Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Phoebe
A ndy knocked on our apartment door like an actual gentleman later that evening, dressed in a black polo shirt and some shorts, holding a flower he’d picked from the ground’s bushes for Bailey.
She’d tucked it behind her ear, waved us a mischievous goodbye in her slinky little outfit, then left to go on her date.
It had just turned ten p.m. when another unexpected knock arrived at our apartment door. I spun around in surprise, watching as Rhea answered it to reveal Jace standing there alone, no Henry in sight.
His eyes trailed down Rhea’s body and back up again before he clucked his tongue in his mouth, then whistled. “Looking fine, Ree-Ree.”
Ree-Ree?
“We’ve discussed this, Jace. My name is Rhea.” She struggled to contain her sly smile while he walked around her, inspecting every inch of her skin. She wore a pair of tight denim shorts and a barely-there black halter top, no bra, which Jace made no secret of noticing.
“’Kay, Ree-Ree. You ready?” he asked.
“For what?”
Jace, finally acknowledging my presence, glanced my way before looking between us both. “I’m here to escort you ladies out for the evening until the loved-up duo find us later. Andy didn’t tell you?”
“No. Who approved this?”
“Bailey.”
“That bloody woman,” Rhea grumbled. “I’ll deal with her tomorrow.
” She threw her bag onto her shoulder. “I wasn’t aware we needed babysitters when Mum went out to get herself laid.
” She reached out to grab Jace’s hand, tugging him towards the door like a naughty schoolboy.
“You’re here now, though, I suppose. May as well use you while I can. ”
“Feel free to use me in any way you deem fit.”
I took a step towards them, already armed with my small purse hooked over my shoulder. “Hey, wait. Hold up.”
Rhea and Jace stopped by the open door to look back at me.
“Is it just you, Jace? I mean, just the three of us?”
“Don’t worry, darling. I won’t leave you out.” He grinned wickedly.
Rhea nudged his shoulder. “She means where’s Henry, you fool?”
“Oh, he’s… otherwise indisposed.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, dread bubbling in the pit of my stomach at the thought of him with some other woman, which was ridiculous, considering my own stance on things happening on this trip.
Jace’s brows rose. “Why don’t I show you?”
Rhea and I exchanged confused glances before Jace led the way, guiding us out of our apartment, down the stairwell, and out to the pool area.
It had turned dark out now, with only the complex’s lights illuminating the way.
I’d been about to ask Jace where we were going when I saw the answer for myself.
On the sunbed I’d been bathing on all day laid Henry, sprawled out on his back, still wearing his swim shorts from earlier, with nothing but a beach towel over his stomach and an arm thrown over his eyes.
I practically salivated at the way the muscles in his bicep popped, but I forced it back somehow as I turned to Jace, waiting for an explanation.
“He had a little too much fun in the sun. Been drinking all day. Didn’t eat. He’s an idiot.”
“Damn it, Jace.” I immediately rushed to Henry’s side, leaning over to hold the palm of my hand over his parted lips to make sure I could feel his breaths moving in and out. “You can’t just leave him like this.”
“Sure, I can. Hoes before bros.”
“I beg your pardon.” Rhea slapped him on the shoulder this time.
“Ouch. Shit. That one hurt.”
“Yeah? You should feel how much they hurt when I’m really pissed. Want to keep playing with the hoes?”
I tuned out the rest of what they said, relief flooding through me when the hot breaths of Henry met my palm, one after the other. How much had he drunk to get in this state? Was this how I’d looked to him the night before?
After trying to peel his arm away from his face, with no success, I leaned closer, a small grunt falling from me when I realised his entire body was dead weight.
“Just let him sleep it off,” Jace said. “He’ll be fine in a few hours.”
“There’s no way we can leave him passed out like this,” I argued, appalled that this was the way guys operated.
Us girls would never allow any one of us to sleep out here this way, exposed to the night air, passers-by, and who knew what else.
“Anything could happen to him. We need to get him back to his room.”
“Been there. Tried that. He isn’t shifting. He told me to fuck off several times for my efforts, too.”
“He’s spoken to you?”
Jace laughed. “Yeah. He’s drunk, not dead.”
I glanced back down at Henry only to find his eyes were now slightly open and he stared up at me through a haze of alcohol. They were still partly shielded by his forearm, but I saw the look he gave me. I saw it, and I begged my body not to respond like it had earlier.
“Henry,” I said quietly. “It’s Phoebe. You okay?”
His lips moved, but no sound came out.
I reached up to pull his heavy, limp arm away from his face again. Thankfully, him being partially awake this time helped a little, and he let me move him, the two of us somehow working together to bring his hand down so it rested on his chest, leaving his face exposed for me to look at.
Even a drunken mess, Henry Cohen was a beautiful stranger to me.
Forbidden… but beautiful.
“What are you doing down here? You need to go to bed. This isn’t safe.”
“Bed,” he croaked.
“Can you sit up?”
“Phoebe, come on. He’s fine,” Jace complained, and I’d had just about enough of him. I refused to tolerate being a bad friend, and Jace was showing me his whole personality in that moment, and just how much he cared about his supposed friend.
I looked at Rhea. “Why don’t you guys go ahead? I’ll get one of the members of staff to help me carry Henry up to his room. He clearly needs his bed. I’ll get him there and make sure he’s okay.”
“What? No way—” she started to argue.
“Rhea, I’m fine,” I cut her off. “You know what I’m like. My conscience wouldn’t let me go out partying because I’d be worried there would be a dead body when we returned.”
“Jeez, the drama,” Jace grumbled, earning himself a very stern stare from Rhea. If he was trying to hook up with her, this was entirely the wrong way for him to go about it. For all Rhea’s snark, no one could fault her unwavering loyalty.
“Please, Rhea,” I said, laying a look on her that told her I couldn’t be budged on this.
Her shoulders slumped, and she pointed a finger my way. “You call me the minute you’ve got him back to his room.”
“I promise.” I nodded. “Jace, can I borrow your room key to let him in?”
“He’s in his own apartment. It’s next to ours. Room thirty-two. Cohen doesn’t share shit, especially not his personal space on holiday. He’s too private for that. The key will be in the back pocket of his shorts. It’s where he keeps his important crap.”
“Okay.” I swallowed, trying not to think about how I might have to reach into that at some point. “Thank you.”
“Are you sure, Bee?” Rhea asked, unable to hide her concern.
“I really am.”
“Fine. But I’m not happy about this.”
Rhea and Jace began to walk away, only for her to falter in her steps and look back at me. I glared at her and shook my head in warning. My mind had been made up. I wouldn’t back down now. So, with a small smile and a nod, she finally led Jace away…
Leaving me alone with a passed-out Henry Cohen.
I stole a long, studious glance down his impressive body before I swallowed again and focused back on his face. He stared up at me with glassy eyes, one hand on his chest, his other hanging off the sunbed, limp.
“Hey.” I smiled, deciding being nice to him now would probably do more good than us being archenemies.
We had a mountain to climb together, and the last thing I needed was him making this more difficult than it needed to be.
I leaned over his body, moving closer to make sure he could hear what I had to say until our faces were only inches apart. “We should really try getting you up?—”
“Bee like the bee,” he whispered.
“Pardon?”
“You should have just left me,” he pushed out, his lips barely moving and his voice impossibly deep.
“Is that what you’re used to? People leaving you in this state?”
“Pretty much.”
“You shouldn’t push everyone away, then.”
“Whatever. You don’t know me.”
“You’re right; I don’t. Luckily for you, though, I’m not like other people, so here I am.”
“Lucky,” he huffed out, followed by a small groan in the back of his throat. “Sure.”
I scowled, seeing something I never expected to see in his eyes and hearing it in his voice: vulnerability.
It made him look completely different than he had for the last few days.
I wanted to dig deeper, find out who the hell really laid beneath his brooding, hard exterior, but now wasn’t the time, and that certainly wasn’t my job for the night.
Or tomorrow.
Or ever, in fact.
The only thing I’d committed to was getting him to bed safely. Me… a tiny woman compared to this giant of a man.
I hadn’t thought this through.
“How much have you had to drink? Can you sit up?”
“Like Jace said, I’m drunk, not dead.”
“Okay, smart arse. Do it, then.”
“Are you telling me what to do?” He groaned in the back of his throat, almost seductively, and I imagined it to be the kind of sound he’d make while in the throes of passion with a woman who excited him.
“What if I was?” I challenged.
He blinked several times before he sucked in a breath that inflated every muscle in his chest, only to blow it back out a second later. “I may be able to work with that.”
“I can be bossy, Cohen,” I said with a half-smile. “Be careful what you wish for.”
“Don’t.”
“Be bossy?”
“Call me Cohen.”
I frowned and searched his eyes. “I thought that’s what your friends called you.”
“You know I prefer it when you call me Henry.”
“Because I’m not your friend?”
“Because… just because.”