Aruba (Bad Boys on the Beach Book 3) Page 7

  “All right,” I say, grabbing her arm. “You’re not staying with me, so get back on the bus, and go back to whatever hole you crawled out of.”

  Stephanie looks down at my hand wrapped around her arm and starts screaming like the drama queen that she is. “Stop! Stop!” she screams as tears start welling in her eyes. I’m not even holding her hard at all. “He’s assaulting me! Help!”

  The owner comes rushing over as I let her go. There aren’t even marks from my fingertips. I was barely touching her.

  “Is there a problem here, Miss Cynthia?” the owner asks.

  “Yes, Lars,” Cynthia says, pointing to Stephanie. “She came here uninvited with the intention of ruining my wedding. She doesn’t have a reservation, and she’s trespassing on your resort. Can you please remove her immediately?”

  Lars turns to Stephanie. “Do you have a reservation, Miss?”

  Stephanie shakes her head. “I would like to book a room.”

  Lars sighs. “Unfortunately, we’re full to maximum capacity. You’ll have to stay someplace else.”

  “Ah, that’s too bad,” Megan says sarcastically.

  “Come with me,” Lars says, waving Stephanie over. “I’ll help you find another hotel or maybe a flight back home if we can’t find anything.”

  She grits her teeth as she glares at Megan and then Cynthia. She exhales long and hard, raises her chin in the air, and then goes with Lars without saying another word.

  “That was… interesting,” I say as we watch her walk into Lars’ office. “At least she’s gone.”

  “She’s not gone,” Megan says, shaking her head. “That chick is like a cockroach. You can’t get rid of her.”

  Cynthia sighs, looking like she’s going to cry. I give her a hug and her body crumples in my arms.

  “She’s going to ruin my wedding.”

  I grab her shoulders and hold her body out, staring into her eyes. “She won’t. I won’t let her. I promise.”

  Cynthia doesn’t look so sure. “You don’t know that girl. She’s pure evil.”

  “I’m your big brother,” I say with a fierceness that surprises me. “I’ll take care of it.”

  Cynthia exhales long and hard before she nods. “Okay. Thanks, Tucker.”

  I gulp as I look back at Stephanie through the glass walls of Lars’ office. She’s sitting in front of his desk and flipping her hair back.

  I knew she was crazy, but I didn’t think she was legitimately, certifiably crazy. I just hope I can keep my promise and keep her away from the wedding.

  My little sister is counting on me.

  7

  Julia

  Day Two

  “Can you believe it?” Cynthia asks, still looking like she’s in shock.

  “With that bitch, I can,” I say, shaking my head. We’re just finishing up dinner, and Cynthia is still talking about Stephanie showing up.

  “She’s gone now,” Chase says, placing a hand on my best friend’s shoulder to try and calm her down. “You don’t have to worry about her anymore. She’s not staying with Tucker, and there are no rooms left on the resort. Lars said so himself.”

  Cynthia sighs. “Have you ever met Stephanie?”

  Chase cringes. “You’re right. She’ll be back.” He looks down the long table to where his buddies are talking. “Look. I have a whole team of Navy SEALs I can mobilize.”

  “It’s not enough,” Megan says, shaking her head.

  “A team of Navy SEALs was enough to find and take out Osama bin Laden. We can handle a cunty spoiled brat.”

  “I think you’re underestimating her,” Megan says. “She makes Osama bin Laden look like a girl scout selling stale cookies.”

  For once, I think Megan may be right. Our group has had three destination weddings, and Stephanie has shown up to all three of them. She was invited to one.

  This girl has a black belt in attention whoring, and we all hate her. When she’s not handing out backhanded compliments or passive aggressive comments, she’s stealing wedding dresses and stealing boyfriends. She has no shame.

  As shocked as I am that she showed up, I’m even more shocked that Tucker had dated her. He has some explaining to do on that one.

  “Who wants to go to the Casino tonight?” Chase asks the table. His Navy SEAL buddies start cheering. “I’m in the mood to make some money!”

  Cynthia is sitting on my left. She leans close to me while her fiancée is distracted. “Can you keep an eye out for her?” she whispers. “We both know she’s not going to give up this easily.”

  “Definitely,” I say, nodding. “I take my maid of honor duties seriously.”

  I glance down the table to where Tucker is sitting beside his mother. She has her iPad out and is showing him something that he seems totally disinterested in. It’s probably a news article debating that the earth is flat or something equally ridiculous.

  I can’t believe that he dated Stephanie. I can’t believe that I have a date with him.

  He’s taking me out tomorrow, and the worst part is, I’m excited for it. I should be planning excuses or escape routes, but instead, I’m planning what I’m going to wear and how I’m going to do my hair. Ugh. I make myself sick.

  Tucker’s honey-colored eyes dart over to mine, and I quickly drop my eyes to my lap as my cheeks get hot. When I look up a few seconds later, he’s still watching me.

  Tanya is sitting beside me on my right. She’s grinning as she watches us. “So, you and Tucker?” she whispers with a knowing grin. “What happened on those rocks?”

  “What are you talking about?” I ask, playing dumb.

  “When he pulled you out of the water,” she whispers. “Were you lying there out of breath while he held you in his muscular arms and then he leaned down and touched his lips to yours, giving you mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?”

  “No,” I say, taking a big gulp of wine. “I threw up all over myself.”

  She laughs. “Some guys are into that, I guess.”

  I giggle along with her. “He’s taking me out on a date tomorrow,” I whisper. I just have to tell someone.

  “What?” she shouts, a little too loud. People at the table look at us but then continue with their conversations when we sit there silently for a while.

  “How did that happen?” she asks when all of the attention is off us once again.

  I tell her how he wanted to go on a date with me in exchange for saving my life. Only a selfish prick like Tucker would want to get repaid for saving someone’s life.

  “I think it’s going to be good for you two,” Tanya whispers. “Everyone can see that you two have had a thing for each other since you were kids.”

  I scoff. “Yeah, right. What have you been drinking? You’re not supposed to consume alcohol when you’re pregnant.”

  “It’s pretty obvious,” she says with a shrug. “He’s not a kid anymore. Maybe you should give him a chance.”

  I shake my head. He’s still the same asshole I’ve always known. “He’ll get his date. Nothing more.”

  The group gets up, and we all head over to the resort’s Casino. I keep my distance from Tucker the entire time and walk around watching everyone gamble. Tanya and Megan are playing the penny slots, but even that is too rich for my blood.

  “Look at this!” Tanya says, waving me over. “I put in three dollars, and I’m up seventy-seven cents!”

  She pulls the lever on the side of the penny slot machine again and gets three cherries. “Woo-hoo!” she shouts as the machine rings and her money goes up. “I’m rich!”

  “How much did you win?” Megan asks.

  “Forty-six cents!”

  Megan nods her head. “Nice!”

  “I think I’m going to quit while I’m ahead,” Tanya says, biting her lip nervously. She’s only up a dollar and twenty-three cents.

  “Good idea,” Megan says. “Because you have to know when to hold them.”

  “Oh, no,” I mutter. “You’re not allowed singing in a Casi
no. There’s rules against that.”

  They just ignore me. Singing rules don’t apply to these two.

  They keep singing, taking turns butchering the song:

  “You never count your pennies,”

  “When you’re sitting at the slots,”

  “They’ll be time enough for counting,”

  “When we hit the five-dollar jackpot.”

  “All right, that’s enough.”

  “Agreed.”

  I hurry away before they start verse two. The constant pinging of coins hitting metal and Casino chips clanking together is starting to get me anxious. It keeps reminding me of my mountain of debt that I’ll never be able to repay.

  Maybe I can rob a Casino. That would solve my problems.

  I glance over to where the boys are playing a game of poker. There’s a huge pot in the middle, and it looks pretty heated.

  “What’s going on?” I ask Cynthia when I walk over. She’s biting her nails as she watches the game.

  “There’s about a grand in the pot,” she says nervously. “It’s only Chase, Ethan, and Tucker left in the hand.”

  Ethan sighs and throws his cards in the middle. “I’m out,” he says, shaking his head as he gets up from the table.

  It’s Chase’s turn to bet. He rubs his chin as he stares down his opponent. Tucker is glaring back at him.

  I get shivers as I watch them. This doesn’t look like it’s going to end well. I slowly walk over to Tucker and stand behind him. I want to be nice and close to tell him to calm down if things get any more heated.

  “Five hundred dollars,” Chase says. He throws all of his chips in the middle and then pulls out his wallet. He tosses a few bills on the pile and glares at his soon-to-be brother-in-law.

  “There’s a twenty-dollar limit on bets,” one of the Navy SEALs at the table says.

  “It’s fine,” Tucker says curtly. He reaches into his wallet and pulls out a wad of bills. “Five hundred,” he says, tossing the money onto the pile, “and I raise you another five hundred.”

  The table is silent except for the clinking of poker chips as the two guys face off. They’re staring each other down, like more than just money is on the line. Their manhood is on the line too.

  Boys are so stupid.

  “I’ll see your five hundred,” Chase says, looking nervous. “And raise you another five hundred.” He doesn’t have enough in his wallet. “I’m good for it.”

  “Okay,” Tucker says, taking a deep breath. “I’ll call.”

  He counts out five crisp one hundred dollar bills and adds it to the pot. I stare at the money with hungry eyes. But who am I kidding? That money won’t even put a knick in my debt.

  “What do you have?” Tucker asks.

  Chase grins as he places his two cards on the table. With the five cards showing in the middle, he has three kings. “Trip kings,” he says.

  Tucker sighs as he looks at his cards one more time. I’m over his shoulder and see that he has pocket aces. One of the five cards on the table is an ace. He has Chase beat.

  “You got me,” he says, tossing his cards face down on the table.

  Cynthia cheers as Chase jumps up and hugs her. Tucker is trying to look upset, but I see the tip of his lip curling up into a smile.

  “I lost enough money for one night,” he says, getting up from the table. “Thanks for the game, boys.”

  He shakes each one of their hands and saves Chase for last.

  “You’ll get me back next time,” Chase says as he shakes his hand.

  Tucker nods. “Congratulations.”

  He wanders over to the bar, gets a drink, and then walks out of the Casino. I bite my bottom lip as I watch him, and before I can stop myself, I’m running out the door to follow him.

  It’s a gorgeous Caribbean night with a nice cool breeze on the spectacular resort. People are walking around with smiles on their faces and sunburns on their shoulders.

  I spot Tucker walking by the lit-up fountain looking hot as the Caribbean sun in his white pants and gray collared shirt.

  “Tucker,” I call out as I jog to catch up with him. He turns and smiles when he spots me. His sexy smile makes my legs weak, and I nearly fall to the ground.

  I stop in front of him and take a deep breath. The beautiful fountain is spraying up water beside us as he looks down at me with his sparkling eyes.

  “That was really nice what you did back there,” I say as I curl a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

  “You saw my cards?”

  “I did. That was really nice.”

  He shrugs. “I don’t want to take my sister’s money. She’s so proud with money, it’s the only way I can help her out.”

  “I hear that you’ve done well for yourself.”

  He smiles. “I just have fun. I’ve always been competitive, and real estate investing is the perfect career to be in if you’re competitive.”

  I smile shyly, not knowing what to say. We’ve always been so good at yelling and arguing with each other, but this new way of interacting—talking like civilized people—is still new to us. We haven’t gotten it down pat yet.

  Ethan is walking over with Tanya. She looks tired but happy as she rests her head on his shoulder.

  “We’re going to bed,” Tanya says as they stop in front of us. “I can barely make it past ten o’clock these days.”

  I thread my hands through her hair and smile at her. “It will all be worth it when you’re holding cute little Rocko.”

  “We’re not naming him Rocko,” she says, looking up at Ethan before he can make a comment.

  “We’ll talk,” Ethan says.

  “We have talked,” Tanya answers quickly. “The discussion is over.”

  “We’ll see,” Ethan says with a smile.

  Tanya just shakes her head.

  I take in a sharp intake of air when I see someone walking through the resort. I didn’t completely believe that she was here, but she is. I had to see it with my own eyes.

  Stephanie.

  She’s grinning in triumph as she struts over in the world’s tightest and shortest dress. “Hi, cousin,” she says to Ethan. “Hi, Yawn-ya.” She looks down at her big belly and grins. “I see that you finally lost some weight.”

  Tanya looks her up and down. “I see that you finally got out of jail.”

  “I did.”

  “How was it?”

  “Smelly. Dirty. Full of cunts.”

  I grin. “Sounds like you fit in just perfectly.”

  She narrows her eyes on me, and it makes me gulp. A jail in Belize would bring most people to their knees, but Stephanie probably did fit in perfectly. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was running the place after a few days.

  “What are you doing here, Stephanie?” Ethan says, looking annoyed. “It’s not enough that your life is miserable? You have to make everyone else’s life miserable too?”

  Stephanie grins as she looks at me then Tanya. “Just these four bitches.”

  Tucker steps in front of me, blocking me from Stephanie’s hateful glare. “You’re not staying with me, Stephanie, so you might as well just go.”

  She grins as she holds up her wrist, showing off her pink bracelet that the resort gives to their guests when they arrive. “I’m here with someone else.”

  “Who?” Ethan asks.

  She smirks as she walks away. “I’ll see you guys at the beach.”

  We all watch her as she walks through the lobby and knocks on the owner’s office. Lars steps out of his office, and my stomach drops when she kisses him on the cheek.

  “Oh, shit,” I mutter as he grabs her ass. She’s smirking at us as they walk to the bar and disappear inside.

  “I’m too tired to deal with this,” Tanya says with a sigh. She and Ethan say goodnight, and they leave, walking hand and hand back to their room.

  I’m still in shock at seeing the devil herself. “I can’t believe you dated her,” I say to Tucker.

  “I can’t bel
ieve I dated her either.” He looks shell shocked as he stares at the bar. “She wasn’t like that when we dated.”

  I scrunch my nose up in disgust as I look at him. “You’re tainted now. I’ve lost what tiny ounce of respect I had for you.”

  “Too bad,” he says, as we start walking. “We’re still going on a date tomorrow.”

  We step onto the dark path and head back to our rooms, walking together. Our shadows are touching as we walk side by side. They look so natural together that I’m a little jealous.

  “If it makes even a small difference,” he says as we walk by the lit-up pool. “We didn’t have sex.”

  I have to hide my smile. I shouldn’t care, but I do. I’m glad they didn’t have sex. I don’t think I could be friends, or anything else, with someone who had sex with her.

  “Goodnight,” I say as I walk to my door.

  He smiles at me as he walks to his. “Remember,” he says with a grin. “Just knock on the wall, and I’ll be right over.”

  “Don’t hold your breath.”

  He grins. “One knock and I’ll be right over, ready to fulfill your wildest dreams.”

  “On second thought, hold your breath. Hold your breath all night.”

  He’s laughing as I open the door and hurry inside before I change my mind.

  I can’t stop thinking of him as I get ready for bed. When I’m lying there in between the soft sheets, my hand slides down between my legs as I remember his arms around me as he pulled me out of the water.

  I’m already so wet, and my fingers glide through my folds easily as I replay the moment in my head. This time when I’m lying on the rocks, I don’t puke all over myself. I’m looking hot as he leans down and kisses me.

  “Oh, fuck,” I groan as I start rubbing my clit in tight little circles. I yank off the rest of my clothes as my nipples harden and warmth floods through me.

  He’s right there. Right behind the wall.

  I slide a finger inside my silky hole as I picture him lying only two feet away on his bed. I imagine Tucker hearing me and knowing what I’m doing. I picture him pulling out his big thick cock and stroking it as I touch myself.