That One Summer: A Collection of Steamy Contemporary Romance

Chapter 4

“Charlotte, come sitdown. The food is amazing. You have to eat too.” A pretty silver-blonde, with Kelly written on her name tag, stood at the long dining table near the kitchen and waved Charlotte over.

Charlotte lifted her hand in reply, then pointed to the grill. “I’m still taking care of a few things here.”

“Do it later,” Kelly implored, and the man and woman sitting beside her nodded in agreement. “You just put the bowls out. The food is warm now.”

Charlotte heaved a sigh and put down her wooden mixing spoon. She’d already placed two large bowls of arroz rojo, or Mexican rice, and charro beans on the dining table. A third bowl, the one she’d been puttering with behind the grill, wasn’t necessary but kept her where she wanted to be.

Kelly clapped as Charlotte approached, and most at the table joined in. Sam stood at his seat, clapping the loudest. Beside him was an empty chair he’d pulled from the table for Charlotte.

“You are the best cook. I love everything,” Kelly, sitting on the other side of Charlotte, gushed as she dug into the beef carnitas. “I can’t believe you made all this in a couple of hours.”

“She’s right. Not that I’m surprised, but it’s great.” Sam picked up a fish taco and filled it with freshly made guac.

Charlotte’s cheeks warmed—hearing nice comments about her cooking never got old—as she reached for a glass, a clear tumbler with a bright blue rim, and filled it with water. She held it up. “Please enjoy.”

“If anyone has questions about accommodations, now is the time to ask,” Sam announced to the group as he finished his taco and reached for another tortilla. “This may be our last prepared meal before the storm so eat up.”

“Is the icebreaker over?” A petite redhead, name tag Karla, stuck out her lower lip and pouted.

Sam tilted his head to the side, his expression thoughtful. “It doesn’t have to be.”

“I have a question. How many Fantasy clubs have you been to, Sam?” A busty blonde, name tag Layla, turned to Sam.

“Just New York.”

Layla pressed her red lips together and lifted her fair brows. “I”ve been to all six in the US,” she declared, leaning forward. “Do you like group play, Sam?”

“On occasion.”

Layla’s eyes twinkled. “Well how many...”

Before she could finish, Sam smiled and glanced around the table. “How about a question for everyone at the table?”

“Everyone?” Layla sat back and wrinkled her nose. “I’ll need to think about that.”

“Where”s the most dangerous place you”ve had sex?” Kelly asked, jumping into the conversation. Her eyes lit up as she waggled her brows.

“What do you mean by dangerous?” Karla giggled.

“Whatever you want it to mean,” Kelly replied, teasingly lifting her shoulders and batting her eyelashes.

Karla giggled again as her cheeks pinked up. “On a plane. And you know how tiny airplane restrooms are nowadays.” She scrunched her narrow shoulders to demonstrate. “We had to be so...flexible.”

Kelly nibbled her lower lip. “For me, it was the bathroom at the Rue,” she said, noting the uber high-end hotel in New York City. The place was known to be posh and proper. “We had to be incredibly quiet. That was hard because it was so good.”

“There was this beach in the Caribbean. It wasn”t a nude beach, but we found a spot and made it so,” a tall, blond man seated at the middle of the table, name tag Philip, tossed out. Several women at the table smiled at him.

He’d certainly have no trouble finding company tonight.

“Charlotte, what about you?” Kelly turned to Charlotte and gave her arm a gentle poke.

“Me?” Charlotte flinched. “Oh, I’m not really part of this. I’m not a Fantasy guest.”

“But you can still play.” Kelly gave her another little nudge.

“Okay.” She smiled back. Kelly was trying to include her in the conversation, and it would be rude not to play along. Ack. She racked her brain, trying to come up with something—anything. “There was this one time in my mother”s basement. I thought no one was home...”

“Your mother?” Karla asked. “Was that really the most...?”

Sam shifted in place, pulling everyone’s attention back to him. “If her mother was anything like my grandmother...” He turned to Charlotte and raised a brow. “My Gran was great, but she had her rules, strict rules. She was only this big.” He held his thumb and forefinger a few inches apart. “But she could make me feel this tall.” He cut the distance in half, and everyone at the table laughed. “I was more than a bit terrified of her.”

Charlotte smiled, picturing Sam going head-to-head with this tiny, tough woman. She’d likely adored her grandson even when he didn’t follow her rules.

Sam placed his palms flat on the table. “Okay, how about another popular topic—food.”

“You mean food and sex, or food during sex, or something else?” asked Kelly.

“And nothing more about favorite positions or best orgasms?” Layla asked, disappointment in her tone.

“Oh, I love talking about orgasms,” said another glamorous-looking blonde, name tag Josie, who turned to face Sam.

“Nope. I just meant food in general,” Sam said, his green eyes light with humor.

“I love really good baby back ribs,” Philip said with a grin. “I order them everywhere.”

“For me, it’s excellent cioppino, bouillabaisse, and fisherman’s stew.” Kelly playfully rolled her eyes and swooned. “Anything like that.”

“My favorite chef makes the most amazing everything.” Sam sat back and wet his nice, full lips. “One day last week, she made an herb-crusted rack of lamb with mustard and thyme, and another day she made seabass with a lemon butter caper sauce. Once she prepared this roasted beet salad with goat cheese, which was fantastic, and I don’t even like beets or goat cheese.”

“Sounds like you’re in love,” said Kelly. She gave Charlotte another little nudge, and Charlotte nudged right back. What was Kelly thinking?

“Maybe I am.” He grinned and reached for his wine glass. “Or maybe I appreciate excellent food.”

Karla gave him a suggestive look. “You look too fit to be a foodie, Sam.”

He patted his firm gut. “I guess the gym serves a valuable purpose.

“Oh, it looks like we’re getting some entertainment tonight.” Sam got up from his seat and approached a group of performers entering the pavilion. One man held out a little card in his hand.

Sam opened the card and held it up to the group. “It’s from Stephanie at Fantasy. She’s arranged this mariachi band and a DJ for our pleasure tonight.”

The band of seven men wore matching costumes of crisp white shirts and pants with decorative gold embroidery running up the outer seams of the pants and around their shoulders. And each—three violinists, two horn players and one drummer—wore a large white, wide-brimmed hat. They bowed to the group at the table then started to play.

“This is really nice.” Kelly leaned over and murmured in Charlotte’s ear, the lively Mariachi music filling the air around them.

Charlotte nodded, her body starting to sway in her seat. “Yes, it is.”

And the evening wasn’t done yet.

After dinner, the cleaning staff cleared the table and pushed chairs away as a DJ set up his equipment.

Charlotte zipped back into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of sweet onions and poblano peppers to wash and slice. Tomorrow she’d have twenty people hungry for breakfast, and now was the perfect time to start prepping.

Because she had no plan for getting onto the dance floor or anywhere else on the pavilion tonight. Two couples had stripped down after dinner and were getting busy beside the pool.

She tried not to look, but it was hard to ignore.

Charlotte closed her eyes and took in the lively music and the heady scent of the warm summer night. The sun had set, and the jungle had awakened. A startling screech echoed around her. She took a nervous step around the covered kitchen area to the balcony and glanced down into the jungle.

“That was probably a monkey.” Sam came up from behind her and placed a hand on the balcony railing.

Charlotte squinted her eyes. In the darkness, she could barely see a thing. “We’ve been here for days, and that’s the first time we’ve heard...”

“They know a storm is coming.”

A storm, a hurricane. The thought made her shiver. “Well, I’m glad it’s not a jaguar or a puma.”

“Not likely, but I’m sure they’re out there, along with parrots, armadillos and iguanas. The cats don’t usually bother people in a setting like this. What I don’t like are the wild pigs.”

“Wild pigs? What are you talking about?”

“They’re big and very aggressive,” he said with a huff, and she smiled. “Anyway, one of the reasons we carefully lock up food at night is to discourage curious visitors.”

“No, we wouldn’t want that.” Charlotte twisted in place, turning from the darkened jungle to the dance floor and then to the rest of the pavilion. A group of men she’d never seen before caught her attention. They carried large tool bags and moved quickly from one part of the pavilion to the other. “Hey, have you noticed all the extra workmen on the property tonight?”

“Not really, but we’ve been busy with our Fantasy guests.” He eyed the workmen. “Maybe George hired some extra workers to fortify the grounds before the storm?”

“He didn’t say anything to you first?”

“No, but I’ve always given him authority to make decisions.”

“I hope they’re not going to charge some gouging pre-tropical storm fees.”

Sam tapped his fingers on the balcony and glanced over at the men. “Me too. I’ll talk to George about that as well as the other things.”

Charlotte nodded, knowing Sam was adding this to his growing list of questions and concerns for the property manager. This had to be stressful for him, especially since he loved this property and hoped to open for regular guests soon.

Charlotte’s hips swayed as the stirring melody of Stand by Me surrounded them. Then she started to sing under her breath.

“Would you like to dance?” he asked.

She shut her mouth and gave her head a tight shake. “Oh, I’m not much of a dancer.”

“Neither am I,” he returned with a grin. “But you don’t need to be much of a dancer to dance.”

“I’m not sure about that. This crowd can dance.” She turned and faced the small make-shift dance floor. Kelly, Karla and Layla knew how to move their bodies.

“Who cares?”

Charlotte stared up into his handsome face, his eyes a warm green with bright flecks of gold. She’d never noticed that before. But then she’d rarely been this close to him. “I...”

“Hey, if you two aren’t going to dance, do you mind if I take him?” Karla grabbed Sam’s hand and pulled him toward the dance floor. Immediately, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.

“No, go ahead,” Charlotte replied, but they were already gone.