I thought a cold shower and some distance would fix it. Yeah. Not even close.
She’s standing there like the Queen-fucking-Bee she is: bare skin catching the last of the sun, that dress painted on like it was made to be peeled off, make-up wickedly bold, and her hair – yeah, she might as well have tied a come-fuck-me bow to it.
My fingers twitch in my pockets. She knows exactly what she’s doing. Because this is exactly what she wants.
She’s playing a game. Toying with me.
And I’m fucking loving it.
A smile pulls at my mouth, and it sets off a ripple among theWe Risegirls around me, all bright eyes and giggles. I should rein it in before they get ideas, but I don’t.
Because this kind of game? I’m all for playing.
She turns, scanning the deck for me and I deliberately look away. Nothing’ll get under her skin faster than being ignored. Idon’t glance back until she’s talking to Sadie – then I let myself look. Really look. And yeah… that was a mistake.
A big, big mistake.
The slit in her thigh is so fucking high, I almost get a glimpse of heaven every time the breeze catches it.
‘Don’t you agree, Axel?’ One of theWe Risewomen – Daisy, maybe – cuts through my thoughts, intercepting the heat trying to consume me.
‘Yes. Absolutely.’
No fucking idea what I just agreed to. I’m too busy remembering how to breathe without groaning.
Then a glass rings out as the chief stewardess steps forward.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, if you’d all like to take your seats, dinner is served.’
My smile builds – because guess where I’m sitting?
Yeah, right next to the Devil herself.
Bring it on, Baby Girl.
Taylor
I swear he’s checking me out. But every time I look, he’s all charm and focus, soaking up the women fussing over him like candy.
Maybe my Spidey-senses are faulty.
Maybe I’m losing my touch.
Maybe I pushed him too far.
Touching him like I did… when he treats touch like a personal threat.
The thought twists through my stomach as we head for the table.
I know the seating plan by heart. Sadie and Theo at one end. Axel and me at the other. Everyone else down the sides. TheWe Risegirls to Axel’s left. The Mum crew and their partners to my right, followed by Sterling, then Theo’s mum beside her son.
Shit. That last little trio – Sterling, Anna,Theo– why didn’t I think to shufflethatwhen I signed off on the table plan this morning?
The look that passes between Theo and Sterling is enough to make me shrink back – right into a hot, steady palm at the base of my spine.
‘Careful, Baby Girl…’
Thrilling tremors fire off in every direction as the contact burns through my dress, his words a hot caress against my ear.
