Seclusion (18 page)

“So this is Alfie. Just let
him know what you need. He’ll show you your rooms,” Caleb said as he put his
arm through mine and guided me away from the group. “Zoey, I’ll show you
yours.”

“Sure! It looks like we are
going to have a blast this week,” I replied.

Caleb smiled. “We sure are.
I have to tell you, when you left so early last time, I was upset. Although I
got the best night’s rest I’d had in a long time. I also appreciated the
present.” He winked.

I heard Chase say, “What
present?”

I followed Caleb up the
stairs. “Our rooms are adjoining. I didn’t think you’d mind, but if you do, I
can move you.”

“That’s fine.”

“Great,” he said with a
smile. “So do you water ski at all or wakeboard?”

“I’ve done both, but I’m
not great at anything besides sunbathing.”

Caleb smiled and led me
through the living area toward my room.

“Oh, I had all your clothes
hung up in the closet when they arrived. I’ll have Alfie unpack your new bag
later.”

“Thanks,” I said, and gave
him a quick hug. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Of course. What is it?”

“I had fun on your birthday
and all, but I brought my friends with me this time. I don’t really want to
have the slut nickname if you know what I mean.”

“Zoey, I wouldn’t have
brought you here if I didn’t want to really get to know you. If I wanted a
fling, I could’ve just tracked you down.”

“So you don’t have
expectations, then?”

“I do expect us to get to
know each other,” he said.

I walked into my bedroom,
and there were four bouquets of mixed flowers – all pinks and purples. “I love
them,” I said, and I did! So far, I hadn’t needed to lie, but I did have to
hide my anxiety.

“Good,” he said as he
grabbed my hand and put it around his neck. “I wanted to give you something
that matches your beauty.”

I blushed. “I love my room.
Thanks for having us all.”

I could hear Damen growling
in my head.
“Are you going to get down here or what? You aren’t actually
falling for his crap?”

“No!”
I thought back to him.

“So, what are we doing
tonight? Am I dressed appropriately?”

“Actually, there’s a fire
going on down by the water. I thought we could all do some night swimming.”

“Why don’t you tell the
others while I grab my suit.”

“Sure,” he said. “I like
the white one.”

He winked, and I exhaled as
he left.

Damen was already in his
room throwing off his clothes. I could see the reflection he saw in the mirror
and couldn’t help but gaze at him for a second.

“Nice,”
I said.

“Remind me not to dress in
front of a mirror,”
he laughed.

“Damn…I was hoping you
wouldn’t realize that.”

Damen blew me a kiss into
the mirror.
“What white bathing suit is he talking about? Are you holding
out on me?”

I laughed.
“You know
it’s something Taylor sent.”

Sure enough, there was a
string halter bikini that was identical to my black one, only in white and one
size smaller. I stood there in front of the mirror wondering if I should even
leave in that thing.
My boob might fall out. Or I might have a thong by the
end of the night
. I could hear Damen cracking up at my inner dialogue.

“Wear it. You look amazing!
I mean…don’t you have sweats in there? It’s nighttime; maybe they won’t notice
a boob.”

“Great!”
I choked.
“You’re
soo…funny
.”

I found a matching sheer
white cover-up that was also a size too small. I searched for shoes next and
found some blinged out sandals. I looked myself over in the mirror, feeling
like something was missing.

“What’s the problem? You
look hot! Too hot!”

“I feel like something is
missing.”

I could tell Damen was
studying my reflection in the mirror. I couldn’t help but feel a little
insecure under his gaze.

“Go to your suitcase. Front
pocket. I was gonna wait till later, but I guess now works.”

I felt excitement rushing
through me and walked quickly to my suitcase. I pulled out a blue box the color
of a robin’s egg. It was tied with a white bow.

“Is this Tiffany’s, Damen?”

“Maybe. Open it!”

I slipped the white bow off
and opened the lid. There was a printed note on a Tiffany & Co. card:

Rae,

I wanted you to know that I
will be thinking about you this whole week, and it will kill me not to give you
the affection you deserve. So this is a reminder of how much I care about you.         

Heart Damen

I removed the card and
discovered a magnificent two-and-a-quarter inch diamond key necklace.

“O. M. Gosh. It’s gorgeous!
This is too much, but I
do love it! I’ll wear it always.”

“I’m glad you like it!”

I stared at the necklace in
the box for a second and then lifted the long chain out and clasped it behind
my neck. The shiny key landed right above the heart between my breasts. It
looked perfect! I stared at my reflection, admiring the key’s reflective shine
in the mirror. I couldn’t help but wonder how Damen could afford something like
this. Our Vegas dream came to mind, and I laughed.
Who knows with him!

“
Hurry up! I want to see
you. Everyone’s waiting for you. Don’t forget to put your hair up.”

“Wow, Damen. You are
too…helpful,”
I said as I smiled and threw my hair up into a knot. “
Those girls aren’t
keeping you busy enough?”

He glanced at them.
“They
are busy flirting with Chase for the moment.”

“I wish we were here alone.
I need to give you a proper thank you.”

“I’ll be waiting!”

I walked down the stairs
and noticed that everyone had towels and drinks. Caleb was waiting at the
bottom of the stairs with two towels and two glasses of champagne. I could see
Damen was also wearing new board shorts that looked like they had been designed
specifically for him.
He really could be a model.

We all walked out to the
lake. There was a heated pool behind the fire pit. I must have looked
surprised, because Caleb said, “You didn’t think I’d make you swim in the lake
did you? It’s gotta be freezing!”

Chase was staring at me,
and I realized my cover-up didn’t cover much. He pulled me to the side and
Caleb gave him a dirty look.

“Do you think you should be
wearing that swimsuit, Raegan?”

I just gave him a weak
smile. I went to a chair and started slipping my shoes off. Connor and Elsie
were already in the pool. I was about to take my cover-up off when I saw
through Damen’s thoughts that all three boys were waiting expectantly. I tried
to remove it somewhat quickly, but I thought I heard an intake of breath when
my belly ring was exposed.

“Get in the water before I
say screw this whole thing and take you straight to my bedroom,”
I heard in my head.

Caleb reached out to me,
placing his warm hand on my lower back and guiding me to the pool. Chase’s gaze
followed the two of us.

“Caleb, I’m not a drinking
guy, but I think we all need a shot,” Chase said.

Caleb called the bartender
over. “Can you make us all Absinthe shots, please?”

Damen cussed under his
breath. Everyone watched as the bartender started lighting up spoonfuls of
sugar, and I’m not sure exactly what he did, but it looked crazy. We all lined
up on the ledge of the pool and Alfie gave us all a shot. I felt a caress
across my upper thighs and had to stop myself from spinning around to see who
it was, but Damen came up quickly beside me. I felt a rush of pleasure go
through me and was pleased when his hand lingered a little too long.

“Zoey, maybe you shouldn’t
take this as a shot. I don’t want you to get sick with the champagne and all,”
Caleb said.

I put my arm through his
and thanked him for the heads up. “Maybe I’ll do half a shot and you can sneak
the rest,” I said.

He smiled and wrapped his
arms around my waist, and then laid his chin on my shoulder, effectively
separating me from Damen with his arm. I did the shot and gave Caleb the rest.
He took it quickly and carried me over to the more shallow area of the pool.

“Anyone up for a chicken
fight?” he asked as he hoisted me onto his shoulders.

I was surprised this boy
didn’t have many friends. He seemed pretty cool to me. Chase and Damen found
willing girls (which was all of them) and threw them on their shoulders. Connor
also put Elsie on his shoulders.

Elsie smiled at me. “You
are going down, friend,” she said. Caleb laughed.

We were all laughing and
splashing and having fun. We almost forgot we were here on a job. Even Damen
seemed happy, though I could see through his eyes that he rarely moved them off
of me. His gaze made me anxious and excited.

“Damen, did you get
anything more from Caleb?”

“All I have is that his dad
had him specifically come to this area for an errand. Caleb just decided to
make it fun. He is picking up a package on the last day, after we leave,”
he replied.

“Wow, you’re good,”
I thought back.

“In more ways than one. You
think you can make Caleb go to sleep again? So I can sneak up?”

I felt a hand brush across
my thigh as Damen squeezed by and got out of the pool. I felt an ache in my
body and sighed.
“Should we really chance that? We’ll be together as soon as
we fall asleep.”

“Okay, but you’re wearing
the white one.”

“HA!”
I said.

We had all moved to the
Jacuzzi and were passing around a bottle of something or another. Caleb had me
on his lap, and his hands were roaming pretty freely. I could tell Chase and
Damen were getting edgy, even with Elsie’s powers flowing strong.

Damen’s chick flipped
around on his lap and started dancing. Chase started laughing. I leaned toward
Caleb’s ear and whispered, “I think it’s getting crowded in here.”

Caleb pulled me out and
pointed to a bathroom. “You can just leave your suit in there and grab a robe.
Alfie will grab all the suits and wash them for us.”

I entered what I could only
describe as a mini locker room. There was a full-on shower with soap and
everything, so I rinsed completely off and grabbed the robe, leaving my suit.
When I came out, Caleb was in a new pair of board shorts, and he had more
strawberries and champagne.

Damen was coming out of the
bathroom as Caleb was taking me upstairs.

“You have nothing under
that!”
he
shouted in my head.

“I had nothing under my
swimsuit either! This covers way more!”

“Whatever. I’m coming up to
check on you later, even if I’m not staying.”

Damen sent me images of
what he was thinking about doing later that night. I felt immediate shivers
shoot down my spine, and that familiar ache was back. Anticipation radiated
through me. I walked up the stairs, attempting to hide my blush. I heard a deep
chuckle from downstairs and knew it was Damen.

“I’m going to start a fire
while you’re getting ready. I just have to grab the wood. I’ll be back.”

I brushed my hair,
reapplied my make-up, and searched through my closet for something to wear.

“Damen, I don’t know what
to wear that isn’t too suggestive but that isn’t prudish either,”
I said.

“What am I, your girlfriend
now?”
he
said.
“Look through your drawers. I’ll let you know if I see something I’d
want you to wear.”

There was a white thermal
tee-shirt with a wide scoop neck that went almost off the shoulder. Damen said
to wear it with a pink bra and the matching mauve-colored yoga pants.

“It’s casual, comfortable,
and sexy.”

“Thanks,”
I said.

“Yeah, next time I’m
telling you to wear sweats.”

He thought I should wear a
thong but was trying to hide it, although he couldn’t stop thinking about it. I
was embarrassed when I walked by a mirror and Damen said
“Stop, turn
around.”
He was in his room hiding from his lap-dance friend. He’d
successfully gotten her so wasted she had already passed out. Chase, however,
was still flirting with the chick out front, my prediction abilities told me.