Chapter 2
Aaron
I adjusted my pants before entering the hall where Quinn’s bachelor party was being held. I couldn’t take another series of events like that again. My attention was already stolen by that that platinum blonde, Cass Levant. She had the audacity to try and strip me in front of all those women. It was always, always the other way round. Women stripped for me. It was so weak and unmanly of me to let her tug at me like a puppy and show me off in front of a bunch of drunk ass girls. One of them even squeezed my butt! Real loser, motherfucker. I don’t know why I let her do all that. I could have stopped it before it even started. But inside I knew why I couldn’t stop her, because I was thinking with my dick instead of my head. Her little sexy dance with that stunning body. The combination had never appealed to me before but standing right there, looking at her, my only reaction was the straining of my manhood. Her perky ass and full tits that jumped out of that narrow strapped pink shirt made me want to drag her over to the nearest couch and have some fun with her. And how she dragged me by the tie, my need to have some fun with her sky rocketed when I imagined her in a leather corset with fuck-me heels on. And how she stripped off my jacket like some dumbstruck fool. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I gritted my teeth in rage and then pushed the door open.
“Aaron! Shit, you are here!” it was Quinn’s voice. “Hey, man. Is the party still going?” I grinned at him as we gave each other a half armed hug and smacked each other on the back. Quinn is one of the only people I care about in this world. There are not many people that could get me to abandon work to attend a wedding at a fancy destination. My initial flight was scheduled for tomorrow evening, but I had planned to give him a surprise visit for his bachelor party. Only to end up at his fiancé’s bachelorette party first.
“I’m glad you made it here early, man. The party is just getting started.” he said to me as we both sat at the bar and drank a beer. “Couldn’t have missed your party, buddy,” I raised my bottle at him. Quinn was a good man. He deserved the best and I sincerely hoped that Avery was the right girl for him. I had met her briefly, when Quinn had brought her to one of the company’s events. She was younger than him by a good amount but they looked good together. I hoped it went deeper than just looks – for the sake of my friend. Because I didn't believe in the words love and happily ever after. My rule was fuck ‘em and leave ‘em. It had worked miraculously well for me and I was pretty content with my life. And I was looking forward to pinning a few more points on my scoreboard during this short holiday. The most appealing thought right now was to drag that platinum blonde who was three doors away, up to my room and teach her a few basics before having my way with her. She will be the one doing the stripping, not me.
**
I woke up from the irritating buzz of my phone that kept on going relentlessly. I thought of ignoring it, but then reached out to pick it up. “Better be something important,” I muttered sleepily. “Get your ass down here for the breakfast, Maxfield or I am sending someone up there to whip you before dragging you down,” it was Quinn’s mother, Aria. I chuckled at her crude tone. She was always like that. And I loved her for it. “Yeah, yeah. Send your best at me,” I challenged her. “Don’t challenge me, son. Get down here in five or you’ll be sorry,” she said and ended the call. I groaned and then got out of bed. My body ached from all the exhaustion of last night’s activity. Throwing my phone on the pillow, my gaze fell on a pink material that laid next to the night table. I picked it up. It was a thong with a piece of paper attached.
Call us when you want to meet us again. XOXO
Lucy and Lulu.
Scribbled down was a mobile number. What the fuck? I threw it away in a corner. I’d find someone else if I wanted another quick one. I rarely went with the same girl twice. The only rare cases were those who were outstanding and there had only been two women who were honored enough for that; Jasmine and Elsa. These Lulu and Lily or whatever their names were, they were one timers. I had picked them up from the hotel’s public bar after leaving Quinn’s party, brought them up to my room, fucked them senseless and then kicked them out. I wanted to get that platinum blonde, perky assed woman out of my mind and had succeeded with these two giggling girls at my service, willing to do anything and everything.
Changing into a gray T-shirt and blue jeans, after a quick shower, I went downstairs to the tables where Quinn’s and Avery’s families were settled for breakfast. “Ah, here he is. Aaron, my boy,” Aria hugged me tightly and I returned it. She was a second Mum to me. I had spent more of my childhood in her backyard instead of mine. “How is my favorite Mrs. Robinson?” I asked her grinning from ear to ear. She swatted my back. “Get to your seat so we can start with the breakfast. I haven’t let them touch a thing,” she said to me and then turned to the rest of the members at the table. “My other son is here so you may as well begin the breakfast,” she announced and blew me a kiss. This woman was spectacular and I would do anything for her.
The only chair that was empty was the one tagged with 'Best Man' printed on the back. I took the seat and that’s when I realized that next to me was the maid of honor, the platinum blonde, Cassandra Levant. Holy fuck was she hot! I had spent my night wasting on two girls just to get this woman out of my mind and here I was, seated to next to her first thing in the morning. “Good morning, Aaron,” she turned her face to me with a drop dead gorgeous smile. Her hair wasn't dead straight like last night. It was frizzy and soft, it looked natural and I wanted to take a whiff of it and touch it to know if it was actually soft or it just appeared so. “Morning.… it was Cassandra, right?” I deliberately sounded like I didn’t care what her name was. “Yes, but please call me Cass, everybody does,” she replied to me with narrowed eyes. “Cass,” I tested the word. “I think I prefer Cassandra,” I told her. Her mouth opened slightly in surprise at my words. As hard as it was to look away from those full lips, I dragged my eyes away and reached out to the pitcher of orange juice. I could feel her eyes following my moves. When I didn’t give her a second glance, she turned sharply to the other side and ignored me for the rest of the breakfast.
“Hey, Aaron, Sandra just told us that they thought you were the Stripper last night. And Cass even stripped you. Fuck man, I wish I were there to witness that. The biggest man whore of Seattle, Aaron Maxfield being stripped by a bunch of drunk girls,” Logan, Quinn’s cousin said as I was just about to get away from the table to make a few calls for work. Laughter roared out from the audience and everybody’s eyes turned to me. I heard Cassandra gasp beside me and I wanted to punch that dorks face. He was trying to humiliate me. But hey, who has given him the chance to do that? It was me. No it was Cassandra Levant. It was her who had given them an opportunity to laugh at me. “I may have been made a fool of, but how are you feeling after last nights fiasco? I saw that Mexican waitress hitting you down to your knees last night when you almost spilled your guts and begged her to spend the night with you.” There. Take that asshole. He shut his mouth and flushed with embarrassment. I had seen that waitress raising her knee to his groin when I had gone to pick up someone to warm my bed with last night. It looked like I had gotten his story just right. The chair beside me pulled back. “Excuse me, please,” Cassandra said and then left the table. I admit, my comment was a tad inappropriate, especially for a nice breakfast in front of friends. But I will not be the butt of someone else’s joke. You can say I lack a sense of humor, but I refuse to look weak in front of these people.
**
“Man, did you really? I mean … seriously?” Quinn asked me when it was just the two of us in the lounge and everybody else was in the pool. “Cut it, Quinn.” I never give details and I won’t do so now. I was forced into that situation because of her. I looked around but she was nowhere in sight. Those two girls last night meant nothing, they were just a distraction.
“Come on, boys, jump in!” Avery was waving at us from the pool. “I have a few calls to make,” I said to Quinn who was already stripping out of his shirt and getting ready to jump into the pool. “Come on, dude. Don’t be a spoil sport. You are off from work.” “Like you give a rat’s ass about it,” I raised my eyes and he grinned. Of course he thought of nobody when he was around Avery. Love turned men into stupid mindless fools. I shook my head as he splashed into the pool.
“Have Troy scan and email it to me, ASAP. I’ll sign it and send it back to you. And also put Lena Malfoy on video call with me. I’ll let you know the time I am available. It will be late noon probably,” I spoke to my assistant as I walked towards the lobby. I had to catch up with a few bits of important paperwork and needed to use my laptop. “Also see that by Monday we have everything ready for the pitch. Tell Rick to send me the initial layouts of the creative designs and do not proceed until I approve.” I turned towards the corridor and a soft feminine body bumped right into me, taking me by surprise and knocking me off guard.
“What the fuck? Can't you see where you are walking?” I growled angrily as my phone hit hard on the floor first, followed by myself and then her on top of me. “I am so very sorry,” the voice came from behind the curtains of that platinum blonde hair. The same woman who has been giving me a hard time since I stepped on this damn Island. Please don’t let it be her. I silently begged. And then the face came into view and of course … it was Cassandra, sprawled all over me, with her breasts hitting right above my pelvic bone and her mouth just above my stomach.
“You can’t seem to leave me alone, can you?” I said sternly because I hated the way my body was reacting to her. If she didn’t get off me in next five seconds, she would be witnessing something I wasn’t sure she’d approve of. Registering the fact that she had knocked me down, brought that expression on her face that said she was horrified. Better be that.
“I am sorry, Aaron,” she said, getting off me and standing up. I too got up and found out that my phone was no longer in a shape to be used again. The fuckers were useless when it came to durability. “Fuck,” anger rolled inside me. How was I supposed to keep in touch with work now? Damn it! “I am really sorry,” she began to say. “Say that word again and I’ll show you how sorry you can be,” I snapped at her. I had this pitch on Monday and here I was, phoneless. This woman, in less than twelve hours, had managed to make me a stripper, let a piece of shit humiliate me, ruin my peace of mind and now broke my phone because she can’t fucking walk straight.
“I need you to keep mailing me the updates. I broke my bloody phone and I can’t stay by this damned laptop every minute of the day,” I growled as my assistant logged into Skype and I gave her instructions. “It’s alright, Aaron. Give yourself a break. We can handle it all here without you hovering over everyone’s head twenty-four seven. Enjoy it while you are there. We’ll take care of everything here. Kelly will send you the minutes of the meetings and other stuff by tonight. You can sit back and sip martinis until then. Not all of us are lucky enough to be in the Bahamas with broken phones,” it was Mark who had joined the conference call now. “Mark,” I greeted him, toning my voice down.
He was the one man I respected without a shred of doubt. He had been the one to put his trust in me when nobody else had. He had given me wings to fly whichever direction I had wanted to fly. I had joined his advertising firm when I had graduated from university with a marketing degree in hand that held my barely acceptable grades and a gazillion ideas in my pocket. No one, until Mark, had given a shit about what I was in brains. He had offered me the job without looking at my transcript. And three months later I was handling his campaigns. As of today I hold fifty percent of the agency’s share with him.
If anyone had been able to silence me in a room, it was Mark and when he said that I didn’t have to worry about work, then it meant I did not have to worry about work. So I let it all go, stowed my laptop away, changed into my swim trunks and headed straight towards the pool. Some long laps were due.