Private Party (23 page)

“Later,” he said with a wolfish smile. Julie noted with satisfaction that the only frustration he seemed to feel now was of a sexual nature.

“Later,” she echoed.

Chris continued to be amazed at the way Julie smoothly handled every crisis. She easily solved the fish fiasco by gently reminding Jane of the PR nightmare that would ensue should the press get wind of the fact that she served an endangered species at her wedding reception.

Wedding dress that “shrunk” in the process of being pressed? Julie tracked down a maid who just happened to be an expert seamstress and was willing and able to make the alterations even without the bonus Julie promised.

“Shrunk, my ass. She needs to lay off the carbs,” Carla cracked as they watched Amalie, a chambermaid, put the final stitches in Jane’s now perfectly fitted gown. “You can’t starve yourself your whole life and not expect to bulk up after that first scone.” Julie emitted a tired giggle, but immediately smothered it when Jane shot them both a glare.

Drunken best man? Julie managed to lure him aside and sober him up enough to get through the toast.

Guests pairing off and having sex on the beach? Julie alerted the wait staff to watch out, as sand on the dance floor could make it a bit slick.

Now she was standing on the edge of the dance floor, watching the bride and groom gyrate wildly to PrivateParty

“Brick House.” Miraculously, Jane was smiling. Even Dan the security guy had cracked a smile at something Carla was saying.

Chris came up behind Julie and slipped his arm around her waist. “Look at her,” he whispered, nuzzling into the blond curls surrounding her ear. “She’s practically glowing.” Julie sighed. Chris curved his head so he could look into her face. For the first time he noticed the strange sad expression she wore.

“What’s wrong? You managed to turn the biggest bridezilla in Hollywood into the epitome of the blushing bride. You should be really proud of yourself.”

“Thanks,” Julie said with a small, fleeting smile. “They look very happy,” Julie sighed.

“You don’t look too happy for them.” He jostled her arm in an attempt to shake her out of her blues.

“I am. I’m happy for anyone who manages to find the right person.” Chris’s arm tensed around her midriff. “You’re thinking of Brian.” He couldn’t stop the resentful tone that crept into his voice.

“Yes. No.” She turned to face him. “It’s just hard to look at them and know that I was weak enough to marry someone just because he was the ‘right’ person, according to my parents.” She looked up at him with eyes full of self-derision, glowing blue in the light of the torches. Any resentment Chris felt towards his brother was overcome by his need to comfort her.

“Don’t think about him,” he said, pulling her against him as his hands kneaded the tension from her shoulders.

“You’re right,” she said, nuzzling her face into the open collar of his shirt. “We only have two more days, and I don’t want Brian in between us.”

The band started up a slow, romantic ballad. “Come on,” Chris said, leading her out onto the dance floor. He swayed against her, molding her body against his. She felt so good, her head tucked under his chin, the feel of her slender back and waist against his palms. He didn’t want to think about her leaving.

Instead he focused on here, now, and the way she fit so perfectly in his arms.

Julie wrapped her hands around Chris’s waist, snuggling closer as they moved to the music in perfect unison. She nestled even closer, her skin tingling as Chris slid his palms over the skin of her shoulders, PrivateParty

left bare by the thin straps of her silk chiffon dress. Heat emanated from him in waves, his warm, oceany smell enveloping her.

She loved him. There was no getting past it now. She’d tried to fight it, telling herself that she was caught up in the fantasy of finally fulfilling her adolescent crush. That she was taking a little revenge on Brian by finally having the affair she’d always wanted with his bad boy younger brother.

She’d always had a crush on him, from the first second she laid eyes on him. But she’d always known he would never be the right kind of guy for her. He was too wild, too antagonistic toward the world she grew up in. Besides, he had never even shown the slightest bit of interest in her.

But what she felt now, this was beyond any teenage crush. This was deep, and it was real. It wasn’t just the amazing sex. Julie might be less experienced, but she wasn’t stupid. And she would have to be stupid to not acknowledge the intense connection she felt to Chris, one that went far beyond the bedroom.

His hands moved to the small of her back. Julie sighed as she felt the warm glow of arousal gathering between her thighs.

He made her feel so…good. There was no other word for it. Beautiful and sexy. But also smart and capable. His praise at how she handled Jane’s wedding and all of the challenges that went with it meant more to Julie than he could ever understand.

She herself hadn’t understood it until tonight, when he’d told her he couldn’t have done it without her.

When was the last time she’d actually felt indispensable, like what she did was important? Her father had always watched her with a critical eye, to the point that she worked herself to the bone just to elicit one word of praise. No matter that her coworkers constantly told her how good she was. She was always striving for that elusive compliment from Grant Driscoll.

And Brian? When had Brian ever treated her like anything other than an empty-headed ornament?

According to him, Julie’s position as special events manager at the Winston was nothing more than a hobby designed to keep her busy between their social engagements. To think, she’d been stupid enough to actually marry him, simply so she could finally feel like she’d done something right in her father’s hypercritical eyes.

Funny, but the short time she’d spent out from under the watchful gaze of her family had done wonders for her self-esteem. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so confident, so capable, and so appreciated. For once she wasn’t constantly looking over her shoulder, worrying that someone would catch her in a mistake. She wasn’t second guessing herself, waiting for someone (namely, her father or Brian) to question her decision. Chris and Carla had shown complete confidence in her and her abilities, giving her seemingly boundless energy and enthusiasm to tackle even the toughest bride.

If only work were like this at home. Snuggling closer to Chris as they swayed to the music, she PrivateParty

wondered if maybe what she needed was a long-term change of scenery. Maybe, like Chris, she needed to get out of the nest for once to see what she was really capable of. If only she could stay here. She quickly banished the thought. Chris hadn’t even hinted at anything long-term, and newfound confidence or not, she wasn’t about to risk her heart and her pride by asking him if she could stay on here at Holley Cay.

Still, she was resolved to make big changes, and as soon as she got home, she was going to ask her father to transfer her to another D&D resort for a while. He would have to agree—even her father would understand why Julie wouldn’t want to work in the same office as Brian. Maybe she’d move to New York, or even London.
Or St. Bart’s. Then you’d at least be in the same geographic region,
a sly little voice suggested. Julie mentally smacked the thought aside. Foolishly tempting though the idea was, she wasn’t about to sit pining away in the Caribbean on the off chance Chris would decide he wanted her as his girlfriend.

She looked up at him, feeling a quiver at the now familiar heat in his midnight eyes. His lips were full, slightly parted in an expression she’d come to recognize in the past two weeks.

He wanted her. If nothing else, she had that.

“If you keep looking at me like that, we’re never going to make it through the bouquet tossing,” he teased.

Julie chuckled as the last strains of the ballad faded, pulling Chris close for one last, tight squeeze. “I wish we could go home, but I suppose that would be unprofessional.” A surprised look crossed Chris’s face, an expression so fleeting Julie thought maybe she’d imagined it.

Then she realized what she’d said. She’d called Chris’s place “home.” A minor slip, and understandable.

Completely insignificant, right?

Apparently not, if the strain on Chris’s face was anything to go by.

Desperate to prevent any further weirdness, Julie placed a quick kiss on Chris’s jaw and stepped out of his embrace.

“I need to tell the servers to pass out the champagne for the cake cutting,” she said. “Hopefully, she won’t smash it in his face.”

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14

“C’
mon, let’s go.” Chris watched impatiently as Julie pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top over her shiny coral bikini.

“I’m coming,” she said grumpily. “But I don’t see what the rush is. It’s only eight-thirty.” Chris could forgive her the bad mood. It had been almost two o’clock before the wedding revelers finally moved the party from the beach to one of the larger villas. And, Chris thought with a smirk, he and Julie hadn’t exactly gone to sleep right away.

But today was special, and he wanted it to start as quickly as possible. He was going to have Julie to himself, all alone, all day. No interruptions. Who could blame him for his impatience?

“I have sunblock in my bag,” Chris called as Julie rummaged around his bathroom.

“I know. I’m getting my lip balm,” she snapped, grabbing the tube from where she had very carefully placed it on the bathroom counter. Right in between her face scrub and her moisturizer.

For some stupid reason, the placement of her toiletries brought a smile to his face. He remembered that from college, the way she put every cosmetic, every piece of clothing, in a precise location, and always put it back after use. She was no different now. When she moved her stuff to his place, Chris had gotten a strange thrill watching her carefully make room for her things among his clutter.

But he didn’t want to dwell on how right it felt to have her shampoo next to his in the shower. Right now he wanted to get her alone and show her an amazing day.

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He’d planned this day in part as a thank-you for all of her help with the wedding. Julie deserved a reward for giving up her vacation to help him and Carla. And God knew there was no way they would have survived without her. To say that they had been unprepared for what the wedding of a demanding Hollywood starlet would entail was an extreme understatement.

Note to self: The next time you try something new to expand the resort business, start a little smaller.

But that had never been his style. Chris was always a go big or don’t show up at all kind of guy, and the first high-profile wedding at Holley Cay was no exception. And apparently his luck hadn’t run out yet, because it had delivered Julie just in the nick of time to save his ass.

So a sailing trip around the neighboring islands and deserted cays was the least he could do.

And conveniently, he could service his own selfish needs in the process.

He grinned as Julie grumbled her way down the beach, holding her hat to her head with one hand to prevent it from being blown off by the morning offshore breeze.

“Are we all set?” Chris called as they reached the dock.

“Good to go, Chris.” Nathan, a native islander who worked as a deck hand on the resort’s boats, flashed a white smile against his dark skin. “She’s all gassed up and the freshwater reservoir is full—enough for you to take showers if you need to. And I picked up the cooler from the kitchen like you asked.” A slow smile spread across Julie’s face as she took in
Holley’s Pleasure,
a fifty foot Beneteau 505. It was remarkably similar to one owned by Chris’s father, the one Julie and Chris had raced together out of the San Francisco Yacht club his senior year at Berkeley. From the way her eyes crinkled behind the lenses of her lavender tinted sunglasses, it was clear Julie remembered.

“Chris,” she squealed, her normally composed demeanor having fled in her excitement. “It’s a Beneteau 505. I didn’t even know it was in the fleet.”

“I know. It’s not part of the resort fleet—it’s for my own private use. I usually keep it dry-docked over on Tortola, but I had Nathan and Ricky go pick it up. I thought you might like to sail instead of motor the entire time.”

Julie practically glowed in the bright sunlight that reflected off the water. “I would love it. I haven’t sailed in…God, not since you left.”

Chris felt his smile slip a little at that.

How could he have been such an idiot? Maybe if he’d bothered to call, hell, send her an e-mail in the PrivateParty

past five years, maybe she’d never have hooked up with Brian. Maybe Chris would have actually had a chance if he’d fought for her.

Chris stumbled as he boarded
Holley’s Pleasure,
nearly sending his backpack into the bay. What was he thinking, that they would have been together? Even if she had been willing to leave the protective cocoon of her family—and that was a gargantuan if—he knew himself, knew how he was in relationships. No, if they’d gotten together back then, he would have gotten bored and dumped her, just as he had done with every other woman he’d ever dated. Just like if he tried to make this into something more now, it was doomed to fail.

At least that’s what he told himself, because that was easier to deal with than the idea that he might have blown his chance with a woman he could have spent the rest of his life with.

Julie didn’t seem to notice his emotional distress as she eagerly clambered aboard and set about inspecting every square inch of the deck before heading down below to see what the cabin had to offer.

He went over the checklist with Nathan with half his brain, the other half firmly focused on Julie, and the frightening, unfamiliar feelings of attachment she elicited. Would he really have gotten bored with Julie? He’d never tired of their friendship in school. And after two weeks of her near-constant company

—not to mention nonstop sex—he still wasn’t even the slightest bit bored.

Could Julie possibly be the one? The one woman who he would never tire of, the woman he could wake up next to for the rest of his life?