by Ruby Vincent
THAT NIGHT, I OPENED the door to my dinner delivery and grinned at Preston.
“I could get used to this.”
He waited for me to get in bed and placed the tray on my lap. He slipped an arm around and fitted me in the crook of his body. “I should’ve been there. I’m sorry.”
“You’re here now. That’s all I care about.”
“I hear you’re going swimming with us.”
“I’ll skip the swimming, but come hang out with you guys.”
“Naked?”
I flicked his nose. “Behave.”
Preston rubbed the spot, grinning under his hand. “I spoke to Delilah.”
“Yeah? What did she say?”
“She’s agreed to call off the war. We’re keeping us private. She doesn’t have to worry about my lack of devotion getting back to her father.”
“That’s good.” I speared a chunk of beef from my stew and fed it to him.
“I spoke to Nathan too.”
I stilled with the fork hanging between us. “Did he tell you that we made up?”
“Yes.”
“Did he tell you—?”
“He told me everything, Belle. We’ve been friends since elementary school.”
I chose my words carefully. “We agreed that we were technically nonexclusive. But hooking up with your best friend might change things.”
“As Nathan reminded me, he did fall for you first.”
I shook my head thinking of him delivering that line. “Are you okay with this?”
“I can share you, Belle. This is our last summer together. I’ll take any part of you that I can get.”
Leaning in, I gave him a kiss to show how much that meant to me.
“You weren’t eating that, were you?” Preston dumped my food on the nightstand. He swallowed my weak protests in his kiss.
A couple of hours later, I was putting on my bathing suit under his roaming eye.
“Did you make that yourself?”
“I’ve never tried bathing suits,” I admitted. “Being here has inspired me to change that.” I turned on him, lying naked and unashamed in my bed. “We can’t go down together or we’d give ourselves away. Should I go first? You look so comfy,” I teased.
“I am. You’d be comfy in my bed too,” he said. “I promised you another go on those sheets.”
“I’m down when you are.”
“Tomorrow. Mom chartered a boat that’ll keep everyone out for most of the day. You can spend it in my bed.”
“Sounds good.” I grabbed my stuff, kissed him goodbye, and headed out. Carter posted on the opposite wall—still, silent, and unreadable.
“Hello, love,” I said brightly. “How’s your day going?”
“Well,” he replied, matching my tone. “Pretty good until— Wait, I almost forgot the call from my father.”
Carter fell in step with me. “Eric? So glad you two had a chat. He mentioned it had been a while since you spoke.”
“He mentioned that it’s been less than a day since you two spoke. Nice play going after my inheritance. Why marry you for it if there won’t be any money at the end of the I do?”
“That’s the idea.”
“Won’t work, Belle.” Anger broke through his coolness. “You really think my father would leave me with nothing?”
“He sounded chipper at the idea of leaving you with nothing,” I said. “Praised that you were growing up and standing on your own feet.”
The double doors loomed in front of us. On the other side our group lingered waiting for the final stragglers.
“So I’ll backtrack and say we’re not ready to be on our own.” Carter shot in my path, bouncing me off his chest. “Let him think I’m immature. I don’t care much for his opinion these days.”
I suspected that was true. Carter’s parents were going through a nasty divorce when we first met. They were over before we were.
“The point is it didn’t work, Belle. I’m still going to propose to you, and you know what, I’ll do it even if Dad doesn’t give me a cent. This means that much to me,” he said, backing away. “I don’t expect you to understand this because you care about nothing and no one. But I won’t give up until you do.”
I said nothing as he walked outside and joined his friends.
Carter wasn’t going to make this easy for me. To be honest, it was what I liked about him. When he decided he was right about something, he dug in and rooted down like a thousand-year-old oak. At eleven Carter took up the cause of oil spills and sea pollution. He’d make his father watch videos of choking sea turtles and chase him around the house ranting at his back until he got grounded. There was no changing Carter’s mind—which is why he and I went so wrong.
I knew him too well to think I could stop here. Sadly for both of us, I had more moves to play.
“Hey, Belle.” Zion appeared at my side. “Coming?”
“Let’s go.”
Kelli hugged me outside. “Are you okay? We were so worried about you.”
“I’m fine. No lasting damage.”
“Finn is an idiot and exactly who I was talking about,” Ivy spoke up. “He came here to screw around and sleep with as many girls as possible. Maim a few of them too, apparently. He should not have gotten an invitation.”
“He’s gone and good riddance.” Owen pulled me in for a side hug. “We’re ducking out to take our minds off it. Have fun like we’re supposed to be doing this summer.”
“That’s not what we’re supposed to be doing,” she said, “but it is part of it, so I’m down.”
Nathan and Preston were last to arrive. Preston flashed me a wink on his way to Delilah. I fell behind the pack, walking with Nathan as we set off.
“Did you get a phone?”
He shook a shiny new Samsung at me. “I’ll expect you to send me nudes to start refilling the bank.”
“You’ll be waiting a long time for those.”
“A long time for what?” Kelli drifted closer to us than she did the right direction. “What are you guys talking about?”
“For my number,” I said. “I told him he was lucky to get it the first time. That’ll teach him to go flinging his phone into the sea.”
Kelli playfully swatted my arm. “Wicked harsh, Belle.” She expertly slid between us and linked her arm through his. “You can have my number again. Why did you get rid of your phone?”
I sent a silent communication to him over her head and then jogged to catch up with the others. I hoped Nathan got the message and, most importantly, took the opportunity to tell Kelli about his tyrant grandfather and his plans to rescue his mother from his care. If Kelli wanted to pursue a marriage with Nathan, she had to know what that meant. And it had to be sooner rather than later.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“The beach goes on for another half a mile,” said Preston. “It’s all private. Once we’re out of sight of the villa, anything goes.”
“What kind of anything are we talking about?”
Mila flashed me a grin that did nothing to reassure me. “You’re partying with the Blackburn crew now. Buckle up.”
“It’s not too late to turn back, is it?”
“Way too late.”
Mila hooked my left arm while Nora got the right. Delilah shot me a poisonous look over Preston’s shoulder. It’s possible the two of us had a few things left to work out.
We tramped down the beach, laughing, goofing off, and trading stories of their time in the academy with my much tamer life at Bracknell High.
We reached the spot of the beach where it began to curve around the tip of the island. This was the cue. Mila and Nora dropped my hands.
The girls ran off, stripping their clothes as they went, and howling along with the hooting group. In minutes everyone was naked and racing toward the water. Except for me and Zion.
“Shall we?” Zion spread his towel further up the bank.
“Coming.”
In the moonlight, I search
ed for Carter’s clothes and then for Carter. He was diving into waves—his pale, shapely butt a buoy in the water. I gathered up his stuff, dropped them next to Zion, and laid my blanket on top of them.
“Do I want to know?” he asked.
“Nah.”
He patted the spot next to him. “Look up.”
I sank onto the soft, shifting earth, and the whole of the heavens overcame me. “Wow,” I breathed. “You search your whole life to see something this beautiful, and the entire time all you had to do is look up.”
“What are the stars like in Bracknell?”
“Not like this.”
“Did you study astronomy? My dad and I used to pore over star maps.”
“When I was a little girl, my dad would savor his nightly scotch on the patio. I’d sneak out of bed, climb on his lap, and he would point out the stars and tell me which was the bear and the lion. I said once that he was making it up and it was just a bunch of dots in the sky. He told me that you can’t look at things for what they are, but for what they can be.”
“Solid advice for a designer.”
“Belle.”
I raised my head and met with Poseidon, king of the sea. Strong, powerful, and bare before all. Ropey, corded muscles flexed as he moved, drawing my eyes down the length of his body. The dripping wet Olympian shook out his hair, showering me in droplets. I blinked and Carter Knight appeared in his place.
“Can’t find my clothes.” Pissed looked good on him too. “Assuming you have something to do with that?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. What would you say if I told you I’d give them back in exchange for calling off the engagement?”
Carter threw his head back laughing. “I’d say I’ve got plenty of clothes half a mile down the beach and a naked moonlit walk is good for the soul.”
“Didn’t think that would work.” I fished his clothes out from under me. “But you can’t blame a girl for trying.”
Carter grabbed his boxers and dropped the rest. His impressive length disappeared in the fabric—the first time I considered clothes the enemy.
“Switch?” he asked Zion.
“Okay.” My friend got up, shed his clothes, and raced into the water. Carter dropped in his place.
“So.” He propped himself on one arm and lay on his side. “Did my eyes deceive me or was the unflappable Belle Adler struck speechless?” His grin was wolfish. “I take that as the highest compliment.”
I dodged the question. “Unflappable? Good word.”
“You’re not an ordinary person. You don’t deserve an ordinary description.”
“I take that as the highest compliment.”
“Circling back to you ogling me.” My groan didn’t slow him down. “As you can see, I’ll keep you very happy in that department.”
Matching him smirk for smirk, I said, “Having the equipment doesn’t mean you know how to use it.”
“Want a test drive?” Carter trailed his nose along the shell of my ear, dripping water that raced down the valley of my breasts. “You can find out just how well I handle.”
Heat pooled in my lower belly, clenching my legs. I prayed he didn’t notice.
I fixed on the guys in the water and regretted it instantly. Nora hung off Asher like a real barnacle. Her legs wrapped his waist and her head flung back. I couldn’t hear them over the waves, but her open mouth and bouncing boobs as she rode him made it clear what they were up to.
“No, thanks,” I said evenly, returning to him. “I assume this is all a part of your plan to use sex, sweetness, and bribes to cover up your trapping me in a loveless marriage. Can I ask you something?”
“Go for it.”
“What happens if you get what you want? You turn around and say just kidding to our families? Admit to your father that you did all of that to get more money out of him?”
“You know what, I haven’t thought that far ahead.” He stood and held his hand out to me. “The water’s warm.”
I looked from him to the naked frolickers. “I’m supposed to take it easy.”
“We will.” Carter took my hands and helped me up. “I’ll hold you.”
That shouldn’t have swayed me, and yet my feet followed him. “Keeping the boxers on?”
“No more viewing the goods until you sample them.”
“I have another question.”
The water licked at our toes. Carter scooped me up in one smooth move. I put my arms around his neck as we ventured into the waves.
“How do we come back from this, Carter?”
“It’s too soon to ask that question. This isn’t over yet.”
He stopped where the water reached my toes. I stretched out, letting go for the sea and Carter to capture me. He moved me in time, lifting with the waves, and lowering me back to him.
“It’s already gone too far,” I said.
“It went too far seven years ago. Now you and I have to play this out to the end.”
“Even if it destroys us?”
“Even then.”
Carter twisted, using me to draw circles in the water. I let my head fall back. Gazing up at that sky while Carter floated me close to him, it was another perfect scene that we were obligated to ruin.
“Then we’ll be destroyed. Draw the battle lines. Stockpile the ammo. I can’t give you what you want and I can’t marry you.”
“Shh,” he whispered. “See those five bright ones over there? That’s Cassiopeia.” I followed his tracing finger. “Next to her is her husband, Cepheus. They were twisted by love, vanity, duty, and obsession. In the end, Cepheus was willing to sacrifice their daughter to save his wife. There are casualties in every love story, Belle. I’m ready to sacrifice for ours.”
“Are we a love story?” I asked. My question was light. Curious.
“You say you did what you did to me out of love. My reasons are the same. One way or another, I’ll find out what happened to my real Brinley Dylan, and I’ll get her back.”
I didn’t reply. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.
“What’s this?” Owen splashed over to us. “Can anyone take Belle for a spin?”
“No.” Carter’s grip tightened on me, hoisting me out of the water and snapping me to his chest. I blinked up at him in surprise. “Keep swimming, Newman.”
“Come on. We’re doing truth or dare. Play with us, Belle.” Owen tugged me from his grip and twisted to join the others.
A wave came on us, smacking us in the face with a wall of seawater. It freed us gasping and sputtering, and I searched for Carter in the confusion.
I found him on the beach, snatching up his clothes and walking off.
FRIDAY NIGHT ARRIVED in a flurry of excitement. The first party of the summer and a whole day of activities and sessions had to be canceled, so everyone could get ready. Ivy and Delilah marched around the ballroom in red and black gowns, barking orders.
They were stressing about nothing in my opinion. Our plans came together spectacularly. Kelli came through with the decorations that fell off the fence of cheesy and landed square on bold and elegant.
Black and red were our colors, and they came through in the red and black rose centerpieces atop checkered tabletops. A photo area made of a heart-shaped vine arch was near the entrance. Hanging from the ceiling were club, diamond, heart, and spade lanterns. The last items to handle were setting out the name cards and food.
Hazel delivered on her part. The buffet table would hold sun-dried tomato risotto, lemon chicken, grilled steak, and all their accompaniments. For dessert she came up with chocolate and red velvet cupcakes. Our signature drink was a silver autumn blossom we renamed painted roses. The underage had to drink them without the gin.
“We really pulled this off,” I said. Kelli and I were circling the tables, dropping name cards and making sure everything was perfect. “Sorry I couldn’t help out the last few days.”
“You don’t have to apologize. You didn’t plan for a Neandertal to throw you in a pool. You got us a g
reat band despite what happened. I listened to Purely Pink last night and fell down a two-hour-long rabbit hole. How did you get them?”
“I searched the best local bands and found out they played an event at the villa two years ago. I called and they jumped at the chance to play for us again. The first time was great exposure. They’re hoping to wrangle more gigs out of the community.”
“They’ve got me as a fan.”
“Belle? Belle,” Ivy called. “The band is calling from the front gate. Show them in and help them set up.”
“Ma’am, yes, ma’am.”
I saw her eye roll from across the room. She told me she was glad I was okay along with everyone else, but a concussion didn’t mean she suddenly liked me.
I carried out my orders and rescued the band members from security. They got to work setting up while I helped put the final touches on the buffet. At the strike of nine, guests began trickling in. Being fashionably late didn’t work when your room was upstairs and there was nothing else to occupy your time.
“Welcome, everyone, to our Wonderland.” Delilah towered above us in her natural place on stage. “Find your seats, help yourself to the buffet, and enjoy.” The band kicked off with her final word as cue. I chose Purely Pink for their fun island sound and the entire song they sang devoted to oranges. From the head-bobbing and hip-shaking, I chose well.
The trickle became a stream. Twenty minutes after nine and the ballroom was full, plates were heaped with food, and my fellow captives searched out their tables.
I had it on good authority—Kelli’s—that Delilah placed my seat at the back nearest the photo op. I switched it on the spot, bouncing Lukas and Tyra, and putting me and Zion with her, Carter, Nathan, Preston, Mila, and Hazel.
Zion and I joined them, earning a glare from Delilah that peeled me like a grape, and appreciative looks from Nathan and Preston that had me as naked as one.
I didn’t have my usual setup to make my own dress, but that was no excuse to settle for ordinary. My black halter gown had a red collar and long back skirt that showed off the short, white pants trimmed in red. Down the back of my skirt was a cascading shower of hearts, and for my stockings, I special-ordered one covered with little axes.