Chapter 7
Alice gently closed the door to the villa, making sure the tumbler locked in place before she tiptoed quietly towards her own accommodations. The horizon to the east was pale blue with hues of yellow and red peeking over the water in the distance. She checked her watch. It was already 3 a.m. Part of her felt bad about sliding out from under Jake’s arm and sneaking out without so much as a note. She had meant to leave one but when she got to the living room, a man was lying on the couch half-naked and reeking of alcohol. She tiptoed over the take-out box deposited on the floor and let herself out, not wanting to wake him. She assumed it was Sean, the friend Jake had told him about.
“Dammit! What have I gotten myself into?” Her sandals flew across the room as soon as she opened the door. “Come on Alice. Get a hold of yourself. You don’t need to be catching feelings for this American. Not only that but he also just got left at the altar. All you are to him is a piece of ass.”
She stripped off her clothes and climbed into bed, too angry at herself to find something else to wear. It was too early in the morning for her to go to sleep. She could still smell Jake on her lips and skin. Leaning against the wall, she pulled her knees close to her chest, feeling the breeze from the ceiling fan caress her sore body.
Alice had spent her youth in Greece, raised by her grandparents. They were billionaires, descended from former aristocrats. When Alice was 2 years old, her parents had died in a car accident and her grandparents took her in. Alice grew up in a mansion with servants at her beck and call. She spent most of her days taking lessons in something. Tennis, piano, dance, fencing. She was a jill of all trades but excelled at nothing. That is until she found Instabook when she turned 18. To her grandparents’ consternation, she became very popular exposing photos of herself in various states of undress, though never nude. As her followers grew, she shared more and more information about herself, often casting a negative light on her upbringing, embellishing the truth to gain more likes and retweets. Now she was called an “influencer” though she rarely took money for product mentions. Instead, she used her platform for social justice.
She recalled the disappointment in Jake’s eyes when he saw her moving with her entourage toward the cabana yesterday. She hadn’t expected him to be there or she would have avoided his section. There was something about him. She remembered how she first saw his wavy brown hair from across the airport. Even though she was filming a video about her arrival at the airport for her Instabook and fending off fans, she couldn’t miss Jake as he waited in line for security. She felt something then. Arousal? Curiosity? Whatever it was, she had been unable to get him out of her head.
She had pushed it out of her mind. What were the odds that he would be at the same resort? Even if he was, most people go to Temptations for one reason only. She wasn’t looking for a one-night stand. The only reason she was even here was Temptations had invited her in exchange for a video. She had no intention of hooking up with anyone.
When she saw Jake at dinner that first night, she felt an unfamiliar jolt run through her. Alice’s sheltered life never prepared her for relationships and her influencing gig occupied most of her time. She only had one relationship that lasted more than a week in her 23 years, and it had not gone well. Turned out the guy was just after sex. After two months, when she finally gave him her virginity, he ghosted her the next day. After that, she kept things casual, exploring pleasures of the flesh with a small handful of partners without forming attachment.
When Jake left dinner early, she followed him out of Temptations Café, uncertain of what she would do when she found him. She assumed he would be a shallow, self-proclaimed alpha male looking for a score. The look of despondence on his face and the pain in his angry challenge to the ocean softened her view. Watching his chiseled face contort with obvious heartbreak, touched Alice in a way no one else had. The conversation was so natural and easy. The entire evening, Jake had not even tried to make a move on her. Oddly, instead of rejection, Alice found herself more aroused than she had ever been. The fact he didn’t recognize her from social media was a bonus.
This is why Alice was devastated when she inadvertently brought her insta-life to his cabana. She knew immediately by the annoyed glare from his dark brown eyes, that his image of her had been shattered. Normally, she wouldn’t care what people thought of her. Something about Jake was different. When he left the cabana, clearly upset, she was heartbroken. She had waited most of the night by the beach, hoping he would come out there again. When she was ready to give up, she saw his muscular back walking down the path to the ocean. Alice had no idea how to break the ice until Jake started singing in a surprisingly rich baritone. The rest of the night flew by, and Alice found herself cloaked in Jake’s arm, his soft cock resting gently against her bottom.
That’s when she panicked. Reminding herself this was the Temptation resort, that Jake lived several thousand miles away from her home and Jake likely had no intention of ever seeing her again. She felt embarrassed, used, and disappointed in herself. She decided to slink out before Jake’s adorable breathing made the arousal in her core too powerful to resist. Now she sat on her bed, kicking herself for leaving. In two hours, she had to be at Pleasures for her massage before filming a video at the Nuru center. She lay back on the bed and covered her face with her pillow, hoping beyond hope that Jake would forgive her.