What To Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection Part Two (3 page)

One week earlier.

A
full day of sun after we landed left me exhausted. I must not have been thinking straight when I booked a direct overnight flight from New York to Honolulu. Did I really think I would land at 8am and feel fresh and relaxed, ready to take on the first day of my honeymoon? A two hour nap on the beach did nothing to shake off my jetlag, and by 8pm, as I was getting ready for a night out with Sienna, I had started to wonder what I had got myself into.

We arrived at the resort’s Japanese restaurant and I silently reminded myself that I needed to eat, even though I was not very hungry at all. The last time I’d gone out drinking with Sienna without eating, Michael had to carry me up the stairs when I passed out face down on the floor in the kitchen. Hating that thoughts of Michael still uncontrollably filled my memory, I took a deep breath and pushed all thought of him out of my head, determined not to let him ruin our honeymoon even more than he already had.

After we ordered, a pretty waitress wearing a traditional red kimono delivered us drinks served in coconuts with cute little purple umbrellas. “Thank you, but we didn’t order those,” I said as she started to put the drinks in front of us. The waitress smiled at me and silently pointed to the other end of the restaurant where I saw a table of a dozen men, one of which was holding up a drink and smiling.

Sienna smiled and took one of the drinks and held it up, offering cheers back to the smiling man. Even though he was across the room, I could see he was handsome and had a damn sexy smile. My eyes scanned the table he was sitting at, and I almost gasped at what I took in. Damn, they were all handsome, one better looking than the next. They looked like they could have been traveling for a rugby tournament, or a Calvin Klein underwear photo shoot perhaps. I was grateful for my tan skin at that moment, so no one would see me blush.

Sienna clinked her glass to mine and said loud enough for the table next to us to hear, “Remember, we should do lots of fucking on our honeymoon, baby!” I choked on my drink before we laughed together like we were back in third grade.

Our dinner was just being served when I saw the boys club began to make their way out of the restaurant. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one to notice their departure; they seemed to have the attention of half the restaurant. They were rowdy, handsome, and drinking a lot. The smiling man that had sent over our drinks stopped by our table with two of his friends on their way out. “I hope you ladies are coming down to the bonfire tonight that the resort is throwing.” His dimpled smile made his face even more handsome.

“We are.” Sienna raised her eyebrows and smiled up at the man. “And thank you for the drinks, they were delicious.” Her response was more of a purr than a statement. I had forgotten how good at flirting she was. It was second nature to her. She had the ability to make anything sound teasing. I was pretty sure she could ask a man walking by for the time and he would think she wanted to sleep with him.

“You’re very welcome. You know, this may sound like a bad pick-up line, but you look so familiar.” His brows creased and I could see the wheels in motion as he tried to place her face.

Sienna raised one eyebrow provocatively. “Maybe we can figure out where you know me from at the bonfire later.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me.” He smiled and I watched his eyes slowly drift over Sienna. But his attention was quickly called away by the rest of the boys club that were making a ruckus near the door. “I better go before the jackasses get themselves kicked out. I’ll be looking for you ladies later.”

After Sienna’s brief time as the lead singer of No Worries, people always thought she looked familiar. Five years ago the band had a number one hit, then they broke up due to fighting between the members before a follow up album could be released to cement their fame. Apparently the guitarist had been sleeping with the drummer’s wife and they couldn’t get past it. Unfortunately, the group became somewhat of a one hit wonder, but people still vaguely remembered Sienna’s face. She really wasn’t the type of woman that people forgot easily.

Sienna and I had played together in an all girl band in Boston for three years. We did a lot of local shows and had a pretty good following. It didn’t earn us enough money to survive, but we loved doing it and it worked for us for a while. By the time we decided to go our separate ways, I had already met Michael and started pursuing a degree in music, slowly growing content with my life. Sienna hadn’t given up on our dream of being rock stars, so we parted friends when she took off for New York at twenty-one to join No Worries as the lead singer.

After that, we talked on the phone twice a week and I went to New York to visit her on most of my breaks from school. There was definitely no love lost between her and Michael, and he made it clear that he disapproved of her partying lifestyle and didn’t like my frequent trips to New York. I sacrificed a lot for Michael over the years, giving up a lot of who I was, but never let him come between Sienna and me. She was supposed to have been my maid of honor at our wedding last weekend.

Sienna watched as the boys club sauntered out of the restaurant and then turned to me. “Syd, I think you need to pick one of those boys and get a rebound screw under your belt. What better place to do it than Hawaii?”

“I told you, I don’t feel ready to start dating yet.” We had already had that conversation on the plane on the way to Hawaii, and I’d suspected Sienna had given up much too easily to have put the subject behind us.

“Who said anything about dating?” She smiled at me. “Just pick one out and have a great time. Don’t think about it and don’t overanalyze it. Fuck it, don’t even find out his name. Just have fun, Syd. That Michael sucked the life out of my partner in crime and we are resurrecting her this week!”

I may not have been ready for a new guy, but I was definitely ready to go back to living my life and having fun. I responded to her speech with the only word that I knew would make her happy, other than agreeing with her. “Shots?”

Sienna squealed in delight and hugged me as she called the waiter over to order our tequila shots.

We were halfway between tipsy and drunk as we made our way down to the bonfire. It was a beautiful night and torches lit a path through the sand down to the water’s edge. A huge bonfire was burning and a Caribbean calypso band played a song on steel drums with an older gentleman singing. Waiters floated around delivering fruity cocktails and women wearing bikini tops and hula skirts offered fresh flower leis.

I looked around and wasn’t surprised to see that most of the partygoers were couples. After all, the resort was a favored honeymoon destination. It made me sad to think I was supposed to be there with Michael, relaxing after my wedding. Sienna picked up on the change in my mood and guided us to the large bar set up under the lights on the beach. “Two tequila shots please.” Sienna’s answer to every problem was always the same, tequila and a party. We drank back our shots, licked the salt off of the back of our hands and sucked our limes in unison.

“Another round for the ladies and all my friends, please.” The deep velvety voice immediately sent a shiver up my spine. I turned to trace the voice to the face and was met with the most startling green eyes I had ever seen. I wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or the man, but I gasped and felt goose bumps breaking out on my arms. The eyes smiled down at me and I was momentarily unable to break the gaze. I blinked, forcing my eyes to escape the hold, and slowly looked down and realized that the captivating green eyes were attached to the most magnificent man I had ever seen, who was staring at me, watching me take him in. The corner of his perfect mouth turned up in a sexy half smile, and I knew he had just watched my body react to him. But he wasn’t going to be a gentleman and pretend he didn’t see it. Instead, he took a step closer into my personal space and I felt the heat radiate between us.

I turned back to the bartender to escape the intenseness of his glare and the bartender held out my next tequila shot. I twisted back around to thank the green-eyed god, and nearly slammed right into his chest. He had not moved out of my personal space. Instead he stood his ground and looked down at me, slightly amused. I held up my shot. “Are you joining me?”

“I’d love to.” He smiled, but had no shot in his hand. He arched an eyebrow with a sexy grin on his face and I got the feeling that he wasn’t accepting an offer to have a shot together. I laughed and shook my head before throwing back yet another shot, salt and lime. My head buzzed, and I knew I should probably stop drinking at that point, but I was thousands of miles from home with Sienna and that surely wouldn’t be happening.

Sienna grabbed my hand and pulled me from the bar, oblivious to the beautiful creature standing behind me. “Come on, let’s do one for old times’ sake.”

Only Sienna could talk a middle-aged Calypso band singer into letting us sing at the resort’s welcome bonfire without knowing if we could even carry a tune. The last tequila shot went straight to my head and I was feeling no pain as I followed her to where the band was set up, anxious to sing with her. It had been years since we’d played together and I really did miss it.

Sienna spoke to the band and we sang one of our all time favorites,
Shake Your Body
, by the Jackson 5. It was a 70s boogie disco beat that people usually couldn’t help but start to dance to. When we were done, people were applauding and dancing and the band asked us to do another song. What else could follow up a classic Jackson song but the Wild Cherry 70s hit,
Play That Funky Music?
Of course, we did our own version of the song, but people danced and sang along nonetheless. Even though it had been years since we’d performed together, no one would have guessed it. We worked together effortlessly, and it had been that way since that very first time in third grade. By the time we were done, the tequila had hit us with its full effect and we both laughed our way back to the bar, stumbling just a slight bit.

The bartender stopped pouring drinks as we approached and clapped his hands slowly for us, to which we responded with overzealous bows and a curtsy. He gave us each another shot of tequila on the house and we did our swallow, salt, lime routine in expert tandem. The handsome guy that had sent us drinks in the restaurant came over with a few of his friends.

“You ladies were amazing. That was incredible.” He was smiling and it was obvious he was being sincere and it wasn’t part of his pick up line.

“Thank you, it was so much fun!” Sienna responded, and I smiled. We were both on a post show high. It had been so long since I’d felt the familiar rush that I’d almost forgot what performing could do to me. We talked for a while and found out that the boys club wasn’t actually in Hawaii for a rugby tournament or an underwear commercial shoot, they were there for a bachelor party.

“Wow, that’s some bachelor party,” I said to our new friend Tyler, the guy who’d bought us drinks in the restaurant.

“Yeah, the best man is loaded and is throwing the whole party. We have the penthouse for the week. Some of the guys are staying and others are going back in a few days. It’s pretty sweet.”

I actually felt, rather than saw, the green-eyed man return. I was positive that he was standing right behind me, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn around and check. “Speak of the devil.” Tyler pointed behind me and I slowly turned, finding the green-eyed god standing ridiculously close, staring down at me.

“Hi again.” My words came out as a whisper. I could feel the heat radiating off his body and it was playing tricks on my brain that was swimming in tequila.

He looked down at me and smiled, but made no attempt to move. He was tall, probably a good eight inches taller than my 5’6 frame. His shoulders were broad and his dark green polo pulled slightly to contain his girth. His shirt fit his athletic frame as if it was made for him, and his jeans hung low on his narrow waist.

“Your voice is beautiful.” His voice was deep and he spoke to me in low controlled words, even though we were standing so close, surrounded by what I assumed were his friends.

“Thank you. So are you.”
Holy shit, did I just say that out loud?
I was glad that we were outside so that he couldn’t see my face turn red; I blushed so deeply that not even my tan skin could conceal my embarrassment. I’d been thinking it, but I hadn’t meant to say it. Another dangerous side effect of the tequila shots.

He smiled and raised his eyebrows in surprise. I turned my back to him to catch my breath. Tyler took it as an opportunity to offer to buy me a drink. Just as I opened my mouth to respond, the green-eyed man responded for me. “No thanks, I’ve got her next round.” I watched in shock as his friend took the hint and walked away smiling.

I whipped around and looked up at him, a bit unsteady on my feet from the tequila. He still hadn’t moved and was standing in my personal space. It was almost a possessive stance, the way he hovered above me and made his size known. “What if I wanted him to buy me a drink?”