Chapter Ten - Weston
Victoria Arias is… complicated.
Everything about her is complex and convoluted. She’s a maze of emotions and a labyrinth of feelings that requires careful navigation or the wild comes out and can’t be put back.
“Tori,” I say again when she ignores me. She’s thinking about those clouds. Why the fuck did I even mention it?
When she stays lost in her head I just start unbuttoning her shirt myself.
“West,” she says, both her small hands clamping over mine.
“Don’t think about it,” I say.
She takes a deep breath and looks up at me. Her violet eyes are so stunning, I want to get lost in them. Her lips are beautiful. Plump and luscious. And her skin is smooth and perfect. She reminds me so much of the girl I met that first day we spent together. Not the girl I met the night before when I was struggling with so many things and she was weighing her options.
The night girl and the day girl are two different people.
The night girl is strong, and resilient, and fearless. But the girl in the daylight is everything opposite of that. She is scared, and vulnerable, and weak.
The first night we met we sat together under those two trees in front of the administration building. Singing. God, was I really that dramatic back then?
It was a bad night for me. One of the worst in my life. Until, of course, two days later when life just went off the rails.
Tori was there through the whole thing. Our worlds fell apart together.
“I feel like…” She doesn’t finish, but she doesn’t need to. I can practically hear her heart beating faster.
Even with all her checks-and-balance tendencies, Victoria Arias is quick to come undone. There is a wildness inside her which cannot be tamed. She craves control because when she feels out of control the world had better watch out. And when she gets scared… well, that wild girl turns feral in all the wrong ways.
“It’s an afternoon, Tori,” I say. “One afternoon in paradise with an old friend. Nothing more, nothing less. That’s all this is.”
“But—”
I place my fingers over her lips and stop her words. “Just come swim. There’s nothing we can do about it but adapt.”
“I can adapt,” she says, trying to sound confident.
But she can’t adapt. She’s never been one of those malleable people, one of those girls who goes with the flow. She is the flow. She is a current of electricity. She’s dangerous and life-saving at the same time.
“I know,” I lie to her. She needs the lie. Because if we do get stuck here she will panic. And I don’t ever want to see that panic in her eyes again. The whole time we were together I tried to make it go away. I tried to force it out of her like a priest exorcising a demon. Will it with words, and actions that spoke louder.
And it never helped. People are a product of their experiences and the things Victoria had to endure happened long before I met her. And after dating her on and off for years… after chasing those demons away more times than I can count… I came to the conclusion that she doesn’t want my help. She wants to do it all on her own.
And that was that. Especially after that contract she stole. Did it ever occur to her that stealing my seven-million-dollar deal was the same thing as taking the money I’ve been offering her since my business took off?
No.
And that is just stupid.
So I left.
I can’t make her want me. I can’t make her accept my help, or my protection, or my promises. I can’t make her think I’m good for her. I’ve tried, believe me, I’ve tried.
And I’m not about to try again. I’m not stepping into that thankless role again. What I’m doing now is being selfish. I want to get through this day with her and then walk out the same way I did when we finally broke up for good.
I got the message loud and clear that night. She doesn’t need me.
“You’re good at adapting,” I say, continuing the lie. “So let’s just adapt to the fact that they changed the location of the retreat and live this day to the fullest. How about that?”
Victoria stops staring at her hand, still clamped onto mine, which is still about to unbutton her shirt and take it off. She looks up.
God, those fucking eyes. I can only imagine all the men who have looked into them and gotten lost. It doesn’t make me jealous, it makes me angry.
“OK?” I ask, trying not to see what’s behind the violet. I begin to unbutton her shirt again and this time, even though one hand is still on mine, she doesn’t stop me. She holds on to me until her shirt is open and her lavender bra is the only thing between us.
I ease it over her shoulders and let it float to the sand, then reach around her back and unzip her skirt. She doesn’t fight me at all this time, just lets me wiggle it over her hips and steps out once it too falls to the sand.
“The water is warm,” I say, taking her hand and leading her down the beach. “And look at all the fish, Tori.”
She’s looking, concentrating really hard on the little flashes of color underneath the turquoise blue water. “Too bad we don’t have snorkel gear,” she says, as we enter the water and it splashes her legs.
“I bet that house has something. We can look later if we want. Come on,” I say, tugging her deeper into the ocean. “Let’s swim to that sandbar that thinks it’s an island. There’s a tree for shade. We can just relax out there for a little bit and I’ll catch us something to eat.”
“Please,” she laughs. Then she squeals and jumps as the waves splash her belly and chest. “I can’t even picture you catching us a fish.”
“Well, maybe you didn’t know this, but I worked on a boat setting lobster traps when I was a kid. I can catch us dinner, Tori. Don’t you worry.”
She laughs as we begin to swim. “Why do I have a hard time picturing you working for a living?”
“Shit,” I say, spitting out some salt water. “What do you think I do all day? Sit on my ass and plan my tee times?”
“I mean real work, Weston. Like… hard work. Not desk stuff.”
“Hmmm.” She has no idea who I am. It would hurt, but I can’t blame her. I never told her who I really am. “Just wait and see,” I say. “We’re gonna be eating good this afternoon.”
She stays silent after that and we just concentrate on swimming out to the sandbar. I let her get there first so I can watch her walk out of the water. Her panties perfectly match her lavender bra and stick to her ass, which makes me have to close my eyes to stop imagining all the ways I’d like to fuck her again.
It’s not good to start getting ideas, Weston. Just one day and then she’s gone.
Victoria drops to her knees on the pristine white sand and then turns over and lies back, her hand coming up to her eyes to shield them from the sun.
It’s her turn to watch me come out of the water. She doesn’t hide this fact, either. Just stares at my chest, lingering there for a second before dropping down to my dick.
“Don’t get any ideas,” I say.
“About what?” she says, annoyed.
“I see that look on your face. You’re wondering if my dick is still big.”
Tori laughs and turns over on her stomach, her face propped up on her forearms.
I drop down next to her. Not too close. Because seriously, I can’t fuck this girl today. I can’t. It took me months to get over her. Probably close to a year to stop wanting her. And it’s just one day. We’re on some kind of break right now, but the reality is, we’re trying for the same contract and I’m not gonna let her have it. Because if she gets it—if she takes that contract from me—my world as I know it ceases to exist. I can’t let that happen. When we get back to the mainland I’m calling Mysterious and getting another location on Wallace.
I will have this shit wrapped up before midnight.