Aruba (Bad Boys on the Beach Book 3) Read online

  The thought makes me crazy, and my back starts arching as I push my fingers in knuckle deep, picturing his shredded abs and broad shoulders.

  I’m breathing heavy as I get closer and closer. I want to feel him on top of me. I want to feel his lips on my skin. I want to feel him slide inside of me, stretching me, filling me.

  Without thinking, I slam my fist onto the wall and knock for him to come and make my dreams come true.

  But as soon as it happens, the fantasy is gone and panic takes its place.

  “Oh, shit,” I mutter as I jump out of bed and grab my clothes. My pussy is so wet, my nipples so hard. I’m breathing like I just ran a damn marathon as I count down in my head.

  I get to seven when there’s a knock on the door.

  I quickly throw my clothes on and look into the peephole. Shit. He even looks hot when his face is all distorted through a peephole.

  “Go away!” I shout through the door.

  He grins. “Let me in. You won’t regret it.”

  “I tripped and fell into the wall,” I lie. “It was an accident.”

  I close my eyes and shake my head. I fell into the wall? Could I have picked a more unbelievable excuse?

  “You rang for a booty call,” he says. “I’m answering.”

  “Well, I’m hanging up now,” I shout back. My cheeks are so hot that they feel like they’re on fire. “Go away!”

  He takes a deep breath and sighs. “I’m right next door if you change your mind.”

  “I won’t,” I shout as he leaves.

  I head to the shower, put the water on freezing cold, and step in.

  Just to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

  8

  Julia

  Day Three

  “What is that baby doing to you?” I ask Tanya as she sits down at the breakfast table with a leaning tower of pancakes on her plate.

  Megan and Cynthia are staring at her in shock.

  “I’ve never seen you eat pancakes before,” Megan says.

  “Me neither,” Cynthia says, shaking her head. “What happened to your usual banana, apple, and yogurt?”

  “Am I that predictable?” Tanya asks as she picks up her knife and fork.

  “With breakfast you are,” I say as she starts sawing through the mountain of pancakes in front of her. Tanya has eaten the same breakfast every day since we’ve known her, which is forever.

  “I’m preggers,” she says before stuffing a huge mouthful of maple syrup and chocolate-covered pancakes into her mouth.

  My beach bag starts vibrating at my feet, and it makes me lose my appetite. I take a deep breath and pull out my iPhone to see who’s calling.

  Crap.

  “Who’s that?” Megan asks. “Is there an emergency meeting down at the elementary school? Did little Sally glue her hair to the wall?”

  “I wish,” I say with a sigh. I stuff my ringing phone back into my bag and drop it back down to my feet. “It’s even worse.”

  “You’re not going to answer it?” Cynthia asks. “Who is it?”

  “Probably Mr. Mastercard wondering where his money is at,” I say, feeling sick to my stomach.

  Megan shakes her head. “I told you that was a credit card and not a magical piece of plastic that makes expensive stuff appear out of nowhere.”

  “Megan,” I say, staring at her, “for once in my life, I wish I had listened to you.”

  “Is everything okay?” Cynthia asks, looking worried.

  I just shake my head as I fight back tears.

  Tanya leans in with syrup dripping from her chin. “How bad?”

  “Bad,” I say with a sigh. “Guys, I’m so screwed.”

  I dug myself into a hole of debt and stupidity that I can’t possibly get out of. Now I’m standing at the deep bottom trying to look up, but I’m so far down that I can’t even see the surface.

  “I bought a pair of Courrèges sunglasses last year that cost seven hundred dollars, and I only wore them once.”

  Megan scrunches her nose up. “Ugh. I hated those glasses. They made your face look like a praying mantis.”

  “I spent over thirty thousand dollars on shoes,” I say, staring at them in disbelief. “I teach a kindergarten class. I could have worn slippers every day and nobody would have noticed. In January, I spent four hundred and sixty dollars on a pair of ski goggles, and I haven’t skied since I was twelve. Four hundred and sixty dollars!”

  “They’re going to cost more like eight hundred dollars when you factor in the high interest,” Megan not-so-helpfully points out.

  Cynthia isn’t laughing at me. She looks concerned. “What are you going to do? You have to fix this.”

  I lean back in my chair and sigh. My stomach is a block of nerves as I push the food around on my plate with my fork. “I’ll have to get a job waitressing during the week nights,” I say, contemplating my options. “I can bartend on the weekends, and I’ll have to work at a camp during the summers. If I do all of that, and not spend a dime, then I can probably pay everything off in five years.”

  Five years! I’m going to be sick.

  “That’s not so bad,” Tanya says. She always tries to stay positive. But there’s nothing positive about this. My life will be nothing but work for five years. Nothing but work, and I’ll have to quit my favorite pastime: shopping.

  There’s another thing too. “But I’m single,” I say, slumping even further down in my seat. “There goes any chance I have at finding and keeping a boyfriend, let alone getting married.”

  “You should try to win the lottery,” Megan says, mocking me.

  I drop my head onto the table, and it lands with a thump. It’s the closest thing I can find right now to burying my head in the sand, so I keep my forehead pressed against the table for a minute. I’ll come up when I feel better. Hopefully it will be sometime before dinner.

  Just when I think things can’t get worse, they do.

  “Are you eating like a dog now, Julia?” It’s Stephanie’s voice. “Good for you. It’s about time you embraced your inner bitch.”

  I raise my head and glare at the unwelcome blonde standing at our table. My eyes are narrowed on her, trying my best to intimidate her, but the napkin sticking to my forehead is kind of ruining the effect.

  “You want to meet my inner bitch, Stephanie?” I ask in a tight voice. “Keep standing right there.”

  She raises her nose in the air, looking indignant. “When you’re dating the owner of the resort, you can stand wherever you want.”

  Cynthia turns pale when she spots the owner, Lars, walking in. He walks up to Stephanie and kisses her on the cheek.

  “Good morning, ladies,” he says to us with a nod. “Enjoying your breakfast?”

  “We were,” I say, glaring at Stephanie.

  “Good,” he says with a smile. He turns to Stephanie and slides his hand around her lower back. “I’ll be sitting over there when you’re done catching up with your friends.”

  “Okay, lover,” she says before giving him a deep kiss on the mouth.

  “Ew,” Megan says, gagging as they tongue wrestle in front of us.

  Lars looks dizzy when they finally pull away. He stumbles over to his table with red cheeks.

  “Classy,” Tanya says as she stuffs a huge forkful of pancakes into her mouth.

  Stephanie is looking pretty satisfied with herself as she grins at us. “Well, I have to go to my date. He’s already in love with me. I made sure that he had the night of his life last night.”

  “You better ride it while you can,” I say, grinning back at her. “It’s only a matter of time before he finds out you gave him chlamydia.”

  “And gonorrhea,” Tanya adds.

  “And that he unwillingly impregnated you with the Antichrist,” Megan says.

  The four of us burst out laughing, which makes Stephanie even angrier.

  “Ha. Ha. Ha,” she says in a flat voice. “We’ll see who has the last laugh at the end of the week.”
/>   With a flick of her hair, she struts over to Lars’ table, sits on his lap, and continues their disgusting make out session.

  “How can anyone kiss her?” Cynthia asks, staring at them in fascination. “Wouldn’t her saliva burn like acid?”

  “I’m already queasy from the pregnancy,” Tanya says, looking away. “I don’t need to see this.”

  “You’re queasy from eating a dozen pancakes,” Megan corrects.

  “You’re right,” Tanya says, grimacing as she looks down at her plate. “I better switch to waffles.”

  “That bitch is going to pull something,” Cynthia says, watching them. “This is all making me very nervous.”

  I cringe as I watch Stephanie sitting on Lars’ lap with her tongue down his throat. I start to wonder if she’s ever done that with Tucker, and I immediately start getting jealous.

  These feelings are so confusing to me. I hate Tucker, so I should be happy if he dated someone as evil as Stephanie, but the thought of them together just makes me want to puke.

  My phone rings again, and my body twitches in response.

  What a morning. I glance over at the bar by the pool and wonder if it’s open yet. I could use a few dozen drinks. Or better yet, I can hand them a job application.

  We’ve been lounging around the beach all day, sipping cocktails, and working on our tans. I still haven’t seen Tucker once. Maybe my luck has finally turned around and he fell into the fountain and drowned.

  “Where’s your brother?” I ask Cynthia who’s lying next to me, soaking up the sun’s rays with a strawberry daiquiri in her hand.

  She raises her sunglasses onto her head and shrugs. “He said he had something very important to do on the island today, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was.”

  I’m wondering if it has anything to do with our date when I catch myself about to smile. I bite my bottom lip to stop that from happening. People don’t normally smile when they’re forced to go on a date with their nemesis.

  “Hmm,” I say, trying to look like I’m not dying to know what it is. “He didn’t say anything?”

  Cynthia shrugs. “He’s probably looking around the island for work. Trying to find a new investment property or something. He rented a car and everything.”

  I take a deep breath as I turn back to the ocean, watching a pelican skid across the sparkling turquoise water as he lands.

  My heart starts pounding when I think of the embarrassment of last night. I wonder if he knew what I was doing when I knocked on the wall.

  No. He definitely believed me. People walk into walls all the time. Especially while they’re sleeping.

  Ugh.

  My cheeks start to heat up as my chest tightens. He definitely knew.

  “What should we do tonight?” Cynthia asks as she stares out at the gorgeous ocean in front of us. “We can get everyone to go dancing or go to the Casino again. Or maybe we can all grab some beers from our mini fridges and hang out on the beach.”

  “Uhm,” I say, feeling my stomach roll. “I have a date.”

  Cynthia jerks up into a sitting position so fast that she spills her drink on her stomach. “A date?” she asks with her jaw hanging open. “With who?”

  I swallow hard, keeping my eyes forward and not on my best friend’s shocked face. “Uhm… with your brother.”

  “WHAT?!?”

  My eyes dart around at all of the people looking at us. I smile nervously at them.

  “With my brother?”

  “Yup,” I mutter under my breath.

  She gets up and sits on my beach chair. I swallow hard as she takes off my Garrett Leight sunglasses and stares into my eyes. “Explain.”

  I tell her how he guilted me into saying yes for a date after saving my life.

  “So, you’re going out?” she asks, still looking unsure. “On a date? With my brother? Tonight?”

  “Yes, yes, yes, and yes,” I say, feeling uncomfortable under her intense stare.

  I’m actually going on a date tonight with Tucker. God those words sound all wrong when they’re put together.

  Cynthia sits back in her chair and wipes the strawberry daiquiri off her stomach when the crazy thought finally sinks in. “I always thought you two would either marry each other or murder each other. I’m glad it’s the former.”

  “We’re not married yet,” I say with a sigh. “Murder is still a very viable option.”

  Cynthia grins as she slides her sunglasses back down over her eyes. “If you’re going to murder each other, please wait until after the wedding.”

  I smile as I slip my sunglasses back on. “You got it.”

  Although I might be singing a different tune tonight.

  9

  Tucker

  Day Three

  I’ve been nervous all day. It’s not like me to get nervous, but I’m finally about to get something that I’ve always wanted, and an opportunity as good as this will make even the cockiest and most confident of men get nervous.

  I take a deep breath as I look myself over in the mirror one last time. My hair is slicked to the side, I’m wearing the button-up shirt that always gets looks from the ladies, and I’m wearing my lucky underwear. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.

  My heart starts thumping in my chest as I turn off the lights and head for the door. Tonight is going to be perfect. Julia won’t know what hit her.

  I spent the day driving around the island, getting everything ready for the best first date in the history of first dates. First, I booked us a luxurious staffed catamaran all to ourselves. We’ll be dining on expensive champagne and fresh seafood hors d’oeuvres as the Captain sails us out to sea while the sun sets in front of us. I can already see it perfectly. Julia’s silky black hair will be flowing in the wind as I make her smile and laugh. She’ll see a new side of me that she’s never seen before, and we’ll get along great.

  Next, the catamaran will sail up to a secluded and uninhabited island that I heard is spectacular. There’s a gorgeous white sand beach in front of thick lush rainforest. There will be a beautiful table for two set up next to a roaring fire. Julia will be thrilled and awed as we walk barefoot through the cold sand up to the table where three waiters in tuxedos will be waiting to serve us. We’ll have a 1998 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay waiting in a bucket of ice. We’ll sip on the wine and enjoy each other’s company as the chef lights up the barbecue on the beach and starts grilling the fresh marlin and preparing the live lobsters that I ordered. We’ll slowly fall in love as the violinist I hired begins playing softly to us as the stars come out overhead. Julia’s beautiful face will be lit up by the candles, and her smile will take my breath away as I gaze into her eyes.

  Once we’re done with our delicious dinner, we’ll have chocolate truffles that I flew in from Colombia, and to wash it down, we’ll have another bottle of champagne. We’ll probably walk over to the water with the champagne and sit on the sand, drinking it straight from the bottle as we talk and talk and talk. Once Julia starts getting sleepy, I’ll have the catamaran pick us up, and she’ll fall asleep on my shoulder as we sail back to the main island.

  When we arrive back, she’ll be refreshed from her short nap and will want to continue this amazing date. We’ll head to Kanamana, the best beach bar on the island. I reserved a table for us, so we’ll continue with drinks and conversation and probably some dancing in the sand.

  I grin as I step into the hallway and close the door. It’s going to be perfect.

  There’s a lightness in my chest as I walk up to Julia’s door and knock three times. Adrenaline courses through my veins when I hear her footsteps approaching on the other side. I can’t believe this is finally happening.

  My knees nearly buckle when she opens the door. She looks absolutely stunning.

  Her silky hair is up, showing off the smooth curve of her neck and her sexy shoulders. I swallow hard as my eyes slowly wander up and down from her painted toenails sticking out of her sandals, up her smooth tanned legs, to her tight
black dress that hugs her thighs, to her breasts that are showing just a hint of cleavage that is enough to make me want to groan out loud, and up to her gorgeous face that is looking at me shyly.

  “Wow,” I say as I try to catch my breath. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “Did you say that to Stephanie too on your first date with her?”

  My shoulders slump forward as all the excitement is yanked out of me.

  “Sorry,” she says as her eyes drop to the floor. “I didn’t mean that. I’m just nervous, and I don’t know how to act around you yet. My old way just kind of comes out like an old habit.”

  “I get it,” I say, with a nod. “Let’s just be ourselves.”

  “That’s the problem,” she says with a grin. “Myself hates you. She has since you stole my purple popsicle in grade one.”

  I smile. “Just let me try to make it up to you. I’ll buy you a thousand purple popsicles if you forgive me.”

  She raises her eyebrow and smiles. “I’m listening…”

  We chat about the wedding and the resort as we walk to the car I rented. She’s a bit stiff and looks uncomfortable, but it’s not as bad as it could be. I mean, I did torture her for over a decade. It’s natural for her to have her guard up.

  But this night is all about seeing me in a new light. Hopefully, she’ll let go of the past and we can start on our future. Together.

  “Nice car,” she says as I open the door for her. My eyes are all over her body as she steps in and sits down. She’s so beautiful. I can’t get over it.

  “I should have written in the contract that we have to stay on the resort,” she says with a laugh as I get in and start the car. “Where are you taking me?”

  I grin at her as I throw it into drive. “It’s a surprise.”

  She sucks in a deep breath as she takes one last look at the resort as it disappears behind us. “I’m definitely getting murdered.”