Chapter 14
TAYLOR
What is it they say?
Revenge is sweet.
And there’s nothing sweeter than walking away from Axel on the swim deck, knowing he can’t follow.
Or he could… if he weren’t bothered about everyone seeing just how not-so-baby Baby-Ax really is.
And I’m not petty. Honest. But even I can’t help a tiny giggle escaping as he jets away the second my feet hit the deck.
‘Did you not enjoy it, Miss Stone?’ Louis asks, watching Axel’s swift retreat as he hands me a fresh towel.
‘On the contrary, Louis.’ I peel off my life jacket, grinning wide. ‘It was thrilling.’
He takes the jacket, his smile bemused as I turn away – light and heady and more than a little smug. I hum all the way to my room, snagging a celebratory glass of champagne from the saloon on the way.
Time to get ready for round two, AKA dinner.
I pull open the wardrobe, my fingers sliding past the safe options – soft pastels, pretty sundresses, a little black dress – until they find red silk. Bare shoulders. A slit that’s borderline indecent. Perfect.
I lay it out on the bed, smiling as I sip my champagne and enjoy the sinful pop of colour against the crisp, white linen.
‘Oh, Ax, you’ll be sorry you started this little game.’
I take my time getting ready. Showering and moisturising until my skin shimmers.
Using every make-up trick in the book to accentuate my features: eyes smoky and popping, lips plump and glossy, cheeks warm and glowing.
I sweep my hair back into a tight ponytail, sleek and smooth, and ripe for his fist… not that it’ll get a look in.
I smile as I stand back and check my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror.
Definitely battle ready. The only thing missing is the power heels. They’re against yacht protocol, so pedicured feet it is. And they do add an interesting twist to an otherwise sinful get-up.
‘Ready or not,’ I whisper to the mirror, ‘here I come.’
The sun’s dipping low on the horizon as I step out onto the upper deck, pink and gold hues stretching for as far as the eye can see. The perfect backdrop for the long table that’s been laid out to fit the theme for the night: Romance With a Dash of Fun.
Candles and cream roses mix with mirrored disco balls that scatter tiny stars everywhere you look. Fairy lights are strung between every rail. And soft music plays over the natural lull of the sea.
The adults are all gathered, talking and laughing, an extra ease in the air now the kids are down for the night.
And then there’s Axel, dark and enigmatic as ever. Black hair, black shirt, black trousers. He’s surrounded by the We Rise team, a colourful ring of glitz and giggles, yet somehow, he looks completely at ease. My eyes narrow. Is that a smile tugging at his mouth? Is he… enjoying himself?
‘My God, sis, you look hot!’
I turn as Sadie barrels towards me, champagne in hand. Her sparkly dress fracturing the light in every direction and making her blue depths sparkle all the more.
Or maybe that’s the effect of too much champagne?
Or Theo?
I give a soft laugh. ‘Thanks. I think.’
‘You know it’s rude to outshine the bride though, right?’ Her eyes dance up at me as she loops her arm around my waist and kisses my cheek.
‘No one can outshine you, love. You haven’t stopped glowing since you moved into Theo’s.’
She chuckles at that, her eyes drifting to seek him out. He’s chatting with her mum friends, but when she looks, he looks, their smiles synching like a reflex.
‘Sometimes, I still can’t believe this is my life,’ she says, leaning into me. ‘That he’s mine. That he loves me…’
Her words start to fade beneath the sudden hum in my chest, a prickle along my spine, a charge that means one thing: Axel’s watching. My head wants to turn, but I fight it. My hand lifts instead, fingers caressing the sensitive skin behind my ear.
‘Champagne?’ Charlie appears like my saviour, offering a tray of filled flutes, and I gladly take one.
‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’ She smiles from me to Sadie. ‘We’re ready to serve dinner, if you are?’
‘Oh yes!’ she says, pressing a hand to her stomach. ‘I swear I could eat a horse.’
Charlie laughs. ‘We’ll get straight on it.’
‘To say it’s Sterling’s boat,’ Sadie says to me as Charlie heads inside, ‘the crew make me feel like I’m running the show.’
‘That’s because you’re the bride – and he’ll have made it so.’
‘He’s a good guy, isn’t he?’
I spy the man himself talking to a blushing Anna. ‘He is, yeah.’
And that reminds me…
‘I told him I’d speak to Theo, put in a good word for him.’
‘It’s going to take more than a good word after your olive-oil joke.’ She rolls her eyes and I grimace. ‘Thanks for that, by the way.’
‘It was just that: a joke. And the man does need to realise he’s being a hypocrite. He’s only getting shirty because she’s the older party.’
‘No, I think he’s getting shirty because she’s his mum and he doesn’t want to see her broken again. You know how it was after they lost his father.’
I remember it all too well: Theo holding it together while she fell apart. The weight she lost, the colour, the joy…
‘Yeah, I do. But look at her now; you can’t tell me she isn’t long overdue some fun of her own?’
Sadie laughs into her glass. ‘And we all know what you mean by fun… You know one day, someone’s going to deliver on your no-strings rule and surprise you with more.’
‘We can but hope,’ I mutter softly – just not the ‘more’ Sadie has in mind.
‘There’s no need to be sarcastic, sis.’
‘I wouldn’t dare.’
Axel’s silhouette flickers at the edge of my vision and my pulse kicks up a notch.
‘You mark my words,’ Sadie says, ‘it’ll happen and it’ll bite you on your blasé arse… and I, for one, can’t wait.’
Me neither.
Axel
Fuck my life.
If the Devil were a woman…
And she’s dressed in red too.
The second she steps onto the deck, my whole body snaps tight, every sense blowing wide open. It’s like my pulse recognises her before my brain does. And one damn glance is all it takes to nuke whatever calm I clawed back after the jet-ski incident.
I thought a cold shower and some distance would fix it. Yeah. Not even close.
She’s standing there like the Queen-fucking-Bee she is: bare skin catching the last of the sun, that dress painted on like it was made to be peeled off, make-up wickedly bold, and her hair – yeah, she might as well have tied a come-fuck-me bow to it.
My fingers twitch in my pockets. She knows exactly what she’s doing. Because this is exactly what she wants.
She’s playing a game. Toying with me.
And I’m fucking loving it.
A smile pulls at my mouth, and it sets off a ripple among the We Rise girls around me, all bright eyes and giggles. I should rein it in before they get ideas, but I don’t.
Because this kind of game? I’m all for playing.
She turns, scanning the deck for me and I deliberately look away. Nothing’ll get under her skin faster than being ignored. I don’t glance back until she’s talking to Sadie – then I let myself look. Really look. And yeah… that was a mistake.
A big, big mistake.
The slit in her thigh is so fucking high, I almost get a glimpse of heaven every time the breeze catches it.
‘Don’t you agree, Axel?’ One of the We Rise women – Daisy, maybe – cuts through my thoughts, intercepting the heat trying to consume me.
‘Yes. Absolutely.’
No fucking idea what I just agreed to. I’m too busy remembering how to breathe without groaning.
Then a glass rings out as the chief stewardess steps forward.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, if you’d all like to take your seats, dinner is served.’
My smile builds – because guess where I’m sitting?
Yeah, right next to the Devil herself.
Bring it on, Baby Girl.
Taylor
I swear he’s checking me out. But every time I look, he’s all charm and focus, soaking up the women fussing over him like candy.
Maybe my Spidey-senses are faulty.
Maybe I’m losing my touch.
Maybe I pushed him too far.
Touching him like I did… when he treats touch like a personal threat.
The thought twists through my stomach as we head for the table.
I know the seating plan by heart. Sadie and Theo at one end. Axel and me at the other. Everyone else down the sides. The We Rise girls to Axel’s left. The Mum crew and their partners to my right, followed by Sterling, then Theo’s mum beside her son.
Shit. That last little trio – Sterling, Anna, Theo – why didn’t I think to shuffle that when I signed off on the table plan this morning?
The look that passes between Theo and Sterling is enough to make me shrink back – right into a hot, steady palm at the base of my spine.
‘Careful, Baby Girl…’
Thrilling tremors fire off in every direction as the contact burns through my dress, his words a hot caress against my ear.
‘Ax…’ I breathe.
‘The very same.’ His smirk ghosts against my skin as he makes a show of pulling out my chair. ‘Bet you’re regretting stirring up that hornet’s nest now, ain’t you?’
He tilts his head towards the silent tension down the table, but I can’t focus on anything except the swarm buzzing beneath my own skin. And I know he knows it. His laugh is light and lethal, provoking the chaos inside me.
Just breathe, woman. Breathe.
I lower myself into the chair, cool air brushing my thigh as the red silk parts. My fingers instinctively reach to fix it, but his gaze locks on. His jaw grinds. And my inner devil grins as my hand falls away.
Not laughing now, are you, buddy?
I let the fabric inch higher. Let his stare sear into the exposed skin.
‘See something you want?’ I whisper.
He gives a tight huff. ‘You sure you want to play this game tonight?’
I smile, sugar-sweet. ‘I could ask you the same question.’
His mouth curves into that dangerous half-smile. ‘Game on, Baby Girl.’
Then he straightens, easy and composed, turning to Sadie’s single friend Daisy, waiting patiently for the same treatment on his other side.
Dream on, Missy.
And I’m not jealous. I’m not.
Hell, I don’t have the capacity for jealousy when I’m steeped in the scent of him – all spice and sin – and the promise of his words: