Chapter 4
“Take it easy, pal. You need to stay sober for tomorrow.”
“I’m getting over my jetlag.” Xavier held the glass up to the midnight blue sky and the stars sparkled as a backdrop. “I’ll be sober tomorrow, I swear.”
“Go and spend time with your family,” Luke urged. “You don’t have to hang around here.”
“Nothing beats the bar area.” Besides, he was hiding. Tobias had glared at him when he’d stepped off the boat late. It wasn’t his fault Gisele had chosen yesterday of all days to split up with him. What was he supposed to say when she told him the producer had asked her to turn up for her casting in her bikini?
“Who the fuck has an interview in a hot tub?” he’d argued. He was no prude, but even he could see that it didn’t seem right.
“Why are you so jealous?” she’d screamed back. “It’s no big deal!”
So they rowed, and patched up, and rowed some more—until he missed the plane and caught the next one out. He couldn’t wait to get out of New York fast enough.
He nodded at the sky. “Kinda neat out here, isn’t it?”
“I’ve been to many beautiful places,” agreed Luke, “And I’ve seen a few private islands in my time, but I’ve never seen anything like this place.”
“That’s my brother for you,” Xavier murmured under his breath. “Trust Tobias to get the biggest and the best fucking island he could get his hands on.” He eyed Luke, again. “Come on over to this side, dude. When my brother told you to take care of the drinks, he didn’t mean for you to be working all night.”
Luke shook his head, then was briefly interrupted by one of the waiters who had brought over a crate of clean glasses. “I don’t call this work,” he said, pulling the glasses out one by one.
“Should you be doing that? Why not let your people take care of the glasses and you enjoy the party. Plenty of pussy to admire around here.”
Luke finished emptying the crate. “Tobias hired me to take care of things, and I’m taking care of things.” He rested his hands on the countertop. “And tone down the vulgar talk. You’re not at The Oasis now, and Xavier-The-Stud-Stone doesn’t need to make an entrance.”
“Besides, aren’t these people your close family and friends?”
“Not my friends.” There were plenty of familiar faces, and a couple of guys he had met through the mastermind group that Tobias belonged to—a bunch of wealthy New York businessmen who met every other month to talk about how to make more money and play golf all day long. He had finally caved in and gone with his brother a few months ago. It hadn’t been his thing. The men he met here were a mixture of mostly old money, and a few, like Tobias, who were hotshot wonder boys who had made good.
Xavier’s friends were more entrepreneurial—like Luke, more fly-by-the-seat of their pants, and all new money. They were the kind of guys who bought up companies, then sold them quickly at an inflated price, guys who dabbled in cryptocurrencies, and the stock market, and who believed that if you threw enough shit at the walls, eventually some of it would stick.
Hell, no. He didn’t want to end up in a boring conversation with any of Tobias’s mastermind friends.
At least he had Luke for company. He’d have been lost if he wasn’t here, especially now that Gisele hadn’t come along.
By the time he had arrived, sometime after 7 o’clock, the island was already teeming with guests.
At least he didn’t have to suffer the long-ass journey with his parents. They had already cut Tobias’s birthday cake by the time the boat dropped him off.
“Why aren’t you spending time with your brother?” It was his mother’s voice behind him, and it had the ability to freeze the blood in his veins.
“Dirty martini, please,” she said to Luke.
“He looks busy,” Xavier replied. No way did he want to go anywhere near Tobias.
His father sidled up on the other side. “It’s his birthday, son. Go and talk to him.”
Xavier groaned inwardly, his head dropping down so that his chin touched his chest. “About what?” he asked, lifting his head. This was typical of their parents. They were always walking on eggshells around Tobias—the genius, the son who became a billionaire, the apple of their mother’s eye.
“About the wedding, about his feelings, and maybe even apologize for missing his birthday celebrations,” his mother said. “Was Petuna? Petroleum? Petris to blame?” She held the cocktail glass to her lips, taking great joy, it seemed, from mocking him on purpose.
This was going to be a goddamn prison sentence. Four days on a remote island with his family. He couldn’t even swim to safety.
“I believe her name was Petra, Milly, and they split up some months ago.” At least his father kept up with the latest.
“It’s not like Mother doesn’t already know.” Xavier took a gulp from his bottle, then eyed his mother.
“Who’s your latest girlfriend?” his mother asked, pointing a long, leathery finger at him.
“Gisele.” His voice sounded like an echo.
“Is she here?” His mother looked around; her head spinning round almost like an owl’s.
“We split up.”
“Already?” His father banged down his glass of scotch.
“Wasn’t she the one you went to Miami with last month?”
“Jeez,” he said, pushing off from his stool. “This is getting way too creepy.”
“What’s getting creepy, son?”
“This,” he swung the empty bottle, using it to point to both of them, “this unhealthy interest the two of you have in my love life.” He was going to go and mingle.
“Is that Oliver Rothschild?” his mother asked, staring out towards the barbeque area. “Come on, Ellery. Let’s go and talk to him. I want to know how his mother got a write-up in August’s issue of Vogue.”
He watched his parents leave, and let out a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding. At the other end of the bar, Luke was serving a woman, and from the side profile of her, he recognized her at once. That chick had been eyeballing him ever since he’d gotten off the boat. The night was still young, and given the severe lack of hot babes on the guest list, he could do worse than end up with Savannah’s cousin.
He walked over to the other end, ignored the babe and spoke to Luke. “Thanks for deserting me,” he drawled, settling himself on the stool.
“Looked like your parents wanted to spend some time with you. Another bottle?” Right now, he needed one, but he was Tobias’s best man, and he couldn’t risk screwing up tomorrow.
“No, save it for tomorrow.”
The woman sitting next to him turned to him, as he knew she would.
“Have we met before?” he asked, knowing perfectly well that they had, but curious to see how well she remembered him.
“Yes,” she held out her hand. “I’m Kay, Savannah’s cousin.” It was always so easy to tell when a girl was interested, not because of what she said, but because of what she didn’t say, or the way her sidelong glance might linger a fraction of a second longer than necessary, as Kay’s did now.
As if to further confirm her interest in him, she flicked her highlighted blonde hair away from her face, drawing his attention to her glossy French Manicure and her long lashes in one fell swoop.
“Savannah’s cousin,” he said, slowly, as if he had only realized now.
“I didn’t see you earlier.” There was a hint of a question in her words. Her mouth was a giveaway, the way she started chewing on her lips.
“And here I am,” he said, his gaze settling on her lips, before lifting to her eyes. “It’s turning out to be a good night.” He knew, as sure as he knew there was air in his lungs, that she was interested and he would bet, if he flirted with her long enough, if he gave her the usual long stare, that she would soon want to take that interest further.
“It sure is,” she said, leaning forward, her elbow resting on the bar and her hand cupping her jaw.
She was flirting six ways to Sunday, and had no qualms about being so obvious about it. He liked that—a woman who knew what she was doing, and knew what she wanted—and without all the pretense that usually led up to the mating ritual.
Because after all the posturing, and preening, and flirting, and staring, it always led to that. He wondered whether he could take her to bed tonight, or wait until the wedding was over, at least.
“Only for a short while, Jacob.”
He heard the voice before he noticed the legs—as someone else slowly came into view over Kay’s shoulder. Tanned slim legs in shorts, not as high cut as he liked, but not bad. They had frayed bits hanging from the bottom. His gaze traveled north, and settled on the pert breasts that were encased in a lime-green colored bikini top. And before he had a chance to see her face, to see who those breasts belonged to, she had already turned her back to him.
“You’re going swimming now?” Kay shouted out after her.
He leaned forward, eager to find who she was. “Great rack,” he said, the words escaping his mouth before he had a chance to stop them.
She must have heard because she turned around—a pissed off expression on her face. If looks could kill, he’d be lying stone cold on the floor.
She took Jacob by the arm and sashayed away, allowing him to admire her rear until she was out of sight.
“Who the hell was that?” he asked.
“Izzy,” Kay replied, in a flat voice.
Izzy? What the fuck kind of a name was that? Where had he seen her, because she seemed familiar, too.
“Someone Savannah hired to look after Jacob.”
He sat back, dragging the bottle to his lips again. “Jeez.” She was smokin’ hot. Kay threw him a hard stare, and he pulled out the pack of cards he had in his pocket as a way of changing the topic. “Want to see some tricks?” Card tricks always came in handy and helped break the ice.
His island vacation was suddenly starting to look interesting.
~ ~ ~
Nice rack?
She hated assholes like him. Xavier Stone, Tobias’s asshole brother. What did he think she was? A piece of meat? The only reason she hadn’t answered back was because Jacob had been by her side, otherwise she never let sexist putdowns go by without a sharp rebuke.
“Can we play tag?” Jacob asked.
“Your mom said only half an hour, Jacob.”
“Aww.”
“Half an hour, then a shower, then bed.”
“Can’t I stay up longer?”
She would have let him, but she understood Savannah’s wish for Jacob to be fully rested for tomorrow. It was her big day after all.
“Maybe tomorrow night, I’ll do my best to persuade your mom to let you stay up as late as you want.”
He gave her a big grin, then jumped into the pool. She was thankful that most of the guests were milling around further along the beach and away from this area.
Tables, chairs and Chinese lanterns were laid out on one side of the tropical gardens, overlooking the beach, and effectively separating the pool area from the beach front.
Apparently the wedding would be held here, Savannah had preferred it as it would be easier to walk on grass, than sand. And having the aquamarine ocean as a backdrop was pretty enough.
Most of the guests hung around on the grassy area, and some spilled out onto the soft sand. She liked the privacy this afforded her. She wasn’t comfortable walking around, even in her shorts and a bikini, or being ogled by guests, some of whom had had a bit too much to drink.
And while she knew Jacob needed to go to bed soon, it didn’t seem fair to have him go to bed now, when so much was going on outside.
“Aren’t you coming in?” Jacob asked.
She peeled off her shorts and padded into the water, watching Jacob as he scooted around with a boogie board. Poor kid. He was bored, being the only child around here. No wonder Savannah had wanted her to come along and keep an eye on him. Keep him company, more like.
She hated that they had only had the island to themselves for only two days. It wasn’t nice and peaceful anymore. The place was beginning to fill up, and the majority of guests had arrived today.
Jacob’s fingers skimmed her hand. “You’re it,” he squealed, then swam away, splashing water everywhere.
“You’re a good swimmer!” she shouted. “But I’m bigger and faster.” She launched after him. It was too easy, almost one-sided. Jacob giggled and squealed as she approached, and he tried desperately to wade away, his movements slow and labored as if he was like wading through a vat of treacle.
“I think we should make it fair, Jacob.” She was within touching distance.
He giggled, his expression vigilant, as if he couldn’t work out why she wasn’t tagging him.
“I think I should only be allowed to walk and tag you.”
“Okay!” He raced away, the water splashing madly around him. She walked towards him, deliberately taking her time, letting him rush this way and that way, trying to tire him out on purpose in the hope that he would want to go to bed soon.
The guests would be outside, enjoying the night for a few more hours yet. Savannah had told her to come back to the party, and to enjoy the rest of the evening once Jacob was asleep, but she wasn’t so sure.
Apart from Savannah and Jacob, the only other people who seemed down to earth and on her wavelength had been a guy called Luke, and a couple of his colleagues.
The bar area was a good size, and the cocktails were flowing freely. Tobias had spared no expense, just like at the engagement party. He had the best drinks, the best food, the best decor all on his own private island paradise.
She wished Cara had been here—at least she would have someone to talk to once Jacob was asleep.
“You can’t get me, you can’t get me,” Jacob sang, mocking her, teasing her, and giving her no choice but to wade towards him. She couldn’t help but smile because his squeals were so infectious.
“It!” she shrieked, tagging him with her hand and then waded away as fast as she could. In the next second Jacob lunged towards her, a moving waterfall of splashes as he neared her, and then, tagged her in a clever underhanded move where he swam underwater and came out behind her, surprising her with his prowess.
“Gotcha!”
“Jeez, dude.” A man’s voice on the deck behind her made her skin bristle. She turned around.
“Xavier!” Jacob cried. “Wanna play?”
She stared at the tall, dark figure before her. With a beer bottle in his hand, he stared back at her.
She had seen that look many a time, and she didn’t like it. She let out a quiet groan under her breath, and prayed that this letch wasn’t about to join them.
Jacob swam up to the edge. “Wanna play tag?”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
Xavier’s gaze passed to Jacob and then met hers again. “I don’t know,” he said, as if he was testing her resolve. “I’m not sure your friend wants me to.”
Jacob looked at her. “Can he play, Izzy?”
Hell, no. “It’s time to get out, Jacob.”
“But we’ve only been here for—”
“Now, Jacob.” There no negotiating this. She waded closer to Jacob and, lowering her voice, said, “It’s your mom’s big day tomorrow, Jacob. It’s time to go to bed. I promise I’ll ask her if you can stay up late tomorrow night, okay?”
“You promise to ask her?”
“You know I will.”
“Okay.” It wasn’t a sullen, ‘okay,’ either. The kid was gold. Only, she now had the uncomfortable task of getting out of the water without letting the letch stand and stare at her like he’d never seen a woman in a bikini before. It made her wish she’d worn her tankini and shorts in the water.
“That’s where you are!”
Her heart leapt with relief to see a woman coming towards the asshole, and command his attention.
Phew. Close call.