Episode 107
EPISODE 107
A NEW POINT OF VIEW
Brett
Ariel looks gorgeous as she brings a succulent bite of lobster to that beautiful mouth of hers.
Damn.
She’s the one who struck my fancy first—those full pink lips are sexy as fuck.
But on my other side is beautiful Misty Holmes.
Misty, who everyone else thinks is a troublemaker.
I don’t disagree, but if she’s truly Jake’s half-sister…
She and Ariel were chatting when I sauntered over and sat down between them at the other end of the table, and she’s not giving me a look now.
I’ve got a lot to tell everyone. First, I don’t think Sienna is coming back. She’s still carrying a torch for her ex, Leroy, and from what I can gather, the feeling is mutual. Leroy did something stupid, and whether he can win back Sienna’s trust is up in the air, but that doesn’t change how they feel. I believe they’re in love, and I learned the hard way never to turn your back on love. Keeping feelings bottled up only leads to heartache. And sometimes circumstances intervene and you lose your chance. It’s always better to try.
“Enjoying the lobster, beautiful?” I say to Ariel.
“It’s scrumptious.” She wipes her mouth daintily with her napkin. “The chicken’s good too, but a little too spicy for me.”
“Too spicy for a southern sweetheart like yourself? I thought you all enjoyed food with a little bite.”
“We do, but those scotch bonnet peppers are killers. We put a little in our shrimp appetizer, but not nearly as much as Chef Desi put in his chicken.”
I give her a patented Brett Dawson smile. “You’ll have to bring me up to speed. I missed everything. So you made an appetizer?”
She nods. “Sebastian and I made grilled shrimp with a coleslaw garnish. It was yummy.”
Man, she’s adorable. I haven’t spent any time with her since the first night, when she begged me to fuck her on the beach. If she only knew how much strength it took to tell her no.
I’d decided not to do the actual deed with any of the women until I’d gotten to know each one, but I blew that with Sienna in the limo today. She and I aren’t meant to be. That was clear during our talk on the beach early this morning. She’s hung up on someone else, and while I’m not, I understand more than anyone what losing love feels like.
Not that Jake ever loved me as anything more than a friend. He looked up to me, and I felt an urge—more so than with the others—to keep him protected. Eventually it evolved into something I believe to this day was love, even though I’d never been attracted to a guy before and I still loved fooling around with women. He probably never would have returned my feelings, but because he’s gone now, there’s always the “what if” questions.
What if we hadn’t stolen from Old Man Larson twenty years ago?
What if Jake were still here?
I might have moved on, might have fallen for someone else. But because of what losing Jake cost me, I never let myself feel anything so deeply again.
And here sits Ariel… Beautiful and sweet and so endearing. With a pussy that tastes like heaven, too.
I could easily take her by the hand and lead her out of here. Except…
On my other side sits Misty.
Misty, who may be a link to Jake. Is she anything like Jake? Not that I’ve seen so far, but she wasn’t raised with him. She was born into riches, never went hungry a day in her life. Of course the two of them would be different.
Plus…for some reason, she seems stuck on River, who isn’t at all interested in her. Alex and Seb both think she’s bad news as well.
And me?
Fuck.
I only want a chance to get to know her. I’m not going to do something stupid and fall right into bed with her. Hell, if I can resist Ariel, I can resist anyone.
Ariel takes another bite of lobster, and I turn to Misty, who’s just swallowed a bite of chicken.
“What do you think?” I ask.
“Of what?”
“The chicken, of course. Do you like it?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s delish. Everything is.” Then she turns away from me.
Damn. Could she be less interested?
What the hell does River have that I don’t?
River, for his part, is sitting sullenly at the other end of the table. He’s glaring at Seb. Why? I have no idea. Riv is quiet and can be moody sometimes, but this is bad even for him.
Clearly I’ve got a lot to catch up on. The guys and I need to talk after dinner.
I’m about to speak to Ariel again when Chef Pierre clinks on a glass. “Did you all enjoy the entrée?”
Everyone claps, and I join in, even though I haven’t tasted anything yet.
“Chef Desi is known in Montego Bay for his jerk chicken, which is why I invited him to be here today.”
Chef Desi, I presume, stands next to Pierre and blows a kiss. “It’s been my pleasure.”
“It’s now time for the dessert, prepared by Alex and Heather and supervised by yours truly. Sweet potato pudding. I’ll remind you again to judge the dish on its own merits and not against the others.”
Staffers set dessert plates in front of us. I inhale and for a moment I think I’m back home for Thanksgiving with the aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg. It looks delicious—an orange square with a golden-brown crust.
“Would you care for wine, Mr. Dawson?” a staff member asks me. “The sommelier has chosen a Viognier. The honey flavor is on the dryer side to enhance the dessert but not overwhelm your palate.”
“Of course. Thank you.”
The staffer pours a tiny amount into my glass. I give it a swirl and then taste it. “Very good.”
He nods and fills my goblet halfway.
I turn to Ariel, whose glass is already full. The staffers know to serve the ladies first. “What do you think?” I ask after she takes a bite of dessert and swallows.
“I think this might be heaven on a plate.”
“You like sweet potatoes?”
“Love them. Mama makes the best sweet potato pie, and Alex had Chef prepare sweet potato pie for our date last night. That one might have been better than my mama’s, but this is in a category all its own.” She takes another bite and closes her eyes.
I imagine the sweet custard floating over her tongue, down her throat.
I imagine her pussy nectar floating over my tongue, down my throat.
Now that I’ve broken my rule with Sienna, keeping sex off the table doesn’t seem quite so important.
As much as I like Ariel, though, I can’t get Misty out of my head. She’s shown me no interest at all—which makes her all the more attractive to me.
Fuck.
I turn to her and smile as she swallows a bite of dessert.
I never could resist a challenge.