Last night can never happen again. What if Tom or Jeri catch wind of it? What if our rooms really are monitored? I have to keep far away from Kylie or I’ll make it worse. I’d stayed with Kylie for as long as I dared last night. We didn’t speak, afraid something might be voice activated and send out an alarm.

Eventually, Kylie fell asleep curled next to me. Her breath keeping a gentle rhythm, her skin the softest thing I’ve ever felt. Afraid I’d doze off and we’d get caught in the glare of daylight, I eased out of her bed, hating the cool air conditioning where her warmth had cuddled next to me.

We only have a couple of days before Jonas airs the shower scene. I haven’t come up with a way to stop it. That threat keeps me from settling and I sleep fitfully, finally coming wide awake mid-morning. I text Liesa and tell her I don’t want to go sailing. I stay in my room, door closed, staring at the ocean until my empty stomach forces me out for lunch.

I walk into a beehive of activity. Cook and Ricky zip between the kitchen and the patio, Jeri’s hair is a tangled mess, as if she’s been tearing it out and she looks more frantic than usual. She glares at me where I stand at the bottom of the stairs. Tom ushers a florist through the great room. Other delivery people scurry about.

“There you are!” Liesa glides into the room wearing a lacy party dress short enough to show off her legs. Liesa pinches my cheeks together and smacks a kiss on my lips.

Simone saunters in. She carries a mimosa and I nearly tackle her for it. She must read my look because she prowls over and stops too close. She holds the champagne glass to my lips and speaks in her sultry voice. “You look parched. Let me help you with that.” Guess she doesn’t hold a grudge. Maybe she’d been so drunk she doesn’t remember last night.

She tips the glass to my lips and I either have to swallow or dribble. Hating her and the manipulation, but not minding the cocktail, I slurp as much as I can before she tips it down and pulls it away. “A growing boy like you needs to keep up his strength.” She turns and brushes the back of her hand along my cock. I hate her some more.

Liesa shoves between Simone and me and grabs my hand. “Since you canceled sailing, I’ve decided to have a luncheon party. It’s going to be a big deal, so I want you to shower and shave.” She runs her perfect manicure from my temples through my hair. “You’re too sexy when you’re right out of bed like this.” She rests her forearms on my shoulders and brushes her nose against mine. Her floral perfume makes me want to puke and I think again of Kylie and that tang of citrus that’s so subtle on her skin.

Simone accepts another mimosa that magically appears from Ricky. “Yes,” she purrs. “He is sexy in the morning.”

Through the veil of Liesa’s blonde hair, Kylie carries a tray of canapes into the room. Jonas might have put her in a black polyester maid’s uniform, but he had it hemmed so short and tailored so tight, she looks as sexy as the stereotypical French maid.

Her eyes find me and my heart stops. Even from across the room I see pain when she registers my arms around the small of Liesa’s back. She pauses only a split second before setting the tray on a coffee table and hurrying back to the kitchen.

I drop my arms but Liesa holds firm. “Kiss me,” she hisses.

I do what I’m told, closing my eyes and pretending she’s Kylie.

We let that sham go on for longer than I’d like and she nuzzles into my neck. “You couldn’t keep it in your goddamned pants?”

Her words vibrate on my neck, so quiet only I know she spoke.

She snuggles close and acts like she nibbles my ear. “They got it. You and Kylie last night. I told her not to trust anyone—not even you.”

Fuck. No. I’d screwed Kylie over again.

“I’m trying to fix it,” she says. “Just go along with it and don’t do anything stupid.”

She jumps back, all sunny smiles and patented Liesa’s Life enthusiasm. “Okay, scoot, you. I’ve got a million things to do. The florists tried to foist old blooms on me and I won’t tolerate that.” She grabs Simone’s hand on the way out. “Come on, Mother. I need you to help with the linens.”