She shivers rather than finishing her sentence, and I glance around, taking the place in. It’s a tiki bar on the water in South Harbor Point. I’m sure, at some point, it was beautiful, but now, it’s run-down, and it needs a good cleaning—or to be torched—and even the salty air is tainted by the burned smell of fish.
“Fine,” I grumble.
She releases abreath of relief. “Thank you, thank you. First drink is on me.”
I roll my eyes.
While the gesture is sweet, we both come from money, so neither of us needs anyone to buy us a drink.
Nicole’s father is the mayor of Harbor Point and comes from old money. And my family pretty much runs the city—between all the hotels, restaurants, and clubs they own. Even the main port that handles almost all the import and export in South Florida is owned and run by my brothers.
“You’re finding somewhere to go,” I tell her, immediately regretting it because I already know where she’s going to insist we go.
“Gladly,” she says as we exit out of the side door. “Besides, if my father knew I was here, I’d never hear the end of it.”
I don’t know much about her father, aside from the fact that my brothers hate him. When they found out I had befriended Nicole—after chatting with her a few times when I frequented her coffee shop, Lattes and Words—they warned me to stay away from her. But we clicked, and since I refuse to let anyone ever tell me what to do again, I told them that while I appreciated their warning, I wouldn’t be heeding it.
And I’m glad I didn’t because Nicole has become a close friend and, as she pointed out, the perfect wingwoman.
Our families might not get along, but since neither of us has anything to do with our families’ businesses, we’ve decided their animosity isn’t our problem.
We slide into my cherry-red Porsche Boxster—she’s a few years old, and she doesn’t have all the latest technology, but she’s my baby, my late college graduation gift to myself—and Nicole hooks up her phone to my dash so I can see where we’re going as I pull out of the parking lot.
“North Harbor Point Country Club,” I read across the screen.
Of course…
“Look, unless we want to drive out of this city, the hot spots are limited. The country club is clean, safe, and has good drinks.”
“It’s also where every corporate bigwig with an even bigger ego frequents.”
“I take it, this means you broke up with Theodore …again.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. What I want is to find someone who won’t treat me like a porcelain doll, and the country club is going to be filled with a dozen Theodores.”
Nicole laughs. “It’s Saturday night, so it shouldn’t be too bad. And besides, like my stepmom always says, ‘It’s as easy to fall in love with a rich man as it is a poor one.’”
I snort out a laugh. “Spoken like a dedicated gold digger.”
“Eh, she’s not bad. At least she’s honest with her intentions. She was a struggling single mom and determined to get herself out of South Harbor Point. One night with my dad, and she had him wrapped around her perfectly manicured finger. She might’ve been broke, but she was young and beautiful, and … well, we both know my dad has bare minimum standards. Thankfully, she’s nice, and her daughter and I get along.”
“You have a stepsister?” I quickly glance her way before putting my eyes back on the road. “Why have I never met her?”
Nicole and I have been hanging out for months, but now that I think about it, she doesn’t talk much about her home life. I know her dad threw a fit about her opening her coffee shop and bookstore, but she used the money her mom had left her when she died when Nicole was little, so he couldn’t do much to stop her. Especially since she had moved out and gotten her own apartment so she’d no longer be dependent on him in any way.
“Vanessa is away at college,” Nicole says. “My dad might’ve been keen on having the hot young wife on his arm, but he isn’t a fan of raising another man’s child.”
My thoughts go to my brother Matteo. When he and my sister-in-law Dani found out she was pregnant and it wasn’t his baby—due to her ex-husband forcing himself on her while she waskidnapped—he could’ve walked away, but instead, he insisted the baby was his, DNA be damned.
So many people snub their noses at our family because of our less than stellar business dealings, but listening to Nicole talk about the way the mayor—who prides himself on being a religious family man—could shun the daughter of his wife only reiterates how hypocritical this world is. Mayor Eric Vanderbilt might have this town fooled, but my family has his number, and once my brothers can prove he’s as shady as we think he is, I have no doubt they’ll take him down.
When we walk into North Harbor Point Country Club, my gaze immediately goes to the bar, which, as I predicted, is filled with a bunch of pompous assholes. They’re rich, and they think they’re God’s gift to women. And they’re so wrapped up in themselves that they wouldn’t know how to please a woman if her clit smacked them in the face.
I groan, and Nicole laughs.
“Maybe tonight will be different,” she says as we walk toward the bar.
We find a spot with two empty seats, and I order my usual whiskey sour while Nicole orders a cosmo.
