Chapter 5
FIVE
Vida
My favorite part of the day is undoing my braid.
I stand in the locker room now and unwind my hair, massaging the stiffness from my scalp.
It falls in waves around my shoulders and the tension headache that has been building all day finally releases enough that I can take a deep breath.
I change into the cut-off jean shorts and tank top I wore on my bike ride to work, slip my feet into sandals, and shoulder my backpack, waving to the nightshift maids as I push out the back door.
Where Tripp is waiting for me.
He is leaning against the wall in a black T-shirt, dark brown khakis, and sunglasses, speaking into his phone. When he sees me, he hangs up and slides the device into his pocket.
“Hi, Vida.”
I’m feeling too many things at once to process them all.
Pleasure that he remembers my name. That he came to see me.
But mainly I’m fearful over what his interest means.
Rich young men don’t have pure intentions toward girls like me.
I’ve heard the cautionary tales too many times to count.
We’re an easy mark. Wealthy people marry other wealthy people, making us, working-class girls, nothing more than a no-commitment roll in the hay.
And that kind of thing may not carry consequences for him, but it will for me.
“You shouldn’t be down here,” I say, lurching for the bike rack. “I’m not supposed to socialize with guests. I could get fired.”
“I just want to talk.” He gives me a lopsided smile and pushes off the wall. “I won’t let you get fired.”
I hunker down to enter the combination to my lock. “How can you guarantee that?”
“Well…” He scrubs the back of his neck. “In addition to being an investor in this resort, my godfather owns the property.”
“Of course he does,” I sigh, stowing my lock in the front pocket of my backpack before standing.
Reluctantly, I lift my gaze and study the man who towers over me.
He’s self-assured and attractive and hyper-focused on me, making it very hard to simply get on my bike and ride away.
Even though that’s exactly what I should be doing.
“You and I don’t have a lot to talk about, sir. ”
A muscle jumps in his cheek over my use of sir.
“How do you know?”
“We live in different worlds.” I search for the right words. “Even if we’re able to have a nice conversation, we both know you only want one thing from me. Because while you might have a lot to offer me, I only have one thing to offer you. That’s why you’re here.”
“You really get right to the point, don’t you, Vida?” he says dryly.
“Am I wrong?”
He exhales, crossing his arms. The ocean breeze ripples around us as the seconds tick by.
“Look, you’re not wrong,” he finally responds, stepping closer to me.
Close enough that I can smell his addictive scent of musk and grapefruit.
“I’m here because I want to sleep with you.
After yesterday, that should be obvious.
But I also want to take you to dinner tonight.
I want to get to know you, Vida.” He reaches out and catches some wavy strands of my hair between his fingers, tucking them behind my ear.
“I’m sure you’ve encountered a lot of douchebags while working here.
I probably know a lot of them. But I’m not them. ”
“That’s what you would say. If you were a douchebag.”
His masculine lips twitch with humor.
How did I manage to make a joke when he just confessed out loud that he wants to sleep with me? There’s a wave of hot tension traveling up from the tops of my thighs into my tummy and I’m trying desperately not to show how he affects me.
“I don’t think associating with you is a good idea,” I whisper, imploring him with my eyes to let this go. To let whatever is building between us die. “I’m out of my depth and you know it.”
He doesn’t bother denying it. “Let me take you out. Once.”
I purse my lips. “You think that’s all it will take to get me into bed?”
Giving me a slow once-over, he drags his tongue along the inside of his bottom lip, and I feel that contact beneath my belly button. A twisting lick of flames.
“I’ll take you out as many times as it takes, angel.”
“As many times as it takes to…”
“Fuck you. There. You wanted me to say it? I said it.” He eliminates the distance between us, pushing his open mouth up against my temple, his knuckle tracing my exposed skin just above the low waistband of my shorts.
“I want to fuck you. I’m also willing to put in the time to make sure you’re comfortable enough to let me.
Especially after what happened.” His breathing accelerates. “Especially because you’re a virgin.”
Heat swamps me. “How do you know that?”
Using my belt loop, he tugs me up against him. “Never felt anything tighter.”
Am I supposed to like having my private parts discussed out loud?
Am I supposed to feel a fizzy yearn all the way down to my toes?
“Let me take you out and spoil you. Let me earn it.”
Spoil me?
Every fiber of my being rebels against that suggestion. I don’t want to be bought. I don’t want to be seduced with fancy things. This man might be capable of buying everything he wants in this world, but I’m not going to be one of them. I’m going to be the exception.
Plus, if I allow him to spend a lot of money on me, doesn’t that create an expectation to sleep with him? Because that is not a foregone conclusion. I will maintain the right to say no.
“No,” I say, just as his mouth brushes against mine.
He lifts his head. “No?”
“No, I don’t want to be taken out and spoiled. If you want to go out with me…” Am I really doing this? Against all common sense? “I’m picking the place and we’re splitting the check.”
His half grin is decidedly disarming. “Like fuck we are.”
I’m not sure where I get the bravery, but I touch the very tip of my tongue to his bottom lip, pleased when he shudders in response. “Take it or leave it, sir.”
He makes a low, growling sound in his throat. “Could you save that for another time? I’m just Tripp right now.”
“You only want to be called that when…If we…”
If he weren’t wearing sunglasses, somehow I know his pupils would be expanding right now. “Yeah. I want to be called sir when and if.”
My nipples tingle and stiffen at the image of Tripp on top of me, naked and sweaty, while I moan and call him sir. I’ve never pictured myself having sex with a specific person. Now, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to picture anyone else.
“I’ll think about it.”
He lets out a short, punctuated laugh, but there’s a tension around his mouth. Hunger. “You’re going to drive me fucking crazy, aren’t you?”
“I’ll think about it—”
His mouth cuts me off with firm contact and I lose all my bravado in an instant.
If I had any doubts that I’m out of my depth with this man, they vanish in the face of his potency.
The hard, smooth texture of his mouth and how he exudes capability.
Confidence. Need. I’m instantly overwhelmed, and that reaction only intensifies as he parts my lips and draws on me slowly but insistently.
Yesterday, I was just a high school graduate with a summer job.
Now, I’m kissing the heir to the Sterling fortune, and my panties dampen with the first stroke of his tongue against mine.
His fingers thread through my hair and tilt my head back, allowing him to feast on me from above, making me feel preyed on by sensuality.
Experience. I’m the virgin and he’s hunting me. Wanting me. Determined to have me.
His free hand corrals my hips closer, and I whimper at the feel of his erection, so thick against my tummy.
And I can’t help but skate curious fingers down his hard abdomen and brush my fingers over the proud ridge, his mouth working, working, working mine with building need, before he breaks away, tilting his hips to push into my touch.
“Just say the word, angel, and I’ll make a call. One single phone call and your only job this week will be to milk me dry.”
Oh. Wow.
He could do it.
Call the powers that be, men so high on the food chain that I don’t even know their names. He could request me as his personal entertainment for the duration of his stay. No one would probably even question him.
“I’m not one of the amenities,” I gasp, pulling away, seriously considering slapping him.
Tripp hauls me back while my palm is in midair, his mouth panting on top of mine.
“Before you get upset, you wouldn’t just be there for my pleasure.” He explores my mouth with a slow sweep of his tongue, groaning over my taste. “I’d consider it my personal mission to orgasm you until it starts to hurt.”
I moan, losing power, and he watches me from above, his hand encircling my throat and squeezing. When did I lose control of this situation? Did I ever have control of it? I shouldn’t be allowing any of this to happen, but my body seems to have already reprogrammed itself to need him.
“I can see you’re not ready to come to my room. So here’s what we’re going to do. Put my number in your phone, Vida. Text me where to meet you tonight.”
“Okay,” I breathe shakily.
He releases me, watching with glittering eyes and a heaving chest as I locate my phone and tap in the passcode. Tripp takes it out of my hands and adds his number before giving the device back to me.
“If you’ve got a boyfriend, break up with him. I’ll see you tonight, Vida,” he says, helping me onto my bike and kissing me a final time, his mouth so demanding that my head is spinning by the time he tears himself away.
I pedal away in a daze.
What exactly have I just agreed to?