“Keep it down!” Topher said. “Now get over here. Climb on to the berth. I need you to grab my fists and straighten out your arms and push.”
“Wait a second,” Pippa said. “It looks like I do have to do something about this cut or I’ll bleed all over your bed.”
“I told you to treat it!”
“I don’t have time to get it all fixed up. I’ll grab some paper from the loo and stick it on there.”
But when Pippa walked into the head to grab toilet paper, she realized she was trailing blood all over the white tiled floor.
“One minute,” she said. “I’ve got to run some water on this thing or it’s going to be a bloody mess. Literally.”
“Hurry!”
The two of them were so engrossed in their goings-on they failed to notice that someone had boarded the vessel.
“Hurry for what, mate?” a voice shouted from the stern.
“Fuck!” Topher said.
But Pippa couldn’t hear it, what with the water running in the head.
“Well, well, well. What have we here?” a voice right above Topher said.
“Zander?” Topher said. “What in bloody hell are you doing here, Zander?”
“The better question is what the hell are you doing there?” his brother said. “Here I come to extend the olive branch to my kid brother for being such a prick, and I find you sticking out naked from the hatch with your own prick flapping around. What gives?”
“You okay?” Pippa shouted to Topher. “I’m almost done. This sucker doesn’t want to stop bleeding.”
“Bleeding?”
“Christ, Zander, stop with the questions and pull me out already.”
“If you insist, but don’t make me touch that thing of yours,” he said. “I’m going to grab your ankles and pull on the count of three. One. Two. Three.”
With that he pulled hard, and Topher’s lower half finally slipped through the small opening, and he landed with a thud on the deck once his brother let go.
“What was that?” Pippa said, running into the cabin, only to peer up and see Zander, of all people, looking down into the hatch. She quickly crossed her left knee over her right leg and her arms over her chest, naively thinking that would provide enough modest protection, forgetting it was Zander there. Instead she just looked like she had to pee really badly.
“Good God, Pips, what the hell are you doing here? Like that?” Zander said. “And where are your clothes? And the blood—”
He looked at Topher, then at Pippa, who was reaching for the sheet since Topher had already managed to pull the blanket up with him, then glanced at Topher yet again.
“Okay. I get it,” he said, starting to back away, rubbing his forehead with his hands.
“What’re you doing here, Z?” his brother asked. “I don’t recall sending out invites.”
“Indeed,” Zander said. “I was feeling badly about everything that happened, what with the thing with you and Pips and all.”
With all the commotion, no one noticed Clem and Sebastian had returned.
“My God, it looks as if someone’s been slaughtered here,” Clementine said when she flicked on a nearby light, revealing a trail of blood leading down the steps. “What’s with the carnage? Pips? Everybody okay?”
Clementine raced down the steps, following the trail of blood, to come upon her friend partially clad in only a white blood-stained sheet.
“What in bloody hell is going on here?” Clementine said just as she heard Sebastian burst out in laughter above them.
Clementine looked up to see Zander peering down at her.
“Well, this must be one hell of a story I can’t wait to hear,” Sebastian said.
“Shut up and don’t laugh,” Topher said.
“Um, I feel very much as if I’m not supposed to be witnessing something here. Only I don’t know quite what it is,” Clementine said. “But I’m worried about what is bleeding on you, Pippa. Can I help somehow?”
“Cripes, I thought I was going to lose the circulation to my lower half,” Topher said above them.
“I’m pretty sure your lower half took a vote and wouldn’t let that happen, judging by what I saw a few minutes ago,” Pippa said.
“Ha, ha, very funny,” Topher said.
“Anyone care to enlighten us about what happened?” Sebastian said.
Topher sighed. “It’s a long story. Probably not really relevant to any of you.”
Zander’s eyes widened. “Are you joking? We’re all standing around, and you haven’t got any clothes on, and you’re hanging ass over tea kettle from a boat hatch. If this isn’t a story all of us need to hear, nothing is. In fact”—Zander pulled out his phone—“I need to record this for posterity.”
Topher took one look at his brother trying to videotape him and flipped out, running after his brother.
“Toph! No! It’s not worth it!” Pippa shouted from below before she turned to run upstairs to handle things on the same level.
But it was too late. Topher plowed into Zander, forcing him backward and over the railing into the dark waters below.
Chapter Fifteen
IF a feud had been simmering before, it had come to a full boil by dawn.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Zander asked his bleary-eyed brother, who had been shooting him daggers with his eyes. Zander had changed out of his drenched clothes into a pair of swim trunks and a T-shirt from the small duffel he’d arrived with. Pippa had retreated to bed, humiliated, and Sebastian had already zonked out from too many drinks on the Willy-T, but the others were engaged in conversation still.
“How the hell did you even find me here?” Topher asked.
Clementine turned red and gulped, raising her hand. “I might be the guilty party there.”
Topher knit his brows. “You told Zander we were coming here?”
“Oh, God no!” she said. “But I posted something on Facebook the other day on Topher’s wall telling him that we were en route.”
“Even if he saw that, how did my brother know where you were headed to?”
Zander tipped his pointer and middle finger from his forehead. “I am right here, you know,” he said. “You don’t have to talk as if I’m a nonentity here. And I’m not stupid. All I needed to do was get in touch with Mum’s scheduling secretary to find out where you were.”
Toph snapped his fingers in disappointment. “Damn. Never thought Julia would betray me like that.”
“It wasn’t exactly a betrayal,” his brother said. “I had an open invitation from Richard Branson to check out Necker Island nearby. I knew you’d been in the British Virgin Islands before and figured it was likely you’d come back here when you fled after the wedding. So I mentioned to Julia that I was thinking of a little trip to Necker, and she told me I should stop by to see you if I went there. Of course, I needed specifics about where you’d be. GPS is a godsend, by the way.”
Topher grumbled. “Nothing like being practically off the grid to be readily available.”
“Look, Toph, I came here to bury the hatchet,” his brother said. “I didn’t like how we’d left things, and I wanted to make it up to you.”
“Looks like you did that in spades,” Topher said. “Thanks a bunch for that.”
“What do you mean thanks a bunch?” Zander was beginning to sound indignant.
“Look, Z, I finally started to right the ship as it were with Pippa, and then all of a sudden you show up at the perfectly wrong time. Plus I can’t even begin to focus on things with her now that you’re here. Throw in that whole fiasco last night,” Topher said, “and all of you being privy to it, popping out one after the other like those miserable clowns in the little cars at the circus, and I can only imagine how that is going to be the next circle of hell of complete humiliation for me every time I’m around the family.”
“Topher don’t let that worry you,” Clem said. “Pippa doesn’t care.”
Topher looked up from behind thick lashes, his gray eyes doubtful
. “You’re seriously going to tell me that, Clem? After what it took to get her here after the last time?”
Clem sighed. “Okay, fine. Maybe you’ve got a point there. But let’s not leap to conclusions. We can let Pippa speak for herself when she gets up.”
“Look, I’m going out for a swim. I don’t want to deal with this. You can laugh amongst yourselves at my expense. Have fun.”
With that he got up, gathered his snorkeling gear, and jumped off the stern into the gentle blue Caribbean water.
~*~
Pippa awoke, sprawled atop her bed, staring out the porthole window and mulling over the events of the night before. She really didn’t want to come out from the cabin until the coast was clear. But how could the coast ever be clear on a forty-foot-long catamaran unless everyone fell overboard and got eaten by sharks?
And what did a clear coast even mean to her? Who did she want gone from the boat? Surely she didn’t want Topher to leave. Besides, it was his home for now, not hers. Plus she’d finally stopped being stupid about everything. Why would she change her mind now that she realized she really wanted to try this relationship on for size? Especially after such an amazing time of it last night. Well, for the first half of the night, at least. And she really had to give Zander credit for manning up and seeking out his brother to apologize to him. Although damn, could that timing have worked out any worse?
She tried hard to focus on her time with Topher from last night. And at first, that helped. After all, it was one hell of a night. First off, it was great to stop playing the stubborn stick-in-the-mud and finally yield to their mutual attraction. She knew that wasn’t going to burn itself out anytime soon, and at some point she was going to have to ride that horse in the direction it was galloping.
But then just the whole experience. His warm skin pressed against hers while they danced as he sensually ran his fingers through her hair. His lips on hers, his tongue finding hers in its own frenzied dance. His fingers as they roamed across her body. His mouth as he brought her to climax with that skillful tongue of his. His most un-mini me, filling her up so perfectly; whether she was on top or beneath him or he behind her, it had been so right, all while rocking to the soothing swell of the Caribbean waters.
The more she dwelled on it, the more she knew she had to face everyone and get it over with. Then she and Topher could pick up right where they had left off. Well, maybe not quite there, with him dangling naked from the hatch and her bleeding like a beheaded chicken.
She looked down at the large Band-Aid secured to her shin and smiled at her small battle scar. Worth it if it meant she could have a few more command performances like last night before returning to Monaforte. The departure date for which she didn’t even know yet. Come to think of it, lingering in this tropical paradise a little longer could be tempting... She wondered if Topher might be thinking just the same thing. She was sure Clementine wouldn’t mind returning home without her. Maybe she’d feel like she’d succeeded with her trap, anyhow, and feel that much more proud of her skills as a matchmaker.
Whatever, Pippa wasn’t going to worry about it. Instead, she’d talk to Topher right away and get it all straightened out so they could get on with getting it on.
Chapter Sixteen
PIPPA finally drummed up the courage to face her friends, all of whom had seen her in some state of near nakedness only hours before or were at least clearly aware of what had gotten her to that condition last night.
She climbed down from her luxury berth, momentarily enjoying being sore in all sorts of places from their little foray on the boat’s trampoline. Boy, who knew trampolines could be so much fun? She brushed her teeth and washed her face and even applied makeup and waterproof mascara to look her best while snorkeling. She rifled through her duffle for her tiniest bikini and while doing so came across the cache of condoms her friend had so blithely packed for her.
At first she was again annoyed that Clem would presume Pippa was going to welsh on her resolution to steer clear of Topher (even though she had done just that). But then she started to freak out a tiny bit because she realized that yet again, in their haste to consummate last night, not once did she think to even use the damned things.
Quickly, Pippa started to do the mental menstrual math to try to figure out if she was in the safe-zone. Amazingly, not even once had she considered the potential health hazards of going bareback, but she sure as hell didn’t want to risk a pregnancy on top of all that. Sure, she’d been on the pill forever, but had she even remembered to take that thing yesterday morning? She was classic for forgetting it. And that didn’t matter so much when she wasn’t sleeping with anyone, which she hadn’t been in ages. Well, except for Topher at the wedding. It was easy to lapse under the circumstances. But then this. Argh. Such an inconvenience. Nevertheless she scrambled to find the packet and made sure she swallowed the thing ASAP.
She slipped a sun cover-up over her head, pressed it down so she looked straight and put together, and then climbed the stairs to the deck to greet her friends.
~*~
“Well, look who it is, all glowing and gorgeous this fine morning,” Zander said with a wink.
“The glow could be from the wine,” Pippa said, blushing.
“Or it could be because you were well and truly—”
“Don’t say it, Clem,” Pippa said with a warning tone in her voice. “Not gonna go there.”
“What?” her friend said, acting all innocent. “I was just gonna say ‘rhymes with luck.’ After all, it took a bit of luck to get to that point.”
Pippa rolled her eyes. “Please can we not delve into details here? Bad enough you were all witness to things, but I wouldn’t mind preserving the sanctity of—”
Zander started to snicker, which got Sebastian to smile.
“Children,” Pippa said lifting her hands in mock defeat. “What on earth has you behaving like ten-year-old boys now?”
“Sanctity,” Clementine said, shaking her head.
“What’s so funny about that word?” Pippa said.
“Pips. Consider the source. Second half of the word,” Clem said. “Something they saw on you last night, before you were properly draped.”
Pippa pretend bashed her head into the nearest surface, a pole holding up the roof to the cockpit. “Why did I think we could all act like mature adults here?”
“Because you’re female,” her girlfriend said. “You’re giving them too much credit if you think they’re going to do anything other than titter—sorry—over what happened. You know and I know that what’s done is done and you’re moving on, but they just have to behave like schoolchildren for a while until they find a different distraction.”
“Or get drunk,” Sebastian added. “That usually works.”
“In that case, let’s break out the mimosas,” Pippa said. “I’m starving and thirsty and could use a distraction from this nonsense.”
Zander sidled up to her. “Work up an appetite last night, did you?”
“Seriously, Z. Do I give you the fifth degree each time you bang some pathetic royal-sniffing supermodel?”
“Uh, yeah,” he said, laughing.
“Okay, so maybe I do give you a hard time about that. But you deserve it, because you’re male-whoring around. There’s a difference between spreading your seed, which is your habit, and having adult relations with someone.”
Zander shook his head. “Right. So let me get this straight. For me it’s a seedy—excuse the pun—one-night stand, but for you it’s ‘having relations’?”
Pippa looked at Clementine for support. “Help me out here, sister.”
Clementine stood in front of Zander as if to make a point.
“Chicks,” she said, holding up her finger for her tutorial, “are classier. We don’t go in for the sleaze thing you guys do. You only want to get your rocks off. We are looking for more connection than that.”
Pippa had to momentarily block out images of her joy when Topher went down on her,
thinking perhaps there was perhaps a hint of hypocrisy, because if she were truthful, it wasn’t such a bad side benefit, getting those figurative rocks off.
Zander put his arm around Clem’s shoulder. “Okay, now I get it. But just to clarify... Let’s say you have a couple who are out partying, and things get a little out of hand, and while doing naked body shots maybe there’s a little bit too much PDA that happens. Is that a special connection?”
Clementine blanched. “What did Sebastian say to you?”
Pippa’s eyes grew wide, and she nodded at Clem. “You?” she mouthed to her friend.
Clementine scrubbed her hand over her face.
“I didn’t say anything to anyone,” Sebastian said, holding up his hand and X-ing his finger across his chest. “Promise and cross my heart.”
“What are you talking about, Zander?” Pippa said.
“Let’s say on my way here last night I made a little pit stop,” he said. “I was thirsty after a long flight, and the place came highly recommended.”
“Oh my God,” Clementine said.
“What happens at the Willy-T stays at the Willy-T, folks,” Sebastian said. “That’s the number one rule of the place.”
Clementine knit her brows and mouthed, “Really?” so that only he could see. He winked at her to reassure her.
“I’m not saying I saw anything,” Zander said. “I’m merely saying it looked as if some people were having a really good time. Like there was quite a special connection.” He made finger quotes to emphasize her terminology.
“Seriously, Clem? Naked body shots?” Pippa whispered to her friend.
“Stop,” she said. “At least I wasn’t nude and bleeding with a guy suspended from the ceiling.”
Pippa elbowed her in the ribs.
“Okay, so it looks as if the only one who comes out smelling clean after last night is Zander. But that’s only because he’s got a ring in his nose now, thanks to Andi,” Pippa said. “Nevertheless, I’ve got enough dirt on him to shut him up for a while, at any rate.”
“We all agree that none of this ever happened then?” Clementine said.
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