closing her eyes and tipping her head back. "No sense dwelling on something that hasn't happened yet. I'll have plenty of time to be nervous once the tournament starts."
"Jason said your dad was some hot and heavy player back in the day."
Thoughts of her dad made River smile. It hadn't always been that way. It had taken a few years for the pain of his death to lessen enough for the good memories to shine through. "He did all right. Well enough to provide for his family. Nothing in the league of Alec Throne, though."