One Condition (The Lust List: Kaidan Stone #1)

by Nova Raines

  “Why, you buying?” I ask.

  “Sure.”

  “Oh, yeah? I’m pretty sure this is an open bar.”

  “Even better.” He flashes me that panty-dropping smile of his. God, he’s so cocky.

  “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll be buying my own drink tonight.”

  A gorgeous woman, one of several attractive bartenders, takes my order—a glass of wine. Damn, I forget how good-looking LA is when I’m not here. New money definitely has hotter waitstaff than old money.

  Ender leans on the bar and openly admires my body as I wait for my drink. I let him look. Let him want what he’s not having.

  “What are you up to tonight?”

  “Oh, just drinking. Hanging out.”

  “You could hang out with me. There’s a party room upstairs.”

  “I think I’ll stay down here.”

  He cocks his head to the side, considering me, then takes a drink. “So where’s Stone at?”

  “Don’t know, don’t care,” I say, as the bartender hands me my wine.

  “Oh, I think you do.”

  I get irritated. “No. I don’t.”

  “Don’t let Peyton scare you off.”

  “She didn’t.”

  “You know, we call Peyton ‘The Ruiner.’ Not even I’d go near that. Stone wants you. He went looking for you after you left the club."

  My cheeks flush, and I can’t answer. Did he really look for me? I don’t believe Ender. Kaidan looked through me tonight, like I didn’t exist.

  Ender orders another drink, and I sip half my wine away, getting buzzed. I look for Char, but she’s still chatting up Bia. Bia’s friends came back, and Char looks like she’s getting along fine without me.

  “So where’s your date?” I ask Ender.

  He looks at me, amused. “What date?”

  “The girl from the club? At LUSH?”

  He laughs. “Oh, I have a policy against that.”

  “Against what?”

  He meets my eyes, and I can see the lust in them. “Being selfish. A woman can only have me for one night.”

  “Oh, how romantic.”

  “Too bad Stone got dibs on you first. I do have an opening tonight.”

  “Oh yes. Because how else could I resist your charms?”

  He laughs, loudly, and drains his glass. He leans in closer, and I smell the vodka on his breath. “I know how to have fun, Hayley. I can show you.”

  “She doesn’t need you to show her anything,” a deep voice says from beside me. My heart starts beating faster. It’s Kaidan.

  A flash of annoyance passes over Ender’s face, and I look at Kaidan, and with great effort, keep my expression smooth. “What if I want him to show me?”

  Kaidan stares down at me, his eyes dark, and he licks his lips. “That’s not what you want.”

  Mmm. No. It’s not. But I won’t say it. I won’t show it. “You think you know what I want?”

  Ender slams his glass down on the bar, but I don’t look to confirm the glare I’m sure he’s sending Kaidan’s way right now.

  Kaidan wraps his arm around my back and guides me away from the bar. I let him.

  Kaidan brings me around the wooden stage that’s been set up at the back of the ballroom and out through the wide glass doors to the dimly lit stone veranda beyond.

  A few couples are out here, but not many. Heat’s radiating from where his hand rests on my lower back. What does Kaidan want with me? Either he cares, or he doesn’t. Am I just a rebound girl, like the tabloids say? I feel a little light-headed from the wine. So I do the smart thing and drink some more.

  There’s a breathtaking infinity pool to our right that looks like it leads straight into the dark ocean below us. Kaidan pulls me to the left, stopping beside a marble column, before a banister overlooking the ocean.

  He lets me go. The lights cast a dim glow over the planes of his face as he looks down at me. He openly runs his gaze along my body, but his expression doesn’t change. I feel naked before him, like he feels my warm skin beneath my gown, like he can feel the chaotic emotions swirling within me.

  Waves crash against the beach in the dark, and the saltwater air lifts my hair and carries a few strands into my face. Despite his unmoving expression, his touch is tender as he brushes the strands off my cheek. I want him to touch me like that again, but the moment’s over too soon, and he shifts away from me. For reasons I don’t understand, the distance between us is so much greater than the mere inches he stands apart from me.

  “You know,” I say, trying to keep my voice even. “I don’t need saving.” This is the biggest lie I’ve told all night. A little panic flutters in my chest—about Serena, about what I need to do about the necklace. I push those thoughts down.

  “Maybe I’m not trying to save you.”

  I search his face, but I still can’t read him. “What are you trying to do then?”

  He averts his eyes and looks out at the ocean, gripping the railing tightly in one hand. “I was doing you a favor. Ender would use you and throw you away.”

  “And you wouldn’t?” I cringe against how vulnerable I sound, but I can’t take it back now.

  He takes a deep breath and runs a hand down his face. “When we met… Did you really not know who I was?”

  I laugh and clutch my purse against my chest. “If you knew what I thought—”

  “Tell me,” he says, in a tone that expects obedience. “Say it.”

  “We’re being honest now?”

  “I’ve never not been honest,” Kaidan says. There’s a darkness in his voice, and I find myself inching away from him, until the marble column at my back stops me.

  “I had no idea who you were. I thought those paparazzi were there for me.”

  “Maybe they were.” I think I hear a hint of a smile in his tone, but if he smiled, it’s gone, and I can’t see him well with his face turned toward the darkness.

  “And you?” I ask. “You acted like you recognized me in the law firm. So I thought… I thought you were playing dumb in the car.”

  A conflicted expression plays across his face. “No. When I first saw you… I thought you were someone else. For a moment.”

  Peyton. Knife through the heart, that. I drain my glass of wine, appreciating the warmth as it runs through me. I set my empty glass on a tall, round table beside the column. I shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t want to hear that.

  “Okay, well, is there a reason you brought me all the way out here?” I ask. “I’m pretty sure Ender’s gone off with some other girl by now.”

  “Would you have gone off with him?” He searches my face.

  Wow. He’s serious. He thinks I’m a slut. “At least Ender makes it clear what he wants.” It comes out sounding sharper than I intend, and I try to step around him to go back inside.

  Kaidan rests one arm on the column, blocking me in. He pulls my clutch from my tight grasp and sets it next to my glass on the table. He’s inches away from me now, and his dark eyes meet mine. Heat races through me, wine-induced or Kaidan-induced, I don’t know.

  He leans closer. “I’m pretty sure I made myself clear last time.”

  I glance at his full lips, remembering how they felt against mine in the Velvet Room, how his hardness felt against me, thin layers of fabric the only thing between us. Like now. I shiver in the night air and tear my gaze away.

  His other hand comes up and wraps around my chin, forcing my face toward him, forcing me to look at him again. A little flicker of excitement bubbles in my stomach, and I swallow and push his hand away.

  “Since we’re being honest,” I say, my voice low. “No. I don’t think you made yourself clear.”

  His eyes soften, and he leans in. My heart speeds up.

  “Then let me explain.” His lips crush against mine, and he presses me into the column. I’m dizzy with the feel of him, the scent of him. His tongue teases along the seam of my lips, but as I open my mouth to meet him, he shifts his lips to my ea
r.

  “I want you, Hayley,” he says, his voice husky with lust. He licks my ear and pushes me harder into the column with his leg. His lips press against me as his tongue trails a line down to my neck.

  Then his eyes meet mine again, and he watches me, watches to see what I’ll do as he runs his hand softly, slowly along my collarbone, down the length of body, coming to rest on my hip. I want him to touch me everywhere.

  He kisses me again. Then his hand returns to my shoulder and dips down, following the low cut of my dress, until his hand comes to a stop along the swell of my breast. He lightly caresses my skin, and I swallow, trying to keep my composure.

  But my nipples harden against the thin silky fabric of my gown, and his gaze travels there. That little smirk I love appears, and now he keeps his eyes on mine as he takes his forefinger, tracing slow, light circles around my breast, spiraling in, touching everywhere but the hard, aching point of my nipple.

  I suck in a breath, and the space between my legs is hot, throbbing, slick. I wish he would touch me already, wish he would press himself against me, so I could feel if he’s hard like the other night.

  We stay like that for a moment, both of us breathing hard, him holding me against the column. He leans in, as if to kiss me again, but doesn’t. My nipples ache, and I arch my lower back, trying to make his hand close over my breast.

  He smirks and drops his hand lower, preventing the touch. “I like this dress even better than the last one.”

  “But you’d like it better on the floor?” I ask, breathless.

  “Wouldn’t you?”

  My lips part, and he leans in to kiss me again.

  “Kaidan,” a male voice says.

  Kaidan’s nostrils flare, and he steps away from me, turning toward whatever jerk just interrupted us. I grab my purse and cross my arms over my hard nipples, hiding them, slumping against the column.

  The man steps into the low light where we’re standing. Devon Stone. He looks enough like Kaidan that I’d be able to tell they’re brothers even if I hadn’t seen Devon on The Lust List. He’s got a drink in hand, and he wavers on his feet a bit as he steps closer.

  “What do you want?” Kaidan says, his voice threatening.

  “Come on in for the speech. Accept your empire.”

  “Dad send you out here?”

  “I don’t take orders from Dad. Because I’m in control of my own life.”

  Kaidan stiffens. “Yeah, you really look like you have your life under control.”

  Devon leans around Kaidan to find me, and he lets out a low laugh.

  “Ah. Peyton lookalike of the week. You really need to move on, Kai.”

  My gut twists at that. Ouch. My body turns cold, and I suddenly want to escape, go back into the ballroom and get away from both of them.

  “Fuck off.” Kaidan lets out a low growl and shoves his brother away, back toward the double doors. Devon’s drink sloshes over the edge of the glass, and he holds a hand up as if to protect it.

  But then Devon’s eyes go dark, and he stands taller, staring Kaidan down. “You really shouldn’t fuck with me tonight.”

  I press up against the column, certain they’re about to start a brawl, right here on the veranda, but Devon shakes his head and throws a look of disgust in my direction. He looks back at Kaidan, and a slow, nasty smile appears on his face. “I thought you’d like to know. Peyton’s here. She’s been asking for you.”

  Then Devon stalks back into the ballroom.

  My stomach drops. Peyton’s here. Of course she is. Did Kaidan invite her, too? The few people out here are staring at us, and they look away, but I feel frozen where I stand, clutching my purse to my chest.

  Kaidan’s working his jaw, not looking at me.

  I take a deep breath, straighten my gown, and step toward him. He still won’t meet my eyes.

  “What?” His voice is cold now, and it hurts. Every fiber of my being is telling me to go inside and let him cool off, but I can’t help it. I need to know.

  “Did you go home with Peyton the other night… after the club?”

  His nostrils flare, and he looks at me. His eyes are dark, in anger this time, dark in a way that scares me. I smell the rum on his breath… He’s as drunk as his brother. As drunk as I probably am. I take a clumsy step back.

  “And what if I did take her home? You and me? We don’t have a thing. We’re not together,” Kaidan says, and his voice rises. “You don’t get to question me. Or control what I do.”

  His words are a kick in my chest, but I somehow manage to keep breathing, to answer him. “I’m not going to be your Peyton rebound girl of the week.”

  Kaidan’s face twists then, some combination of pain and anger. “Maybe you’re lucky to even be a rebound girl.” He says each word carefully, as if to maximize the damage each one does to my heart.

  “Why’d you even invite me tonight?” I say, and my voice cracks.

  “You invited yourself, didn’t you?”

  “Don’t worry.” I swallow hard. “I’m leaving now.” I make to go, but he grabs my wrist, and it hurts. “Let go of me.”

  “Wait.”

  I hear regret in his voice, and it makes me pause.

  He steps closer, loosening the grip on my wrist. “I shouldn’t have said—”

  “But you did.” I know I have tears in my eyes, but I don’t care. “And it’s fine. Because you and me? We don’t have a thing. And trust me—we never will.”

  I rip my hand away and hurry through the double doors, putting as much space between us as I can. I rush through the party guests and out the ballroom, trying to keep my head down so they can’t see my tears. I glance toward where I last saw Char, but she’s not there anymore, and neither are Bia and her friends. I head out to the foyer, and when I see a bathroom, I duck into it to fix my makeup.

  I stare at my splotchy face in the mirror and try to fix my eyes, but it’s hard when they have tears in them. I guess I dodged a real bullet with Kaidan. I might have done something regrettable. Like sleep with him. I could have done something even worse, like fallen for him.

  I sniff, fixing my hair in the mirror, facing the truth. He’s a playboy, a user, and a jerk. I’m going home. I can try to talk to Serena some other time. It’s not worth staying here another minute.

  But when I leave the bathroom to go look for Char, I stop dead.

  I thought this night couldn’t possibly get any worse. But it just did.

  Peyton’s standing in the center of the foyer, surrounded by her entourage, including Jessa the Witch.

  Peyton’s wearing the exact same emerald green dress as me.

  I’m a doppleganger.

  She looks amazing in our dress. She’s not any taller than me, but she has a slimmer, less curvy body than I do, so she’s looking like a supermodel in it. What the actual fuck? Can this night get any worse? No, no I don’t think it can.

  But then it does. Peyton sees me. Her mouth drops into a little ‘o’ of surprise, and a look of rage passes over her face. She grabs Jessa’s arm, squeezing hard. Jessa winces, then sees me, too. Her eyebrows go up, but then a small smile appears on her lips. She whispers something in Peyton’s ear.

  And the whole time, I’m just standing next to a decorative plant like an idiot, trying to figure out what to do. I open my clutch to grab my phone so I can text Char and tell her I want the hell out of here, but before I get it out, Peyton and her entourage are crossing the foyer. Heading straight for me.

  I can’t just run away like I want to, so I straighten my shoulders and lift my chin.

  They stop just in front of me. Peyton, Jessa, and two more girls I don’t know.

  Jessa crosses her arms over her chest, and Peyton steps closer to me, her hands balled into fists.

  “You’re trying a little too hard to be me, don’t you think?"

  My heart speeds up, and I can feel my face going red. I glance at Jessa. She looks amused, and the other two girls are politely pretending not to be liste
ning to this. “It’s not like I—”

  “Just so we’re clear,” Peyton says. “The only reason Kaidan even went near you, is because I dumped him.”

  Heat expands in my chest at this bully bitch. “Just so we’re clear, I don’t want your cast-offs.”

  “Not the story the pictures on ScandalLust tell.” Her tone is filled with venom, and I’m starting to wonder if she’s trashy enough to start a catfight right here in this foyer.

  I lift my hands, palms out. “I don’t want Kaidan. Got it? I told him that. You don’t need to worry about me.”

  Peyton blinks slowly at me, and a smug smile of satisfaction spreads across her face. “I’m not worried. I’m just being a friend to you. Sharing a little friendly warning about him. He has a history of doing… what he’s doing to you.”

  Her face brightens, and I feel myself inching away, closer to the plant. This bitch is crazy.

  She puts her hands on her hips and surveys my gown… Her gown. Ugh.

  “My second act as your new friend? Giving you some style advice.” She points at me. “I guess your other friends didn’t tell you this, but a slim-fitting, silk gown is just wrong for your… figure. Stuffed sausage isn’t a good look.”

  Jessa and the other girls laugh. My mind races, trying to come up with a suitable come-back, but Peyton tosses her head and walks off, her entourage trailing her into the ballroom.

  I stand there, shaking, and I swear I’m not going to cry again. I look down at my dress. Maybe I am too curvy for it. It did look better on her. Now I want to rip it off and burn it. And it’s not even paid for yet. And might never be. I head for the ballroom, looking for Char.

  As I enter the ball room, I notice the crowd is flowing in the direction of the stage.

  “Time for the speech,” a male voice calls out.

  That’s when I see them, standing right inside the ballroom. My whole world slows down.

  Calvin Stone is openly fondling a young, blond, busty woman. She turns toward him, laughing. Serena Lynn. And she’s not wearing the necklace.

  She’s not wearing the necklace.