“Well, great. Good job.” She licks her lips and swallows hard. “A-plus for effort.” She giggles slightly.
“A-plus for effort?” I raise an eyebrow. “Are you saying the kiss itself wasn’t A-plus?”
“Would I say that?” she says. She gives me a quick hug and then kisses me on the cheek. “I’m going to grab some water. I’ll be right back,” she says, and hurries away.
I stare after her, my heart thudding in confusion. All I can do is shake my head. I look over at Wendy, and I see that she’s still checking her phone, texting quickly. Juniper is standing there, looking at me with wide eyes. I’m not sure what she’s thinking. I’m not sure what she just witnessed, but she looks as flustered as I feel, and I don’t know if this has been the worst decision of my life.
I’m about to go after Mia and ask her if she thought we were pushing things a little bit too far when I notice that I have a missed call from Rebecca and ten text messages. I scroll through them quickly and curse under my breath. There’s a problem with the merger. One of the Chinese companies has offered a lot more money and to release the mining rights to be shared between everyone. This could absolutely sabotage my deal. The Brazilians also had another offer on the table, but I needed to read through all of the new sub-clauses.
“Fuck, I need to make a call.” I know I shouldn’t be working this late at night, but I can’t let this deal fall through.
I clench my phone, hold it up, and call out to Juniper, “I just have to take a work call if Mia asks. I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Okay.” She nods.
I hurry out of the bar and toward the beach. When I reach some of the palm trees, I stop and take a couple of deep breaths.
I’m feeling out of my element, which is something that I don’t normally feel. I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but right now, I need to concentrate on what’s really important—and that’s this business deal and not the ache in my heart or the hardness in my pants.
chapter fourteen
Mia
My head feels like it’s spinning, and it’s not just because of the two strawberry daiquiris I’ve already had tonight. For some reason, I can’t get the thought of Luke skinny-dipping with Talia and some other unknown random women in the ocean out of my head. I’m not jealous per se because he can do what he wants, but the fact that he hadn’t even told me about it hurt more than it should. It had been years ago, and it shouldn’t matter, but I always thought that we didn’t have any secrets from each other.
As I glance at Rafe heading toward me, a twinge of guilt hits me as I realize I can’t be super upset because I haven’t always been truthful with Luke about everything either. Rafe stalks toward me, his blue eyes looking annoyed and concerned at the same time. I look around, seeing if I can find an escape from the bar without him catching up to me, but I know it’s no use.
“Hey,” he says, stopping in front of me.
The brotherly look of concern in his eyes makes my heart warm, even though I want to tell him that I’m not a little kid anymore. I don’t need his protection.
“Hey, you’re still here?” I’m surprised, as it’s past eleven and the music is loud and pumping.
Crowds of locals and tourists fill the bar, and there’s barely room to move around. Juniper and Wendy are dancing near the entrance, where I left them, enjoying the beats of Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber while I take a quick break.
“Yes, I’m still here. I like to partyas well.”
“Could have fooled me. You’ve never liked it that much before.”
“I’m just trying to make sure that everything is okay with you.”
“Why wouldn’t it be okay, Rafe?” I say as I look down. I realize I haven’t seen Luke in over an hour.
“What’s wrong?” Rafe asks, touching my shoulder lightly.
“Nothing. I was just looking for Luke. I’m not sure where he is.”
“Juniper said he had to take a work call.”
“A work call? Really? At this time?” I can hear the annoyance in my voice. I close my eyes and take a couple of deep breaths. “Serenity now. Serenity now. Serenity now,” I mutter fast. My eyes flutter open, and I can see Rafe’s lips twitching. “What?”
“I don’t think it quite works like that, sis.”
“Whatever.”
“So, what do you care if he’s got a work call?”
“He’s always working. I mean, it’s the middle of the night. We’re meant to be having fun, and he’s working. Can’t he just let it go for one night?” I shrug. “Whatever. He can do what he wants.”
