Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
LOURDES
I had been right in packing ten pairs of underwear for a two-night trip. Fifteen minutes into the flight, and my first pair of panties was already drenched. I could feel his eyes on my ass. I might have given an extra wiggle before I covered myself, but it was for scientific purposes.
My nap on the plane was short-lived when the stewardess came to ask if we wanted anything. Her eyes had lingered on Neo, so I had to ask for a water bottle. Dare I say she looked annoyed?
Bitch.
Neo was sitting next to me with his laptop open. I could see bars and spreadsheets across various files.
I took a deep breath, and I knew I needed to put aside my feelings about this new venture and learn more about it if I wanted the board to take me seriously. I couldn’t afford to look like an emotional woman, that would make me look weak.
“Okay,” I said as I stood up.
Neo turned to watch me, his eyes dragging down my legs as I let the blanket fall to the floor.
“Tell me about this partnership. What do the Parks have to offer us? Because I honestly don’t know why we would want them.”
“That’s the problem, you’re not thinking big enough.”
I took the seat across from him, and since he still had half his coffee, I reached for it and started to drink it.
“That was mine,” he stated.
“You didn’t drink it fast enough.”
“I like my coffee black.”
“I know. More for me.” I grinned.
Surprisingly, he did the same.
“You’re thinking on a small scale. I want them to do all the hard work for us. Think of all we could do with their microchip technologies. Their system is one of the smartest in the world. You add that to our luxury goods, and you know people will be dying to get their hands on it.
He was right.
“Let me see the contracts.”
Neo handed me his iPad and then went back to his work. The urge to snoop was there, but I forced myself to stick to the documents.
That took the rest of the flight. Once I got to my room, I would shower and get ready for dinner with the Parks’ team. If all went according to plan, we would seal the deal, and I would have one day to soak up the beach’s sunrays. Clove was excited when I told her where I would be for the weekend that she rushed to my place to help me pack.
When we landed, Neo grabbed my stuff, except for my blanket and pillow. The action was very domestic and he did it automatically, making me feel things I knew I shouldn’t.
Maybe he was finally acting like my stepbrother, but why did it feel like more?
The drive from the private strip in Saint Bipal to CVCC was short. The last time I was here, I was about nine. My mother wasn’t a fan of the Florida heat.
The building was three floors and shaped like a U, with the mouth of the U facing the beach. It had tall iron gates surrounding it. The whole thing screamed wealth with the terracotta roofs and the seashells and waves weaved into the iron. The big gates opened, letting us inside the club.
The drive was about ten minutes long, with curves that I assumed were more for aesthetic purposes than anything else. Palm trees and flowers in every color decorated the arrival. Benches were visible every so often, so guests felt free to wander around. A fountain in the center signaled your arrival, and the Clear View Country Club logo was on it.
When my father came to see me yesterday, he told me the reason the meeting was at the club. Mr. Parks wanted a sponsor for the club, so Neo and I came as representatives of our family. Only Mr. Parks would stay at the club, the rest of his associates were residing in a hotel forty minutes away from here, but they would be driving back and forth.
“You’ve been here before?” Neo noted from my lack of enthusiasm.
“When I was younger. Did your father ever bring you?”
He snorted.
“When I started walking, my father could barely do that.”
Right.
Neo grabbed our designer duffels, but the rest of the stuff stayed in the car since the club would ensure it went into our suites.
I stood by Neo as we went to the concierge desk.
“May I please get the keys to the Riviere member suites,” Neo asked as he handed him his ID.
The lady at the front desk began to type furiously and then handed us one card.
“Is this for both suites?” I asked as I reached for the card.
“No, ma’am, that is for one suite.”
“But we need two,” I stated in a panic, and she looked annoyed.
“Your membership offers you two suites per visit. The other room was taken by your guest, Mr. Park.”
“But he is to be made a member,” Neo added.
She looked at him and then at me.
“But until his application is approved, he will be here as your guest.”
Mierda.
“Is there anything you can do?” I asked, then winced because it probably came out sounding demanding.
“All our rooms are booked for the weekend. I could make accommodations outside of town and arrange a car to drive you?”
“That would be helpful, thank you,” Neo told her with a smile.
I turned toward him. “You’re staying out of the resort.”
He looked at me like I had lost my mind.
“I thought you were.”
“And be left out? Fat chance.”
With the key in my hands, I began to head toward the room. It took a second, but Neo was hot on my heels.
Please have two queen beds. Please have two queen beds.
I chanted over and over again as I made my way to the elevator. I walked in and pressed the button to close the door but just as it was closing, Neo put his hand in, stopping the door from closing any further.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“I’m going to my room,” he answered back.
“It’s my room.”
“It’s my deal.”
“No, it’s our family's deal since you brought it to the table.”
The trip to the second floor was quick. Once I found our room, I put the card in the sensor, unlocking the door. It had a small hallway leading to a small sitting room with a huge plasma television and an even bigger window facing the beach. All the wooden furniture was dark mahogany. Toward the back of the long room was a king-size bed with two nightstands on each side. In front of it was a dresser and another TV mounted on the wall. There was another door that I assumed led to the bathroom.
“Perfect, you can stay on the couch,” Neo said as he stepped behind me.
“I’m not staying on the couch. That thing is small, and I don’t want my back to hurt.”
“Aw, poor spoiled princess.”
“You sleep on the couch then,” I spat back.
“No,” he told me, and before he could say more, there was a knock on our door.
Neo came back with our luggage. I approached him, and he looked curious. I took my luggage and ran to the bathroom so I could have first dibs on the shower.
“ Mierda, this is bad,” I whispered.
The bathroom was spacious. Even though I wanted to soak in the oval white tub, I headed for the shower. A cold shower would have been ideal, given the earlier mess in my panties, added with the fact that I was now sharing a room with Neo.
I was fucked.
When I stepped out of the shower, I opened my luggage and cursed.
“I’m going to kill you, Clove!”
At some point, after I had packed, she had switched my pants and work blouses for bikinis, skirts, and dresses. She overdid it for my short trip but if I knew Clove like I thought I did, it was because she knew I would need options since she fucked up my wardrobe.
She was so fucking dead.
As I rummaged through my clothes, a note fell out.
I miss the old Lourdes. She was brave.
Love you,
Clove
My throat constricted at her words. Had I really been so meek these past few years? Neo commented as soon as he saw me again, and now Clove felt the need to intervene.
I pulled a high-waisted burgundy wrap-around maxi skirt that had a slit right in the middle. I had considered forgiving Clove, but that thought disappeared when I saw she had only packed me crop tops. She was so dead. I grabbed a black shirt that was more loose-fitted. When I looked in the mirror, I cocked my head and blinked. The waves and my clothes looked more like the old me. The one who wasn’t afraid to talk back and defy anyone over what was right.
My outfit wasn’t bad, nor inappropriate, for tonight’s dinner. The only thing that made me slightly uncomfortable was that when I moved, you could see the glint of my belly ring. Who said you needed to have abs to get one? Clove, Evangeline, Martin, and I all got them when we were seventeen.
The door started to bang.
“Hurry up, Lou,” Neo barked through the door.
I almost forgot he was here.
He was about to knock again when I opened the door, and upon seeing me, he immediately dropped his hand. He blinked, then took a step back, allowing me to pass, but I felt his gaze on me, hot and heavy.
Since his return, things had been off. We hadn’t been ourselves, but then again, how could we? Not after what happened in the elevator. We had been in some weird standoff with neither of us daring to make a fatal move.
Two nights. It was just two nights. We could do this.
“Sorry, not very businesslike.” I gestured down to my clothes. “Clove changed my wardrobe without me knowing.”
He still wouldn’t stop looking at me, and I started to feel self-conscious.
“I’m sure I can find something more suitable,” I said as I pulled up my luggage.
“No, you look fine.”
He then walked into the bathroom and slammed the door.