by Jessie Cooke
“You daydreaming?” Luke asked as he crossed the threshold into her small office.
“A little,” she said.
“Anything to do with white sandy beaches on a private island in the Caribbean?”
Bella giggled. “I have no idea why you would think that.”
She had run to Luke first to tell him the news, needing to have someone physically present to share in her elation. He had responded just as he should with congratulatory kisses and hugs so tight she could barely breathe. It was obvious that he was proud of her accomplishment, and not just as a team player, but as a person who loved and cared for Bella and wanted what was best for her individually.
“I’m thinking we really need to celebrate,” Luke said as he enveloped her in his strong arms again.
“I do have a green dress that’s been dying for an occasion.”
“I’ll see about making reservations at Bonnell’s. You deserve something extra special. Tonight good?”
“Tonight is good,” Bella nodded. “As long as you promise we’ll get desert to go.” She winked at him, and she actually watched him blush.
“To go is good,” he grinned sheepishly. Luke bent forward to kiss Bella softly. “I’d kinda like to have desert to go right now,” he said, his hands cupping her buttocks firmly and pulling them up against him gently. She could feel his arousal, but her body held back in its own response. They had not had great sex yet. In fact, there was a time or two that Bella simply couldn’t muster up the heat to see the entire operation through. There had been several make-out sessions that had gotten her to the right spot, but nothing earth-shaking and bone-shattering . . . nothing like Reece.
She’d have to try a little harder, and perhaps now that the pressure of Haiti was gone, things would go a little differently.
And differently is exactly how everything had gone.
Luke picked her up promptly at seven, and when she had emerged from the back of her apartment wearing the kelly green dress he loved so much, he opened his phone, dialed Bonnell’s, and asked to push their reservations back an hour.
“Desert before dinner,” he had replied as he unfastened his belt buckle and toed off his shoes.
She froze for a millisecond, replaying her use of that line with Reece when they first got to South Padre Island. But as Luke approached Bella loosening his tie and looking at her with those big green eyes, she mentally stamped her foot and shooed the thought away, banishing it to the recesses of her brain so as not to interfere with the hot pursuit that was on. She bit her bottom lip, unsure of how much undressing she should do to herself. As she reached under her armpit for the small hook and zipper to the dress, Luke grabbed her hand and slowly eased it away.
“Allow me,” he said, and he slowly, seductively brought the zipper down as his gaze held her own. He swept his hand over to the shoulder that was sleeved and gently tugged the sleeve down, the rest of the dress beginning to come with it as he got the bodice to her hips.
Bella shimmied out of the skirt and allowed it to pool at her feet before carefully stepping out of the circle on the floor. She slipped her high heels off and set them on the coffee table.
“Look,” Luke said, his voice gravelly. “I know our first time was . . . well, less than remarkable . . . at least for you anyway.”
“No, Luke, it . . .”
“Don’t,” his finger went up to her lips. “It’s okay. I know I didn’t make you see stars or even really get you off the ground.” His smile was wan yet endearing. “And I’ve been wanting to make it up to you, but . . . well, the opportunity just didn’t present itself. Until now. I want to love you like you’re meant to be loved, Bella. So tonight is all about you.”
His fingers trailed through her long dark hair as she stood before him in her strapless red bra and matching lace thong. She could tell from the look in his eyes that it wasn’t all about her, but she would not begrudge him any bit. After all, part of her enjoyment was knowing he was enjoying her as well.
She cupped her hand over his and entwined her fingers through his, then tugged him down the hall towards her bedroom. The bed was still unmade from her early morning, which made it easy for Bella to invite him underneath the black sheets. She straddled him and began to run her tongue around each ridge of muscle on his chest, licking at his nipples the way she wanted him to lick at hers. She moved herself up towards his neck, nibbling and kissing up to his ear, and then she slowly slid herself higher to the point where her red lace thong brushed his chin.
“Your desert, sir,” she offered, and Luke looked at her with a devilish grin.
His finger touched the lace, tickling her seductively from the outside, and she could feel the rush on the inside. He tugged the lace aside and rubbed his finger across the opening before he put his mouth where the lace had been, his tongue savoring her, his lips brushing her.
Bella rocked gently, rotating her hips in a small circle to enhance the feeling of his tongue around the small hard center. He shifted and slipped underneath a little more, which gave her a better access to her headboard where she placed her well-manicured hands as she closed her eyes and continued her small hula-hoop dance.
Within minutes, she tightened her grip on the headboard as she felt a simultaneous loosening and tightening within her core. Luke’s hot breath had quickened as hers had, and his mouth was firmly placed on her lower lips, his tongue working the tight spot within her.
A moan slipped from Bella’s mouth, and her legs tightened on either side of Luke’s head.
“Oh, god,” she breathed, and he gripped her buttocks firmly, his fingers digging into the flesh and sending her over the edge. She moaned; her body shook; her fingernails dug into the headboard, and still Luke’s mouth took in her deliciousness until he was sated.
Bella slowly untangled herself from his face and saw how hard and ready he was. She leaned over to grab a condom from the drawer, and then rolled it down onto him. Throwing her leg back over him, this time she slid down until he was firmly entrenched deep within her.
“I wanted this to be about you,” Luke said quickly.
“Oh, don’t worry. It’s still about me, but I’m not gonna let you go to a nice dinner with a stiffy either,” she said, and she kissed him deeply, her tongue tasting herself mingled with his own sweetness which kindled another fire within.
Slowly, she inched herself up his body only to slowly slide back down. Then she repeated the process, brushing him with the nipples of her breast. Every now and then, she let him catch one in his mouth to suckle just long enough before she slid back down.
Unable to take it any longer, Luke finally broke his own chivalrous code. He swept Bella up, and together they rolled over until Bella was on her back. She drew her legs up high making a V in the air as she pulled Luke’s mouth down onto hers.
Moving deeper inside her, Luke suddenly threw his head back, his breath coming as hard and fast as his thrusts, until finally a moan of gratification broke through and brought Bella with him onto his wave. She clenched her muscles around him, matching his noises and paeans of pleasure, and together they rode the waves of light that zipped through their bodies with pulsating speed over and over again.
30
“I could definitely get used to this,” Christo said as he stretched out luxuriously on the yellow-padded rattan chair so that every inch could feel the sun.
“Siestas in the afternoon? Or living in a luxury resort and being treated like royalty?” Bella asked as she lathered sunscreen onto her arms.
“All of it,” Christo answered as he sighed a happy sigh and relaxed deeper into the cushiony softness of the lounge chair.
They had been in Haiti for three weeks, and everything was progressing splendidly. Bella was enjoying watching her designs come to life, and the villas were beginning to host small parties and VIPs as all the major construction was complete at the Grayson Lagoons at Syèl la (the Haitian word for “heaven”). Just like their contractor Pedro and the rest of the s
taff, Bella and Christo found it easier to take siesta in the afternoon after lunch rather than fight to try and get work completed when no one was around to help them do it, and lately that siesta had taken place out by the pool the Queen’s Villas shared.
“I think Bryce Grayson named this place correctly,” Christo mumbled half-asleep in the sun. “It is heaven.”
“It’ll be even more so when we finish up our work and can really take advantage of all this place has to offer,” Bella commented.
“I’m excited about the discotheque opening up, Christo said. “Are we gonna try it tonight?”
Bella moaned. “I don’t know. I think I’m getting too old to shake my grove thang.”
Christo bolted up in his chair. “Bella Ryan! Never let it be said that you are too old to dance. Come on. It’s our duty to go to the disco tonight. They’re still working out the kinks for the grand opening. How can they work out the kinks without anyone on the dance floor?”
Bella laughed as she sat back and closed her eyes to the glaring sun. She knew she should be allowing herself as much fun as possible, but she couldn’t seem to break out of this weird place she’d found herself in for the past week.
All of it was predicated on a phone call she hadn’t had the heart to return.
“Did I tell you that Nicky called me?” Bella asked Christo, her eyes still closed in the sun.
“What? No. When?”
“About a week ago. I don’t even think she knows we’re out of the country, unless you told her.”
“Why would I tell her?” Christo asked bitterly. “Bitch didn’t show up at my wedding, never sent a gift, not even a card with an excuse? She has one foot out the door of my life, if you ask me. I’m too happy now to go chasing drama with people who aren’t.”
“You think she isn’t happy?” Bella asked. She turned towards Christo and shielded her eyes from the sun so she could see his expressions better.
“I don’t know. Something’s up. I mean, this should be one of the happiest times of her life, but she can’t seem to find any time for her best friends? What is that all about? And here we are out of the country and the bitch doesn’t even know. Doesn’t that say something?”
He had a point, and Bella knew it. She had been blaming herself on the distance she’d been feeling when it came to Nicky, but now that she thought about it, the distance wasn’t just one-sided.
“I don’t know what to say when I call her back,” Bella confided.
“Say you’re out of the country and you can’t meet up with her,” Christo laughed. “Isn’t she due soon anyway?”
Bella tried to count backwards. For all she knew, Nicky could’ve had the baby and she would have known nothing about it. The thought of that hurt, though she tried to tell herself that it would be just as much her own fault as Nicky’s for not being clued in.
“How does someone go from one of the most important people in your life to almost completely removing herself from it?” Bella asked rhetorically.
“Get yourself a rich boyfriend who knocks you up,” came Christo’s response. “Guess that’ll change which circles you run in.”
“I think she’s embarrassed,” Bella tried.
“Embarrassed? Of what? Nicky’s always looked out for Nicky. She’s sitting pretty now with her multi-million-dollar man and his baby on the way, if it’s not here already. As far as she’s concerned, she’s living the life.”
The allusions to Reece made Bella dizzy. There was still within her a deep ache within a void that was missing him, but why, she had no idea.
“But look at the bright side,” Christo said as he reached over to pat Bella on the leg.
“I’m scared to hear it,” she said.
“Look how far you’ve come, and all on your own. You, Ms. Bella Ryan, have not needed the services of any multi-million-dollar man to win this competition and step onto the fast-track to becoming a junior partner. Not to mention, you’ve got a little hottie of your own waiting on you when you get home.”
Bella smiled. She was pretty proud of how far she’d come if she did say so herself. Though, part of her successes could technically be attributed to the anonymous hirings of one Reece Hamilton. Still, he had nothing to do with this competition or where she sat now.
“You forgot one thing,” Bella said, her finger up in the air authoritatively. “I also have you and your wonderful husband as friends—friends I can actually count on no matter what.”
“You’ve got us indeed, Bella.” Christo blew her a kiss. “As for my wonderful husband, I wonder what he’s up to lately. I miss him terribly. I didn’t think I’d ever be the one to settle down, and I never did think I’d be the one who would pine for another like this, but damn, it’s hard being away from the man of your dreams.”
“He’ll be here soon,” Bella said, trying to encourage. “Isn’t he coming for the grand opening?”
Christo threw himself back into his lounger. “But that’s another twenty days away!” he whined.
“No one ever said it wouldn’t be easy,” Bella commented. “And I know I don’t feel it as keenly as you do, but I get it; I wish Reece were here.”
“Reece?” Christo asked.
“What?”
“You said ‘Reece’.”
“Reece? Oh, sorry, I meant Luke,” Bella replied as nonchalantly as possible while she castigated herself mentally for doing it again. “I meant to say ‘Luke.’”
“No, you didn’t,” Christo said, but Bella couldn’t muster the energy to fight back to convince him.
Her phone chirped to life, and she secretly thanked the gods for saving her from any more embarrassing Freudian slips.
“This is Bella,” she answered. “Sure. Okay. At six-thirty? Alright. We can be there.” She disconnected.
“What’s happening?”
“It seems Mr. Bryce Grayson is flying in tonight and has requested his dynamite design team to meet him at the airport and accompany him to a special dinner in Port-au-Prince.”
“That’ll be fun!” Christo said, the disco forgotten at the promise of meeting the mysterious Bryce Grayson. “I wonder what he looks like. I’ll be he’s an old dude. Hotel moguls are always rich, old, shrivelly white guys.”
“Maybe he’s not even white,” Bella offered. “Perhaps that was part of his draw to Haiti. Coming back to his natural roots or something.”
“No, it’s because he could get the island cheap,” Christo corrected. “The Haitian government is selling off bits of Haiti dirt-cheap, hoping to boost tourism.”
“Well, until they put the guns down and stop allowing everyone to shoot everything up on the mainland, it’s never gonna bring in the tourists it could. Who wants to feel like they’re risking their lives going on vacation?”
She was dreading the trip into Port-au-Prince for that very reason, but she knew they’d be well-guarded as well. She stood, wrapped her sarong around her, and gave Christo a smack on the butt.
“Let’s get back to work. If we have to be at the airport this evening, we’d better finish up a few things before we meet up with the boss-man.”
“Aye-aye, Cap’n,” Christo said, and they were off.
The drive into Port-au-Prince had gone smoothly, and Bella and Christo had played their guessing game the entire way, coming up with some outlandish descriptions for their boss. To make it more interesting, they’d wagered one hundred bucks on whose description was the closest.
Once the arrived, it was a mad dash to the gate, weaving themselves through groups and gatherings of people. There were not so much lines as there were small crowds of dark skinned Haitians with what appeared to be all their worldly goods with them. Even small children were laden down like pack animals as they waited in line to get to and from Miami, the most popular destination point.
“Stick with me!” their driver turned and instructed them. “I don’t want to try and find you in this crowd, and Mr. Grayson hates to wait at the airport.”
“I don�
�t blame him,” Christo commented.
“Something makes me think that even if you lost us, we’d be pretty easy to find,” Bella retorted taking in the sea of skin so black it was almost the shade of midnight.
They pushed their way towards the gate that would unload a small private plane leased to Grayson Hotels.
“At least there aren’t any crowds over here,” Christo said as he straightened his clothing.
“What . . . the . . . hell . . .” Bella mumbled. Christo looked up to see her blue eyes wide in wonder. He followed them to the sight Bella was trying to take in.
Reece Hamilton was heading right towards them, a larger-than-life smile on his face.
But more importantly, Simon was walking with him, arm-in-arm, right towards Christo.
“I’d say neither one of us won that bet,” Christo remarked before rushing into the arms of Simon, leaving Bella to face Reece Hamilton on her own.
31
“Don’t tell me you’re Bryce Grayson?” Bella Ryan asked as Reece Hamilton emerged from the tunnel that connected the airport to the tarmac that held the plane he’d just disembarked.
Christo and Simon were already entangled in a passionate embrace seeming to onlookers more as if one had been to war than merely living apart for a matter of weeks.
“No. I’m not. He’s my partner in the hotel endeavors. He had a sudden attack of appendicitis last week and is recovering slowly. The doctors told him no international traveling, especially to a third-world country. So, here I am in his stead.” His eyes twinkled a smile at Bella as if none of their history existed.
“How did I get so lucky?” Bella asked as she put her hands on her hips defiantly. “I’d much rather you march yourself right back on that plane and get home to Dallas. That would help me the most.”
Reece laughed good-naturedly and reached out and hugged Bella to him in a friendly, big brother sort of embrace. “I can’t do that, love. Gotta be here for the grand opening, now, don’t I?” He turned to his driver and handed him the briefcase and small duffel with which he’d disembarked. “Evens, good to see you.”