Chapter 10
TEN
Vida
I hang back behind one of the pilings on the dock, watching the party in progress on Tripp’s yacht. I thought I’d prepared myself for what awaited me tonight, but holy hell, I was not ready.
But I expected that. I don’t have to Google the Sterlings’ net worth to know there are a lot of zeroes.
It’s the people partying on board that keep me hidden behind the thick post.
Young men in white linen shirts, left open. Leather dock shoes. Gold watches.
The girls are in dresses a pop star might wear to the Grammys. Every one of them looks like a perfectly styled influencer, not a hair out of place even in the night breeze. Diamonds encircle their throats and wrists. Champagne flutes in their elegant hands.
I am wearing jean shorts and a bikini top.
Flip flops.
My backpack.
If I walk onto that boat dressed like this, I am going to look like an idiot.
Worse, I think I’ll embarrass Tripp. That would kill me.
What am I going to do? Call him and explain that something came up and I can’t make it to the party? Or can I improvise? There are high-end stores in the resort, and I know the girls who work in them. Maybe I can borrow something for the night?
It’s worth a try.
Before I turn away from the spectacular sight of beautiful people dancing on a pristine yacht, I catch sight of Tripp.
He walks to the railing of his boat and leans forward on his forearms, scanning the dock for me.
When he doesn’t see me, he paces away and comes back, looking down at his phone, visibly stressed.
A girl comes up to him and tugs on his sleeve, trying to get his attention, but he just shakes his head, ignoring her.
Not wanting him to think I’m standing him up, I take my phone out of my backpack and tap the screen a few times, listening to it ring in my ear. Tripp sees I’m calling and almost collapses with relief.
“Angel,” he breathes down the line. “Where are you? I’m going crazy.”
My heart turns over. “I’m sorry, I know I’m late. I got held up.”
“Please tell me you’re still coming.”
“I am. I just need…” Please let my plan work. “Twenty minutes or so.”
“Twenty?” He drags a handful of fingers through his hair. “Can I come get you? Or send my driver? It’s getting too dark to ride your bike.”
“I’m fine, I promise. I’ll be there soon.”
I hang up and rush into the darkness, taking the stairs up to the resort two at a time. Relief assails me when I reach the boutique just before it closes, skidding inside and imploring my friend Amy to give me the Cinderella treatment.
“Is this about a boy?” she asks with a knowing smirk.
“Yes,” I admit, chewing my lip. “I need to look like I belong on a yacht.”
“Oh, honey.” She spreads her arms open to indicate the myriad of racks laden with designer brands. “That’s what we specialize in.”
Fifteen minutes later, after promising Amy that I’ll reattach the three-thousand-dollar price tag tomorrow, I speed walk through the lobby of the resort, where—thankfully—no one recognizes me, and make my way back down to the docks, my backpack dangling from my fingers.
I exercise caution when crossing the uneven planks of the dock because, this time, I’m wearing a pair of black Louboutin heels that customers in the boutique use to try on clothes.
I was assured they pair perfectly with the smoky mauve corset dress I’m wearing.
While I was zipping up the mini dress, Amy applied a lip stain to my mouth and pinned back some of my hair with a clip.
I barely got a chance to look in the mirror before I left the shop, but what I saw looked good… I think.
Enough not to stand out like a sore thumb?
Tripp is still leaning on the edge of the yacht in the same place I left him, but he sees me now and straightens slowly, his jaw unhinging.
“Vida?”
“Hey,” I call up to him, suddenly self-conscious. “Do you have room for one more?”
He points at me. “Do not move. I’m coming down there to get you.”
“I know how to board a ship,” I laugh.
“We’re walking in together. I need everyone to know you’re with me.
Don’t move.” He disappears from view while I stand grinning on the dock, appearing seconds later on the lowered walkway leading onto the yacht.
And my goodness, in a loose pair of stone-colored chinos, a loose black button-down, and windblown hair, he’s the sexiest man alive.
It’s no contest. “What are you doing to me in that dress?”
“You…like it?”
Hot eyes slide down the front of me, lingering on my legs, then breasts. “Words don’t fail me very often, but they’re failing me right now. You’re…resplendent.”
“Wow.” I duck my head to hide a blush. “Putting that Ivy League education to good use.”
He flashes a quick grin, but it dims in degrees as he reaches out to me, tracing the curve of my cheek with his index finger. “You know, you could have worn jeans and a T-shirt and you would have been perfect. You didn’t have to dress up.”
His sincerity makes the backs of my eyes sting a little.
“It’s going to be hard enough to make them accept me, even for the night.
There’s no use making it harder. And…” I exhale some of my building nerves that are pinging around now that the time has arrived to attend the party.
No more stalling. And no more pretending that this man isn’t becoming more important to me by the hour.
“I guess I wanted you to be proud you invited me. Proud…of me.”
A lump slides up and down in Tripp’s throat.
“You’re not going to worry about that ever again after tonight.
” I’m skeptical, but I let him take my backpack and hold my hand out to him anyway, letting him guide me to the entrance of the boat.
He doesn’t take his eyes off me the whole way, bringing my hand to his mouth and laying kisses on my knuckles, my fingers. “Will you stay here with me tonight?”
“On the boat?”
He nods. “We have eight bedrooms to choose from. It’ll just be us. And the staff.”
I brace myself to reveal the decision I made tonight while I was biking to the resort.
Tonight, I’m going to give myself to Tripp. I’m going to make him my first.
The realistic part of me knows he’s going to leave and break my heart at the end of the week, but I can’t act like something magical isn’t happening between us. I want our moments together to be special, even if the memories hurt later.
“If the staff is going to be here, then…maybe we should pick the bedroom with the most soundproof walls.”
Tripp stops walking. He turns toward me and nudges up my chin, scrutinizing me closely, hope and need clashing in his blue eyes.
“You’re…ready?”
My sex clenches over the gruff way he says the word. “Yes.”
He continues to stare down at me, his breathing measured.
“What are you thinking?” I ask when the silence stretches too long.
“I’m trying to come up with a way to get rid of everyone immediately,” he replies in a hoarse rush, slowly backing me up against the wall of the hallway, ducking his face into my neck to inhale me.
“Jesus, Vida. You had to tell me this now? In that tight little dress? My dick is going to be stiff as a board the entire party.”
I wiggle my hips against his. “It’s a good thing that shirt is loose.”
His lower body pins me to the wall with a slam, his mouth ghosting over mine. “I’m obsessed with you, you know that?” He visibly struggles to rein himself in. “Did you bring your Yale application with you?” He shakes my backpack. “Is it in here?”
After a heavy swallow, I nod. “Yes. You can look, but please don’t try and intervene.”
“Vida.” He closes his eyes, his frustration evident.
“I promised you I wouldn’t. I’m just going to have a look.
But so help me God, if I find what I suspect I’ll find—that you’re a brilliant applicant and got passed over for someone whose father could afford to donate five million dollars to Yale—I’m going to have a hard time not doing something about it. ”
“I know it’ll be hard to leave it alone, but I don’t want a school that doesn’t want me. And I definitely don’t want to take advantage of your kindness—”
“Kindness?” Tripp bursts out, his tone incredulous.
“Angel, if you let me do nice things for you, even if they involve money, do you think you would be the only one benefitting? I get you as a girlfriend. I could buy you a fleet of jets and the island of Maui and I’d still be getting the better part of the deal.
I would have you. And the girl I’m crazy about would have what she needs. ”
I’m struck speechless.
It’s the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me.
It’s also a terrifying sentiment. He’s asking me to not only accept his wealth and power but utilize it.
“I’m crazy about you, too,” I manage around the object in my throat. “And I trust you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here doing something that scares me so much. I just…I have to think about the rest. I’m proud. I want to achieve things on my own.”
“You will.” He clears his throat, briefly glancing down at the space between his feet.
“But this is who I am. I’m a Sterling, and that comes with billions of dollars and a lot of privilege attached.
It’s not going anywhere and it’s all a part of me.
When you turn down what I can offer you, it feels…
a little bit like you’re turning me down, too. ”
“Tripp,” I gasp, the backs of my eyes smarting with tears. “Please don’t say that. What I want is you. Just you. None of the trappings.”
He cups my face gently. “It doesn’t work that way.” A tear sneaks out of the corner of my eyes, and he catches it with his thumb, frowning. “My God, what the fuck is wrong with me, making you cry when you’re braving this party for me? I’m sorry, Vida. I’m an asshole.”
“No, everything you said is valid and I’m going to think about it. I promise.” I kiss the side of his hand. “Let’s talk about it again later, okay?”
“Okay.” He bends down to give me a hard kiss, edged with affection. “Let’s go in.”