Chapter 13 #3
“What do you mean?” I turn my gaze from him, and I notice that Mia and Juniper are now standing on the bar top at the far end of the bar and dancing in time to the music that is playing.
“She’s crazy. She’s going to fall.” I shake my head as I watch her effortless dancing.
She looks like she’s having the time of her life in her sexy red dress, and I can’t help but think what it would be like if she were dancing on me.
“You know she likes to dance on a bar top. She does this frequently.”
“How frequently?”
He holds up his hand.
“I plead the Fifth, Your Honor.”
“I’m not an attorney, I’m not a judge, and we’re not in court.”
“Let’s just say, she likes to have fun. All the girls do.”
Juniper and Mia dance around while Wendy watches, laughing. They all look like they are having fun.
“I’m glad she has good friends here. I think it makes me feel less guilty about not having been back home in a while.”
I know Mia misses me. I miss her as well. I just couldn’t be around her, couldn’t always be wanting her, knowing I couldn’t have her. Even now, being here with her for two weeks feels like the sweetest pleasure and the sweetest torture.
Mia spins around, the skirt of her dress clinging to her ass. She’s laughing at something that Juniper said, and I watch as she throws her head back and then takes too long of a sip from her drink.
Juniper gets down and says something to Wendy, and both girls giggle. However, Mia stays on top of the bar and continues moving back and forth. I’m about to head over, but when I turn around, Rafe is standing next to me.
“Hey.” I offer him a friendly smile, but he eyes me and nods.
“You want a beer or something? I’ve got a tab with Preston, and I can get you one.”
“Thanks.” He doesn’t move. “We cool, Luke?”
“I don’t know. Are we?”
“I think so. Don’t hurt my sister, okay?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your brother broke her heart when she was a teenager, and you know as well as I do that Mia likes to get carried away. She’s in love with love, and I just don’t like her keeping these secrets.”
“What do you mean?”
“You guys have been dating for a year, and she didn’t even tell me.” He frowns like he still can’t believe it. “And that’s not good. She shouldn’t be hiding shit like this. It’s not healthy.”
I don’t know what to say.
“Look, I’m just saying, sometimes, when things are born out of lies, that’s a bad sign.”
He looks over and watches Wendy and Juniper as they dance back and forth.
“Look at Mia. She’s going to fall and break her ankle. Then she’s going to wake up tomorrow, and she’s going to wonder how she did it.”
“I won’t let her fall,” I say.
We head to the other side of the bar, and I look up at Mia, who is eyeing me with a half-smile. She’s still annoyed with me, but she’s trying to let it go. For now.
“Join me, Lukey.”
“No, thank you. You already know I don’t like dancing, let alone on a bar top.”
“You’re no fun.”
“Well, that’s not what you said last night.”
“Whatever.” She giggles.
I look over at Rafe, and he’s frowning.
“It was just a joke,” I say quickly.
“Uh-huh. Hey there, Juniper, Wendy. Good to see you both.”
“Hey, Rafe.” Wendy offers him a wave and looks back at her phone.
Juniper eyes him and blushes. “Hey,” she says, her voice high-pitched.
He grunts at her. His eyes narrow at her sexy black dress. If I’m not mistaken, Rafe thinks Juniper is hot.
“You into her?” I ask him.
His eyes fly back to me as he frowns. “What are you talking about?”
“Are you into Juniper?”
“Don’t be crazy. Of course not.” He looks at his watch. “I’ll be back.” And with that, he’s gone.
I wonder what that was about, but I’m the last person to be questioning anyone else.
“Tonight is the night. I’m going to have some fun,” Mia sings loudly and continues dancing. She’s shaking her hair back and forth now and getting completely carried away.
“Be careful, Mia.”
“I’m fine. I’m having—oops!”
She screams as her clumsy-ass trips, and she goes flying.
I step forward and reach my arms out to catch her.
Her drink spills everywhere, including on my shirt, but I’m glad I’m able to catch her in my arms before she falls to the ground.
She hits me with a thud that leaves us both winded as I slowly lower her to the ground.
“You saved me. I thought I was going to fall to the floor.”
“I guess I’m just your regular knight in shining armor.”
“I guess so,” she says, grabbing the sides of my face and pressing her lips against mine. “You’re just amazing, Luke. You know that, right?”
My heart beats double-time as she looks at me, then strokes the side of my face, and runs her fingers through my hair. She presses her body up against mine and wraps her arms around my neck. Her breasts press up against my chest, and I wrap my arms around her waist.
“I guess you’re really thankful, aren’t you?”
“I’m so thankful,” she says as she brushes her lips against my cheek and then my neck.
Her fingers run down the side of my body, and my cock grows hard in my pants.
I run my fingers down the small of her back and squeeze her ass, and she presses into me.
She grabs my face and kisses me harder, and for a few moments, the world is still, the bar is quiet, and all I can feel and think about is our two hearts as they beat in simultaneous connection.
I deepen the kiss, my tongue slipping into her mouth. She moans as she sucks my lower lip. I smell the jasmine of her scent and feel the softness of her body. I pull her tighter to me so she can feel the hardness in my pants.
Fuck. This is why I came back to Coconut Beach. For all of this. I don’t know if the kiss is because she’s grateful that I caught her or what, but this was a moment I’d been waiting for—a real connection.
“My gosh, that was close,” she says as she suddenly pulls away from me.
“What?” I stare at her in confusion.
She grins and nods to the side.
“I saw Andi and Rex come in, and they were glancing at us. Did I do a good job?”
I realize that the entire thing was fake. She wasn’t kissing me because she wanted to. She was kissing me as part of the act.
“Oh, yeah. You’re a really good actress. I saw them as well,” I say quickly. “That’s why I slipped you the tongue so that it would be more believable.”
“Well, great. Good job.” She licks her lips and swallows hard. “A-plus for effort.” She giggles.
“A-plus for effort?” I raise an eyebrow. “Are you saying the kiss itself wasn’t A-plus?”
“Would I say that?” She gives me a quick hug and then kisses me on the cheek. “I’m going to grab some water. I’ll be right back,” she says, and hurries away.
I stare after her, my heart thudding in confusion.
I look over at Wendy, and I see that she’s still checking her phone, texting quickly.
Juniper is at me with wide eyes. I’m not sure what she’s thinking.
I’m not sure what she just witnessed, but she looks as flustered as I feel, and I don’t know if this has been the worst decision of my life.
I’m about to go after Mia and ask her if she thought we were pushing things a little bit too far when I notice that I have a missed call from Rebecca and ten text messages.
I scroll through them quickly and curse under my breath.
There’s a problem with the merger. One of the Chinese companies has offered a lot more money to release the mining rights to be shared among everyone.
This could sabotage my deal. The Brazilians also have another offer on the table, but I need to read through all of the new sub-clauses.
“Fuck, I need to make a call.” I know I shouldn’t be working this late at night, but I can’t let this deal fall through.
I clench my phone, hold it up, and call out to Juniper, “I just have to take a work call if Mia asks. I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Okay.” She nods.
I hurry out of the bar and toward the beach. When I reach some of the palm trees, I stop and take a couple of deep breaths.
I’m feeling out of my element, which is something that I don’t normally feel. I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but right now, I need to concentrate on what’s really important—and that’s this business deal and not the ache in my heart or the hardness in my pants.