ALCOHOL WASN’T to blame for me following Jett on Brey’s wedding night.
He spoke of reality, and it jarred me into wanting to experience something other than happiness.
Jett was the epitome of the reality I didn’t focus on. I focused on flowers, sunshine, rainbows, and holidays. He focused on mud, darkness, rain before the rainbow, and probably memorials instead of holidays.
He lived in the dark while I lived in the light.
Opposites attract, though, and I was curious as to how the other side lived.
I was also a little tired. Tired of trying not to be jealous of the love Brey and Jax had, tired of not having a date myself. I was so tired of searching for Mr. Right at a wedding when Mr. Wrong was right in front of me.
Jett could barely smile when he danced with me. Still, he could dance, and he could turn me on just as much or more than any nice guy I was going to run into.
I followed him along a grassy pathway and peeked back at the wedding. No one noticed me leaving. My friends were all lost in their own bliss.
We created that. My friends and I had come together to coordinate this celebration of love and life. We planned the reception, tasted the cakes, ordered the flowers, decorated the space, and sent out the invites.
We made a day so perfect no one should have been negative about it.
Yet, there he was. Jett Stonewood. Mr. Negative.
The man had everything going for him. He practically owned a multibillion dollar company, had a family that loved him, and was in Kauai celebrating his brother’s happiness. He looked like a freaking god. He stood half a head taller than me even though I wasn’t short and I was in heels. His crystal-blue eyes popped against his obsidian black hair. The way he filled out a collared shirt had just about every woman at the wedding salivating. And his face. His freaking jawline and cheekbones and full lips. The combination, honestly, was unfair to every other man.
So how Mr. Everything could also be Mr. Negative was very confusing to me.
Frustrating.
Exhilarating.
Interesting.
I blamed my lack of foresight on it.
I hurried along behind him. He never slowed down for me or looked back. I wondered if he even knew I was following him. When I stumbled over a rock in the path, though, he spun around and caught me before I fell.
“Careful,” he grunted.
I mumbled a thank you as I righted myself and tried to step back from him.
He slid his hand down my arm and threaded his fingers through my hand. He slowed his pace as we walked toward the hotel.
I looked out at the horizon and pointed. “This is the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s the same one you see everywhere, Pixie,” he replied with a smirk, like he knew I had a point.
I laughed. “You know my name’s Vick, right? And, come on, it’s setting over the same mountains they used to film Jurassic Park. It has every color bleeding out into the ocean. It’s not the same everywhere and you know it.”
“Real is real, doll. It’s the same.”
I halted on the path, and he turned to look at me. “Sometimes seeing something in a unique light brings a whole new view. You have to admit that.”
He squinted at me. He dropped my hand and stepped back. Then he tilted his head as he dragged his gaze up and down my body. “You’re in a different light in this sunset.”
I didn’t shrink at his assessment. I was confident about how I looked even if I was standing in front of one of the most attractive and powerful men I’d ever met. “And? Am I different?”
I didn’t realize I was searching for a compliment until he replied with an insult. “No different, Vick. You are who you are. You look how you look. A sunset isn’t going to change that.”
I rolled my eyes and shoved past him. When we got to a fork in the path, I stopped and asked, “Which way to your hotel room?”
He halted at the fork too. He put his hand on the small of my back before he asked, “You sure you want to come to my hotel room? Will you remember any of this in the morning?”
He wanted to make sure I hadn’t drank too much. Or that I wouldn’t regret the decision I was about to make. He was giving me a way out, and for some reason that made the way out much harder to take.
“Which way?”
“We should probably call it a night.”
I glared at him. “Which way, Jett?”
He sighed and turned to his right without answering. I followed.
Our hotel rooms sat on the edge of cliffs that overlooked the ocean. They were more like condos or suites, so big and inviting that they each had their own entryway. We walked up to his door, and he swiped the keycard while looking at me. The beep sounded, and he twisted the handle but didn’t look away. “We walk in here, we lose the facade, Vick. I’m too on edge to play any games or recite some fairy-tale poetry you might want for your happy ending to your day.”
I shrugged and walked right past him into his place. “I intend to make you recite poetry because you want to, Jett. It’s never forced. It’s—”
I didn’t finish my sentence because he grabbed my face and devoured my mouth.
I gasped in surprise, but he didn’t let up. He dove in deeper, pressing his body against me. The way his tongue tasted mine, the way he didn’t hesitate but gripped my face like it was the only thing he ever wanted made me feel like we had something more than just tonight.
He kissed me like he wanted there to be more.
Maybe I imagined it, because then he pulled back and held my face in his hands. His blue eyes looked almost black, and he stared at me like he wanted me to see into his thoughts. “This is reality, Vick.”
I leaned in to kiss him, and I didn’t hold back. I wrapped my legs around him and let my dress bunch up. I felt him against me. He was long, hard. Ready.
He slid his hands down to my butt and groaned when he felt just a thong beneath my dress. He lifted me up and carried me to his bed.
I didn’t look around or take in how he had set up his suite. I didn’t care. When he fell back onto the bed with me on top of him, I lifted myself so he could slide my dress over my head. Then I was back on him, sucking his bottom lip, biting it, and working his belt and zipper underneath me.
His hands slid up my back, and one wrapped around my ponytail. He pulled it hard enough that I leaned back and moved to the side. Then he was on top of me, taking over. He ravaged my neck, biting it roughly and then licking it better. He didn’t waste time taking off any more of his clothes. He grabbed protection, slid my panties over to the side and plunged into me.
I was ready for him, so ready that I orgasmed on his first thrust. I pulled him close and screamed into his shoulder as stars brighter than the freaking sunset burst through me.
I rode my high and he let me, watching me the entire time in the darkness of that room.
When I came down from it, legs still wrapped around his waist and him still deep inside me, he said, “You’re in the darkness now. You want to know if you look any different than when you were under the light of the sunset?”
I barely comprehended what he was talking about but I nodded. “Sure,” I mumbled in a state of shock at how blissful it was to get off by none other than Mr. Negative.
He looked down at where our bodies connected and then back up at me. “Still the same. You look exactly the same. Truth, doll.”
I shrugged, not caring that he hadn’t given me a poetic line. I’d just had a fairy-tale orgasm.
His next words seared into me though. They left a tattoo on my heart.
“Beautiful as fucking ever. Most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a long time. Light or dark. Under any light.” He waited a beat. “Truth.”
Then he rocked back to thrust into me hard, not giving me a moment to respond.
I blame alcohol for the idea of love that swirled in my head. He balanced me and showered me with compliments throughout the night. His whispers of how perfect this was, how good I felt, sparked my own dreams of a wedding day, of a happily ever after. The way his hands smoothed over my skin like it was made of pure gold and the way he ran his nose along my nape.
He wanted me the way I wanted him. I knew it. He wanted the love, the future, and the commitment.
Like stars glittering against the night sky, I felt like I shined damn brighter than ever before with him beside me.
After we made love again, he fell asleep, and I raked my eyes over his entire body. He breathed in air like he dominated it, his muscles rippling with the effort. The frown he normally wore disappeared, as if his dreams freed him from the drain of reality. He looked at peace and he needed that. Worrying about every war the world waged at every moment of the day wasn’t healthy.
I could attest to that. Once upon a time, there was no happily ever after for me.
I fell asleep after snuggling into his arms. I was excited for what the morning would bring. We would talk over the future and enjoy the sandy beaches of Kauai.
His arms weren’t around me when I woke. I stirred and found not even a sheet covering my body. I woke up cold and sat up to look around.
The sun shined into the bedroom, and I smiled as I breathed in that humid air, listened to the rustle of the trees, and thought about our extraordinary night.
I stretched and winced a little, knowing I would need water and ibuprofen to fend off the headache that was sure to come after the amount of alcohol I’d consumed. Even more so because Jett had ravaged me last night. I was sore in places I wasn’t sure I’d ever ached before.
He strolled in from the bathroom, a white towel hanging from his hips and a few stray droplets of water glistening on his chest.
Part of me couldn’t believe I’d slept with that amazing specimen all night long. Every muscle cut into the next with precision and they moved in beautiful sync with one another as he entered the room.
He hadn’t looked toward me yet as he dried his hair with another towel. I let the sheets hang loosely on me as I tried for a sexy rasp, “You look good this morning.”
Jett jumped in surprise and then his whole body went rigid. “You’re still here?”
I frowned. “Well, yeah. I just woke up. I figured we could lounge in bed …”
“I don’t have time for that.” He stepped back as if offended by my suggestion.
I scooted off the bed and found my dress in a ball on the floor. ‘You’re totally right. We should start the day off by getting outside to explore this amazing island. Do you have some sweats I could borrow? My dress…’ I held it up and shrugged, knowing that guys loved when a woman wore their clothes. I hoped he’d think I looked cute standing there completely naked.
I was excited to see his face when I slipped on the shirt he would give me, excited to spend the day with him too.
He didn’t move to get me a change of clothes though. He stared at me like gum on the bottom of his shoe. My smile dropped a little.
Did I imagine that look of annoyance?
He raked his eyes up and down my body and then rolled them. Dramatically. ‘You can’t just wear that dress for a minute to get back to your place? It can’t be far from here ….’
‘But I thought we—’
‘We?’ He spit the word out like it was gasoline in his mouth. ‘There’s no we, Pix.’
‘Last night was …’
He held up a hand to stop me. ‘Last night was last night. Now last night is over.’
‘But you said—’
‘Nothing to make you think this would last till morning. Honestly, why did you even stay the night?’
Shock ping-ponged through me. And the reality that he’d spoken so damn highly of dropped down on me like a lead weight, crushing all my hopes with that one question.
“I stayed because I thought we were enjoying each other.”
“I enjoyed fucking you. I think it’s safe to say you enjoyed that part too.”
I wanted to throw my dress at him, but I didn’t want to retrieve it completely nude. So, I took my time stretching out the wrinkles all while I looked at him.
He didn’t shrink away from my glare. He met it head-on by crossing his arms and pointedly looking at my deliberately slow movements. “I don’t have all day, Vick.”
“Wow, you know my name now. Not your little pixie anymore, huh?” I fumed. “And you had all night. You can spare me a precious few minutes of your day so I can at least look presentable when I do the walk of shame.”
“Oh, please,”—he turned toward the living area—“half of the island is probably doing the walk of shame. You could call it a normal stroll at this point.”
“Where are you going?” I quit trying to smooth creases from my dress and threw it on as I stomped after him. “You don’t get to whisper sweet everythings in my ear all night and then act like a complete jerk the morning after.”
His face held a question. “‘Sweet everythings’?” He burst out laughing, like the answer he found was the most comical thing ever. He laughed so hard he bent at the waist and held himself up on the island counter near the living area. The towel barely clung to him as his whole body shook.
Maybe he’s joking with me. Maybe he’s laughing because he’s about to tell me he really does see us going somewhere.
“You.” He wiped his eyes quickly and then shook his head as he righted himself. “‘Sweet everythings.’ That’s ridiculous. You know what a one-night stand is. I know you do.”
My laugh died as my jaw dropped.
“Come on.” He rolled a finger in front of him, motioning for me to start moving. “Let’s get moving. I need to get dressed.”
I snapped my mouth shut. I straightened up. And I stepped up to face the terrible morning this was turning out to be.
“You know what?” I stalked toward him, not waiting for him to respond. “You’re exactly what is wrong with this world. Don’t tear me down because I had a fucking hope that this was more, you dick.”
His eyebrows slammed down. Good, I wanted a reaction.
“I know where I’m not wanted. And I’ll walk out of here happy, Jett. You want to know why?”
He lifted one shoulder, but he watched me like I finally wasn’t a joke to him or just a one-night stand. All of a sudden, I had his attention. His sapphire eyes held mine, and they didn’t look away. It was almost like he wanted my disdain. When most people would have shied away from being reprimanded, he reveled in it.
“I’m thankful I enjoyed a couple orgasms from you and now I get to leave you and all your negativity behind. I thought you might be deeper than it, that you just saw this world differently from me, but you’re only searching for grim places, and I’ve been down that boring road before. I want the light, and I’m good enough at finding it that I can honestly say”—I slipped my shoes on, glancing at him while I did—“this will be one of my better mornings because I got to leave misery—you—in the dust.”
With that, I swung open his front door and flipped my hair over my shoulder as I walked out.
Smiling.
