Mad Love (16 page)

“She kind of deserved it,” I defend myself, hoping that he doesn’t take her side.

“She more than deserved it.” Clayton helps himself to food then turns to smile at me. “You’re very good at that. It’s no wonder your father is upset that you quit law school.”

Did I tell him that? I guess I must have, because how else would he know? But I don’t remember telling him. Funny. In any case, I’m happy he doesn’t disapprove.

“I guess.”

He remains quiet and the awkward moment with Jane suddenly seems like it never happened. Everyone is talking and enjoying one another. Eduard and John start to tell childhood stories of when the boys went on trips together on holiday breaks and have the table laughing in no time. I’m secretly thrilled to get to know as much about Clayton as possible.

“The best trip was to Klosters in Switzerland. Do you remember, Clayton?” Eduard asks him with a devilish smile.

“I recall some moments,” Clayton returns evenly. He gives his friend a look.

John interrupts in hysterical laughter. “You recall?” He’s clearly had one too many. “You recall? My god man, you were thrown out of the Walserhof on your ass. And a very naked ass, I might add. Don’t you remember?”

Eduard and John can’t stop laughing and Elizabeth and Jane join in. Obviously this is a story they all know well.

“The first Sinclair thrown out of the Walserhof!”

John can’t seem to get a grip. I look at Clayton, who’s leaning back in his chair staring in amusement at his friends.

“We gotta hear this story,” Erik demands. “This is not fair. You can’t be the only ones laughing.”

“I want to know why you were naked,” Orie adds.

I couldn’t agree more.

Eduard holds up his hand and looks around at the table, signaling everyone to quiet down.

“We always took yearly ski trips. Since Clayton was back and forth from Singapore and we didn’t get to see him often, we really looked forward to these trips.”

Back and forth from Singapore? Okay, so one of his parents must have lived there.

“Were your parents with you?” Erik asks.

They all look horrified at the thought.

“What kind of trip would that be?” John asks, with a roll of his eyes. “Can you imagine?”

Erik shrugs his shoulders. “Actually, I can. I travel with my family all the time. They’re cool as shit.”

“Trust me. If you met the people who gave birth to us, you’d understand my comment,” John mutters darkly and takes another sip of his drink.

I look over at Clayton, who’s staring down at the table pensively. I hope he didn’t have it as bad as these guys. What are you thinking, Sophie? He probably did. Birds of a feather tend to flock together.

“Let’s not put a damper on our conversation, John. No one wants to get depressed. Besides, you pay the family therapist to listen to your problems,” Eduard lectures his friend.

Family therapist? My life is beginning to look like a Pixar movie in comparison.

“So we arrived at Klosters, John and I, and Clayton was already there,” Eduard goes on.

Clayton looks over at me and shrugs his shoulders as if to apologize for his friends.

“We soon find out he’d arrived a day early. Turns out that our good old boy was having a bit of a dalliance with Sir John Pemberton’s wife,” Eduard says.

“The wolf was only nineteen at the time and Pemberton’s wife was in her late twenties,” John blurts out, finding this vastly amusing.

“Old Pemberton always did like them young,” Eduard chimes in as he throws back his drink.

Clayton’s friends chuckle as they remember what they think is a funny anecdote. But I can’t keep the consternation off my face. He seduced a married woman. They call him
wolf
. And his friends think this tale is amusing? What is going on here?

“The wolf?” I say and look at Clayton.

“A name I was called in my younger years.”

“Hungry like the wolf … ” John belts out the old Duran Duran song. Elizabeth nails him in the ribs with her elbow and gives him a dirty look. He still doesn’t seem to get it. And now, of course, sour Jane looks positively radiant.

Uh oh. Does this make me the next victim of the hungry wolf?

“I was nineteen,” Clayton explains, undaunted.

“In case you haven’t noticed, dear Sophie, Clayton has unusually bright blue eyes, just like a wolf. They always lured them in,” Eduard says. By “them” I know he means women.

I mean, let’s be real, I was lured in by them, too!

“Well, finish the story,” Orie tells Eduard as he motions for him to go on.

“How do you mean?”

“There’s got to be more to this then him being called wolf and sleeping with a married woman.”

I almost spit out my drink. Leave it to Orie.

“I think we’ve heard enough,” Clayton warns his friend. Oh no, we haven’t, I think, and say, “No. I’d like to hear the rest of it too.” I wear a fake smile. “He stopped at the best part.”

I pick up my drink and down its contents. I look around the table and smile sweetly at Jane. This evening is definitely getting interesting.

I lift my hand and motion for the waiter, who rushes over to me.

“I’d like a pomegranate martini. With Grey Goose please.” I look around at the table. “Anyone else want anything?”

“That sounds delicious; I’ll have one as well,” Erik says loyally.

Orie raises a hand with a smile. “I’m in.”

I don’t dare look over at Clayton. I know he’s probably annoyed I’m now having hard alcohol when he wanted me to stick to champagne or wine to prevent me from getting drunk. But you know what? I don’t care. His nickname is
the wolf!
Hearing that his predatory skills with women are akin to a deadly hunter in the animal kingdom is pretty full on. And scary.

John, who is beyond drunk, continues to sing “Hungry Like the Wolf.” Elizabeth looks at me in horror and mouths, “
I’m so sorry!
”

It’s like a bad romantic comedy. Except it’s my real life.

Elizabeth tries to save face. “I think we all know how Clayton ended up being thrown out of the hotel naked.”

“Well yes,
we
do. But they don’t. And it’s the best story. They haven’t heard the funny part yet,” Jane says.
Now
she’s the life of the party.

Eduard looks at Clayton, who I’ve avoided looking at, and has the sense to seem a bit scared.

“I think that’s enough rehashing of the past for tonight,” Clayton warns him again.

But John shouts out, “Pemberton found the wolf in bed with his wife and Clayton had the nerve to tell the old man that she seduced him and that he didn’t know she was married!” John laughs. “Security came in and escorted him out because management were scared of Pemberton. He demanded they march the wolf buck-naked through the lobby and out the front door! He didn’t even let the poor guy put a cravat on. Lucky for him, our car pulled up at the same time!”

And how is this even remotely funny? Honestly? But the rest of them seem to think it is the most hilarious thing they’ve ever heard.

“I
didn’t
know she was married,” Clayton says in a tone that would make any man cringe. Unfortunately for John, he’s too sloshed to hear the ominous threat.

“We never believed that, you know. You kept saying it, but of course you knew!” John continues in a drunken stupor.

Erik reaches out and pats him on the back, hoping to jolt him back to earth. “You’re going to be in real deep shit if you continue on, my friend.” Erik’s got a smile on his face but we all know how true his words are.

“Bah! Clayton knows we’re taking the piss out of him,” John waves Erik off. “There’s more!”

9

“I think we’ve all heard enough, Johnny,” Clayton tells his friend as he stands up and extends his hand for mine. “May I have this dance?”

I smile awkwardly because I know everyone is staring at us. And I don’t want to seem annoyed, which I kind of am, even though I have absolutely no right to be. But I’m also dumbfounded because his friends are so strange. Why do they think this is an appropriate story to tell in front of me? And every detail of the story? Did I need to know all this?

“Of course,” I say and stand up, refuse his hand out of principle, and make the excuse of picking my dress up off the sand. Clayton waits patiently while I step away from the table, then takes my hand firmly in his. He won’t let me get away. We walk toward the music.

The band is playing a soft reggae tune as we join the other couples on the dance floor.

“I was just a child, Sophie,” he says as he pulls me into his arms. I keep my eyes on his neck as I put my hands on his chest. The familiar feeling washes over me as I savor his touch. The pulsating energy that seems to course through my veins makes me forget time and place. I can’t even keep it together for a second, even though I just heard a wicked story about his womanizing ways. What’s wrong with me?

“Look at me,” he says.

“I’d rather not right now,” I tell him honestly. “I’m trying to digest all that.”

“Are you upset with me?” He sounds incredulous. I lift my gaze to his.

“The wolf?” I’m pretty sure my face looks appalled and I don’t try to keep the disdain out of my voice. “Really?”

At least he has the decency to look a bit embarrassed.

“I’m not going to apologize for my youth.” He stares at me and I have to agree with John and the however many other women he’s been with, that yes, he does have the most burning gaze I’ve ever encountered.

“That was a different time in my life. And I’m sorry if it upset you … ”

“It doesn’t upset me, Clayton. It scares me,” I abruptly answer.

“Get over it. It is an old story and you’ll probably hear more of them in the future. Everything that happened then made me who I am today.”

“Did you know she was married?”

“No.”

I stare into his eyes, hoping I’ll see the truth. And it’s there. He lets me inside for a second and I nod in acceptance. I feel the tension leave his body and he smiles at me in relief. He leans down and puts his forehead against mine.

“You know what they say about wolves?”

“What’s that?” I ask softly.

“That they mate for life.” I lose my stomach, a combination of his words and his embrace.

“Do they?” I say calmly.

“Yes, they do.” He kisses me softly then pulls away.

“We’re leaving now.” Yet again, it’s not a question; it’s a command. His eyes are blazing with passion and I’m satisfied to see that he looks as unnerved by our intense chemistry as I am.

“I want to be alone with you,” he continues. I wish I had a fan to cool myself down. He takes my hand and gives me a look so incredibly intense that it makes my body burn.

“Are you ready?” he asks.

Am I ready? We both know what is going to happen. There’s no hiding from it. I look up at him. The stars in the sky frame his head and shoulders like a painting. I know this night is going to change my life forever. In addition to the obvious, something more profound is going to happen. I’ve read so many books about destiny and defining moments that I know I’m living that experience now. I push any thoughts that could ruin this moment out of my mind and I just be, as Erik advised me.

“I am ready,” I finally answer.

He gives me a sexy smile and leads me back to the table, where we quickly say our goodbyes to everyone. Clayton doesn’t let me linger around Erik or Orie. I wave at my friends and follow him. When he continues right past the deck that leads to our villas, I give him a puzzled look.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

I feel an anxious twinge, but I stay quiet and follow him. You could literally cut the air with a knife, our sexual tension is so palpable. I want him to kiss me again, make me feel alive and take away my fears of what lies ahead. Clayton takes a turn down a tree-lined path toward the main docks.

In the blink of an eye I’m picked up, pushed against a palm tree, and Clayton’s mouth is on mine. He takes savage control, and I’m more than happy to let him. I move my hands through his hair and pull him in. His tongue curls against mine and I gladly take it, sucking in all that he will give me. I can feel him hard against my body and I love that he wants me as badly as I want him. I moan when his mouth leaves mine to trace kisses down my neck.

“You are a witch,” he whispers.

“So you keep telling me,” I pant.

Clayton abruptly pulls away from me and pulls me further along the path. “I’m not going to let my desire get in the way of what I’ve planned.”

Shit. Why not? As we walk, he says, “I’m going to ask you an uncomfortable question.”

I’m instantly on edge. “Okay.”

“Are you on the pill?”

My face heats up instantly.

“Some women do take birth control even though they’re not sexually active,” he explains, as if I’m five years old and don’t know how the reproductive process works. Could this be any more mortifying?

“Thank you, Clayton, but you can assume that I know about the birds and the bees.”

“That’s not what I asked.” He’s says with a smile. I know he knows I’m humiliated by this conversation, but that I also understand why this is a perfectly logical question for him to ask.

“I’m on the pill.” Lord, is this uncomfortable.

“How long?”

Really? What is he, my gynecologist?

“Are you serious?”

“I want to know.” I wonder why he cares.

“About three months,” I say, annoyed. “And do you want to know why?” I ask the last part sarcastically.

“Yes, that was my next question.”

Is he for real?

“I was stressed out and my body was out of whack!” I practically yell at him. “Are you happy now?”

He stares at me for a long minute.

“What?“ I ask.

“I’m not happy your body showed a reaction to stress.”

Lord almighty. I’m so annoyed, I blurt out, “What about you?”

“Men don’t take birth control, Sophie.”

I can hear the laughter in his voice. He takes a step toward me, slowly, watching me as he speaks. He knows the effect he has. He knows how he makes me feel. He knows the power he wields, the wolf that he is.