My heart falls and I can’t hold back my frown. “I thought you two would be happy for me.”
Sapphire shares a look with Polaris. “We are, but—”
“—I’ve had enough people telling me what I should and should not do,” I cut in. “You both should know I am doing this. I can’t sit in this fucking place another day, hour or minute wondering when I get to live my life. I want this. I want to feel a man’s touch. I want to know what it is like to have someone orsomeonestouching me and making me feel alive.”
There’s no calming music piping through the overhead speakers. That doesn’t happen until business hours start. So the dead silence between all three of us is deafening.
“You sound unhappy.”
I bristle. “I guess I am, Sapph. I didn’t realize just how unhappy until right now. That’s why I have to do this. I need you guys to understand I won’t put myself in harm’s way. These men...” I look off over Sapphire’s shoulder gathering my thoughts a moment. “There’s something about them,” I finally say. “They are intense for sure. But between them, I felt protected, not in danger. The way they touched me. Kissed me. Made me feel.”
I look between my two friends.
“Please don’t judge me, but I want to see what happens. If all goes well, tonight’s plan is to tell them I’m a virgin. See where it goes from there. They could kick me out and this conversation is moot at that point anyway.”
“Tonight’s plan? Are you seeing them again?”
The ringer on my phone goes off and I stand up. “They are sending a cab for me tonight. We are having dinner. They want to see how compatible we are before any of us sign and so do I.” I grab the newspaper and my Birkin.
Polaris smirks. “And your security detail? How do you plan on getting around them? The second they see what you are up to they will end it. Who knows what orders your brother has given them.”
“They are downstairs getting their asses chewed out for losing me in traffic today.”
We share a cringe. I hurry to the back elevator. “Cover for me tonight?”
“Do we have a choice?”
Six
Belle
Adriver drops me off outside a large luxury cabin. It’s backed up against the water with towering trees on either side. Private, quiet, and beautiful. The closest neighbor is barely waving distance from where I stand on the front porch. I fix the curls of long hair swaying against my arms in the gentle breeze. I took the last couple of hours to toss aside my dark locks, shave everything, and put enough lotion on so that there was not a dry part left on my body. Instead of the revealing black dress, I opted for an emerald skirt with a slit up the side and a silk top with a bodice wrap complete with zig-zagging ties. Jeweled sandals catch the fading sunlight. A swipe of mascara, a little wing-tip cat eye, and lip gloss complete my casual look.
I reach out to press the doorbell but my finger freezes. All this preparation and now I get cold feet? What am I doing?
Sapphire’s warning echoes in my head. Is she right? Am I doing this to be a rebel or am I really looking for my happiness?
“Hello, Belle.”
I freeze, startled.
The voice comes from behind me. I feel the heat of his eyes on my back as his voice caresses over my senses.
I turn. “Hello.” That’s all I’ve got. My brain disconnects from my mouth momentarily. An irritating recurrence around these men. I stare shamelessly as the man sinks the sharp edge of an ax into a tree stump like it is butter. That’s when I notice the pile of chopped wood at the edge of the porch. He’s shirtless, grinning, and walking toward me before I get my mouth rewired.
“Aziel,” he offers with an easy grin. One hand holds a couple of logs while the other works to rid his chiseled abs of a few clinging wood chips. Hard pecs flex and clench with the jerky movements. I watch all wide-eyed and eager to help with the wood.
“I know your name,” I quip, showing sass. “You just startled me, that's all.”
“I’m sorry for that.” He steps closer. Evening has set and the yellows and pinks of the sky throw his face into a steep shadow.
Standing next to me I can smell the hint of his cologne mixed with pine needles and freshly chopped wood. That tattoo I caught a peek of earlier is a draped flag that covers his right shoulder and a portion of his arm.
The rest of him is riddled with a few scars, a couple of bullet holes healed over and hard plains of muscle I crave to touch.
I’ve never felt so frantic to reach out and touch a man, but Aziel drives an urgency in me that if I don’t act right now I might lose the chance. I’ve lusted after a few men before. A couple of days and I couldn’t remember their names. But this man and his friends make me want them. Worse yet, they put a burning need in me that only settles when I am close to them.
“You look good in your element.” I pat myself on the back for sounding normal.