Royally Claimed (The Triple Crown Club #2)

“Mom know about your business?”

He turned to me then, his eyes narrowing to slits as he stepped towards me. “I said, leave it.” He took a slow sip from his glass, his eyes locked on me over the rim. “Remind me why you even came along to this?”

“Because my mom wanted me to, that’s why.”

“So go bother her,” he muttered, turning away from me.

“Relax, Frank, it’s only a few more days. You’ll be rid of me soon,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

“Not soon enough.”

I snorted. “Excuse me?”

“I married your mother, Cassandra. Not you.”

“Oh, you mean you married my mother’s money, right, Frank?”

He turned, a cold look on his face. “Enjoy the rest of your free vacation, Cassandra.”





Chapter 4





I skipped my mom’s invitation to dinner with her and Frank that night.

I just couldn’t.

I’d checked with her at the resort cafe after leaving the awkward run-in with Frank, where she was nibbling at a lunch salad and sipping chardonnay. And I did want to spend time with her, especially in a place like this. With me working in New York for the nonprofit, and her still back in L.A., it wasn’t like we got to spend all that much time together. But I knew I wouldn’t be able to stomach dinner that night, not with Frank there, and not after the weirdness I’d walked in on.

Instead, I sat on the steps of my cabana again, sipping a gin and tonic I’d poured from the bar in the room,looking out over the moonlit ocean. For the millionth time — especially on nights like this — my thoughts wandered to Simon and Tina.

That bitch.

In a way, I knew I’d dodged a bullet. A guy like Simon was always going to leave like that in the end. The warning signs had been there for a long time before he actually had, but I’d ignored them for months. After all, if I ignored them, I could keep myself in the ignorance bubble. Things might not have been perfect, but they were…something.

I rolled my eyes at myself at the thought. God, how pathetic did that make me sound?

I took another sip of my drink, when suddenly, I realized I’d been hearing music, even if I wasn’t sure when it’d started. I sat up and glanced towards the thumping beats, further down the beach back by the main resort buildings.

Whoa.

There, out by the pool area, a whole dance-party of sorts seemed to have sprung up. Strobe lights, an elevated DJ booth, lasers, and pumping electronic dance music. The whole area was packed too. I could even see that from my cabana. Tanned, toned bodies in swimsuits and formalwear alike danced and swirled and moved to the throbbing beats.

…And there I was, sitting by myself like a total dork, moping about being single.

Screw it.

I was on vacation, after all. I was single, in a place like this, and I had two choices. I could sit there drinking and feeling sorry for myself, and grumbling about my situation.

Or I could go out and do something about it.

After all, this place could be romantic, if I could find some romance — even if it was the temporary, “I’m on vacation so I can do this kinda thing” romance.

A cheer went up from the crowd as the DJ slid into a new track, and I suddenly stood up, my mind made up.

Yeah, time to do something about it.



I hadn’t exactly packed “going out” clothes for this vacation, but I also didn’t think showing up in just my bikini was really me. Instead, I pulled together an outfit I decided looked appropriately “tropical nights” — a short, loose, black tank-top that showed off the mid-drift I’d put punishing hours on the treadmill for, and a wraparound sarong that I rolled to shorten to mid-thigh. Sandals, a loose tie for my long blonde hair, a bit of makeup, and I was ready.

The music pounded as I slipped into the crowd of dancers, bodies grinding and swirling like this big rolling orgy of movement. I pushed my way through to the bar, grabbing another gin and tonic before turning to gaze out over the dance floor. My eyes flitted over them, the bare, sun-tanned skin, the hands in the air, the hips moving together, and the strobe lights flashing over the whole thing giving it this almost erotic feel.

I was so caught up, in fact, with watching the mass of grinding bodies and flashes of skin that I never even realized he was looking at me until I looked up.

And I was lost.

Dark eyes, bronzed skin, thick dark brown hair, and a look on his face that got me warm in all sorts of places instantly. His lips pulled back in a strong, confident grin across his slightly scruffed jaw as our eyes locked.

Caught.

Definitely caught, and I was definitely not going anywhere as he effortlessly moved through the dancers, slipping easily past them all with his eyes locked on mine.

I swallowed, realizing as he got closer that he was shirtless, and I felt a throb of heat flash into my face as I broke the stare to drag my eyes down over his torso.

Holy cow.

His face was gorgeous, but his body was a work of art. Broad, sculpted shoulders, a muscled chest, strong, powerful looking arms, and grooves down his abs leading right into the waist of that dangerously low-slung swimsuit.

Um, yeah. This was the vacation night I needed. This was exactly what I needed, actually.

“You’re staring.”

I blinked, quickly swallowing as I glanced up into his eyes, blushing.

“I was not.”

“You were.”

There was a hint of smile on his face — just a teasing upward twist to the corners of his lips. I lost control of my eyes again, letting them wander over those perfect muscles, and the lines of ink etched over at least half the skin I could see.

And I could see a lot of it.

“You’re doing it again.”

My eyes snapped back to his, feeling the heat rush into my cheeks as that grin and those eyes lanced right through me.

“I— no, I was just—”

“It’s okay, darlin.”

I gasped as he suddenly stepped even closer to me, his bare, muscled chest inches from me, the scent of him creeping into my senses.

“Cause I was staring too.”

I glanced up into his eyes, biting back a grin as I saw the cocky smirk on his face. “Oh really?”

“Damn right,” he growled. There was something primal and animalistic about the way he growled it into my ear that sent a shiver through me.

“And you liked what you saw enough to come over, huh?”

God, this was not me. I never flirted, or teased, or toyed around like this. Hell, I never even really went to dance clubs at all, let alone made eyes with tall dark and handsomes across the room.

“Wouldn’t have come over otherwise.” He grinned down at me, his dark eyes flashing. “But let’s go back to the part about you eye-fucking me.”

I hooted out a laugh, grinning at his cheeky comment. “Wow, use that one a lot?”

He frowned. “Use what?”

“That line. On women.”

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