Twice Tempted (Holland Springs)

by Marquita Valentine

  “We’ll see about that. What took you so long?” He took her bag with his free one. What in God’s name did she have in it?

  “Thanks for taking that! So, I got lost and then the chick at the desk wouldn’t believe me when I said I was on your list. I needed to show ID which meant I had to go all the way back to my room to get it. Then I bumped into one of the pool waiters, but no one got hurt or covered in anything. It’s the story of my life,” she said with a self-deprecating smile.

  “Let’s go. I want you to meet a couple of my friends. If they were here…”

  The cabana was empty and Christian had no idea where Brennen had wandered off to. Probably he’d seen something shiny. On a woman.

  “Guess my reputation preceded me.” She let go of his hand and he frowned as he realized that he hadn’t wanted her to let go.

  “You know, the whole knife thing, then the palm trees,” she added, making a little face. Obviously she’d taken his frown the wrong way.

  Setting her bag on a nearby table, he caught himself reaching for her hand, but she hadn’t noticed. He flexed his fingers. “I reckoned I’d let that be my secret weapon if Brennen got too handsy.” He couldn’t stop thinking holding her hand again. Of their fingers entangling. She brushed a strand of hair away from her face and he grew hard. He wanted her hand on him, his body. One way or another he would hold her hand again.

  One way or another he’d make himself a doctor’s appointment to have his head examined.

  “But I’m yours—your date, I mean.”

  “Oh?” The wicked gleam in his eyes made Zoe flush. She wasn’t his anything. Nothing but supposedly good press. Yet, she knew he wanted more. Then again, men like him, without limitations, always wanted more.

  “At least for the general public, I am,” she added.

  The wicked gleam gave way to disappointment. “That you are.”

  “Do you have a place where I can change? I was running late and had to bring my swimsuit with me.”

  He wiggled his brows, completely recovered. “Dying to see me?”

  She guessed being an actor had its benefits. “More like dying to see the sun. It’s been freezing cold back home.”

  “I’m wounded.”

  “I’m sure you’ll recover.” She looked around the cabana. “Anyway, place to change?”

  “Well, you could go all the way back inside to the ladies room, or I can hold up a towel for you back here.” He gave her a smile that made her body tingle, as if it’d been asleep and found a reason to wake up.

  “Would you keep your back turned?” She pulled the bikini Melanie had picked out for her out of her bag. Of course there wasn’t much to it, but there were women (and men) wearing a lot less.

  Christian grabbed a large towel and held it up. “Scout’s honor.”

  Zoe gave a little shrug. She could be daring and all it-stays-in-Vegas-like. “Fine.” She gave him her back as she slipped her panties off under her dress and her bathing suit bottom on before she shimmied out of the cotton cover-up. She didn’t want to take the chance she’d flash him, even if he was holding up a towel and supposedly looking in the opposite direction. “Almost done,” she called out, whirling around and finding him perusing her body.

  Gasping, she quickly covered her breasts with her hands. “I thought you wouldn’t look. You said ‘Scout’s honor’!’”

  He took a step forward and crowded her into the corner, only the towel between their bodies. “I lied.” The heat of his body seeped through the material. “You should’ve warned me.”

  “About what?”

  “How you’d look in a bikini.” It didn’t sound like he was insulting her, but she couldn’t be sure.

  “I don’t have my top on.”

  “Trust me, I noticed.”

  “I have to put my top on.” Her nipples grew hard against her palms.

  Gold-tipped lashes lowered fractionally. “No, you don’t.”

  Before she could answer, someone whistled. She rose to the balls of her feet, looking over one of Christian’s shoulders. Two infamous faces accompanied by twins and a tall blonde with an annoyed look on her pretty face stood just beyond the opening of the cabana.

  “Oh my God.” She frantically searched for her top, knocking over her bag.

  “They can’t see anything,” Christian murmured. “Unfortunately, neither can I.”

  She snatched the silver top from the ground and tried to secure it at the back. “But I can see them.” On the second try, the hook finally grabbed the tiny slot.

  “You started without me? That’s totally not Zoe,” one of the men called out.

  She wrinkled her brow. That was strange. Who did they think she was?

  Christian got a funny look on his face before he turned around, throwing the towel to the side. “Cut it out, Brennen.”

  “Just saying what we’re all thinking,” Brennen said.

  More than a little embarrassed at being caught topless, and with Christian, she gave the group a lopsided smile and half waved as they moved closer. “Hi, I’m Zoe.”

  “Hell-o, Zoe,” Brennen flashed a confident smile. “I’m Brennen.” He grabbed the dark-haired man beside him and put him into a headlock. “And this bundle of joy is my brother, Wade. Don’t mind the bitch face. It’s his constipated— I mean contemplative look.”

  Wade shook off the mock wrestling hold and gave his brother the finger. Turning to Zoe, he said, “Nice to meet you.”

  “You, too.” Zoe struggled not to laugh at the brothers.

  “Zoe?” The blonde’s lips twisted on her name. She glared at Zoe, then at Christian.

  He wrapped an arm around Zoe’s shoulders, pulling her closer. “Yes, this is my good friend, Zoe.”

  Good friend? Oh-kay. “Nice to meet you,” Zoe said.

  “It’s so Zoe to meet another one of Ian’s friends,” said the twin in the purple bikini.

  “Yes,” Zoe said slowly, “that’s me.”

  The twin wearing a white one piece shook her head. “No, Zoe is French for awesome.”

  For a couple of minutes, an uncomfortable silence permeated the air. No one but Vanessa would look at Zoe. It was as though everyone was in on a joke, but her. Or maybe the joke was on her. Her face heated in increasingly humiliating levels.

  “Last one in the pool is, ah, screw it.” Brennen scooped one of the twins into his arms and headed straight for the pool. She squealed and threw out her arms, sending his baseball cap flying.

  Wade whispered in the other twin’s ear, and they walked off in the direction of the bar.

  Zoe slanted a glance at Christian. “Is there something I should know?”

  “Um, well, you see,” he began and to Zoe’s amazement, the bridge of his nose flushed. The infamous playboy actor was blushing?

  Vanessa cleared her throat, but Zoe kept her attention on Christian. “Ian told us that Zoe meant awesome in French, but he could have been confused from all the Petron we drank last night at Shift. Their VIP rooms were sick.”

  “You said that?” Tears pricked at the back of Zoe’s eyes when Christian didn’t deny it. There were so many things she wanted to do in this moment, so many things she wanted to happen. Like holes opening up and swallowing him whole. Most of all she wanted to be anywhere but here. With him. With his entire stupid lifestyle and rude friends. She needed to be back in her hotel room, under the covers and out of sight. Why had she thought she could handle this?

  “Zoe, let’s go talk about this some place more private.”

  She shrugged out of his embrace. “If you don’t mind, I have work to do.”

  “Leaving already?” Vanessa asked.

  It was as if a switch had flipped. There was no way Zoe would give anyone the satisfaction of watching her flee like a scared rabbit. She’d leave when she was good and ready. “Oh, no, I brought it with me.”

  “Whatever.” Vanessa flounced off, screeching at Wade to buy her a drink.

  “I didn’t sleep with th
em,” Christian said, his voice subdued.

  Zoe brushed past him, grabbing her bag and pulling out her laptop. “Don’t care.”

  “I owe you an explanation. It’s not what you think.”

  “You didn’t say my name meant awesome?”

  “Yes, but it wasn’t what you think.” His hand slashed through the air.“They were following me around in the bathroom and watching me shower.”

  “That makes it so much better.” She concentrated on the pool. The water sparkled in the sun and everyone else around looked like they were having the time of their lives. “What about at Shift? Were you talking about me then, too? Or do you normally shower with Brennen and Wade?”

  “Hell, no. Look, you’re taking this all wrong.”

  “I’m done talking.” She made a move toward her bag.

  Christian grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. That familiar feeling of rightness settled between them. “Please, Zoe, let me explain.”

  It wasn’t a feeling of rightness; it was a warning to run as fast as she could in the opposite direction. He was wrong for her. Incredibly, undoubtedly wrong and she was a fool to think otherwise. “There’s nothing you could say to make this better.” She snatched her hand away, hating how her skin tingled in the exact spots he’d touched.

  “You’re blowing this way out of proportion.”

  Shaking and clenching her teeth, it was all she could do to not tell him to shove it up his butt. After shimmying her cover-up over her bikini, she made herself comfortable in a white and green striped loveseat. All the while Christian stood there and stared.

  Finally, he offered her a pillow, but she ignored it and him. With a grunt, he threw it to the back of the cabana. “Dammit, Zoe, don’t be this way.”

  “You know what—you’re completely right about blowing this out of proportion. You have my forgiveness, even though you didn’t ask for it.” She glanced up at him. “Go hang out with your friends. I’ll stay for a little while. Maybe I can add some respectability to your reputation. It’ll be totally zoe.”After all that was his real reason for inviting her. Four girls and three guys. Someone was obligated to be the odd one out.

  He searched her face. “I really am sorry. Vanessa heard me say your name and got all pissed off. Instead of manning up, I told a lie and it turned into a joke. One that was never meant to be at your expense.”

  Too little, too late. She waved him away with her fingertips. “Go play with your friends.”

  “Zoe is Greek for life, and I think it’s quite lovely,” he said and her heart jumped to her throat. “You’re lovely, and I don’t deserve the time that you’re giving me.”

  “Just go, please” she whispered, starting up her computer.

  She watched him walk away, his usually confident shoulders drooping until he dove into the pool. Brennen jumped Christian from behind as soon as he came up for air, then shoved him back under the water. The two men played like teenagers as they tried to drown each other.

  Finally, she gave up watching when it became clear that Christian wasn’t coming over to talk to her. Why she wanted him to was entirely illogical. She had told him to leave her alone. But it did hurt a little. All right, if she was being honest it hurt a lot. More than she’d thought. However, there was nothing she could do without seeming desperate.

  She typed away, her mind not really on what she was doing. A soft thud sounded beside her. Glancing beside her, she peeked beneath her lashes. A large, pastel-colored drink with a little umbrella in it had appeared on the table. Something she would have ordered had she not been licking her wounds.

  “Thank you for staying.” Water gleamed on the tanned skin of Christian’s chest.

  She frowned. Why did he have to be so attractive? Why did he have to have the most perfect tattoo of a rose on his chest, one that a lifetime ago she’d traced with her tongue. Her life had been just fine before she ran into him again. Boring, yes, but constant. Manageable.

  Maybe she’d been a fool for breaking off her engagement with Gabriel. But she couldn’t second guess her decisions, not now. It had been the right thing to do, a relief from the pressure of having to be together because their relationship looked good on paper. Easing back into a comfortable friendship had made them both very happy. However, she was lonely and wanted what her best friend had. What everyone around her in Holland Springs had—someone to love and be loved by. Someone to come home to and eat dinner with every night. Someone to discuss the sweetest mundane things, like picking out paint samples and debating where the next flower bed in their yard should go.

  Neither Christian Romanov, the man, nor Ian Romanov, the actor, was good or realistic for what she wanted. She needed to be on guard with his easy charm. This afternoon proved the hows and whys of it.

  “Are you still not speaking to me?” He grabbed a bottle of beer from a nearby treasure chest full of ice and drinks, then plopped down in the chair beside hers.

  “I didn’t do it for you.”

  “Whatever your motivation, I’m genuinely happy you’re still here.”

  “So you say.”

  He leaned into her line of sight, blocking her view. “You’re on Twitter?”

  His muscular back made her mouth water. “I’m working.” Her screen replaced the amazing view of his body. Her followers would probably love for her to tweet a poolside picture of a half-naked movie star like Christian. Forget her followers, Christian would love for her to tweet their picture together.

  “All work and no play makes a dull Zoe,” he teased, pushing the drink closer to her.

  She pushed it back, hitting a cluster of candles. The drink sloshed over one side, and she inwardly groaned. So much for cool indifference. “All play and no work makes me broke. Could you hand me a towel?”

  He grabbed a cloth napkin from the extras cleverly displayed in a colorful beach bucket. Instead of handing it to her, he made quick work of cleaning up her mess. Her heart did a little somersault, despite her brain telling it to stay firmly in place

  “Why don’t you follow me on Twitter? I could tweet our picture.”

  “Hmpf.” She scowled at him.

  “I’ll take that as a definitive ‘no’.”

  “Sorry, I’m more of a leader.” She took a sip of her drink. “But thank you for the drink and cleaning up my mess.”

  “My pleasure.”

  A waitress hurried over, taking the dirty towel from him and promising to return with another drink for her.

  Motioning at her screen, he asked, “You follow Homer Simpson?”

  “So?”

  “I follow him, too.” He grinned, then titled his head to the side and bit his bottom lip. The gesture so familiar and endearing that she found it impossible to stay mad at him, like a sensible woman would. Apparently, sensible women were not allowed in Vegas. “What would you say if I asked you to stay longer? We Homer Simpson fans need to stick together. Possibly form a club.”

  Maybe this was the way to finally talk to him about that night and the next day. Only she was too much of a coward to bring it up right now, and poolside in front of his friends wasn’t exactly the right place either. One could even argue that she owed it to Christian, and that helping him would be a quick way to ease her guilty conscience. How long was too long to make someone pay for a bad deed, especially when they had no idea they’d been paying all along.

  “Guess you’ll have to ask to find out.”

  Her jaw almost dropped when he got on his knees in front of her, moving her laptop and taking her hand in his as everyone watched.

  “Zoe, most beautiful woman in Vegas, whose name doesn’t mean awesome but should.” He winked at her and she couldn’t help but giggle. “This most humble of servants asks, nay, begs you to come play with him in the pool. Grace us—me with your presence.” He kissed her hand.

  She melted into another puddle of Zoe goo.

  Chapter Eight

  Christian nearly fist pumped the air when she agreed. It had
been pure torture respecting Zoe’s request to leave her alone. He had remained entirely aware of her every move, her every frown and expression as she typed and texted. As she spoke to the twins and laughed at whatever they’d been discussing. As she did anything and everything to keep his attention riveted on her. Extraordinary things like breathing.

  She pulled off her cover-up, revealing what he’d been missing as much as her wit. She kicked off her shoes, one narrowly missing his nose.

  Dangerous woman.

  She shook her head. Her cheeks were stained a light pink. He didn’t think it was from the sun. Her next words confirmed it. “You know, I’m really not this clumsy back home.”

  He winked. “I feel honored.”

  She walked toward the pool, hips swaying enticingly. Hypnotizing him with her gait, with her perfect ass that jiggled in all the right places. He swallowed a groan of appreciation.

  The women he usually dated were made of sharp planes and angles that photographed well. Some men, like Wade, preferred a lean body, but Christian loved to be with women who looked and felt like Zoe. Soft and welcoming…damn near impossible to find in Los Angeles.

  “I’ll be right back.” She turned, walking in the direction of the entrance to the hotel. “I have to use the ladies’ room.”

  “There’s one at the back of the cabana; it’s connected to a suite,” Brennen called out, a shit-eating grin on his face.

  “I thought there wasn’t any other place to change but in the hotel.” She looked at Christian, her mouth forming a perfect O as understanding dawned.

  Oh, hell. He was in trouble now. “What?”

  She shook her finger at him. “You’re on my bad list. Way up there. All circled and starred. Maybe even underlined in red permanent marker.”

  “You can’t blame a bloke for trying.”

  She shoved past him, giving him an extra bump with her hip. He lost his footing on the slippery surface and went over the edge of the pool. Cold water rushed up his nose and in his mouth.

  Breaking through the water’s surface, he shook his head like a dog. In the background he could hear Wade and Brennen laughing their asses off at him.