Debt Collector

by Weston Parker

  "Look but don't touch." She wagged her finger at him.

  "Damn. I thought I was your type." His lip turned down into a frown.

  "Not even close, Mister. Your skin is far too light for my liking." She shrugged and turned to walk toward the edge of the boat.

  "I can get it dyed. I'm sure Nancy has something that would help us out. No need to let our love only go skin deep, Deza." He glanced over at me as his lip rose in a sexy smirk. "You like black men too, Riley?"

  "Who doesn't?" I dropped my bag and purse on the boat beside me and kicked off my sandals. "They have incredible packages they usually bring to the relationship."

  "Amen to that, sister." Deza glanced over her shoulder and laughed loudly as Ethan's expression changed with his emotion.

  "I have a great package, thank you very much." He put his hands on his hips as Frank laughed and walked to join us at the edge of the boat.

  "You need one for someone to put up with your personality." He patted Ethan on the back and moved to the other side of me as we laughed.

  "You guys love me, and hate that it's keeping you up at night. I know jealousy when I see it." The sound of his voice rolled over me as I pressed my forearms to the railing and let my eyes move across the turbulent sea. It was beautiful and breathtaking, much like the handsome man behind me.

  "All right beautiful people." I turned as Liam stopped beside Ethan and smiled. "Just a few rules on the boat today. No jumping off the side while we're moving, and no pushing Ethan off either. He's my retirement plan and if you harm him, I'll be forced to work until I'm at least forty. That's not happening, so behave."

  We laughed as Ethan rolled his eyes and glanced over to his brother. To say Liam was handsome would have been an understatement. He was as good looking as his little brother and seemed to have a great personality, much like Ethan did as well. I wanted to know more about him seeing that he was the only person in Ethan's life from what Charlotte had told me.

  "He's all of our retirement plans. No one is hurting the goods," Frank added his two cents.

  "Keep it up, and I'll make sure to act a fucking fool in Rio." Ethan shrugged and gave us an adorable grin like only he could.

  "Something tells me that you're going to do that no matter what we do." Deza moved over to him and pulled him into a hug from the side. "You've yet to grow up."

  "Grow up? Who said anything about growing up?" His eyes moved over my face as he smiled. "Riley can be the grown up on the crew. She'll help you guys keep me in line."

  "We don't have the funding to pay her to put up with you." Deza squeezed him as he groaned loudly. "I say we throw him overboard. Who's with me?"

  I laughed and turned my back to them, enjoying the comradery, but feeling a little like I was on the outside looking in. It would take some time to get used to working with a close-knit group, but I'd get it down eventually.

  "So Ethan tells me that you're a film student at UCLA." Liam moved up beside me and leaned against the railing, but left a comfortable distance between us.

  "I am. I should graduate in May if I can work with my professors to help me out during these trips we're taking. They're all pretty excited for me, but rules are still rules." I smiled at him. "What do you do for a living?"

  "I own an advertising agency that caters to women." He clasped his hands together and turned a little more toward me. "We have more female CEOs in Cali than anywhere else in the world. It just made sense to set up shop after college and cater to them, you know?"

  "Brilliant targeted marketing. I love it." I glanced back out at the water. "And you never wanted to be an actor like Ethan is?"

  "Hell no." He chuckled. "No offense, but having people pretend to love you in the business world is hard enough. I can't imagine having to do that shit on the big screen. Everyone thinks they know you, but they don't."

  "Right." I glanced back to see Deza, Frank and Ethan laughing about something. The happiness on Ethan's face as he interacted with the other two members of our intimate-sized team warmed me. There was so much more to him than he was giving me access to. Maybe time would help forge a bond between us.

  "He thinks you're quite special." Liam slipped his hands into his pockets. "I'd say he just might be right."

  "Oh yeah?" I stood up and tilted my head to the side, studying Ethan's older brother closely. "And how would you know? You've just met me. It would seem that you, Mr. Lewis, are as much of a playboy as your younger brother."

  "She's figuring us out, Liam. I told you she was beautiful and dangerous." Ethan moved up beside me as he tugged his polo over his head.

  "Stop showing off." Liam popped him in the stomach and walked back toward the center of the boat.

  "I'm not showing off. I just want some sun on my chest." He licked at the side of his mouth and turned his gaze onto me. "Was that showing off?"

  "I don't think so, but maybe your brother knows something we don't." I laughed and reached down, pulling my dress off and tossing it toward the pile of stuff that belonged to me. I glanced down and fixed my bikini top to make sure I had full coverage.

  Chapter 7

  Ethan

  Damn.

  I wasn't sure she could be any more fine than she was. The small white triangles that covered her nipples left plenty of creamy flesh on display for everyone to ogle over. The protective side of me wanted to bark at her to put her dress back on, while the alpha in me wanted to demand that she take off her shorts too. I wanted to see the bottoms almost more than I wanted my next breath.

  "Like what you see?" She gave me a cocky smile.

  "Yep. I sure do." I licked at my lips again and glanced up to see Liam talking with Deza. "My brother was supposed to bring a girl with him today. I'm wondering if she canceled or he did."

  I followed his line of sight. "Is he dating someone?"

  "He's dating everyone. He's a whore, but I love him for it." I ran my hands down my chest and took the opportunity to sneak another look at her. "He's the big shit in his world, but somehow he balances his life a little better than I balance mine."

  "How so?" She turned her big blue eyes my way, and my heart fluttered in my chest. It was almost comical.

  "He goes with the flow, and is honestly upbeat most of the time. I haven't seen Liam down or depressed more than three times in our lives, and each of them were in moments of great loss where you would expect to see it."

  "So you guys are close?" She ran her fingers over the strap of her bathing suit as she glanced down and tugged at the fabric.

  "Yeah, he's my best friend outside of D." I reached out and pulled her hand down. "You look amazing. Stop dicking with that."

  "Thanks." She dropped her hands to the side and let out a sigh. "I just want to make sure I don't look too slutty."

  "Too slutty? You need to stop worrying what anyone else thinks before we get into a situation where every-fucking-body has an opinion. Just dress like you wanna dress, live like you wanna live and Deza will chew your ass for the rest."

  Deza walked up beside us. "I thought I heard my name."

  "You did. I was talking about the best sex I've ever had." I wagged my eyebrows only to catch a backhand in the stomach.

  "Get real." She rolled her eyes. "Riley, come up here and let's look at a few parts of the contract you signed and then we'll gather up and go over the overall plot for the movie and look at some of the first scenes that we'll be shooting next week."

  My pretty co-star nodded and walked off with Deza as Frank joined me.

  "You happy with our ultimate choice?" He leaned against the railing of the boat and crossed his arms over his large chest.

  "Very. She's incredibly talented and beautiful to boot." I brushed my fingers by my lips. "Now if I could just figure out how to get her to do a lap dance for me."

  "No, no and no." He laughed and sat down on the bench beside him. "She's going to hopefully be able to stay with us through the next three films. Having her early in her career leaves me to believe that we'l
l get to hold on to her for a little while before other producers come knocking on her door."

  "She needs a new agent. Darren isn't doing anything for her career." I couldn't seem to pull my eyes off of her. She stood near the front of the boat, talking with Deza and laughing, and I was almost jealous. I wanted more of her time.

  "This is true. Make sure you tell her that. Breaking off the relationship she has with Darren is key in moving her career forward. I think Deza spoke with her about coming over to the dark side and letting Deza represent her, but in all the madness, I guess it hasn’t happened just yet." Frank shrugged as I turned my attention back to him.

  "Is it weird that I want her career to go farther than mine has?" I hated the way my heart fluttered at the sight of her, but maybe I was moving beyond my own self-centered need to feel wanted.

  Liam moved up to stand in front of me and gave me that smile. "Is it weird that for the first time in our lives, I want to steal the girl of your dreams from you and make her moan?"

  "Fuck you, nugget head." I popped him in the chest.

  "She's hands off for both of you." Frank stood up and stretched. "No tainting the pretty thing to think all men are the dicks that you two are."

  "That hurts me, Frank." I grabbed my chest. "That hurts me real bad."

  He laughed and walked over toward Deza and Riley.

  "Man... she's so fucking hot, Ethan. I'd love to take her below the deck and undo that top with my teeth. I bet she's tight as hell too. Virgin? You think she's a-"

  I popped him again. "Shut it up, dude. Seriously. You're not getting in her panties. I am."

  "Naw, come on, man. That wouldn't work out well for you. You know sleeping with anyone at work is the worst possible thing you could do. You guys have a great night of passion, and then you realize you conquered the chase and it's over. She still wants more, namely because you've got a firehose in your pants, and you're ready to move on. What then? I'll tell you what then... ten months of having to deal with her emotions and your misery. I love you too much to put you through that. Let me just have her."

  I laughed at his stupid antics. "I thought you just told me the other day that you were hiring some dominant chick that you were going to use up and toss to the road. Is she not a co-worker?"

  "No. That's different." He shrugged and turned to watch Riley again. I had to push down the need to throw his ass off the moving boat, thus breaking the rules and my mother's tainted heart. "This chick at work knows what she's coming into and she's not my co-worker. I'm her boss. I'm going to school her ass on how to properly suck a dick. That's our first lesson."

  I laughed loudly. "Don't go near Riley or I'm liable to break your face."

  "Really?" He turned back and pinned me with an inquisitive stare. "You really like this chick enough to get your ass handed to you by your older brother?"

  "Yep." I slipped my hands into my pockets and glanced up to find her watching me. "I'm not sure if like is the right word, but I want her to myself, whether it happens or not. You're not getting near her."

  "Aww... man. You know how good her moans would sound coming up out of the bedroom down there?" He laughed as I turned and moved toward him aggressively. He lifted his hands and laughed. "All right. All right. I was just kidding. I'll lay off, shit. Obviously this girl has magical powers. Just promise me you'll kiss and tell. Just with her. I just gotta know."

  "Go make yourself useful and fall off the front of the boat so the motor will chop your ass up and bring in those pretty great whites that I love to see." I turned to face the water and was almost glad to hear him walking off. The sound of his sardonic laughter would normally have me chuckling too, but for some reason I couldn't muster it.

  Liam might be a total cock, but his idea of taking Riley below deck and making her moan was a delicious one. I let my mind dance along the possibility.

  "Get on the bed." I nodded toward it as she watched me with a need that burned the inside of my soul and left me wanting to bend over and pant like I'd run a hundred miles.

  "How do you want me?" She reached up and undid the strap around her neck, letting the top fall down as she worked on the string around her back. Her perky breasts were enticing, her nipples budded and a dark pink. My mouth watered at the sight of her being so innocent, when I knew she wasn't.

  "On your back, baby." I slipped my shorts over my hips and watched her eyes widen a little. She'd seen a little bit of me through various wardrobe mishaps and perhaps in the lining of my shorts when I got aroused around her from time to time, but never naked. Never fully erect and ready to take advantage of the passion that lay between us.

  "Beautiful." She moved toward me and reached out, stroking me once as she pressed her chest to mine. The warmth of her sun-kissed skin was enough to melt me.

  I groaned and slid my hand up her back to her head as I pulled her in for a long, probing kiss. She gripped my side with one of her hands and continued to stroke me with the other. Every muscle in my body was locked into place as heat danced along my pleasure points, licking, teasing, begging me to come.

  "Hey. You look lonely down here." Riley's voice pulled me from my daydream.

  "Hey." I sucked in a deep breath and stood up. "Damn. I got lost in my thoughts."

  She gave me a look that said she could tell.

  I glanced down and grumbled as I readjusted myself and looked for my shirt. "I swear. The curse of being well-endowed. God forbid I have a sensual thought and my body reacts to it. Everyone in the fucking universe will know."

  She bent over and handed me the shirt. "I don't think you should worry about it. It's just us."

  "Yeah, but D will give me hell, and if she fails too, my brother will be standing in line just behind her with pom poms." I laughed and pulled the shirt over my head. I should have been more embarrassed, but Riley's presence was a comfort in ways that didn't make sense.

  "What were you thinking about?" Her cheeks colored pink, and I couldn't help but laugh. She was innocent and sweet in appearance when she wanted to be, and a sexy minx at other times. She had as many masks as I did, and hers probably came with a new hairdo to boot.

  "How nice it would be to bake in the sun, and then slip below deck and make love to a beautiful woman for the afternoon." I lifted my arms toward the light blue sky and let out a yawn as I stretched.

  "And would you cast Trish or the blond from your house the other day?" The light in her eyes dimmed a little. I still couldn't figure out what blond she was talking about.

  "What?" I tugged my shirt down again. "What blond do you keep referring to?"

  "The other night when we had dinner at your house and you refused my kiss." She gave me a cheeky smile and turned toward the water.

  "I was being tested, remember?" I turned and pressed my shoulder against hers as I breathed in deeply, hoping to take the scent of her down deep into my lungs.

  "Who was she?" She glanced over at me as the wind blew hard. It was the perfect moment to slide my fingers into her hair and pull her against me for a long, dramatic kiss. I almost lamented over the fact that I was stuck in a movie in my head, one that wouldn't let me come up for air.

  "It was just me and you that night, remember? We didn't even drink that much. Have you lost your mind to fantasy already?" I reached out and brushed her hair from her face as my pulse spiked.

  She swatted me away as her facade cracked a little. "After I left. She came to the door and said that you were busy for the rest of the evening. She had long blond hair, loads of make-up."

  Jazz. Fuck. Was Riley the one at the door that night? I knew I'd heard someone beating on the front door as I lost myself to orgasm over and over. Fuck. Surely not.

  "Did you come back after you left?" Sickness pulsed through me. I didn't much care that people thought me to be a playboy, but to have Riley think I was a whore was out. I would never get into her bed with her thinking that I took loads of loose women to mine, which I did.

  "You're circling the question and not
answering me. Why?"

  "Because it's none of your business." I smiled and tapped the tip of her perfect nose before turning my attention back to the water. I was being an ass with my answer, but in all reality, it was true. It wasn't any of her business.

  Chapter 8

  Riley

  His answer stung me in a way that left me wanting to find a bathroom and let out a few tears. I glanced back toward the water and swallowed the hot ball of anger in my throat. Why had I even asked? It wasn't my business. I'd already made that determination, and to follow through with asking him about the girl only left me looking like a love-sick idiot, which I wasn't.

  "That's very true." I shrugged and let out a soft sigh as if I was totally taken by the beauty of the ocean. "Whoever she was, she was beautiful."

  He snorted and shook his head. "This life isn't easy. It's not like I can have a real relationship. All I have is a few warm bodies to keep offering me false hope that there is more to love than a quick fuck."

  Now he was cracking. Some nefarious part of me wanted to clap and release a maniacal laugh. I wanted down into his heart. Wanted to know who the real Ethan Lewis was. It would take time to find him through the layers of lies and false character roles he'd taken on over his short life, but I had hope that eventually I would stand face to face with a man that no one had seen before. The real him.

  "Are you saying that I should find a few bodies to keep me warm too?" I didn't look his way, I couldn't.

  "You have Jace, remember?" He pressed his forearms to the railing and turned to stare at me.

  "But when we're gone for months at a time." I glanced over at him, which was a complete mistake. The desire in his eyes was palpable. He knew how to get what he wanted, and if I planned to survive for any extended period around him, my best bet would be to deflect or to make sure that I wasn't at all what he thought he wanted. Something told me that neither plan was necessarily good enough to leave me free from yearning for his attention or his affection.