Kiss the Tiger (5 page)

I returned to the main room,
stepped up to Jacko, and drew upon every ounce of alcohol fuelled courage I
could muster. “Dance?”

Chapter Eight

Jacko looked puzzled, but with
Nessie’s encouragement, he followed me onto the dance floor, and straight off
the other side.

“I thought you wanted to dance?”
he shouted, too close to my ear. Even a wisp of his breath made my skin crawl.

“You thought wrong.” I threw the
words back and headed for a quiet corner near a stack of tables, where I
stopped and faced him.

Bad idea, Amy. How stupid can
you get? He’s got you cornered now.

“Not getting you.”

“I don’t want to dance.”

“Then why ask?”

“I want to talk.”

Jacko’s face lit up with a
devious grin. “Ah,
talk
. I see how it is. You want me all to yourself.”
He stepped closer and his arms reached for my hips. I batted them away.

“Don’t touch me, and stay away
from my sister.”

“To the point, but still not
getting you.”

“
You’re
staying here, and
I’m
going to get Nessie and take her back to the hotel. You will not see her or try
to contact her—
ever
. If you come anywhere near either of us again, I’ll
castrate you.”

He chuckled silently. “You really
are a firecracker. I get the message. You don’t like me very much. Am I allowed
to know why?”

“You really don’t remember me, do
you?”

“I have to admit you look vaguely
familiar, but…should I?”

“Three words. New Year’s Eve.”

Our eyes locked, and I waited for
his brain to connect. Suddenly realisation slapped him in the face. His eyes
widened and he started waving his finger in front of my nose.

“You!
You’re
the reason
for my black eye.”

He didn’t have a black eye. “What
black eye?”

“The one J.J. gave me before
leaving me in a ditch to find my own way home.”

My brain smiled but my face
didn’t show it. That was a picture I would like to have seen. “You deserved
more.”

“Yeah. Look. I’m sorry,” he said.
“You must have been too tempting to resist. I can see why I thought that.” His
gaze drifted down my body. “But hey, no harm’s been done, right? I mean there
isn’t a little Adam running around somewhere that I should know about, is
there?” He laughed nervously.

“It’s not a laughing matter.”

“And you didn’t catch anything,
coz I know I’m clean.”

Eww
. “So not the point.
I’m out of here.”

I bumped his shoulder as I
passed, but stopped dead when two giggling girls got in my way.

Jacko caught my arm and swung me
back to him. “J.J. is here because of you.”

“I know. We had a date.”

“I meant Greece. Here in Greece.”

My stomach pitched. “How could he
be?” I glared at the hand gripping my arm, and it released me.

“It’s no excuse, but I was
really
wasted. I don’t remember anything other than what J.J. told me, and he loved to
remind me. He wouldn’t let me forget that night. We were always fighting, and
then eventually, we stopped speaking altogether, and I moved out here. He was
happy to be rid of me, but our parents insisted we work on our differences, or
they were going to throw him out of the house and call in my loan for this
place. He was starting to come around too. I guess it’ll be back to the silent
treatment from now on.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not about to
break up the bromance. You won’t be seeing me again.” I turned to leave.

“Don’t bank on it,” he shouted
after me.

By the time I’d squeezed back
through the crowd, Nessie had stolen my spot next to Josh at the bar, and as
much as I tried to tell myself I didn’t care, I did. I stood back for a minute,
watching her with him. She was leaning back with her elbows resting on the
counter. I knew the pose well. I’d used it many times. It was a sure fire way
to get a guy to fixate on your tits, and usually had him panting like a hound
dog to get his hands on them. Unfortunately for Nessie, but to my relief, Josh was
taking more interest in peeling the label from his beer bottle, only
occasionally glancing up to offer her a half-hearted smile. He probably thought
she was a slapper just like her sister. I’d seen enough.

I walked up and shouted in her
ear, “Time to go.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Didn’t work out.” I pulled her
arm so she would follow.

She glanced back at Josh, who
didn’t try to stop her leaving. “I know the feeling,” she mumbled.

“Decided you don’t like him,
after all?”
Please say yes
. I peeked over my shoulder, savouring the
sight of him, one last time. He didn’t look back.

“No. I still think he’s smoking hot,
just a bit numb. But then it’s not his brains I’m after, is it? I can’t believe
I gave him all my best moves and he didn’t pick up on any of them. I need a new
strategy.”

“You need a new target.”

“No, the target’s good. I’ve just
got to find out what to throw at it to get a response,” she said, pushing
through the door.

Outside, the air was soft and
warm. Shouts and laughter radiated from the drunken fun-seekers filling the
neon lit street.

“Ness…” I started, with every
good intention of filling her in on the situation.

“It’s only ten o’clock,” she interrupted. “The disco might still be on, back at the hotel. We can discuss tactics
there.”

A few yards along the pavement, I
spotted a totem pole.

“I have a better idea.”

We handed over our entrance fee
and entered the dark of the club. The room was an odd mixture of old fashioned
trying to look trendy. Multi-coloured lasers bounced off blackened walls. The
wooden bar, almost invisible behind clamouring bodies, had also been painted
black and was peeling in places, and the dance floor was nestled in the middle
of a circle of fake palm trees covered in a layer of dust. The music was so
loud my eardrums vibrated.

The pull to return to Jacko’s
bar—and Josh’s presence—almost sucked me straight back out of the door, but my
determination to divert Nessie’s focus was stronger.

“This is nice,” she said. “I’ll
get the drinks in.”

I nodded, wondering which clubs
Nessie had visited back home in order to consider this one nice, and scanned
the crowd for a pretty face. It was slim pickings. Repetitive thumping pumped
through my ears. My eyes landed on a square faced boy, a few feet away. I
regretted it immediately. He winked and closed the space between us.

“Hello. Dance?” A speck of
spittle hit my cheek as he spoke in my ear.

He so wasn’t my type. I smiled.
“No thanks. I’m having a drink first.”

He said something in a language I
couldn’t understand, possibly of East European origin, and thinking that the
best course of action was to frown and shake my head, I did so. He shrugged and
turned back to his friends.

I wiped my cheek on the back of
my hand and accepted a glass from Nessie, immediately followed by a second.

“I got us a couple of doubles.
Down one and let’s do the rounds.”

I drained one glass and winced,
expecting tequila. “What was that?”

“Ouzo. Local stuff. Two for one
offer.”

“Tasted like medicine.”

She swigged hers back and screwed
up her face. “Ugh. You’re right. No point wasting good booze though.” Her
second glass emptied as rapidly as the first. “Come on. Drink up and we’ll try
something else next time.”

I did as I was told.

Dodging groups of drinkers, we
edged our way around the circumference of the dance floor, keeping one eye on
the lookout for potential talent.

Nessie leaned in as we walked. “So
what do you think my next move should be?”

“Sideways.” I pushed her out of
the way just in time, as a pair of inebriated boys fell at our feet and
splashed beer up my legs. Great, topped and tailed, both in one night.

“I meant with J.J.? Should I try
again tomorrow?”

“Yeah. About that. Maybe we
should talk about it back at the hotel. This place wasn’t such a good idea. It’s
not exactly classy, and I don’t think my stomach could take another drink.”

“Lightweight,” she said, before
nudging me. “Ooo, hottie alert.”

I followed her line of sight and
had to agree. The guy would definitely do as Nessie’s next target. He looked
like he spent every minute at the gym. He was gorgeous, and so was the friend
handing him a beer. I considered inching closer to them to get their attention,
but the thought evaporated when they grabbed hold of each other and kissed, with
tongues. Maybe not.

Nessie cringed and carried on
walking.

“Ness, wait. I-I want to go
home,” I shouted.

I caught her up at the opposite
end of the room, where there was another bar. A familiar face stood behind it.

“Ah, you come,” said the lounger
attendant. “I show you good time. Can I get you drink?”

My head was already starting to
fuzz. Another drink and I’d be flat on my back. “We’re okay. Thanks anyway.” I
slurred my answer out.

The lounger attendant stepped out
from behind the bar, laid an arm across the shoulders of a boy unloading a tray
of dirty glasses, and said, “My name is Thassos, and this is my little cousin,
Niko.”

“Oh, is he the owner?” Nessie
asked.

Thassos laughed. “No, that is my
other cousin.”

Niko’s eyes landed firmly on my
cleavage. He cocked a brow and his lip curled lasciviously. I decided he was oddly
handsome in a dark and brooding way, and if it hadn’t been for his dark irises
and larger nose, he could have passed for Josh in the dimness of the club.

He stepped towards me, stopping
inches from my face. “Hello,” he said. “You very pretty.”

I stared at his face alternating
different coloured hues under the lights, and the alcohol gave my stomach a
final kick. I swayed, and in the absence of anything to halt my fall, grabbed hold
of Niko’s arms.

He smiled, grabbed my waist, and held
me upright. “You okay?”

My eyes blurred and I tried to
blink them clear. “Actually, I feel a bit…”

“Come. We go somewhere quiet.”

I stole a look at Nessie. I
wanted my bed, and I needed help from my sister, not a stranger. But all I saw
was her back, and Thassos stroking her hair, so I let Niko steer me through a
door. If I could just sit down for a minute, my head might stop spinning. The
door led to a storage room of some sort, with shelves filling the walls and a
mop bucket in the corner that smelled faintly of vomit. The odour set my
stomach swirling as much as my head. I shouldn’t have mixed my drinks. I
decided he must have made a mistake and opened the wrong door. I turned to
leave. Niko clicked the door closed and everything went black.

It was dark. Dark meant
night-time, and night-time meant sleep. I wanted to sleep so badly. I wanted to
sleep with Josh. My eyelids dropped, and I leaned against the shelving. Arms
encircled my waist and hot breath warmed my ear, quickly turning into kisses
down the line of my jaw.

Josh
.

A hand moved up to cup my breast
and the thumb circled my nipple. I let out a soft sigh as my body responded.

“Josh.” His name escaped my lips
for real.

He pushed against me. “Shh, baby.
I make you feel better. I love you good.” The buttons on my top sprang undone
at his touch.

I couldn’t tell if it was his
words that were jumbled up or if it was just my brain, but I didn’t care. I had
him there and he wanted me.

His lips pressed against mine,
but it wasn’t what I expected. They were full and soft, and his tongue was large
and probing. He delved further, making me gag. I managed to pull my head away, and
gasped for breath.

“You English girls smell like ice
cream.” He nuzzled into my neck and started to suck.
Oh geez
. I hadn’t
had a hickey since I was fifteen. What would Mum think?

The room spun, and I hiccupped at
the same time that the button popped open on my shorts. The zip scraped apart
and fingers slid down over the fabric of my panties. I moaned, not with
pleasure but with confusion. My head felt like it was growing spores.

“Yeah, baby. You like that, don’t
you?”

Something wasn’t right. Our first
time should be special. This wasn’t special. I couldn’t even see him. I wanted
sunshine and white sheets. I wanted to see his beautiful face: see the desire
in his eyes, see him want me. Surely, if he knew what I wanted, he’d want it
too.

He groaned and his fingers
fumbled to enter the edge of my underwear.

Somewhere in the blurry outskirts
of my consciousness, I heard a thudding.

“Amy? Amy, are you in there? Are
you okay?”

The pressure eased from the front
of my body, and my zip ascended. A door opened and my date’s silhouette
silently disappeared into the light.

“Oh God, Amy. Look at the state
of you,” Nessie scolded. “Thank God I found you.”

I felt her fingers fastening the
buttons on my top. I didn’t want her hands on me; I wanted Josh’s. “Where’d
Josh go? Tell him to come back.”

“Josh isn’t here.”

“I need to find him.”

“You’re confused, Ames. Too much
ouzo has scrambled your brain.”

“Take me to him.”

“Not possible, babe.”

“But I have to tell him I love
him.”

“I know you do, but he isn’t
here, and we need to get you home.”

Chapter Nine

“Amy! Nessie! Are you in there?”
Mum’s voice permeated my oblivion.

I sat up, pushed back the covers,
and padded to the door. It felt like a flock of woodpeckers had taken up
residence in my skull and were pecking their way out. “Open the door, or I’ll
get the maid to let me in.”

“Okay. Stop shouting. I’m
coming.” I twisted the latch, mooched back to my bed, without looking at Mum,
and crawled back under the covers.

I could feel her disapproving
stare stinging my cheek. “Do you know what time it is? You’ve missed
breakfast.”

Like I cared. The mere thought of
the pink meat that pretended to be bacon, coupled with cold fried eggs, made my
stomach heave.

Nessie stirred. “Mum? Is that
you? What are you doing here?”

“Diane’s dragging me on a boat
trip to the caves, today. She wondered if you wanted to come too.”

“Sounds like fun,” she said
sleepily. “Ames?”

I pulled the sheet over my head.
“You go. I don’t feel well.” Understatement of the year.

“Self-inflicted, I gather?” Mum’s
tone was chiding. “I’ll meet you in reception in an hour, Vanessa. Oh, and Amy,
clean this place up while we’re out. I didn’t bring you up to live in a pigsty.”

The door slammed. I peeled back
the sheet, rolled onto my back, and stared at the ceiling.

Nessie got up and sat on the edge
of my bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got run over by a ten ton
truck.”

“I’m not surprised,” she said,
pressing a couple of painkillers from a blister pack and handing them to me.

I threw them down my throat. “You?”

“Okay, I suppose. Bit bummed
about J.J.”

I didn’t want to think about what
had happened. It was all too much to take in. I knew I should tell her who J.J.
really was, but if he wasn’t interested in either of us, and we were never
going to see him again, what was the point in stirring up trouble? “How come
you weren’t as pissed as me?”

She laughed. “I didn’t have a
belly full of cocktails, beforehand.”

Shit. I’d forgotten about that.

“I don’t remember getting back
here.”

In fact, details were hazy for
most of the latter part of the evening, but the hollow in my gut told me they
weren’t good.

“It wasn’t easy,” she said,
rising and heading for the bathroom By the way you owe me five euros for the
ride home.”

The shower clicked on.

I turned on my side, and a bundle
of white in the waste bin caught my eye. “Why is my favourite top in the bin?”

Nessie peered around the door. “It
died.”

That much of the evening I
remembered. “It was only a bit of cola; it’ll wash out.”

“The cola might, but the pasta
stained vomit, maybe not so much.” She screwed up her face and her head
disappeared again.

“I puked?”

“Twice,” she shouted. “Once out
of the taxi window, and then again on the bathroom floor. Don’t worry. I
cleaned it up.”

***

After Nessie left, I drifted back
to sleep. I awoke an hour later with a slightly clearer head, put on my bikini
and lashings of sun lotion, and headed for the pool.

Approximately forty songs down my
iPod list later, I’d had enough.

The midday sun had heated the air
to an unbearable level, and I understood why the word siesta existed in certain
hot countries. In fact, it had turned into one of those days where the only
thing you want to do is open the refrigerator door and stand in front of it. I couldn’t
take it anymore, so I grabbed a quick bite to eat in the cool of the
air-conditioned snack bar and returned to my room, intending to stick a film in
the DVD player and chill out until the rays lengthened. The opening credits
were rolling when there was a knock on the door. It couldn’t be the maid. When
I’d returned, the bed was made and my top had gone to the big dumpster in the
sky.

I pressed pause. “Who is it?”

“Manager.”

What? Why? Had someone reported
my drunken antics? Had Nessie not cleaned up my mess properly and the maid had
complained? Mum would love the excuse that we were forced to go home because
I’d got us thrown out of the hotel.

“Just a minute.” I quickly tied a
sarong around my bikini bottoms and opened the door, mentally preparing an
apology, and totally unprepared for the sight that met me.

Casually leaning with an elbow against
the door jamb and one ankle crossed over the other was a familiar figure. His
dark head lifted with a crooked smile.

Our eyes locked, and for one
brief moment I was too shocked to speak. A warm tingling radiated out from my
chest, down my arms and legs, and my body weakened. What was he doing here?

I managed to find my voice. “Manager,
huh?”

“Figured you might not open up if
you knew it was me.”

I’ll open anything you ask me
to
.

Josh’s eyes flicked past my
shoulders. “Are you alone?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Can I come in?”

I stepped back on shaky legs, and
he squeezed through the gap, brushing my arm with his as he passed. His
electric touch gave my nerves another jolt.

He walked over to the balcony
access and slid it shut. “Are you going to close the door?”

Hadn’t he just done that? I
faltered for a second before realising what I was holding. “Oh. Yeah. Right.” I
let go of the handle. The door latch caught, and I leaned back against the fire
notice. I needed to sit down before my legs gave way, but the only place to sit
was the bed, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t go there. He might get the
wrong idea. So I went to the dressing table and perched on the edge, hoping it was
strong enough to support me. An uncomfortable silence ensued.

Josh stared leisurely through the
glass at the view, and I stared at him. The white cotton of his T-shirt was
fitted enough to show the contours of his muscular back, and his hands in the
pockets of his beige, linen shorts stretched the material tight across his
buttocks. My mouth went dry with an overwhelming need to touch him. I couldn’t
believe he was here, in my bedroom. If I’d fallen asleep again, and was
dreaming it all, I didn’t want to wake up.

Finally he spoke. “You stood me
up.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“Okay, walked out on me.”

“Yeah.”

“Girls don’t do that.”

I bet they don’t
. “Did I
dent your pride?”

He swung around, and with two slow,
purposeful strides, he was standing in front of me, his nose six inches from my
face. “No.” He angled his head. “I understand why you left. It was a shock for
me too.”

I struggled to keep my breath
even. “It was?”

“You were the last girl I
expected to see.”

“Sorry to disappoint.” Why was I
smart mouthing him when he’d done nothing to deserve it?

His lips curved into a smile. I’d
never noticed his dimples before, but then I’d never been lucky enough to see
them this close. “I wasn’t disappointed,” he said.

“Really? You’re not pissed you
didn’t get the quick leg-over you were expecting?”
Shut up, Amy, before your
mouth ruins everything
.

His eyes fell to my cleavage. “That’s
Jacko, not me.”

The way he was undressing me with
his eyes said otherwise.

“Are you here to argue his case,
because I meant every word?”

“I’m here to make it up to you.” His
voice slowed. “He told me what you said, and what he said about my being in Greece.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.”

And I had. All morning by the
pool, Josh had been pretty much all I had thought about. I’d tried to remember
as much detail as my messed up brain could muster, including Jacko’s words. It
was hard to understand how someone, whom I’d always presumed held the notion of
me being a filthy tart, could argue with his brother to such an extent that
they ended up not speaking.

Josh removed his hands from his
pockets and sat on my bed. “I want to explain.” He patted the mattress. “Sit
down. You look like you need to.”

My eyes flicked between him and
the bed. It was only a single and there wasn’t much room.

“I don’t bite,” he said.

I didn’t move.

“What’s up? Don’t you trust me?”

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him
in particular, more that I didn’t trust myself. I found my head shaking.

He shuffled further up the
mattress, leaned back against the pillow, and stuck his hands back in his
pockets. “Look. No hands. I promise.”

Wasn’t this what I wanted? Hadn’t
I been wanting it for almost two years? What was I waiting for? Cautiously, I
lay down beside him and studied the light fitting above me.

“I know you don’t like me very
much at the moment,” he said.

I felt a rush of longing just
being close to him. If only he knew.

“But I like you, Amy. I always have.”

Liar
. Why was he doing
this to me?

“I wasn’t sure if I should come,
but I wanted to explain.”

“Explain what?”

“That night…” He paused.

Oh dear God. Here we go. This
must be the point where he tells me what a complete slut I was for having a one
night stand with his brother. “Please don’t.” My cheeks burned with
embarrassment.

He turned on his side and plumped
the pillow under his head. With only inches between us, the warmth radiating
from his body heated my blood until I thought I would spontaneously combust
with longing.

I stared at the signet ring on
his finger. “Erm, hands, pockets.”

His hand returned to its casing. “Sorry.
I fidget in bed.”

I did not need to know that. Or
did I? Visions of us naked, hot, and sweaty after an evening of rampant, unbridled
sex, with him plumping the pillow every two minutes as I tried to get some z’s,
flashed into my mind, and I almost lost the ability to breathe.

One thigh dropped over the other
and his shin brushed the side of my leg.

Holy crap
. I finally had
the contact I’d been craving and I couldn’t take advantage of it. “Your leg’s
on my leg.”

“It is isn’t it?”

“Are you going to move it?”

“Do you want me to?”

I narrowed my eyes. “What goes
for hands goes for legs too.”

“I was hoping it didn’t.” I
raised a brow, and he shifted slightly. “That night… That was supposed to be
the night I asked you out.”

Kill me now
.

“I came to find you. Then I saw you
with Jacko…”

I had to stop him. I couldn’t
bear to hear him say the words. “Look, I don’t know why you’re here. Whether it’s
some sick game, or if you still think you can get a piece of what your brother
got, but I’m not playing. You’ve got me all wrong. I don’t sleep around.”
Much
.
“That night is in the past. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m over it. It’s
not fair to fuck with people’s feelings, and I’d like you to go.”

I swung my legs over the edge of
the mattress and stood up. My sarong slipped undone and I stopped to retie it.

He made no effort to move. “You’re
not listening. I don’t blame you. Jacko’s a real asshole, always has been, he
ruined everything. He thinks we’re getting along now. We’re not. He’s not the
respectable guy everyone around here thinks. Sure, the girls are willing, but
he has a different one every night. There’s a plentiful supply, and he doesn’t
want strings. I’m not like that.”

My breath caught when he snagged
my arm and pulled me back to the bed. His face seemed sincere, but they were
brothers, cast from the same mould. Could they really be that different? And did
I care if they weren’t? I did. It felt right to be with him, natural to share
the same bed. I wanted him to want me. I wanted him to rip off my clothes and
drill me until I screamed, but it had to be real. As great as one night of wild
passion with Josh would be, I wanted more. I couldn’t let him think I was easy.
Boys don’t choose easy girls for meaningful relationships. So if he really was
interested in me, I had to play it cool. Let him come to me. Make him work for
it. Because if he waited, I’d know he was serious. “You want strings?”

“Most people do…eventually.” He
released his grip. “Look, can I take my hands out of my pockets now? I think
I’ve killed my left arm.”

“You’re already half-way there,
and no one forced you to lie on the other.”

He pulled out his dead arm and
flexed it. The tiger almost yawned with the effort. His pupils expanded as his
gaze dropped to my lips. I knew what he was thinking, but he kept to his
promise and leaned back to cup his head, taking a long breath.

“When I was seven,” he began, “I
found a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest. I took it home and made a
new nest for it, inside a cookie tin. The next day, when I was out with my
mates, Jacko put the lid on the tin, and the bird suffocated.”

“That’s so sad.”

“The new bike I got for my tenth
birthday lasted about a week, until Jacko decided he didn’t like me having a
better bike than he had, and he rode it to the canal and threw it in. Course,
he said they were accidents, and he had good excuses. He was afraid the bird
might fly away, and he was only keeping it safe. The brakes failed on the bike,
and if he hadn’t jumped off he would have ended up in the canal along with it.
Our parents always believed him. The golden boy knows how to turn on the charm
with the olds. He knew I liked you. You were just another item on a very long
list that he didn’t want me to have. ”

I thought about what he was
saying. Sure, Nessie and I had had a few tiffs, but they were never anything
serious, never anything that didn’t blow over by the next day. We’d always been
best friends. I couldn’t imagine it being any other way.

“If you give me a chance, I’ll
prove I’m not like him.” He propped himself up on his elbow. “Come out with me
tomorrow. Somewhere not on the tourist’s map.”