Luke

---

Despite the novelty of having a woman sleep in the bed beside me, I fell asleep almost immediately, with Alexa spooned beside me, my arm thrown around her body.

In the morning, after a solid night's sleep, I woke to find the bed empty beside me. Alexa must have gotten up and gone to the bathroom. I rolled over and waited, watching the door to the bedroom for her return.

When she emerged from the ensuite, she covered herself up demurely when she saw me watching.

"Don't hide yourself," I said, already aroused at the sight of her curves. "You're beautiful."

She smiled and I could tell she forced herself to drop her arms from across her breasts. The sight of them made me instantly hard, my dick throbbing. Still, I didn’t want to greet her with morning breath, so I jumped up and passed her, not hiding the evidence of my own arousal. Let her see it and think about it. I wanted her ready for another round or two when I returned as well.

I quickly took a piss and then brushed my teeth as I saw she had done and then went back to the bed to find her under the covers, a smile on her face when she saw me standing at the side of the bed, my cock now at half-staff.

I knew she was interested in another round when she pulled back the covers for me. I hopped in beside her, always the gentleman, pleased to give her exactly what she wanted.

Once I was lying down, she rolled over and lay on top of me, still smiling.

I honestly couldn't have asked for a better way to wake up.

---

Later, much later, when both of us were satiated and now were only hungry for food rather than each other, we showered and dressed, then went down to the main wing and the kitchen.

The double patio doors were open, and the breeze off the ocean was cool and salty. Outside on the patio, a long table was set with linen and dishes, and several of the guests for the weekend were there, eating the brunch laid out on the table in the kitchen.

"Wow," Alexa said. "Is this breakfast?"

"Brunch," I replied. "On the weekend, it's here for guests to serve themselves whenever they get up."

I watched Alexa's eyes bug out at the spread, which was normal for my family but I was sure was reserved for special occasions for hers. I had to remind myself that not everyone grew up the way I did – with privileges. What seemed like a treat to Alexa, I knew was business as usual for my family.

There were scrambled eggs and Eggs Benedict, biscuits, home fries, bacon, sausage, sliced ham, toast, waffles and fruit. Fresh coffee, juice and milk were in thermal flasks next to a collection of cups and mugs, glasses and plates.

We fixed our plates and then went to the table, taking a pair of chairs at one end, saying good morning to everyone as we sat down and dug in.

"Sleep well, dear?" Mrs. Marshall asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Never better," I replied, glancing sideways at Alexa, who was holding back a grin. "We slept very well, didn't we?"

"Yes," Alexa said and took a sip of her juice, a twinkle in her eyes.

"I hope that old bed is good enough for you. We brought it out from the city to use as a spare instead of getting a new one."

"It was fine," I said and took a sip of coffee. "We both slept very well, didn’t we, sweetheart?"

"We did," Alexa replied, narrowing her eyes at my use of a term of affection. Might as well go all out.

I was glad I could truthfully say that we had a great night, even if we were just performing the boyfriend-girlfriend part. I slept amazingly well, despite the fact I wasn't used to a woman in my bed. I usually kicked them out, sending them home with my driver at as early an hour as I could so I could sleep alone and get up early, refreshed. On the weekends, I could be forgiven for letting Alexa stay overnight. Besides, I was pretending she was a real girlfriend.

After last night, I felt we could give an even better performance than we had already. At least we got the sex part of the relationship right, even if everything else was an act. I could tell by the way her pussy clenched down on my fingers and cock that she wasn’t faking that part of the relationship…

We ate our meals, listening to the sound of the surf, and the talk of the people at the table about their plans for the rest of the weekend. When we were finished, we left the table and went for a walk down to the beach, hand in hand.

It felt strangely real to me, walking along the beach with Alexa. I could keep up this façade without any effort. Alexa was smart, beautiful, and great in bed. There was nothing about her that I didn’t like and I felt no inclination to take her home so I could be alone and work, as I usually would with a sex partner. In fact, I looked forward to spending the weekend showing her around the Hamptons, and maybe taking her out for a sail if the weather held up.

"Hey, would you like to go to see my boat?" I said as we turned around and made our way back to the house. "The builder’s just down the coast at Patchogue."

"Sure," she said and smiled. "I don't know anything about boats but I'd like to see it."

"Deal. I'll call over and we can meet Dave, who's in charge of building it."

We arrived back at the house and then collected our things. Before we left, we passed by the library, just off the great room. Inside, Mr. Thorpe sat reading the Saturday times and drinking coffee.

"What are you two up to?" Mr. Thorpe asked when we walked by.

I grabbed Alexa's hand and pulled her to my side. "Going to take Alexa to see my catamaran at Alpha Yachts in Patchogue."

"Lucky Alexa. I'd love to see it someday," he said, turning a page in his copy of the paper and looking at us over the edge. "What an adventure, sailing around the world."

"When the cat’s finished, I'll take you sailing before we leave on the trip if you want to go."

"I'd like that," he said and nodded. He returned to his paper, his half-eye reading glasses perched on the end of his nose.

I led Alexa outside and we hopped in the SUV to drive down the coast to the ship dealer in Patchogue.

As strange as it felt to be taking a woman to see my catamaran, I wanted the weekend to be enjoyable for Alexa and so I thought it would be a great idea to take her along with me. If she was going to pretend to be my girlfriend, I wanted her to feel the effort was worth her while, treating her to a deluxe weekend at the beach house with all the trimmings. Sun, surf, maybe a late afternoon sail, great food and even better sex than I hoped she'd had in a long time.

From her reaction to me the previous night and that morning, I felt pretty sure she had been in real need of a great fuck.

It was the least I could do, given how much she had done for me…

---

We spent about an hour at Alpha Yachts while my dealer, Dave, showed us the catamaran and how the build was going. They were still outfitting the interior, which had two main compartments for sleeping, including a set of bunks, a double bed and a pull-out bed that could double as a sofa slash eating nook. The finishes were all of the highest quality. I told Dave to spare no expense. The galley had a full kitchen, if in miniature, with a small stove, refrigerator, sink, and even a tiny dishwasher. Although I’d been used to a much less fancy ship before, where we had to actually wash our own dishes, I decided that the boys and I were not interested in spending our time cleaning dishes.

I'd even install a gas line for a barbecue so the four of us would be able to grill fish and whatever fresh meats we came across on our trip.

"What do you think?" I asked Alexa, who was standing on the front bow of the catamaran, watching as the workers installed some storage compartments. "Do you think you could manage a trip on this?"

"It's amazing," she said and glanced around at the ship, which was almost finished. "I've never been on a ship before. Do you get seasick?"

I shook my head. "Some people do, but I never have. When the seas are calm, it's like being on a boat on a lake."

"When the seas are rough?"

I shrugged. "Then it can be a bit tough, but we pay close attention to weather reports and stay in port if there are going to be rough seas. We won't have any deadlines, so it won't matter if we stay several days extra in any given port."

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime trip," Alexa said, her voice wistful. She ran a hand along the smooth fiberglass surfaces of one of the bulkheads. "I don't know if I'd be able to sleep on a ship."

"You would after the first or second night, believe me. I've done it. After a while, you don't even notice the motion."

After we finished the tour and Dave updated me on the progress to date, we drove back to the house, the windows open, the breeze blowing through the vehicle. I loved being out at the beach house, the salt air a reminder of all the happy summers I'd spent there as a kid with Dana and whatever friends we had at the time. For a number of years, we were each the other’s only friend, but once my parents died, we began to have other friends.

I looked forward to seeing Dana. She and dickface were due out after lunch, and it would be nice to spend time with her. I could tell Dana approved of Alexa for my girlfriend. Even if she wasn't my real girlfriend, I wanted Dana to think I was happy now. She'd been worrying about me for the entire year since Jenna and I broke up, ending our engagement and cancelling our plans for marriage.

As we drove up to the beach house, around the circular driveway, I saw that, as I expected, Dana and Eric's Mercedes SUV was parked in one of the slots. There was also a vehicle I didn't recognize – a red Audi with a license plate I didn't know.

Who else was coming this weekend?

I took Alexa's hand as we walked up the stairs to the porch.

"Ready for another performance?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. I'm looking forward to some time on the beach."

I nodded. "That was my plan as well. Dana's here so we'll say hello and then go down.

"Maybe I'll go up and use the washroom first, if you don't mind. All that coffee's hit me."

"Sure," I said and squeezed her hand. "Come on down when you're finished. People are probably out on the porch out back. We can say hi and then go down to the beach later."

She smiled and climbed the staircase to the second floor family wing and I went through the entry to the back of the house, past the great room and kitchen. Sure enough, the double patio doors were still open and a number of people were sitting around the table.

I saw Eric first, his annoying voice rising above the rest of the group.

"It's been so long," I heard him say. "So good to see you again. Terrible, terrible what happened…"

I frowned and poured myself a cup of coffee before I went outside, and when I did, I went right over to Dana, bending down and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Good to see you, sis," I said and squeezed her shoulder. "How's my little mommy doing?"

She gripped my hand on her shoulder and smiled, but she bit her lip and then tilted her head to the side, like she was trying to signal something.

"What?" I asked and glanced to see what she meant, eyeing Eric, the bastard. He had this grin on his face that seemed really gloating. I frowned and glanced down the long table to see the usual suspects – Mr. and Mrs. Blake, Felicia, Mr. and Mrs. Thorpe, my adoptive mother and adoptive father…

And then I saw her.

Jenna.

She was sitting at the far end of the table, her mother sitting beside her.

I felt the blood drain from my face. Adrenaline surged through my body.

What the fuck?

What the hell was she doing here?

How did she gather the nerve to come to the beach house when she knew I would most likely be there – and with a girlfriend?

"Luke, darling, look who showed up unexpectedly? Jenna and Mrs. C. What a surprise, isn’t it?"

"Jenna," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "Mrs. Cornwall. If you'll excuse me, I just wanted to say goodbye to everyone. Alexa and I will be going back to the city."

"Don't leave because of us," Jenna said and frowned at her mother. "We had no idea you'd be here this weekend, did we, mother…"

"Not at all," Mrs. Cornwall said, but I didn't believe her for one single moment. "When we were invited, we didn't expect you'd be here. We thought you’d be holed up in Manhattan negotiating the sale of your company.”

I turned to my mother, who shrugged, her eyebrows raised. "I must have forgotten to mention you were coming."

I turned to my father, who quickly hid his face behind the Saturday Times, shaking the paper and clearing his throat. I knew he had nothing to do with this, but there was no way I believed my adoptive mother failed to tell Mrs. Cornwall that I was going to be here. That was probably the only reason she and Jenna were there.

From the time Jenna and I had split, my mother had been trying to either make amends between us, or match me with Felicia. When I had repeatedly told her Jenna and I could never reconcile, she gave up and pushed poor Felicia at me.

In that moment, I had no doubt that when I had made it clear I wouldn't be hooking up with Felicia, my mother turned back to her original plan to push Jenna and me together once more. She begged me to forgive Jenna. Said that it was a mistake and that if I couldn't forgive someone I loved so much for a mistake, I could never be married.

"That's right," I remembered saying. "I can never be married if it means forgiving a cheating bitch."

"I have to go," I said and turned on my heel, leaving the group to return to the house.

I got a few steps inside and heard footsteps behind me. When I turned, I expected it would be Dana following me to console me, but instead, it was Jenna.

She came over to me where I stood at the kitchen island, dumping my cup of coffee into the sink.

"I'm so sorry," she said and laid her hand on my arm, an expression of sadness on her face. "I had no idea you'd be here. Honestly. I asked and my mother said that you were staying in Manhattan this weekend because of the negotiation. I never would have come out here if I knew you'd be here."

"I'll believe that when pigs fly," I said, barely able to control my anger. "I have a friend with me and there's no way I want her to see you, of all people."

"Don't leave because of me. We'll go. I'll tell my mother that we're leaving. If she wants to stay, I'll go back. I'll take the car and leave. She can stay. I know she was looking forward to spending time with your mother."

"Don't bother," I said and rinsed off my hands in the sink. "I have a bad taste in my mouth now and think it's best if I leave. I know my mother and your mother arranged all this."

"Do you think so?" she asked, frowning. "I don't think—"

"Of course they arranged this accidental meeting. Of course they planned it and then hoped that seeing each other would push us back together again. If you can't see that, you're not as smart as I thought you were."

She sighed and stepped closer. "Seriously, Luke, I never thought you'd be here."

She put her hand on my arm once more, moving even closer like she wanted to hug me. She reached up and touched my cheek, then brushed hair out of my eyes.

I stared at her, unable to believe that she was acting all sad and sorry about what happened. How could she be so deceitful?

Finally, I pulled back, sick to my stomach about the nerve she had to try to cozy up to me after everything that happened between us.

"Where's Dylan, anyway?" I asked, acid in my tone.

“Dylan and I broke up a while ago. He took a new job and moved to Riyadh. He's flying planes for one of the princes, if you can believe it."

I shrugged, not caring what her bastard of an ex-boyfriend was doing with his time. I didn't care that the reason she agreed to marry me – the reason she pretended to want to marry me – was because he didn't want to get married. He wasn't rich enough for her mother either. A pilot for a small regional airline after he got out of the service, he was a playboy. She'd apparently been in love with him forever but he was never the right kind of man for her family.

I had been the right kind of man for them, but apparently not her.

Yeah, I was still hurt by her betrayal. I didn't love her anymore – I knew that the moment I saw her. I only felt contempt. But I still had the wound from when my trust and love had been thrown away for a night of sex with her true love before she committed to me.

That was her excuse, anyway. One night of hot sex to say goodbye forever to the man she had loved for years so she could commit fully to being my wife and the mother of my children.

Thing was, I could never trust her again when I knew she'd slept with him. She claimed it was a one-time only thing, to say goodbye forever, and that she hadn't slept with him the entire time we were engaged, but I didn't – I couldn't believe it.

I could never imagine sleeping with her again, as much as I thought she was very beautiful and smart.

She was a cheat.

That was enough to break it off completely.

A clean break with a promise I never wanted to see her in public again. I never wanted to go to any function she was at or want her at any family gathering. Her family was very close to my parents, but I had told them in no uncertain terms that if she or her mother were going to be at a function or at the house or at the beach house, I wouldn't be there and not to invite me or expect me to attend.

I'd spent several months in a funk, drinking myself crazy, smoking too much pot with my old buddies from college. It was only six months after we split, when Dana announced she was pregnant, that I came out of my funk and started to think about re-entering life.

That's when serious work on taking Chatter to the next level happened. That's when I focused all my energy on making it the best app possible. That's when it took off and we saw an exponential growth in its user base.

So, while my heart and pride took a beating when Jenna betrayed me, the rest of my life took off and I would finally have total and complete independence from my adoptive parents and the family money.

I now counted my blessings that I found out about Jenna's cheating ways before the wedding instead of after. It made me think even harder about how I was handling Eric's cheating on Dana.

"Whatever," I said and pulled my arm away from her. "I'm taking Alexa and going back to the city. You stay here. Enjoy your time with your mother. My weekend's been ruined."

I turned and left her, walking out of the great room, and taking the staircase to the second floor family wing. I went to my bedroom and found that it was empty. Alexa wasn't there. I checked for her bag, but it was gone as well, and her things were gone from the ensuite bathroom.

I hadn't seen her walk out to the patio where the family was so I went back down the stairs and checked the great room once more. There was no sign of her. I went out to the patio and checked but she wasn't sitting at the table with everyone. I could see Jenna sitting with her mother. She glanced away when she saw me.

"Has anyone seen Alexa? She's not in our room."

People shook their heads.

"No, dear," my adoptive mother said. "She hasn’t been out here since you got back from seeing the boat. Did she go for a walk on the beach?”

I walked down to the surf and looked in both directions, but didn’t see her. I sighed, and went back to the patio and through the house to the front entrance. I opened the door and checked out the driveway, but there was no sign of her so I took out my cell.

LUKE: Where are you? Did you leave?

There was no answer.

LUKE: Please answer me so I know you haven't been kidnapped or drowned when you snuck out to take a swim without me…

No answer.

FUCK.