by Kim Baldwin
“I can’t complain,” Alex replied.
No sooner had he started to apply the cream than Melina began moaning like a caged beast. “Oooo. Mmm. Grrrr.”
“Seriously?” Ariadne could see Alex was trying hard to keep a straight face.
“Is that supposed to be sexy?” Natasa asked.
“Stop talking. I’m concentrating,” Melina replied.
“On what, animal sounds?”
“On…those…marvelous…hands.” She moaned between each word.
On closer inspection, Ariadne could see that Alex did have beautiful hands for a man, and his touch seemed gentle yet powerful. She wondered what they would feel like on her back.
Alex finished and put the cap back on the tube. “Anything else I can do for you, ladies?”
“Me! Me!” Natasa and Jo said in unison.
“Me first,” Jo insisted.
While Alex applied cream to the other two women’s backs, Ariadne lay belly down on her towel and stared at the sea. What she wouldn’t give for a massage on her tense shoulders.
“How about you, Ms. Lykourgos?” Alex said from beside her a few minutes later.
“Sure, why the hell not?” she mumbled without looking at him. “But don’t unclasp my…oh.” Ariadne lost track of what she was saying when Alex touched her back.
“I won’t,” Alex whispered close to her ear.
The combination of his hands pressing on her shoulders and breath close to her ear made her shiver.
“Just relax,” he whispered again, but this time his voice was even gentler and somehow different.
He took twice as long with her lotion massage as he had with the others, but Ariadne didn’t intend to complain. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so loose and peaceful.
“Why does she get the deluxe package?” Natasa asked.
“Because she’s the boss.” Alex sounded hoarse.
“Enjoying much, Ariadne?” Melina asked.
“Ye…” Shit. Her voice cracked. Ariadne cleared her throat and turned her head around to look up at Alex, kneeling over her. She shaded her eyes to see him better. “Thank you,” she said formally.
He didn’t move for several seconds but remained there looking at her, his eyes half closed. Who was he trying to impress? And why wasn’t he getting the message? Ariadne had made it clear she wasn’t interested in men.
How could this guy be so sensitive and perceptive when they were alone, and such a player when they were around others? He’d had his hands all over each of them and seemed to revel in the fact that her friends were drooling over him. And now he was looking at her, as if to say, I can have you as well as your friends.
Irritated, Ariadne grabbed a magazine Jo had brought along. She wanted to say, Stop looking at me like that and go away. “So…” she said. “Maybe you should start picking up.”
“Of course.” Alex got to his feet and walked away.
*
Switch continued to think about how Ariadne’s body had felt until well after they returned to the yacht. Fortunately or unfortunately—she wasn’t sure which—Ariadne kept an even bigger distance between them after they left the beach. On the one occasion when they’d inadvertently bumped into each other on the Zodiac, Ariadne had jumped like Switch had the plague and had moved as far away from her as she could in the small dinghy. And she alone among the women hadn’t bothered to thank Switch for the outing once they were back on the yacht.
And when Melina had asked Ariadne where and when that evening they would all meet up again, Ariadne answered that she had a meeting with her dad and would be busy till late. After which she’d snatched up her beach bag and run off without saying a further word to anyone.
It was just as well. She needed to concentrate on the icon and Pierce’s personal vendetta and not spend any more time analyzing Ariadne’s reactions to her. If Melina was interested in Switch instead of Ariadne, there was nothing she could do about that. Nor was she hired to play matchmaker.
Her work onshore and the trip back on the inflatable required a quick stop in her cabin for a change into clean, dry clothes. She’d just started her rounds on deck when Lykourgos called her over from a lounge chair by the pool bar. Ariadne was with him and didn’t seem too happy.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Lykourgos?” Switch asked.
Ariadne practically made a show of looking the other way.
“The girls tell me they were very satisfied with your services on the beach,” he replied. As before, Kostas Lykourgos looked nothing like the billionaire he was. Today he was dressed in a pair of faded khaki shorts and a dark linen shirt that needed ironing and only emphasized the dark circles under his eyes. The guy really didn’t look well, though he seemed in excellent spirits.
“I’m glad.” Switch smiled politely. “It was a pleasure to spend the day with them.”
Lykourgos laughed. “Are you sure? They can be a handful, especially that Melina.”
“They were wonderful company, sir.”
The billionaire gave him knowing smile. “Ariadne tells me she has a thing for you?”
Switch’s heartbeat accelerated. Please don’t let that be true. She so needed Ariadne to not be interested in her as a guy. “Oh?”
She glanced at Ariadne, who said testily, “Not me. Melina.”
Thank God. “Oh, yes. She’s made that quite clear.”
“They all seem to think you’re a nice guy,” Lykourgos said.
“Yeah, a real charmer.” Ariadne’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Lykourgos put his arm around his daughter. “She’s a difficult one,” he said proudly. “Just like me, she’s difficult to please.”
“I call it being selective,” Switch replied. “A very positive quality, in my opinion.”
Lykourgos laughed loudly. “I like him.” He looked over at his daughter.
“Like I said,” Ariadne repeated drolly. “A real charmer.”
“So.” Lykourgos clapped. “Although the others like you, my girl seems to have a problem. Have you done anything to offend her?”
You’re kidding me. I’m going to lose my job because of a spoiled brat who thinks it’s my fault her straight friend prefers dudes? “I don’t think so, sir, but…” Switch looked at Ariadne. “My sincerest apologies if I have.”
“He hasn’t offended me, Dad.” Ariadne visibly squirmed in her chair.
“Good.” He clapped again as if to say, I’m glad we got that settled.
Ariadne took this as her cue to leave. “I’m meeting the others in Melina’s room. If you—” She’d started to get up, but Lykourgos immediately put his hand on her arm.
“Not quite yet, my dear.” He turned to Alex. “I want you to escort the girls tomorrow night on Santorini.”
This escorting gig was turning into a nightmare. Not only was it taking Switch away from the yacht she should be searching, but it was also giving her more time with a woman who suddenly couldn’t stand her. “With all due respect, sir. If your daughter doesn’t like me, maybe it would be preferable to send Manos or Fotis.”
“My girl has a great radar when it comes to business and associates, but not when it comes to her personal matters. She will do anything to keep her friends or partners happy, and that worries me. So, if she doesn’t like you, then that means you’re the right person to keep an eye on her. Manos and Fotis are nice boys, but…they get too involved in having fun.”
“Dad—”
Lykourgos went on as though he hadn’t heard her. “You are to stay with her and her friends at all times.”
“Sir—” Switch started to protest as well, but Lykourgos apparently wasn’t going to be swayed.
“Do you drink?”
“No, sir. Never on the clock.”
“Excellent. She will have her bodyguard along, as well.”
“Oh, great. It’ll be a super-relaxed evening.” Ariadne pulled away from her father. “Anyone else you want to send along? Maybe the navy?”
; “Not necessary, at least I don’t think so,” he answered seriously. “So.” He clapped again. “It’s settled.” Lykourgos got up and left without another word. Clearly, he was used to getting his way.
“I’m sorry if I’ve done anything to upset you,” Switch said when they were alone.
“How can you be so sensitive and…and normal when we’re alone, and a complete jerk when we’re not?” Ariadne asked.
“Excuse me?” Switch replied, genuinely surprised.
“You act like you want to prove to the others that you can have a gay girl. I’ve got news for you: you can’t, never will, never gonna happen.”
“I never—”
“You go out of your way to put on a show every time they’re around. It’s not bad enough you have them drooling over you, but you want to show them you can sway me as well.”
Switch was having a little trouble following. “I have never tried to sway you, nor do I feel the need to do so. I am merely being polite and accommodating. I thought you enjoyed my company, but I was obviously wrong.”
“Your company, yes. Not your groping hands.”
Had she really gotten that carried away? Maybe so. She’d had some moments there when she had been lost in the feel of Ariadne’s warm skin beneath her hands. “You could have stopped me. I only continued because I thought you were enjoying it. It wasn’t sexual, and…” Switch tried to compose herself. “I did not grope you.”
Ariadne continued like Switch hadn’t spoken. “You were all over Melina, though.”
“Don’t you mean she was all over me?”
“I didn’t see you stop her.”
Boy, did Ariadne have it bad for the other woman. “As a matter of fact, I did,” Switch said calmly. “Look, you have nothing to worry about. I do not intend to do anything with Melina, Ms. Lykourgos.”
“Frankly, I don’t give a damn. Maybe you should, so both of you can get whatever pent-up tension you have out of your systems.”
“With all respect,” Switch replied, “I don’t think I’m the one with the pent-up tension.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you might want to try being honest with yourself and face reality.”
“Really? You sound like you’re aware of something I’m not,” Ariadne said. “I sincerely doubt you know me well enough to determine whether I’m capable of facing reality.”
“I hardly know you, but it doesn’t take a genius to see you’re terrified of what you want.” Switch was past trying to be courteous. “Money can’t buy you everything, and certainly not guts.”
“How dare you make such assumptions. You’ve been here, what, a week?” Ariadne got up and started to pace. “And I don’t have guts to do what, by the way?”
“To put aside your fears and take what you want, or at least find out if it’s attainable.”
“Oh…my…God.” Ariadne strung out each word. “You really think I’m fighting some heterosexual desire to pounce on you. You are the most typically chauvinistic, homophobic pig I’ve ever met. Your limited understanding of…of everything has you thinking you’re so hot that one night with you and I’ll be all…” Ariadne fanned herself with her keycard. “Oh, gosh. How could I have gone without for all these years?”
Ariadne was getting it all wrong, and frankly, Switch didn’t know what was going on. When did the discussion go from Ariadne ’fessing up to her desire for Melina to Switch being a chauvinistic pig that wanted to change her? “I don’t think—”
“Don’t you realize it’s men, especially men like you, that make even straight women want to jump the fence?”
Switch shrugged. “And you’re hoping Melina jumps that fence before she jumps me?”
“Women like Melina will sleep with anyone, so don’t flatter yourself. It’s not about you. It’s about what’s in your pants.”
Silicone? “I told you already,” Switch said. “I’m not interested in her.”
“Of course not. You’re obsessed with the one who doesn’t want you.”
“That’s—”
“Look, it’s never gonna happen. I don’t do guys, and not you or any other guy will change that.”
“I never said—”
Before she knew what hit her, Ariadne had grabbed Switch by the shoulders and pinned her against the wall.
“And here’s your proof,” Ariadne said, and kissed Switch on the mouth. First hard, and when Switch didn’t react, Ariadne slowed down.
Switch’s brain told her to push Ariadne away, but her body wouldn’t listen. Instead, she remained against the wall, hands to her sides, too afraid to lose control if she touched Ariadne.
She tried to focus on why she was there. And she did, long enough to switch Ariadne’s keycard from the front right pocket of her shorts—the outline against her tight shorts was unmistakable—and into the left front pocket of her own.
Then Ariadne sucked and licked her lower lip, and slipped her tongue between Switch’s lips to part them.
That pushed Switch over her limit. She wanted to kiss Ariadne back so much her head hurt. She groaned and grabbed Ariadne’s face to stop her. “Please.” She was breathless. “Please, don’t.” She stepped to the side.
Ariadne smiled but looked confused. “Nothing. I felt nothing.”
“That’s…” Switch moved farther away. She needed to distance herself, but she didn’t know if it was because of disappointment or fear. “That’s great.” She turned to leave. “Have a nice evening, Ms. Lykourgos.”
Chapter Fourteen
Ariadne took a roundabout way to Melina’s room, pausing for a long time on deck to stare out at the sea, as though it held the answer to why she’d just kissed a guy.
What had possessed her to kiss Alex, and what the hell was she thinking? The last time she’d kissed a boy was in high school, and she’d had no desire to do so again. Nothing about the opposite sex turned her on, and she was sure Alex would get the message, too, if Ariadne kissed him. But what had been an irrational, almost aggressive outburst of frustration ended up leaving her exasperated and confused. Exasperated because Alex had pushed her away, and confused because there was something unusual about him. The way he smelled, the softness of his lips and skin, the sound of his soft moan, and his voice at that moment.
Ariadne trembled at the memory of his breathless voice. Why hadn’t he returned the kiss, if he was set on making a point? Was the kiss that bad, or was being the aggressor a role he thought was reserved only for men? And what would she have done if he’d returned the kiss?
Ariadne touched her mouth and remembered Alex’s full lips under her own. He hadn’t even kissed her back and Ariadne felt… “What the hell?” she said out loud. “What’s wrong with me?”
Unable to be alone any longer with her thoughts and anger over what she’d done and felt, she headed to Melina’s room. Her friends lay sprawled out on the floor on pillows, with a bottle of wine and various cheeses on a tray.
“The girls said I was allowed to drink.” Melina held up her wine.
Ariadne sat on the comfy armchair. “Oh, nice,” she replied distractedly.
“You okay?”
“Fine.” She plucked at the fabric of the chair.
“No sermon about how many I’ve already had and how it’s killing my brain cells and compromising my senses.”
Ariadne shrugged. “You’re a big girl.”
“Okaaay,” Melina said with mock seriousness, “everyone back away and don’t stare in her eyes. It makes them nervous.”
The others laughed.
“Don’t mind me, okay?” Ariadne said. “I just need company but don’t feel like talking right now.”
The girls gave up trying to cheer her and talked instead about the usual things: their jobs, office gossip, celebrity gossip, their plans for the coming winter, and, of course, guys. Melina didn’t need much encouragement to start in about Alex.
“He’s not your average guy.” Melina took another sip of wine. “He
’s…something, but I don’t know what.”
“He’s almost too sensual in a way,” Jo said. “Too…I don’t know…his eyes are…I mean, the way he looks through them. It’s like there’s more to it than with most.”
“He’s a metrosexual, darling,” Melina replied.
“He shaves his legs.” Natasa frowned disapprovingly.
“And thank Gillette for that,” Melina said. “I can’t stand hairy men.”
“I like them hairy.” Natasa grabbed another cracker and a big slab of cheese. “Not too hairy, but I like some hair.”
“I agree with Melina. I’m not into hairy butts and shoulders.” Jo made a disgusted face.
“That’s because you guys want a woman with a dick,” Natasa said. “I like mine all man.”
“Yeah. Nothing like fucking a gorilla,” Melina replied.
Ariadne had to laugh.
“How about you?” Melina took another sip of wine and pointed at her with her glass. “You like them hairy?”
“I like women, remember?”
“Shaved, trimmed, or forest? I mean, when you go diving for the pearl?”
Ariadne laughed. “Shaved or trimmed are both fine. My internal compass gets confused in a forest.”
“Butch or butchless?” Natasa asked.
“It’s called femme,” Melina said.
“Butch, but no macho crap,” Ariadne replied.
“And what else?”
She thought about it for a moment. “Sensitive, gallant, protective. Not a player, but definitely a challenge. Someone who keeps me on my toes.”
“You know…” Jo sat up. “If Alex was a girl, he’d so be your type.”
“But he’s not, and he’s exactly my type,” Melina was quick to add.
“Yes, we all know you like them young.” Natasa finished off the last of the feta.
“They’re easier to mold.” Melina winked. “And so much easier to train.”
“Get a dog,” Natasa said.
“We can’t all be bear lovers,” Melina replied.
“I wonder how he kisses.” Jo lay on her back with her feet on the couch. “Do guys kiss differently than women?” She looked at Ariadne.