by Tia Wylder
“Excuse me,” she said. “Are you Jack Nathan?”
“I am,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “Why?”
The woman flushed. “I’m Bethany,” she said. “I, um, stayed at your Tokyo property last month. It was insane,” she added, biting her lip as her cheeks turned bright red. “It was like, the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m glad you liked it.”
Bethany hopped up on the stool next to mine without waiting for an invitation.
“So,” Bethany said, batting her eyes at me. “Are you here for business or pleasure?”
“Business,” I said drily. It was funny – the old Jack used to love attention from random women in bars…especially women who looked as good as Bethany. But I wasn’t feeling it. If anything, she was an annoyance, a distraction. All I could think about was Adele.
“I’m here on vacay,” Bethany said in an obnoxious Valley Girl voice. “With my besties. We were all sorority sisters, and now we’re here for a bachelorette.”
“Sounds fascinating.” I drained my second glass of scotch and put the tumbler on the counter, signaling to the bartender.
“Look, if you want to be alone, just say so,” Bethany said. She licked her lips and leaned closer. “But I can’t think of very many fun things to do alone if you know what I mean.” She put her hand on my thigh and squeezed.
I sighed.
“I mean, you have to have a little fun, don’t you?” Bethany crooned. “I bet you’re used to tons of women around you all the time…but I promise I’m not bad in bed.” She raised an eyebrow. “And I’m certainly not a prude.”
I glanced down at her hand on my thigh before gently removing it and putting it back in her lap.
“No,” I said. “Trust me. I didn’t think you were a prude.”
Bethany pouted. “What is wrong with you,” she asked, her voice filled with annoyance. “Do you know that I’m like, one of the hottest girls at my school? Guys are dying to sleep with me.”
“Well, I’ll let them fight for my place,” I said, sliding off the stool and pulling a wad of cash out of my wallet. Leaving it on the bar, I turned and strode out of the bar.
I half-expected Bethany to follow me. I’d forgotten how desperate women could be – almost like vultures if given a chance. But I wanted nothing to do with Bethany, or Claudia, or any of them. They were all the same. Meaningless, blonde dolls with big eyes and uniform tans.
I hadn’t eaten anything yet, and I realized as I staggered toward the elevator bank that I was almost drunk. The scotch was buzzing in my bloodstream, and Adele’s name kept sounding in my head like a rhythmic chant.
I got it, I thought excitedly as I stumbled into the elevator and waited for the doors to ping shut. I’ll go see Adele, yeah, we can talk, maybe she’s cooled down a little bit.
By the time I got to Adele’s floor, I was almost falling over. I couldn’t believe the scotch had hit me so fast – I’d only had two doubles! But two doubles on an empty stomach was nothing to fuck with, or so I was finally learning.
The hall seemed to stretch on forever. I staggered down towards Adele’s room clutching at the trim on the walls to keep from falling over. When I got to her door, I swung at the door, intending to knock. But I lost my balance and fell, crashing to the floor in a tangled heap of limbs.
Adele, I’m sorry, was my last thought before I passed out.
Chapter Nine
Adele
I was so angry after talking to Jack that I could hardly think straight. I couldn’t believe it – he was nothing like the man I’d thought he was. He was cocky and arrogant and bullheaded and so incredibly fucking stupid…how on earth did he think I would be okay with his development proceeding when we had something so much more important to take care of?
I was so mad that I could hardly see straight.
I spent a couple of hours pacing in my room, back and forth, until I felt like I was going to wear the plush carpeting down to a bunch of little nubs. Then I called Lisa.
She answered on the first ring.
“Yo,” Lisa said. She coughed. “How’s Nassau?”
“It sucks,” I said flatly.
“Whoa,” Lisa said. I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was frowning. “What happened? Mr. Dreamy not working out?”
“Mr. Dreamy is too excited about his stupid fucking real estate project to care about Franchot anymore,” I said angrily. “He actually thought I would be happy for him when he told me that it had been approved! And then he didn’t understand why I was mad!”
“Well, Adele, I mean, that is his business,” Lisa said slowly. “Just because the project was approved doesn’t mean that like, he’s going to start building it tomorrow.
“Whose side are you on,” I shot back. “And you don’t know that! For all I know, he’s getting drunk with his crew right now and planning when to break ground.”
Lisa sighed. “Adele, honey, you need to calm down,” she said. “And before you tell me to shove it, I know you hate being told to calm down…but you really need to chill out. Franchot is the devil, but he’s not exactly going anywhere. There’s still plenty of time for you guys to catch him and make him pay.”
“But that’s explicitly why we came down here!” I said. By now, I was so mad that I was almost yelling. “We came down together for that reason!”
“Well, yeah, but I’m sure Jack has a lot of other things going on. He’s a billionaire, honey. He’s not going to put everything on hold just because he’s helping you with this project.”
“He should,” I muttered angrily, rolling my eyes and flopping down on my bed. “He should know better! This could ruin everything…and if he doesn’t take down Franchot, then how the hell is that going to look for him? Is he seriously going to try to compete with Franchot? It’ll seriously lower the value of his own property!”
Lisa snorted. “If you’re so smart about this, why not go into business yourself?”
“Ouch,” I said, shaking my head and closing my eyes. With a sigh, I flopped my head back against the pillow. “It’s just so frustrating, Lisa. I thought we were getting somewhere. And now I feel like I’m here for practically no reason. I may as well come home.”
“Adele, don’t do that,” Lisa said. “God, it stormed again last night – I swear there are four feet of snow on the ground right now. You definitely don’t want to come home.”
I sniffed indignantly. “I’m missing valuable study and research time,” I said sulkily. “All because of this jerk who thinks he’s more important than saving the wildlife of Nassau!”
“Adele, please,” Lisa said. “It’s just a couple of hours – I’m sure he’s not actually going to stop helping you just because of this. Besides,” she said, trailing off.
“What?” I narrowed my eyes. “What were you going to say?”
Lisa laughed nervously. “Look, don’t hate me for this or anything…but he’s a man, Adele. He’s got like, manly confidence and stuff. This kind of news is probably what his ego needs.”
I groaned. “Oh my god, no,” I said. “I’m not giving him a pass because he’s an insecure man-child. He’s immature, and that’s that.”
“Well, he’s a man,” Lisa countered. “I’m not really sure what you want me to say.”
“Say you’ll buy me a pizza when I get home,” I said drily. “I’m going to pack and see if I can’t get the first flight out of here.”
“If you’re sure,” Lisa said. She sounded doubtful. “Why not just stay another day or two, take advantage of the beach and get some reading done?”
I frowned. “For a doctoral student, you’re not very serious sometimes,” I said, shaking my head and knitting my brows together. “I’ll be home tomorrow, hopefully. We can talk then.”
“Okay,” Lisa said. She sounded vaguely offended. “Have a safe flight home.”
We said our goodbyes – hers was noticeably chillier than usual – and I hung up, slipping my phone into my p
ocket.
Packing wasn’t hard. I hadn’t brought very much stuff – most of it was books – and I filled my suitcase in under an hour. The sun was starting to set, and I pulled out my laptop to check flight times. To my supreme annoyance, I saw that there was nothing until the following morning.
Outside, on the beach, I could see people dancing and laughter by the light of tiki torches. I could tell they were having a lot of fun, but I didn’t care. I felt sour about the whole thing. Stupid luxury hotel, I thought as I narrowed my eyes. All these people care about is drinking rum and partying on the beach…they don’t even care that soon, there won’t be a beach at all!
After a few more seconds of hateful glaring, I closed my curtains and flopped back down on the bed. It was early, not even nine, but I felt exhausted. Dealing with Jack and my surprisingly unsupportive roommate had worn me out.
Eventually, I fell asleep.
--
In the morning, I woke up when the sun was barely above the horizon. The sky was beautiful – pink and orange and purple – and for a moment, I almost regretted booking the first flight home. But I couldn’t stay here and waste any more of my precious time. If Jack was determined to be an asshole, then I was determined to find someone else who could help me.
Grabbing my suitcase, I slung my purse over my shoulder and checked the room to make sure I hadn’t left anything behind.
When I opened the door, it caught on something, and I almost tripped. Frowning, I leaned my full weight onto it and pushed hard.
“Hey!”
I gasped in surprise. Jack was sitting on the floor, rubbing his eyes. He looked terrible. His face was red and puffy, and his eyes were bloodshot. His clothing was rumpled.
“Have you been out here all night?” I frowned and put my hands on my hips. “What are the fuck are you doing?”
Jack groaned and blinked. “Having the hangover of a lifetime,” he muttered under his breath. “Pro tip, don’t even drink two doubles on an empty stomach.”
“I’ll try to remember that the next time I go crazy and binge,” I said sarcastically. “Would you mind moving?”
Jack braced himself against the wall and got to his feet, brushing his hands off on his pants. He groaned again and leaned against the wall, putting his face in his hands.
“I feel like hell,” he groaned. “What time is it?”
I looked down at my watch. “It’s nine-thirty,” I said. “And I really need to be going. My flight leaves at eleven.”
“What?” Jack squinted. “Your flight?”
“Yeah,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You’re obviously not interested in helping me out, so I’m leaving.” I stood proud and tall, puffing out my chest. “Besides, I’m missing the valuable time where I could be in the library. Or studying. Or basically doing anything but waiting around for you to come to your senses.”
Jack blinked. “Oh, god,” he said, shaking his head. “Look, Adele, don’t go – we can work on Franchot today, I promise.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Yeah, and then what? One of your shareholders calls, and you get so excited that you run to the bar and get blackout drunk and forget all about it?”
“That’s not fair,” Jack groaned. “I didn’t go to the bar to celebrate, I went because…” He trailed off, looking sheepish.
I glared at him. “Because of what?”
“Because I was embarrassed,” Jack said. He looked at me, and I shivered at the intensity of his gaze. Suddenly, I hated him. It was like no matter what happened between us, no matter how angry I was at Jack, I couldn’t turn off the powerful chemistry that flowed between our bodies. I couldn’t look at Jack without wanting to kiss him, to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him close and moan against his hard, muscular body.
“Oh?” I winced – I knew I sounded like an idiot, but it was all I could say after such a confession.
“Yeah,” Jack said lamely. He sighed. “Look, I know I probably shouldn’t have run to you and expected that you’d want to celebrate with me. But this is a big deal.”
“I know,” I said angrily. “I’m well aware of that, Jack. You don’t have to—“
Jack held a hand up in the air, effectively silencing me. “And it’s a big deal to my company. But Adele, I made you a promise. And I swear, I won’t let you down. We’ll take down Franchot as soon as we can.”
I sighed. Part of me wanted to believe him. Hell, part of me wanted to do a lot more than that. Part of me wanted to throw myself against him, make out passionately, and drag him back into my hotel room. To hell with the flight, to hell with Jack’s stupid hotel plan, to hell with everything.
I shrugged. I felt lame, awkward, like Jack could see right through me.
“You promise?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Jack said. He cleared his throat and stepped closer. A ripple of arousal went soaring through my body.
Is he going to kiss me? I really want him to kiss me, I thought as I bit my lip and stared.
Jack smirked. “Or, we could do something else,” he said, tossing his head and raising his eyebrows.
I groaned. “I need to leave,” I said icily. “Or I’ll miss my flight.”
Jack reached for my hand and twined his fingers with mine. He pulled me close and pressed me against the wall. Even though he smelled like sweat and scotch, I still found him irresistible. But as always, when we were together or about to be together, I found myself wondering about Jack’s true motives. What was he doing with someone like me?
He could have anyone in the world.
When our lips met, I couldn’t stop myself from swooning in his arms. I moaned softly as Jack slipped his tongue into my mouth and pressed me against the wall, pushing one of his muscular thighs between my legs until I cried out with arousal and pleasure. My belly felt hot and tight with lust, and my nipples were stiff peaks inside my bra. Our kiss grew deeper. Jack put his hands on my waist and slipped them under my shirt, brushing against my bare skin. I wanted him so badly that I was ready to take him right here, in the hallway, where anyone could see.
Jack broke the kiss and stepped away. There was a devilish grin on his face, and he winked at me.
“So,” Jack said casually, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. “Feel like taking me back into that room? I can show you how sorry I am,” he added with a smirk.
“What about Franchot?” My blood was pumping hot and thick through my veins in a torment of arousal. “What are we going to do about him?”
“Adele, let’s worry about him later,” Jack said in a soothing voice.
My lust disappeared, replaced by hot, tangible anger. It felt like molten lava in my belly, and for a moment, I felt like I was seeing red.
“You don’t care about Franchot,” I spat, reaching down for my suitcase. “You just want to sleep with me!”
Jack’s face fell. “Adele, come on,” he whined. “I was trying to lighten the mood!”
“Yeah, well,” I growled. “You just made things worse. See you never, Jack Nathan.”
Whirling around, I stormed down the hall and out of the hotel. I was halfway to the airport by the time I realized I’d forgotten to check out. For a moment, I almost told the driver to turn around. But then a smug, unpleasant smile stretched across my face.
Fuck Jack, I thought. Let him be the one who checks me out – he’s already paying for my room! An extra day won’t kill him!
The plane to Miami was packed, and I was barely able to squish into my seat. It was an uncomfortable flight, too, and I shifted and twitched the whole way. Now that I was away from Jack, my anger was starting to fade. But as soon as I pulled out my laptop and started scrolling through the news, it came rushing right back. There, on the front page of a national newspaper, was Franchot’s fat, smug face. The headline read: “Mega Developer Reaps Mega Benefits With New Project.”
“Fuck you,” I muttered under my breath, slamming my laptop closed and stowing it in my bag.
By the tim
e I got back to Boston, it was late. I caught a cab from the airport even though I knew I shouldn’t spare the expense. I was exhausted, and the home was calling my name.
Thankfully, Lisa was still awake. She was sitting on the couch. When she saw me, she raised an eyebrow.
“So, you want me to order that pizza?”
I collapsed on the couch and nodded blearily. “Yes, please.”
“You look like hell,” Lisa said cheerfully as she reached for her laptop. “Olives and pineapple?”
I nodded again, too exhausted to answer.