The Mermaid and her King (8 page)

Skyla

I wake up to warmth. I’m snuggled up to something
, and it feels great. My eyes flash open, and I’m staring at skin, so I jerk back and realize I’m in bed with Chase.
Shit, shit, shit!

The events from the night bef
ore rush back to me, except I can’t remember coming into this room. I feel exposed, so I lift up the sheet and peek under, finding that I’m only in my bra and panties.

D
id I have sex with him? There’s no way. I’d most certainly remember. I’ve fantasized about it enough times to know I wouldn’t forget something like that. As I stare at Chase’s dark skin and his smooth, firm bicep that’s resting outside of the sheet, I wonder why he’s in the guest bed with me.

I quietly get up
and walk to the restroom. He’s staring at me when I come out. Play it cool, Skyla. After swiftly walking to the bed, I pick up my dress and pull it over my head.

“Good morning,” he says.

“I don’t know if I’d say that. I feel awful.”

“I bet.”

“I’m sorry you had to come get us. Did you remove my dress?” I sit on the side of the bed and gaze at him.

“I went to get
you some water, and when I came back, you’d taken it off and thrown it on the floor.”

“
Why did you sleep in bed with me?”

“You asked me to. You didn’t want to be alone, and I was worried you might get sick.”

“This is embarrassing.” I lay my face in my hands as my elbows rest on my legs.

“You were
funny. For the most part, you’re a happy drunk.”

“
Thanks for picking us up. I haven’t been out with friends in so long, and I haven’t drunk for months, so I got a little crazy.”

“Seems you’re a bad influence on my friends, too. I
haven’t seen them that messed up in a long time.”

There’s an awkward silence.

“Um, I need to take a shower. If you want to wait, I’ll run you home after,” he says.

“S
ure, thanks.”

He gets out of
bed and walks out of the room. I have the best view of the most firm and perfectly shaped ass in boxer briefs.

Will
things be different now? He’s friendly this morning, but he’s still not giving much away. I pick up the glass of water on the dresser and go to the kitchen. After pouring a fresh glass, I carry it out to the patio. This hangover sucks.

Taking advantage of the view,
I try to decide if I should call the agency to get someone else to clean. I haven’t been able to bring myself to do it. Every time I think he’s a jerk, he does something nice for me. I smell his delicious scent as soon as he comes out the door.

“I’m ready to take you home
.”

He’s in a big hurr
y to get rid of me. “You’re eager to get me out of your house. If I said something mean last night, please forgive me. I’m sure it was the alcohol talking.”

There he goes wi
th the stare and silence. I swear I’m starting to think he suffered a brain injury?

“It’s just
better you go home.”

It’s just
better
. What the hell does that mean? I want to ask, but I’m sure he’d just stare at me.

“I’d rather walk
. I’ve waited too long to call the agency, so I’ll be here Tuesday, but then I won’t be back to make you uncomfortable. I’ll be sure there are no more rescues, too.” I’m pissed, and I’m sure he can tell.

“Skyla, you don’t feel well. I don’t want you
to walk—”

I leave
him talking and hurry to the front door. Great, I’m doing the walk of shame in last night’s dress. I’m also barefoot, carrying my heels. I should’ve at least got sex out of it. What an ass. How many times am I going to let him humiliate me? Furious, I call Eric on my way home.

“
Eric, it’s Skyla.”

“Hey, chick. How are you
feeling this morning?”

“Like shit
, and even more so since I woke up in bed with your jackass friend.”

“
Dammit, I told him not to touch you.”

I hold the phone away from my
ear as Eric yells curse words.

“
Eric, we didn’t have sex. He slept in the bed with me, but he froze up again this morning. Did I do something last night that would’ve upset him?”

“I’m just trying to figure out what posses
sed Chase Kalani to sleep in the same bed with you. I doubt he’s ever slept in a bed with a girl he hasn’t had sex with.”

“
I think he takes pleasure in rejecting me.”

“
Sorry, Skyla. I had to call him. I thought Andy was going to be sober to drive you home, but he was just as trashed, so I didn’t know what else to do.”

I take a deep breath and calm my nerves. He’s right. He had to call Chase if he wanted to get me home safely. “I know you had to call him. T
hanks for looking out for me, but you didn’t answer my question. Did I do something that would’ve upset him?”

“Y
ou called him an asshole as soon as he got to the bar. Then I kept seeing you run your hand through his hair on the way home, but he kept moving it. That’s all I witnessed.”

“
That’s all? Are you kidding? I’m going to die. I have to go.” I hang up. Nothing nice is going to come out of my mouth. When I get home, I shower and hide under my covers for the rest of the day.

***

I put on my tightest booty shorts and a low cut tank top to clean at Chase’s on Tuesday. If he wants to look but not touch, then fine. I’ll give him that and hope that it tortures him.

If I’m honest, there’s a
part of me that hopes it’ll cause him to cave and talk to me before he puts his hands all over me. Damn, I miss sex.

Armed with my cleaning supplies and my iPod, I knock on th
e door.
Dammit
, my palms are sweating. I don’t want him to sense my fear or sexual tension. Maybe he won’t answer, and I can use the key.

“Hi, Skyla.”

Shit. I want to say ‘Hello, Mr. Moody, Mr. Erratic, and Mr. Pensive. Which one are you today?’ Instead, I scowl. “I’ll get to work and get out of your life.”

He looks hurt
, but I have no clue why. He doesn’t follow me or say anything, so I shove my ear buds in and crank up my iPod. I get to work in the downstairs bathroom first.

After finishing there, I walk out and catch a glimpse of something moving. I l
ook to my right and see Chase talking to himself as he paces in his wide open kitchen. I stand with my hand on my hip and stare at him. I hope he turns around.

Two c
an play this humiliation game and
bingo
. Check out those big eyes of his looking at me. I smile, and I’m now satisfied, so I go to the living room to clean. I’ve always been kind to people, but he drives me crazy.

I want to jump his bones because of his hotness, smack h
im in the face for his rudeness and sooth him over the sadness in his eyes. I’m one screwed up woman. I crank up rock music and begin dusting. It’s such a shame to see all these rooms do nothing but collect dust.

Chase

I hate that she’s angry at me, but damn, her feistiness turns me on. I slowly stalk toward the family room. Her back is to me, and
all I can focus on is her cute ass shaking back and forth.

She must really be enjoying her music. I’m really enjoying watching her ass move to it. Could those shorts be any tighter?
She turns around, and shit, she catches me.

“Are you enjoying the show?
” she asks as she yanks out her ear buds.

I start laughing. I can’t hel
p it. There are a number of things I could do with that smart mouth of hers and that cute ass. “It’s quite entertaining.”

“Was it as entertaining
as you pacing around the kitchen, talking to yourself?” She throws her free hand to her hip.

I’m going to
devour that mouth and fuck her senseless. “I’m sorry I was rude again the other day. It was difficult to wake up with you in my bed.” I’m serious now.

She cocks he
r head to the side. “What does that mean? Never mind because it’s not like you’ll tell me. I can’t keep up with your erratic personality and inept ability at conversation.”

She grabs her stuff an
d walks right past me. The need to be near her is too strong for me to resist, so after a few minutes, I creep my way up the stairs to find her. I paid a hundred thousand dollars to stalk my housekeeper in my own home. I think it’s time for some professional help.

Q
uietly, I walk down the hallway until I hear her.
She’s in my damn bedroom!
What the hell is she doing? Did I fail to tell her not to clean in there? The door’s cracked, so I look in, and damn she’s close to my bed. I don’t believe I’m going anywhere good when I leave this earth, so I’m going to enjoy myself beforehand. I’m kissing her.

Skyla

I’ll show him.
I go into his bedroom on purpose. I hope he finds me in here and is thoroughly uncomfortable with it. His room is huge, and the furniture is massive. I don’t even want to know how many women have been in that king size bed, and I hate that I’m jealous.

I’m about to
spray wood cleaner on his dresser when I feel the tap on my shoulder. Practically jumping out of my skin, I turn around. I can’t believe I let that happen again, but I didn’t expect him to ever touch me.

His dark, hooded eyes gaze
at me intensely as he takes out my ear buds. He steps forward, way into my personal space, and the next thing I know I’m being backed against his bedroom wall. One hand goes up into my hair, and the other squeezes my waist, all while his lips slam against mine. He forces his tongue into my mouth, pulling me to him in every way.

I drop the woo
d polish and paper towels that are in my hands and wrap my arms around his neck, my fingers sliding up into his hair. I kiss him back lustfully, savoring his tongue that’s sweeping my mouth. His hair slides right through my fingers like silk. What is it about this man’s hair?

His powerful, fit body presses
against me, pinning me harder against the wall while his tongue assaults my mouth. I shove my hips against him and whimper, my body begging for him to put me in his bed. After a couple of minutes, he slows our kiss. Letting go of my lips, he gazes down at me like he’s a starving man.

“You’re not supposed to clean my room,” he says in
almost a whisper. I feel his sizzling breath on my skin.

“No one told me, but if this is my punishment
, then I’m doing it again.”

“Fuck.” H
e groans and grabs my face, putting his hungry mouth on mine once again. I run my hands up under the back of his shirt, my fingertips gliding along his tense muscles. He halts and releases my lips, allowing me to see the quick rise and fall of his chest as my hands make their descent down his back.

He leans his forehead against mine and brushes the back of his hand down my cheek.
“It was difficult to wake up in bed with you, Skyla because all I wanted to do was touch and taste all of your perfect body. I’ve been trying for two weeks to resist you.”

“Please, don’t,” I whisper.

“I ca
n’t have you, angel.”

And just like that he’s gone, leaving me all alone
in his room. That arrogant ass. I gather my stuff and storm downstairs, finding him on his patio.

“Don’t ever speak to me
again,” I say before I angrily tread back through the house and go out the front door. I need to go back to Cali. The loneliness I feel on this damn island is killing me. A paradise for romance, my ass.

Then Bud
leaves me right before we get to be together again. With him being three years older than me, you’d think he wouldn’t have given me the time of day, but he dragged me around with him everywhere when we were kids.

Being
even a couple of years older than Bud, Lee thought I was a pest, but not my cousin. I cried for a month when he moved here. He told me I could move to Hawaii, too in three years, but that’s an eternity when you’re fifteen and miss someone. Bud was my everything, and I’m so angry at him for dying on me because of his drug addiction!

After slamming my front door, I throw myself onto
my couch and cry for all the loss and rejection I’ve been dealt. My strength is crumbling.

***

A knock at the door wakes me. I don’t know how long I’ve been sleeping. No one visits me, so I’m instantly alarmed. Please don’t be the military, please don’t be the military. I can’t survive another loss. I slowly open the door and see that it’s Chase.