Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Carley
“Who are you looking for?”
Saylor breaks me from my trance as I search through the crowd of people on the pool deck, hoping to catch a glimpse of Captain Colossal, as she referred to him.
I groan, unhappy that I’ve become accustomed to calling him by that ridiculous nickname.
“Hmm?” I question, turning to look at her. “Did you say something?”
“My, my … he’s got you wound tight, and you haven’t even spoken to him yet,” Saylor taunts.
“What on earth are you talking about?” I play dumb, knowing she isn’t going to buy it.
“You’ve got it bad for Big Daddy Zeus.”
I roll my eyes at the new nickname.
“That might be the worst nickname you’ve ever come up with. And I do not, I’m just looking around at the selection of men in which to choose from,” I counter.
“Oh? So you’ve finally decided to join me in finding some action on this trip?”
The same waiter we had at the pool our first day was our waiter again at the beach two days ago. Saylor invited him over that evening while I enjoyed a quiet dinner by myself followed by a solo walk on the beach. It was wonderful and exactly what I needed.
I love Saylor to death, but everyone needs a little time to themselves.
“Well, I was thinking about it,” I lie.
I’m fully aware nothing will ever happen with the hot Greek god, but a girl can dream, right?
At least, I think he’s Greek. He looks like he is.
I wonder if he lives here or is just vacationing.
I’ve tried keeping him out of my thoughts ever since leaving the pool that first day, with little luck.
I was hoping we would run into one another again, but actually running into him was not quite what I’d had in mind.
The moment I realized who he was, a flush covered my body, and my clit began to throb. It was as if it knew he was close by. I was a little shaken when he screamed at me in whatever language it was he spoke.
Was it Greek?
I have no clue, but it sounded like it could be.
Once he’d realized it was me, his hard face softened. The scent of clary sage and citrus that floated off of him in waves was enough to do me in. And, when my eyes met his intense silver stare, it made my knees weak.
Théa, he’d called me when he apologized.
I need to know what it means. Maybe I’ll take a trip to the business center later and see if I can Google it.
My dumb phone doesn’t have service here, despite the international plan I’m paying extra for this week, so I haven’t been able to look it up yet. It’s driving me crazy.
“Atta girl,” Saylor breaks me from my inner thoughts once again. “You can stop looking now, though.”
“What do you mean?”
She nods at something to my right, and I turn my head just in time to spy the drop-dead gorgeous hottie himself walking down the stone steps leading from the upper deck of the hotel to the pool deck. Seeing him again causes the air in my lungs to leave me in a single whoosh.
How is it he looks even more enchanting than he did the last time I saw him?
He’s with the same two people I’d seen him with previously. I swear, the three of them are cut from the same striking cloth. Looking that good is so unfair to the rest of us. The girl points to an open cabana at the end of the row.
No, not there.
I silently pray they choose a seat across from us again so I’m able to watch him from behind my sunglasses without getting caught. The other guy with them says something, and they all laugh. Then he points to a few chairs on the other side of the pool and thankfully, they sit there instead.
Once they’re seated, I relax slightly and take a large sip of my strawberry daiquiri. As he settles into his chair, I swear I can see the corner of his lips perk up a little. I can’t see his eyes, but the way my heartbeat accelerates, the heat that blooms deep within me, I know he’s looking at me.
I think.
I hope.
My god, I’m ridiculous.
I roll my eyes from beneath my shades, irritated I can’t get the thought of this stranger off my mind. I force my eyes from him, pull the book I brought with me from my bag, and try to distract myself with someone else’s love life.
A little while later, Saylor forces me to get into the pool with her. I love sitting by the pool and lounging on the sand at the beach, but I’ve never been one to enjoy being in the water. Today is hot enough, though, and the cool water is more refreshing than I expected it to be.
Saylor, doing what she does best, pretends to swim into a guy not too far from where I’m hanging out at the edge.
When they begin striking up a conversation, I decide to get out and go back to the cabana.
Before I get the chance, I freeze, noticing his shimmering eyes are locked directly on me.
I stare back for a few seconds before remembering my sunglasses are laying on my chair.
My eyes grow wide as I feel the heat spread across my cheeks, embarrassed about getting caught.
Swallowing nervously, I turn around and climb the steps out of the pool.
As soon as I get to our cabana, I wrap myself in a towel and put my sunglasses back in place.
Feeling safe and unseen once again, I lay my chair flat and rest for a little while.
It feels as though I’ve barely closed my eyes before I’m awoken suddenly by a ruckus next to my chair and cold drops of water dripping onto my skin.
When I finally get a chance to see what’s happening, I realize Saylor has invited the group of guys she was hanging out with in the pool to do shots in the cabana.
I roll my eyes, irritated at the intrusion.
Luckily, the majority of them go back into the pool after that, but two linger behind. Saylor sits on her chair with one of them, and they’re lip-locked, instantly.
Ew.
The other guy who stayed is looking at me awkwardly, as though he’s expecting me to pull him in for a slobber fest of our own. Without being asked, he takes a seat on the end of my chaise.
“What’s your name?”
I’m so shocked he sat down, I can’t come up with something quick enough to get him to leave.
“Gianna,” I state sternly, crossing my arms and legs.
Anytime I meet a guy, I give him my mother’s name until I get a chance to feel him out.
They don’t need to know my real name until I feel like they’re someone who I’d like to keep around for a while.
Some of them have ended up as just friends, others turned into relationships, but none of them have been the man I’ve needed them to be.
This guy? He’ll never know my real name.
“Carley,” Saylor slurs, having broken the sloppy kiss between her and whoever the hell he is.
“I thought you said your name is Gianna,” the clueless guy interrupts.
“It is,” I assert.
“I don’t think—”
“What, Saylor?” I glare at her so she knows just how unhappy I am.
“They’re having a bonfire on the beach tonight. We’re so going,” she insists.
“You have fun, I’ll have to skip it,” I explain.
“Aww come on, it will be fun,” Clueless whines.
Like a toddler.
“She can’t make it.”
A sexy timbre breaks through the conversation, and that’s when I turn my head to find him standing on the other side of my chair with drinks in hand. A beer, a strawberry daiquiri, and a Cosmo.
“Who are you?” Clueless asks. “Her dad?”
Oh my god, what an asshole. Before I get a chance to tell him off, the dreamy one speaks up.
He gives the dumbass a smug grin, completely unaffected by the dad comment and not taking his eyes off mine. “She can’t make it because she’s accompanying me to dinner this evening.”
He places the drinks down on the table between mine and Saylor’s chairs, and we both stare at him in utter surprise. Leaving his beer, he picks up the daiquiri and the Cosmo and hands them to us. Then he turns to Clueless.
“You mind?” he asks.
“What?” Clueless responds.
“You’re in my seat.”
Clueless stands up and mutters something that sounds like “whatever” under his breath as he walks away. His friend, the one who just had his tongue down Saylor’s throat, follows him.
The handsome slab of chiseled marble sits on the end of my chair, staring at me as he takes a sip of his beer. Saylor is so shell-shocked, she doesn’t even notice tongue guy is gone.
“Tha—” My voice gets caught in my throat. Clearing it, I continue. “Thank you. For the drinks as well as scaring them away.”
“It was my pleasure. It was pretty uncomfortable watching from afar. I figured it was even more regrettable over here.”
“Definitely,” I agree.
“What?” Saylor finally snaps out of it. “Speak for yourself. I was having fun.”
“No one is stopping you, Say. Have at it. Just be careful, please.”
“I have my phone if you need me,” she squeals excitedly as she runs after the two of them.
Realizing too late her leaving means I’m alone with him, I swallow a ball of nerves stuck in the back of my throat. As he takes his seat at the end of my chair, I struggle to figure out what to say next.
“I’m Nick. Nick Evans,” he sticks his hand out in greeting.
The moment our fingers touch, my skin tingles like a spark of electricity is shooting through me. When my eyes meet his, the fire in his eyes tells me he was affected by the same energy.
“Gianna Manford, nice to meet you.”
Everything in me wanted to tell him my real name, but I couldn’t do it. No matter what happens here, we’re leaving tomorrow, and I’ll never see him again.
It’s pointless.
“A sexy name for a sexy girl,” he states earnestly before bringing my hand to his lips and whispering a kiss along my knuckles.
His words and actions make me melt where I sit, and I wish like hell I would have told him my real name.
I can’t tell him now, though. I’d look as crazy as I feel.
My eyes shift, focusing on different areas of the pool deck because I can’t let him see how badly he’s affecting me.
I don’t know him. I don’t need him thinking I’m some stage-5 clinger he needs to steer clear of.
I certainly don’t want him thinking he can win me over with his charm so easily.
“Are you enjoying your stay?” He relinquishes his hold on my hand and brings my attention back to him.
“Yes,” I admit, flipping my hair behind my shoulder. “One last hurrah before I start my new job on Monday.”
He nods his head in approval. My eyes flit to the tic of the muscle in his jaw.
Why is he so tense? When I catch his gaze once more, I realize he was staring at my boobs.
Was the tense tic of his jaw him trying to hold back from tackling me?
From sucking my nipple into his mouth and not stopping until I’m dripping wet with desire?
What if we were vacationing here together? I picture us cuddling close on the chaise lounge. Enjoying drinks at the bar. Skinny dipping in the ocean at night.
Oh my god, Carley. Get a fucking grip.
Bringing myself back to reality, I continue the conversation before he starts thinking I don’t know how to carry myself.
“What about you?” I question. “Do you live here? In Greece, I mean.”
“My parents used to live in Athens, but they moved to the States before they had me. Florida, to be specific.”
“I love Florida,” I smile. “It’s one of my favorite places to visit.”
“Well, who wouldn’t love the Sunshine State?” When he flashes me his pearly whites, my smile grows, and the fluttering of butterflies in my stomach quickens.
“Which part do you live in? I’ve been to a few different places, but my favorite is Islamorada.”
“I grew up in Miami, but I live in Southern California now. Hermosa Beach.”
“So you’re a beach bum?” I joke.
“Born and raised,” he confirms. “What about you? Where do you live?”
“New York,” I answer.
Just as he opens his mouth to say something else, his friend calls him from the other side of the pool.
“Hey, D!”
D?
How do you get “D” from Nick Evans? Maybe his middle name begins with a D? While I’m left to wonder, they continue their conversation.
“We’re going to grab some lunch. You coming?”
“Yeah,” he shouts back. “I’ll be right there.”
Damn it.
I haven’t gotten my fill of speaking to him, but I’m not sure I ever would if given the chance. I offer him a smile when he turns back to face me.
“Well, Gianna. It was wonderful meeting you.”
“Same to you, Nick.”
I feel like an idiot when my heart clenches as he begins to walk away.
I put my sunglasses back in place to hide the sadness I know is in my eyes.
I’m so stupid, why am I acting like this?
Before I’m able to get too upset by the lightning fast ending to my shortest, make-believe relationship, he pivots and takes hold of my attention once more.
“So I was thinking.” He walks a few steps back toward me.
“You were, were you?” I answer coyly. He smiles before pulling his lip between his teeth.
“We should probably keep our dinner plans for tonight,” he continues. “In the event you run in to that kid again. I wouldn’t want you to get caught in a lie or anything.”
“You bring up a very good point.” I play along. “I do hate a liar, and I wouldn’t dream of being labeled as one.”
I’m not sure which of us is working harder to come up with these bullshit excuses, but I welcome them all.
“I’ll meet you in the lobby at eight, then?”
“It’s a date,” I confirm.
Quickly, I wonder if calling it a date was too much, but his wink and half smile tell me he isn’t bothered by it. He may even like the idea.
I try holding in my big, goofy grin, but I can’t.
“Looking forward to it, Gianna Manford.” He flashes me his killer smile before turning and walking away again.
Same here, Nick Evans. Same here.