Episode 102
EPISODE 102
GONE A LITTLE LONGER
Sebastian
Ariel’s cheeks are flushed as she takes a sip of the water I handed her.
Man, if I didn’t know better, I’d think I interrupted something hot and heavy. Ariel’s lips are glistening and parted, as if she’s thinking about getting kissed.
Or maybe she did get kissed by Marc.
Something like jealousy hits me like a brick to the gut. Nah…it can’t be. I don’t know Ariel well enough to feel jealous over her. Even so, I can have Marc on the next ferry to the mainland with one phone call.
Then again, I don’t know Heather well enough to get jealous over her, either, but I sure was feeling the green-eyed monster nipping at the back of my neck when Heather was flirting with Alex in the kitchen. I don’t have the option of shipping Alex off on a ferry.
Fuck.
“What else can I do for you?” I ask Ariel.
She’s cute as hell sitting on the porcelain toilet, a first aid kit open at her feet. Bandages spill out, and I gather them and move the plastic kit onto the marble counter.
She touches my forearm. “You all can stop fussing over me. I’m absolutely fine. Marc was an expert boo-boo fixer.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Boo-boo fixer?”
She giggles. “That’s what Mama used to call herself when I skinned a knee when I was little. She’d say, ‘Here comes the boo-boo fixer.’ Then she’d douse the thing with that awful red stuff that felt like it was going to rip another hole in my flesh.”
“Mercurochrome?” I ask. The only reason I know the name is because my grandmother used it on me. She took care of me when I was little whenever my mother was on a bender…until she passed away when I was nine.
“Is that what it’s called? She swore by it, said it’s what her mama used, but I finally got her to get Bactine after I scraped my arm over at my friend Jazz’s house once, and her mother used it. It didn’t hurt at all.” She gives a sweet smile.
I return Ariel’s smile. She’s adorable, no doubt, and I’m wondering how serious she is about being here. So far, she’s managed to spend time with Brett, Alex and me, not to mention her alone time with Marc, which left her blushing. I suppose Riv is next.
Damn. The thought of River fills me with dread. I have to tell him about the break-in. Why hasn’t his mother called to tell him? Or maybe she called Evie and Evie hasn’t bothered telling River he needs to return the call. Another freaking mystery.
Ariel chatters on while I rack my brain, trying to recall everything contained in Evie’s file about the southern belle. I suppose I should have read everything about all the women and committed it to memory. I’m sure that Brett did. The man’s brilliant and has a photographic memory. Me? I looked at the photos, and sure wasn’t disappointed. I’m not sure Ariel is as sweet and innocent as she’d like us to think she is. She’s a great lay—so great that I’m pretty sure she’s got more experience than she lets on.
“So what do you think?” Ariel asks.
Her voice jerks me out of my thoughts. “Sorry. About what?”
“We’re probably not going to win the competition,” she says. “Marc ended up doing most of the work.”
“I don’t know if you can say that,” I tell her. “You did some champion deveining, sugar.”
She laughs. “And now I know what raw shrimp looks like.”
“And there’s that.” I slide my finger up her firm leg and examine the dressing on her cut. Marc used butterfly bandages, and the injury is no longer oozing. “Any pain?”
“Only a little.”
“Let me see what we’ve got in here.” I grab the plastic box with the red cross on it and look inside. “There’s acetaminophen and ibuprofen in here. Which do you prefer?”
“Ibuprofen is Advil, right?”
“That’s right.”
“I like that best.”
I grab two ibuprofen tablets out of the small bottle. “You have any water left?”
She nods, and I hand her the medication. She swallows the pills, draining her water.
“You want more?” I ask.
“In a minute. I just need to sit still, I think. Everyone’s been hovering over me.”
“You want me to leave?”
“Oh, no!” She shakes her head. “That’s not what I meant at all. I’m glad you’re here. You’re different from everyone else.”
Hmm… Wasn’t expecting that. “I am?”
“Yeah. Not in a bad way. It’s just that everyone else thinks I need to be coddled. I’m the youngest woman here, and the least experienced. I go back and forth wondering why the heck I’m even here. I’m nothing compared to the rest of these worldly and beautiful women.”
I open my mouth to refute her words, but she holds up a hand.
“I know what you’re going to say. And I agree…for the most part.”
“We’ve been through this, Ariel. You deserve to be here as much as anyone else.”
“I know. That’s my point. You treat me like one of the others, like I’m no different from them. You let me ask for what I wanted, and you gave it to me. You weren’t concerned that I didn’t know what I was doing, that I was asking for something I wasn’t ready for. You didn’t think I was too immature to have a clue what I want or need. Thank you, Sebastian. You’ll never know how much that means to me.”
I graze her cheek with the back of my fingers. “I had some fun too, you know.”
“I’m glad. Being with you was…” She closes her eyes. “I’m not sure I have the words.”
“Phenomenal?” I offer. “Astounding? Unprecedented? Panty-melting?”
She opens her eyes. “All of that and more.”
I trail my finger around her cut again. “I’m sorry this happened.”
“It was an accident, and I promise I’ll be fine.”
“I know you’ll be fine, but I hate that you got hurt. And…”
“And what?”
I grin. “You may not be able to wrap those luscious legs around me like you did this morning.”
She blushes again. “I think I can risk that.”
“You sure?”
“I mean, I took a pain reliever and all.”
I lean in, brush my lips across hers. They’re as soft and sweet as they were this morning, and I know it’s all in my head, but I swear I can still taste the strawberries.
She opens for me, and we share a gentle kiss.
But it’s enough to get my dick reacting, so I pull back. I’m probably expected back in the kitchen soon to finish our dish.
Though Marc did say those shrimps wouldn’t sauté themselves…
Maybe he’s planning to finish cooking. Will that even be fair?
I don’t rightfully care. The cook-off was Evie’s idea, not mine. She wanted to try to get everyone’s mind off Rachel’s accident yesterday and Sienna leaving this morning. But this is not my decision alone. It’s also Ariel’s. She’s my partner in this thing.
“Can you stand?” I ask.
“Of course. This is hardly anything.”
“Then maybe we should get back so Marc doesn’t finish our shrimp.”
“The coleslaw’s done,” she says. “And he already deveined more shrimp. But we can go back out there if you want to.”
“I didn’t say it’s what I want.” I narrow my gaze.
She smiles. “It was kind of a thrill to learn from a professional chef. I’m not much of a cook, and Mama has always gotten on me about that. ‘Ariel, you’ll never catch a husband if you can’t cook him a decent meal.’” She shakes her head. “And I always want to say, ‘Hell, Mama, you couldn’t keep my daddy around, and you cook the best shrimp and grits this side of the Mississippi.’ But that’s rude.”
Wow. Didn’t expect that. Her mama’s probably thrilled she’s here meeting four billionaires. So much about this little Tweety Bird that I don’t know. And that I’d like to know.
“Besides,” she continues, “I’ve already gotten to spend some quality time with you, so I don’t need to win a contest to get a date with the man I prefer.”
Her words hit me hard, in a good way…and a bad one. She’s sweet as maple syrup and sexy as a siren, and I’m psyched to know she prefers me. But Heather… Heather with that tight-as-fuck body and that sexy viper tattoo…
Damn.
If only I could have that sandwich I was thinking about earlier…
For now, though?—
I slide my fingers up Ariel’s firm thigh. “I suppose we should get back.”
“What’s your hurry?” she asks.
I inch farther up, toward that paradise between her legs. “Something else you’d rather be doing?”
“Like I said, I enjoyed the cooking, but…” She covers my hand with her own, guiding it to her panties.
“Damn. You’re wet, Ariel.”
“For you,” she says, closing her eyes.
I let out a groan. “I don’t think anyone will miss us if we’re gone a little longer.”