Conklin's Foundation (Conklin's Trilogy) (34 page)

“I only play golf because Tyler makes me.  And it is a good way to meet clients.  You are going
to have to learn the game, Jamie,” Nathan said in a business like tone.

Jamie glared at him.  “I think lunch dates will do just fine.”

“That’s what you think. We are meeting Kobiashe on the golf course tomorrow.  Better go turn on the golf channel while I shower and get ready,” Nathan teased, pointing a finger at her, a devilish smile playing on his face.

Jamie shook her head with a smug smile.  “You are so full of shit.  I made the reservations at Neomi’s Grill.  We aren’t golfing.”

“You’re working on the holiday?” I asked.

“The clients are
Chinese; they don’t celebrate the same new year as us.  It was the only time we could set up that wasn’t six months out,” Jamie said.

“Yeah, so watch how much you drink tonight. 
Kobiashe owns half of the property in Miami.  We get in good with him, we will for sure be able to open up shop in Florida,” Nathan said sternly while getting up from the table. 

Jamie
narrowed her eyes at him.  “You should be one to talk,” she snapped.

Nathan gave her a cocky grin.  “
I could nail a client after taking ten shots of tequila, sweet heart.”

Jamie snorted and started to follow him in the other room, continuing to bicker as they went
to the other side of the hotel suite.

Tyler let out a slight laugh
then pulled me into our bedroom. 

“Since when did they become friends?” I asked suspiciously.

“They have been working together non-stop the past week.”

“They bi
cker like an old married couple.”

Tyler laughed, pulling me to his chest and holding both of my hands.  “That’s a funny thought.  Nathan won’t ever be married.”

I gave him a funny look.  How would he know?

He returned
my funny look, trying to hide his amusement.  He let go of my hands to find my hips, tracing circles with his fingertips.

“I really like this dress on you,”
he murmured, his eyes losing their playfulness and becoming darker.  He moved one hand up my side and across my stomach, making a path to the sapphire necklace.   “Do you like this?” he whispered, his hands grazing over the large teardrop shaped pendant.

I nodded my head yes, enjoying the electricity that was coming off his fingers to my skin.  He moved his eyes from mine to the tops of my breasts, grazing his thumb along the top of the dress, passing over my cleavage just as I imagined him doing so earlier.  I closed my eyes, trying to control my deep breathes.

“Did you find my other surprise?” he asked darkly, his eyes following his thumb.

I licked my lips then said, “You will have to wait and see.”

“Tease,” he groaned, his dark expression turning into a heated grin, his eyes smoldering.  He moved his hand back down to my side.  “I’m going to go take a shower then get dressed.  I will be ready to leave in 20 minutes,” he said, leaning in to give me a lingering soft kiss.

He smirked at my
expression and walked into the bathroom, beginning to take off his polo from golfing earlier.

I sat down on the bed, attempting to catch my breath.  Wow, what that man could do to my
body and heart.

~

Jamie and I patiently waited for Nathan and Tyler to get ready.  Who would have thought
that we, the women, would be waiting for the men to get ready for a night out? 

We had a few shots, and I was feeling relaxed and ready for the evening.  I wonder
ed what they had planned.  Had they planned something simple like dinner?  Maybe going to a fancy night club?  I had never been to Miami and was a little nervous about exploring the lively city.  Miami was very different from Grand Rapids.

Simultaneously
, and very strangely, Nathan came walking into our suite as Tyler came walking out of our bedroom.  Tyler looked drop dead gorgeous in gray slacks and a white V-neck shirt, his hair damp and in a controlled mess.  His Conklin grin was plastered to his face.  I glanced at Nathan, who was wearing black pants and a dress shirt opened at the collar and had the same damn grin spread across his face.  I stood and greeted Tyler.

“So handsome,” I flirted.

“Why thank you, Becca,” Nathan grinned, walking over and hitting Tyler on the shoulder.  Tyler glared at his brother, causing Nathan to laugh.  Nathan held out his arm to Jamie.  “Shall we go?” Nathan asked.

Jamie stood and took his arm.  “It’s about damn time.  You two take as long as women to get ready.”

“That’s why we look better than women,” Nathan said smugly with a twinkle in his eye.  Jamie nudged his thin frame, causing him to laugh. 

Tyler offered me
his arm, and I took it instantly. 

We walked to the stairs
since we were only on the second floor and headed, to my surprise, out to the beach.  It was near sunset, and the water and sky were beautiful.  A table was set along the beach for four, decorated with candles and tall vases.  Other candles in lanterns were placed throughout the dining area.  The table was on a small bed of grass, but the beach sand wasn’t far.  It was as though we were going to be eating right on the beach.  We sat and enjoyed the privacy of the beach dining.  When the server came to greet us, I was beyond happy he was male. He filled our glasses with a chilled Sauvignon Blanc that was crisp and delicious. We had polished off the bottle between the four of us before our bruschetta and shrimp appetizers had arrived. 

I was feeling free and happy, enjoying a glorious evening on a
sun setting beach with the man I loved and friends.  Tyler slid his hand across my lap, giving me an affectionate smile while Jamie and Nathan chatted about the Kobiashi account.  I felt his hand pull up my dress slightly, his fingers grazing my sensitive skin. 

“What do you two have planned for tomorrow while we will be s
chmoozing?” Jamie asked, pulling me from my trance.

“I don’t have a whole lot planned,” Tyler said with his glass hiding his expression.  I’m pretty sure I knew what he had in mind, and I was more than willing to give into his ideas.

“Good. You can come and play golf with Kobiashi and me tomorrow morning at 10:00am,” Nathan said, fiddling with his phone.  “I just got a message saying his client cancelled. Since Jamie here doesn’t enjoy sports, I wouldn’t want her to have some girly fit in front of one of the most respected businessmen in Miami.”

Jamie smacked his arm again, taking a large swig of her wine.  “I would not have a girly fit, but I would love for you to take my place
Tyler, at least for the golf part.”

Tyler glanced over at me
, and I nodded my head yes.  I’m sure I could find something to do while Tyler played golf again.  Laying on the beach and catching some sun sounded very appealing.

He gave me
a half smile and agreed to join Nathan.

The dinner menu was sophisticated and elegant.  I decided on the prime filet mignon, my favorite everywhere, with quinoa and the roasted vegetable medley.  T
yler and Nathan got the lobster while Jamie ordered salmon.

“I love that you actually eat meat,” Tyler said, rubbing his hand further up my thigh. 

“Becca always orders steak,” Jamie said.  “Maybe that’s the key to your ass,” she laughed.

I shot her a look.
“What does that mean?”

“I think that is the reason why you have a perfect ass.  That and the millions of lunges and squats you do.”

“I do not have a perfect ass,” I mumbled with embarrassment.

“Well, you had a perfect ass, some of it disappeared lately.  Keep ordering the steak and maybe it will come back,” Jamie teased.

I rolled my eyes at her.  “Trust me it’s still there,” I said quietly into my wine.

“As much as I love talking about Becca’s ass, we need to decide what wine to order next,” Nathan said
dryly.

“I never get tired of talking about your ass,” Tyler flirted.  I nudged him in the side then crossed my legs, forcing his hand to move.  Tyler laughed and leaned in
to kiss my cheek.

Our food arrived shortly along with another bottle of wine.  My h
ead was fuzzy and eating dinner was a very good idea.  I needed something to soak up some of the alcohol if we were going to go out and about.  I devoured my food, enjoying being able to feel my lips again.

Tyler smiled
down at my clean plate then leaned back in his chair. 

“What time is the driver coming to pick us up?” Tyler asked Nathan.

Nathan gave Tyler a puzzled look.  “How the hell should I know?”

Tyler furrowed his brows at Nathan.  “You should know because I asked you to set up a driver for this evening.”

Nathan took a long drink of his wine while eyeing Tyler.  Once he was done, he licked his lips and did one more swallow.  “No, you were supposed to set up the driver.  I made the reservations for the VIP section.”

“No, I made the reservations.
” Tyler’s words were laced with frustration.

“Well then we have double reservations and no way to get there,” Nathan half laughed, enjoying his wine.  He was sitting back as Tyler was, then turned to Jamie, letting out a slight laugh.  “This kid is losing it,”
he laughed to Jamie.

“Nathan, seriously?  You didn’t hire a driver?”
Now Tyler’s voice was filled with irritation.

“Nope.”

“Damn it.  Can anyone drive?” he asked, looking around the table.

I shook my head no, not that he would have let me drive in the first place.

“Well I probably could now, but there is no way I would be able to or want to by the end of the night,” Jamie laughed.  She was just as relaxed as Nathan, sitting back and enjoying her wine.

Tyler turned to look at me apologetically.  “Baby, I’m sorry.  I made reservations at this awesome night club where we could watch the fireworks off the rooftop and watch a mock of the big ball dropping.  I really don’t trust a cab driver, and I’m afraid I can’t drive us.”

I reached for his face, trying to smooth out the worry lines that were forming on his forehead.  “It’s fine.  This dinner was great, and I bet we could have just as much fun in the suite,” I said sincerely.

“Yes!” Jamie shrieked.  “Drinking games it is!”

“Oh, jeez.  What is this, college?” Nathan said, dragging out his words.

“You should have remembered to make the driving arrangements then we wouldn’t be in this predicament,” Tyler hissed to Nathan.

Nathan scrunched his face with a ‘shut the hell up’ look then burst out into a laugh.  “Stop being so uptight.  Becca doesn’t want you to impress her with some bullshit over the top VIP treatment.  She wants to play drinking games.”

Tyler
leaned back in his chair, his famous scowl forming on his face. 

“Come
on; let’s go get this party started!” Jamie exclaimed, standing up and yanking Nathan up with her.

I
stood up, giving Tyler my best ‘you better start having fun’ look.  He gave me a wry smile then stood, following Jamie and Nathan back into the hotel.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled as I wrapped my hand around his bicep.

“Tyler, its fine.  The only thing that matters to me is being able to spend New Year’s with you and being able to kiss you at midnight.”

Tyler bit his lip, his eyes going from annoyance to that dangerously
smoldering look.  “I hope to get more than just a kiss at midnight.”

Chapter 21

“Shall we start with
Waterfall?”  Jamie said, walking out of her bedroom holding a deck of cards.

“What the hell is that?” Nathan asked, pulling out all of the liquor from one of the cabinets.

Jamie smirked then shot her eyes my way.  “I think we need to show these boys how to play.”

“Sounds good to me,” I said, walking over to where Tyler was sitting.  The secret to playing drinking games with Jamie was to take ver
y small sips and water down your drinks, otherwise you’d be passed out within the hour. 

“Okay, each card represents something.  The ace
means waterfall, aka, the bastard card.  Whenever you draw an ace you have to drink around in a circle and not stop until the person next to you stops,” Jamie said, sitting down at the dining table and spreading out the cards.

“How do you win?” Nathan asked.

Jamie blinked.  “I don’t know.”

“Well that is a stupid game then.  Let’s just play
Euchre,” Nathan said taking a seat across from Jamie.

Jamie raised a brow at him.  “What? Think you can’t handle it?” she coaxed.

Nathan laughed.  “Fine, we will play your little game.”

Tyler and I looked at each other, enjoying Nathan and Jamie’s bickering.  Jamie
announced the rest of the rules and we began to take turns.