"I told her I'd pass along the message." I was sort of surprised she hadn't contacted him, but maybe she knew what I had discovered about James—he wasn’t a man to be coerced into doing something he didn't want to do. Except by his board.
He continued working, and I felt ignored. "I could take a picture with somebody else, and we could Photoshop your face on. I wonder if she’d be happy with that." It was silly of me to want to see him react to the idea of me with another man.
James continued to keep his attention on the computer. He wasn’t taking the bait.
“I could put on the bikini and see if I can find someone who is your similar build." God, I was pathetic. I really wanted to see him act jealous and possessive again.
"If that's what it takes to get Amelia off our asses, then I guess so."
I’d set myself up for the hurt his words delivered. Had the sex cured him of the attraction he’d felt?
Good God, Reyna.I needed to get a grip.
I changed into the one-piece suit and headed to the beach. I brought along one of my self-help books. As I sat in the hot sand, I decided it was time for me to focus on what I was brought here to do. I needed to stop worrying about James and what he might be thinking or feeling. Like a Stepford wife, I just needed to smile and look pretty to support my man. The feminist inside me cringed at the idea, but I knew that while I played my role, I would be planning my life. This time next year, I’d be free to do whatever I wanted.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
James
It took a minute for the red haze to clear. I knew Reyna was fucking with me with that comment about wearing a bikini and taking pictures with another man, but that didn't stop the image of her doing just that from seeping into my brain. Like hell I’d put up with another man being close enough to take a picture. But the woman liked poking at me, and I needed to do my best not to take the bait. I was proud that I had managed it. At least outwardly.
When she emerged from the suite and headed to the beach, she was wearing a coverup over her swimsuit. It must've been something she bought yesterday. She found a spot on the beach and removed the coverup, revealing a one-piece swimsuit. Had she bought that yesterday too? Had she done it because of my reaction to the bikini? If so, did she do it because I had difficulty not craving her? Or did she do it for herself so that I would stay away from her? Either way, I was glad that she was doing things that reminded me that I wasn't allowed to touch her.
I tore my eyes away from her voluptuous body and turned back to my laptop where I was planning my next steps to thwart the board’s attempts to oust me from the company. Reyna’s report about Amelia calling her interrupted my focus. I could understand why Amelia called Reyna because she probably thought Reyna would listen and understand more than I would. Even so, I was surprised that I hadn't heard from Amelia as well. Was it because I could be moody or was difficult to talk to? Those weren’t great attributes, but they came from my work ethic, not from being a jerk. Usually.
Was it wrong to be so focused on my goal? Success didn't come by chance or through haphazard effort. It came by having a focused plan of action and executing it. Speaking of which, I needed to get to it.
I pushed everything out of my brain and focused on the spreadsheet I'd created to help me track results of the various tasks I intended to do in my plan. Once again, I dove deep into my work, oblivious to anything going on around me. That was until my phone rang. It was the song to Wizard of Oz about the witch being dead. Amelia had added it, telling me it would let me know in advance when George Keyes was calling. Of course, looking at the caller ID could tell me that too, but I suppose the ringtone let me know before that so I didn’t need to check the phone to see who it was.
Since I was supposed to be on my honeymoon, I decided not to answer it. I continued to work until twenty minutes later when my phone rang again, this time with the ringtone of the Beyoncé song about how women rule the world. That meant it was Amelia.
I didn't want to pick up that call either, but I did out of love and respect for my sister.
"You need to take Reyna somewhere, have some fun, and take some pictures and send them to me." Not even a hello from her.
I sighed. "So she told me."
"I decided I needed to tell you too. Really, James, if you want to pull off this fake marriage, you need to do this. You need to look like a man on his honeymoon. Which, by the way, means spending time with your wife." She spoke in a tone that suggested she thought I was dense. I hated that tone. I didn’t like people talking to me like I was stupid.
"What I do on my honeymoon is nobody's business."
I could picture her rolling her eyes at me. "Normally, no. But this isn't a normal marriage, is it, James? You want the board to think that you are a happily married man living a stable, steady life. A marriage license alone doesn’t do that. All that does is make them wonder whether you got married simply because they told you to. That sort of marriage doesn’t exude the stability they say they want."
Irked, I responded, "What do you want me to do? Take a picture of us consummating our marriage?"
There was silence on the other end that worried me. "Did you consummate the marriage?"
Irritation bubbled over. "The point is what my wife and I do on our honeymoon isn’t up for viewing on social media."
"James, I love you and I know you're a good person, but I hope that you're not taking advantage of the situation by sleeping with her as well."
Guilt burned in my belly, which pissed me off. "I'm not taking advantage of her." At least I hoped I wasn’t. Reyna told me she was attracted to me too. She had been an equal participant when we had sex on the table. Sex that I couldn't get out of my mind, which was what forced me to come outside to work. "I'm on my honeymoon. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to believe that we were spending all our time in the bedroom."
"Except you're in Hawaii. And while newlyweds might spend a lot of time together in bed, they do come up for air to enjoy the location they’re in. They take blissfully happy pictures so they can remember the moment when they’re a hundred years old, sitting on their porch rocking in a rocking chair."
I didn’t want to continue this conversation. "I'll think about it."
"George Keyes called me.”