Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Brian
The bonfire was not the surprise. The surprise was the stripper who showed up at the bonfire. Granted, she also brought s’mores, so she was more than welcome, but Brian was surprised that Mitch had requested a stripper… right up until he realized who the stripper was really there for.
Not for the groom… oh no, she was there for the one single man out of the group.
Him.
“This really isn’t necessary,” he said, sending a glare over at Mitch—who was cracking up—as the pretty brunette whipped her shirt off. “You can just chill and have some s’mores with us.”
“Hey, now… I worked hard to learn these moves.” She pouted at him. “Are you saying I’m doing a bad job?”
Ah, fuck. All his friends were now laughing at his expense because they knew questions like that were his kryptonite.
“No, of course not. You’re doing a great job.” Cue more laughter from his friends. Apparently, their laughter didn’t knock her off her game. “I just… I’m not even the groom.”
“The groom is taken; you aren’t,” Mitch called out. That was technically true, but it felt wrong to have another woman taking her clothes off for him and giving him a lap dance when he’d been spending the week with Rae.
The week they’d agreed there wouldn’t be anyone else. And the week wasn’t technically over. They were still on the island. Sure, they weren’t spending tonight together, but…
He knew it made no sense to feel like he was doing something wrong, yet he did.
“I’m normally a club sub, but I’ve been taking classes… I haven’t done it without a pole before, though.”
Crap. He was making her feel bad.
“You’re doing a really great job,” he said in his best Daddy Dom voice. “I just thought tonight was going to be about the guys. I don’t adjust to change very quickly.”
“Oh… okay.” She brightened. “Then I should keep going?”
Inwardly, he groaned, but there was only one thing his conscious would allow him to do when she was looking at him with such big, hopeful eyes.
“Yes, keep going, sweetie, you’re doing great.”
It wasn’t like he was going to sleep with her.
He just had to grit his teeth, put a smile on his face, and get through a lap dance.
Thankfully, the lack of light and the flickering of the bonfire would keep anyone from being able to read too much into his expression.
Especially since the dancer was right in front of him.
What was her name? She’d introduced herself when she’d brought the s’mores supplies, but he hadn’t heard because he’d been talking to Zach. He also hadn’t figured it would matter at that point since she’d be leaving as soon as they were set.
If he’d known she was going to be grinding on his lap, he would have made sure he at least knew her name.
“Yes, Jaclyn, show him that gorgeous booty,” Mitch cheered, obviously enjoying himself at Brian’s expense as the subbie rolled her hips, hooking her fingers into her very short-shorts and pushing them down.
Well, at least he knew her name now.
Rae
“Is that the guys having a bonfire?” Avery asked, pausing by the glass door that overlooked the beach. She tilted her head, leaning forward as if she was trying to see better.
“Oh, yeah, Mitch said something about doing that.”
“Did he say they’re going to have a stripper?”
There was a stampede to the door, all of them pressing their faces against it.
“Who is she?”
“Forget that,” Iris answered Domi with a snort. “Who is she dancing up on?”
“I think it’s Brian,” Avery replied, the answer that confirmed what Rae thought, too, and she really wished Avery had had a different answer. Dammit.
“Well, he is the only single one.” Iris sounded more intrigued than upset. Rae had to bite her tongue against saying that he wasn’t.
Because he was.
Their week was over, even if the week wasn’t officially over.
They weren’t going home together. They hadn’t made each other any promises.
There was absolutely no reason to feel hurt, much less jealous.
She was definitely going to need to get over the jealousy before they got back home because, at some point, he was going to scene with someone else, and she was going to have to deal with it.
Was she going to dance with anyone else?
It didn’t look like it.
No one else was getting that treatment.
Rae gritted her teeth and pulled away from where she was watching. Just because it was happening didn’t mean she had to watch.
“Everything okay?” Iris asked, turning slightly as Rae stepped back to see where she was going.
“Yeah, I’m just not invested like you all,” she managed to say teasingly.
After all, she was the only single one. And even when she admitted to them that she and Brian had been hooking up during the week, she needed them to know that it really hadn’t meant anything…
which meant she couldn’t react now to him getting a lap dance. From a stripper. On kink island.
And she definitely couldn’t storm down to the beach and smack him across the face the way she wanted to. He didn’t owe her anything.
Meandering over to the counter, she picked up the bottle of vodka she’d been making her drinks from. Nothing to do with what was going on down on the beach. She’d needed to freshen up her drink, anyway.
“I don’t think she’s dancing for anyone but Brian,” Iris said after another minute of watching.
Rae took a big swig of her freshly made drink, only grimacing a little at the burn as the alcohol slid down her throat. That was definitely not something she needed to see.
“Are you worried she’s going to dance for Law?” Avery asked.
Iris shrugged. “Not really. I trust him. We see plenty of hot naked people at Marquis and Stronghold. I am surprised they got a stripper, though.”
Domi coughed. “Right… well… about that…”
As if the universe was working entirely in her favor, there was a knock at the door before she could finish her sentence. All of their heads swiveled as they turned to look at the door. Then, all of them turned back to look at Domi.
“You didn’t…” Despite her words, Iris was already darting to the door to open it. The others were right behind her.
The door opened, and there was a very buff, beefy, beautiful man on the other side.
His skin was a little darker than Rae’s, and he had startling amber eyes that gleamed when the light hit them and a full head of wavy black hair that came down to brush his shoulder tops.
He grinned at them, a flash of white, as he looked them over.
He was wearing a very tight staff uniform.
Much tighter than most of the staff uniforms she’d seen anyone wearing.
“Hello, ladies,” he said. “I’m Alejandro.” His voice was deep and smooth, and if Rae hadn’t just spent the week with Brian, she might have melted a little.
Okay, maybe she melted a little, anyway.
Damn, he was fine.
“Hello,” they chorused back at him, which made him laugh.
“Can I come in?”
“Yes! Sorry.” Iris stepped back to give him room to enter. Her hand swung up to point at Domi. “That’s the bride.”
“Hi.” Domi waved at him cheerfully. “He’s not here for me, though.”
Oh.
Oh, no.
Mother fucking…
She was going to murder her best friend.
Domi pointed at Rae.
“That’s our single lady.”
The smile on Alejandro’s face widened. “Hello, single lady.”
Well, fuck.
Rae
Packing up the night before had been the right decision.
They were a pathetic stumbling line of hungover wrecks from the villas to breakfast to the boat.
Well, everyone except Law, who took charge of the whole group with a smile on his face.
He seemed pleased with himself. From the little conversation over breakfast, she gathered that he’d enjoyed waking the guys up with a bit of fanfare.
Thank goodness no one had done that in Domi’s villa. They were all in similar sorry states this morning.
“Excuse me, Miss Rae Whitley?” Her name sounded even better with the gorgeous accent. Rae turned, blinking and holding her hand over her sunglasses, wincing a little because the aspirin still hadn’t kicked in.
Holy Silver Fox Zaddy.
The man striding toward her with ground-eating steps was even more beautiful than Alejandro had been.
Does the island just grow them or something?
Tall, broad-shouldered, with a full silver mane that waved back away from his face, styled perfectly and a neatly trimmed beard and mustache, he looked like he’d just stepped off a movie set or something.
He was brimming with confidence, as though he lived and breathed Dom swagger with every move he made.
“Damn…” Iris whispered behind her, echoing her thoughts.
The man came to a halt in front of Rae, smiling down at her in an odd way.
“Miss Rae Whitley?” he asked again.
“That’s me.”
“Ah.” He held out his hand, and she took it automatically. “My name is Javier Francisco. I’m the owner of the Hideaway Resort, and I wanted to come personally apologize.”
“Apologize for what?” Domi asked from behind Rae.
If she wasn’t so hungover, Rae might have been quicker on the uptake, but at the moment, she just stared at him, trying to figure out what he was talking about.
Which was her undoing.
“For the issue with her villa,” Javier said, glancing over Rae’s shoulder at Domi with a charming smile before refocusing on her.
“I understand you were able to stay with another member of your party, but I wished to personally apologize for the inconvenience. And also apologize for not coming to see you earlier. There were some things on the resort that needed my immediate attention. I’m so glad I caught you before you left the island. ”
“Really, you shouldn’t have,” she said before she could think about what she was saying. But damn. Did he really need to put her whole business out there?
But, of course, he would assume she’d let the others know what had been going on with her villa this week. Why wouldn’t she? That’s what would normally happen.
“No, no. We will make it up to you. Obviously, you’ve been refunded for your stay, and any time you would like to come down again, you will be able to do so free of charge for the same amount of time. A note has been made in your file.”
Right now, all she wanted to do was get off this island and never come back, but she managed to smile at him and thank him, all while the back of her neck was tingling. She was pretty sure she could feel everyone staring at her.
Javier finally said goodbye and let go of her hand.
Turning around to face her friends was incredibly painful.
Domi was standing with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at her.
Beside her, Avery and Iris were more blank-faced.
The guys were all in the back, Mitch saying something very quietly and very earnestly to Brian, who was staring off into the distance and completely ignoring him.
The only people not paying attention were Kincaid and Zach, who had gone on ahead and were presumably already on the boat.
Mother fucker.
This was going to be the worst trip home in the history of trips home.
“So, who were you staying with, Rae?” Domi asked, drawling out the words, even though it was pretty obvious who she’d stayed with. Though she supposed she could claim Kincaid and Zach, but that lie would be revealed the moment they were asked.
“You know who I stayed with,” Rae replied irritably.
“I want to hear you say it.”
“Brian, okay? I spent this week sleeping with Brian.” She practically shouted the words, making all the guys turn toward her. Including Brian.
“I knew it!” Iris punched the air as she shouted, jumping up and down. Turning in a circle, she pointed at everyone other than Brian, starting with Domi. “I told you. I told you. I told you. I told you. You all said I was crazy, that there was no way, but I fucking told you.”
Avery was laughing, Domi was shaking her head and looking annoyed, and Brian… Rae looked at him, but he was still staring out to sea with an unreadable expression. Dammit. This was not at all the way she wanted the trip to end.
The boat’s horn sounded, rolling through the air, reminding them that they were supposed to be boarding.
“Guess we should get on the boat,” Rae said, lifting her chin and stepping forward as if she hadn’t just dropped a mini social bomb on their group.
“Oh, just like that?” Domi asked, falling into step beside her.
“Just like that.”
“You wish I would let it go that easy.”
“Yes, I do.”
“And that’s why you’re delulu.”
Yeah. She probably was.