Seducing You (How to Marry a Billionaire #3)
Episode 83
EPISODE 83
FAREWELL, DANCING QUEEN
Sienna
Evangeline told me earlier that the ferry will be here by lunchtime. I’m honestly not even sure what time it is. So much has happened these past three days, and part of me feels like I’m in a time warp. I’m not sure anyone slept much last night. From my date with Brett to my late-night tryst with Marc to my talk on the beach this morning with Brett, to more Marc in the pantry… I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime on this island.
I’m alone at the hot tub, sitting with only my feet in the warm water. The bubbles tickle my toes as I wiggle them.
I look up when the screen door opens. Heather walks in, looking fabulous as usual in a denim skirt and blue crop top, and June looks like the model she is wearing a flattering red halter and a black mini.
“Hey, there you are!” Heather smiles. “Feeling better about things?”
I return her smile…or try to, anyway. “I think so. I’m ready to face what’s waiting for me.”
“I’m so sorry about your friend,” June offers. “I hope she recovers.”
“I hope so too.” Or at least I hope she waits until I get there so I can tell her how much she means to me and say goodbye.
“We just wanted to wish you well,” Heather says.
“And tell you that we hope you’ll come back,” June adds.
“I may. I honestly haven’t made any decisions yet. I just know I need to see Lavonne.”
“We’re going to grab some lunch.” Heather leans down and gives me a hug. “You want to join us?”
I shake my head. “Thanks, but the ferry should be here any minute. Evangeline knows where I am and she’ll come get me.”
“Okay.” June hugs me as well. “We’ll miss you.”
The two women leave the pool area, only to pass Ariel coming in.
“Hey.” Ariel flips off her sandals and sits down next to me, dangling her toes next to mine.
“Hey, yourself.”
“How are you?”
I sigh. “Been better.”
“I know. I’m so sorry about your friend. It’s good that you’re going to see her. Will you be back?”
The question that everyone asks…and the one that has no answer. At least not yet.
“I don’t know, Ariel. I just don’t know.”
“I was thinking about leaving earlier today,” she says.
“And…?”
“And I’m staying.”
“What convinced you?”
Her cheeks redden. “Let’s just say I finally found what I was looking for.”
I gasp. “One of the men fell for you?”
“Oh!” She clasps her hand to her cheek. “God, no. Not yet, anyway. I just finally decided not to second-guess myself anymore. I’m here, and I want to make the most of it.”
I pat her hand. “That’s a good attitude.”
She rises. “I’ve loved meeting you, and I hope you come back, but if not, look me up on social media. I want to keep in touch, okay?”
“Okay. Sure thing.”
I’m never on social media, but maybe I’ll get on and find Ariel and the others. Who knows?
Ariel is no sooner out the door when Evangeline finally enters followed by River, who is escorting me to the mainland. Must mean my ride is here. I rise, dry my feet with a small towel, and slide into my shoes.
Evangeline looks like she’s been crying. Her cheeks and nose are red and her eyes are swollen.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She nods. “Change of plans. Brett’s decided to accompany you to the mainland. He’ll see you from here to the airport and make sure you get on your plane.”
I look to River, but his expression is unreadable. He seemed hellbent on taking me, and I was actually looking forward to spending some time with him. I’ve really only spent time with Brett and Alex.
Speak of the hazel-eyed devil. Alex enters along with Sebastian and Brett.
“Hey, beautiful,” Brett says with a smile. “You ready to go?”
“I suppose.”
“It’ll be my pleasure to spend the day with you and get you where you need to be.”
Sebastian’s jaw drops. “You’re taking her? I thought River was.”
“Change of plans,” River says dryly.
Sebastian’s gaze flicks to River and then to Brett and back to River.
Meanwhile, Alex approaches me and gives me an extra-long hug. “I hope you’ll return,” he whispers in my ear.
I can’t help it. My body reacts. Alex was my first connection on the island, and his kisses…
And his fucking cock…
Big dick energy, Ginger said. Damn, she was right.
But coitus interruptus in the form of the tide and Alex’s three friends, and he hasn’t given me much of a look since.
Sebastian hugs me next. “We want you back,” he reiterates. “And if you need anything, you call, you got it?”
“Thanks.” I kiss him on the cheek, wishing I’d gotten to spend some time with him as well.
River and Brett haven’t hugged me, and River makes no move to because Sebastian walks toward him and the two of them move off to the side, conversing in whispers.
I have no idea what they’re talking about, and at this point, I’m not sure I care.
Brett grabs my hand. “Ready to go?”
A spark shoots through me at the contact. Brett and I have shared the most intimacy in this short time. First the orgasm on the catamaran, and then our date. He was blunt with me, said he liked to fuck, but that we wasn’t going to fuck any of us until he made a decision. I respected him for it. Still do. He gave me some more amazing orgasms. Then this morning. Our talk on the beach. Our lingering kiss that said so many things…
“Have you said all your goodbyes?” Brett asks.
I look around the pool area. River and Sebastian are still talking, and Alex has joined them. Evangeline has disappeared. Heather, June, and Ariel were already here. That only leaves Misty and Emily. I didn’t expect Misty to say goodbye, but Emily… She and I were friends. At least I thought we were. Hell, we had a threesome with Zion together.
“Yeah,” I tell Brett.
“Where are your bags?” he asks.
“A staff member carried them down. They’re waiting at the front door of the mansion.”
“Good enough. Let’s go.”
We walk out of the pool area, and I give one more lingering look to Alex, who’s still talking to River and Sebastian.
My heart aches just a touch, but I’ll heal. I’ve healed from much worse.
We enter the mansion through the back and walk to the front. Brett keeps a hand on my lower back as a driver loads my bags into an SUV. We drive the short distance to the dock where we board the ferry.
Once we’re on our way, the salt air and sun in my face, Brett cups my cheek. “I’m proud of you, Sienna,” he says. “I’m proud of you for choosing love.”
His words give me pause. Am I choosing love? Yes. But maybe not the way he means. “I did. I’m going to say goodbye to a woman who was like a mother to me. That’s all.”
“So you’ll be back then?” Brett asks. He snuggles up behind me and presses his hips to my ass. I lean back into him and enjoy the view of the island and the ocean before us—and the feel of his body against mine.
“I suppose it depends on how things go with my ex,” I admit. “I’m not sure I have a plan.”
He chuckles. “I’ve had plans my whole life. Maybe it’s better not to have one.”
I turn in his arms. “You think?”
“Hell, I don’t know.” He looks out to the ocean. “My entire life, I’ve lived by plans—meticulous, detailed, unyielding plans. Every step was calculated, every decision weighed. It was like walking a tightrope, where one misstep could mean chaos.”
I breathe in the misty salt air. “What makes you think it’s better not to live that way then?”
“Look at the water. The ocean doesn’t plan its course. It simply flows. It can be chaotic or serene. There’s an unpredictability to it. It makes me wonder—what if life is meant to be more like the ocean? What if the beauty of existence lies in the unexpected, in the spontaneous rises and falls?” He meets my gaze, his blue eyes sparkling with something I can’t quite read. “If I’d gone with my heart all those years ago, maybe I wouldn’t have lost what I held most dear. Maybe if I do that now, I’ll find something as special or even more so. Maybe you should, too. Let go of the pressure, Sienna. Appreciate what's here now. See your friend, and say goodbye if that’s what you end up having to do. Then talk to your ex. See where things lie with him. You owe yourself that much. And if it doesn’t work out, you have a place to come back to, Dancing Queen.”
His words mesmerize me. Such heartfelt wisdom, and I feel like he’s thinking of his own life in a new way. He leans closer, and I pull him to me, our lips meeting.