There was a time when I told him everything, before the fucking sky shifted and the stars fell out of my world.
揕ook. I don抰 have time to get mixed up with relationshits. I抳e got my company, I抳e got my daughter, and that抯 enough. I抦 not sure why you don抰 get it when you抳e spent the last ten years banging Bali pool girls.?
Anyone else would take that as an insult. Troy just throws his head back and laughs, drunkenly pounding my shoulder.
揝till got it, you bastard. And so do I. This boy wasn抰 made to settle down.?His too-wide grin fades and he settles back in his seat with a heavy look. 揧ou, on the other hand... I just want you to be happy, Cole. That抯 all. Half your life is leaving and you抣l have a lot of free time on your hands. A long time ago梑efore the accident桰 remember when she made you happy. Maybe someone new could, too.?
I don抰 know if it抯 my mood or the drinks or this damn humid night.
As soon as he finishes, I glare across the table, my lip curling.
揟roy. Drop it.?
He holds a hand up. 揙kay, okay. Sorry, I didn抰 mean to take it that far. It抯 just...I know. I get it, man, everyone moves on in their own way.?
Moves on from fucking what?
He抯 described my dilemma without knowing it, though.
Is that what I抦 doing with Eliza? Giving in to temptation? Trying to prove to myself that the past is the past, over and done and buried like Aster抯 ashes.
Troy isn抰 the only one who抯 mentioned moving on recently. So has Kate梩he only person who knows me almost as well as he does.
Maybe there抯 something to this.
Troy knows what kind of man I used to be before I became a workaholic husk without a life beyond Wired Cup and Destiny.
I need to keep my shit together. Especially with a lab girl whose chemistry could blow my life梐nd hers梩o kingdom come.
I抎 do well to remember that the last woman who was tangled up with me that way hurled herself into dark, dangerous waters and never came home.
No siren deserves my selfish fantasies.
No one needs to share the shadow hanging over my life.
No beautiful young woman needs my damage when damage is all I have to give.
Torches blaze overhead, casting warm firelight on every surface.
Eliza wears that lethal dotted bikini and tight cutoff shorts. She skips ahead of me, giving me the view of a lifetime. Her ass looks so delectable I want to fucking bite it.
揥here are we going??she asks, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
I don抰 care.
I just know I抣l be sad when we get there if it doesn抰 involve having that ass.
揌ello? Earth to Commander Coffee??She stops, waving her hand in front of my face.
揗y beach.?I point past the lush vegetation at the edge of my property, the neat line where the soil becomes sand. 揇o you want to get closer to the water??
揝ure.?She smiles like the devil as she shimmies off her shorts and runs into the tide, kicking and splashing water.
I admire the view until she disappears under a tall wave, diving as gracefully as the dolphins we saw earlier.
Go ahead. Call me a dirty old fuck.
I still want to punish that tight little ass of hers.
With my cock tenting my shorts, I wade into the water beside her.
I just watch her, the way the moonlight makes the beads glow on her creamy skin. It抯 looking a little more tanned every day.
Eliza gestures toward me impatiently.
So I close the distance between us, pulling her into my arms. My fingers push under her bikini, greedy as hell, squeezing her ass underwater.
揂re you sure about this? Tell me now梑efore it抯 too late to stop.?If I抦 being honest, it already is.
She just stares at me, breathing softly, her nipples peaking under her bikini top.
Even in the darkness, her eyes are so needy.
She leans her face down, planting an innocent kiss on my shoulder.
揧es,?she whispers intently. 揅ole...?
My grip around her tightens as her hand skims my thigh, reaching for my cock.
I groan the instant her fingers wind around it, and she strokes me in one teasing flick.
揌oly hell. You scare me,?she whispers.
I look at her darkly, pushing my hand over hers, helping her fingers glide up and down my angry length.
揥oman, the only thing that should scare you is what happens if I抦 not inside you in the next sixty seconds.?I抦 growling, brushing my lips against hers, adding teeth before I pull away.
She gasps with delight, her brunette curls so soft in my fist.
Her mouth opens eagerly like she抯 been waiting for this all damn night桰 know I have since the day she was hired梐nd the first caress of her tongue matches my urgency.
I only break our kiss to nibble down her jawline, down her neck.
揙h, Cole. Oh, shit.?
That tremor in her voice flips some hellish switch in my head.
Any control I ever had is gone.
I sink to my knees, peeling away her wet bikini bottoms. My fingers roam soft brown curls, seeking her clit.
When I find it, I press my finger in, massage that pearl in quick, teasing circles.
揙h. Oh, God. Oh, Cole,?she whines, her caramel-sweet eyes flickering, inviting, reflecting back my own lustful stare until it抯 all I see and?And then everything goes black.
Sirens wail in the distance, but they抮e moving closer.
The noise engulfs everything until I can抰 hear her moan, her hot breathing.
There抯 a knock on my door.
I swing it open and find a cop on the other side. 揅an you come to the station, sir? She抯 gone.?
I don抰 have to ask who or what the fuck he means.
Eliza.
But he抯 here, so why are the sirens still going?
I jerk up violently, my eyelids ripped open, a hard-on the size of Canada stabbing at the ceiling like a sword.
揌oly fuck,?I mutter.
Just a dream梐 goddamned annoying one.
No sirens.
No tragic surprises.
No heavenly first fuck.
The wailing is my alarm clock. I don抰 know how I shut it off without chucking my phone at the wall.
My options are a cold shower or my hand.
Deciding on both, I kick off the sweaty sheets tangled around my legs and head for the bathroom, my fist already tight around my raging dick.
The cold waterfall shower sends me over the edge in under a minute.
Eliza.
My head snaps back and I抦 grinding my teeth, my whole arm pumping, spattering the wall with thick ropes of my release.
This is what she抯 done to me.
Ropes for days.
Reduced me to painting the shower like a fucking boy before prom night.
When I抦 gasping and finished and the water washes the mess away, I soap myself down, then stand under the ice-cold water, my fingers pressing deep into my eye sockets.
I抦 sick in the head. Terminally ill.
I抳e got to keep some distance between us because I抦 now aware of two things.
I have no control around her anymore. The effect she has on me is maddening.
Secondly, the last woman I got involved with left scars for life.
Eliza doesn抰 deserve that, and honestly, neither do I.
If only Destiny wasn抰 so attached. I抦 not sure how to neutralize that friendship without hurting them both.
Still, I have to man up and resist Eliza Angelo, along with my own fever dreams.
Our chemistry is too strong.
And if I can抰 contain it, and soon, we抣l only brew an acid drip that disintegrates every bit of our lives it touches.
13
Rainbow Shot (Eliza)
Kona days are long and breezy and everything glitters like gold under the spectacular Pacific sun.
They抮e only broken up on this side of the island by brisk rainstorms. I love how refreshing it feels, like someone reaching to sweep the air clean.
I抦 also starting to adore my makeshift lab even more than my fancy lab at home. The soaring ocean views make it easy to fall in love.
When the clouds peel back like curtains and the sun pierces them at just the right moment, I抦 always in awe.
But nothing could compare to the brilliant double rainbow exploding across the sky right now.
The huge multicolored bridge spans the entire ocean in neon ribbons from east to west.