Serena: Party boy. I openly admit I got your number from The Dream’s records but I need a drink and to dance. Where’s the best place to go?
The phone buzzed back within thirty seconds.
Smith: My house. Party happening as we speak. You’re more than welcome.
Serena: Be there in thirty.
It was time for a quick shower and then off to Smith’s I went. Perfect. I could have a snoop around, and see what I could find out about him. I’d be tired at work tomorrow, but who cared? It wasn’t my real job anyhow.
I searched through my wardrobe for my most revealing outfit, pulling out a tight red dress with cutaways at the waist. Perfect.
I showered and then dried off, applying a moisturizer that made my skin gleam. Smoothing down my dress, I checked my reflection out. I’d developed a slight golden tan, just enough that combined with the body lotion it made my long legs gleam. Next, I trailed the curling iron through my hair giving myself beach style waves. A few coats of mascara and a smack of lip-gloss and I was ready to go. I grabbed my jacket and purse, slipped into my shoes and left the hotel. As I walked to the rear of the hotel, a car horn made me startle and I clutched my hand to my chest looking up. There was a bright red Porsche parked in the hotel’s car lot, Smith’s blond head in the driver's seat window, easily recognizable from this distance. I sauntered over toward him, taking time to sashay up to him, to let him catch the swing of my hips, my nonchalance.
“Hey. I wasn’t expecting a ride.”
“That’s the thing with me, babe. Expect the unexpected. It’s too far for a pretty lady to walk, especially in those shoes. Mine’s the last house on the beach.”
“Thanks for coming then. Though I’m sure cabs come to the hotel.”
“My party, my rules.” He said. “You getting in, or we gonna talk out here all night? Only my place is much more exciting, and I thought that's what you were after?”
I opened the passenger door and sat next to him.
“Come on, party boy. Show me how you play.”
Chapter Fourteen
Smith
I had Ted checking out Serena’s employment references. After her text I decided I’d check out her.
I’d been waiting. She had a surf date with Carter, a meal out with Jayden, a photography session with Flynn.
But I wasn’t chasing Serena. She needed to come to me.
If she wanted to play in my kingdom, she could come right in. But like I said, it was my party, my rules. Let’s see how far Miss Ripley—if that was her real name, and I sincerely doubted it—was prepared to take it.
Without alcohol to buzz through my veins, I got off on the scent of a woman’s arousal. A vampire’s sense of smell was acute, and her scent flowed through the air like honey flowed from a hive.
She’d dressed to kill in a tight red dress.
I drove the few houses down the Pacific Highway, pulling into the private parking garage underneath the house.
Serena exited the car, her body looking elegant on exit, not a gangly mess like the coked-up models I usually played with. She followed me up and around the front of the house, her eyes wide as she took everything in, her senses no doubt assaulted by the sheer opulence of everything.
The pool was filled with champagne. A singer so famous I didn’t need to tell Serena who she was, was singing her hits on a stage on the far end of the patio. Drink flowed freely.
“I thought you were an alcoholic?”
“I have a problem if I drink, but I’m not an alcoholic. Also, why ruin other people’s fun? I like to watch people enjoying themselves, Serena. I hear you do too?”
She looked up slowly and smiled. “Sometimes. Now what does a girl have to do to get a drink around here?” She asked, looking around.
“Jump in the pool?” I challenged her.
She hesitated a moment, looking at me, her mouth slightly open.
“You said you were looking for a party. What was it you called me?” I loosened my tie and threw it onto the ground and then opened my shirt buttons from the top one down. Her eyes followed me until I shrugged off my shirt. Then I kicked off my shoes. As I undid the waistband of my pants, she stepped out of her shoes and lifted the hem of her dress, pulling it over her head.