Rivals in Paradise

“Yeah, right.” She sucked her teeth and shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’d like to find my way around on my own. I’m sure you have plenty of family and friends here to keep you busy.”

He leaned in close, nostrils slightly flared and eyes darkened considerably. If she didn’t know any better, she would think that he was on the prowl. “Yes, but it’s not often I get a chance to catch up with an old friend such as yourself. What kind of frat brother would I be if I let one of my Delta sisters roam around my island home all alone?”

She rolled her eyes then. The brother was truly reaching, trying to play the Delta and Omega connection.

“Now, you know during the years we were at FAMU the Deltas and the Omegas hardly bought into that brother-sister thing. The entire time I was there we called the Kappas our brothers. Most of my sorors couldn’t stand y’all.”

Nationally, the Deltas and Omegas may have had an unofficial brother and sister bond, but at FAMU during her freshman and sophomore years and part of her junior year, the FAMU chapters of those organizations might as well have been mortal enemies. The beef between the Deltas and the Omegas was so intense the year she pledged that she wasn’t required to greet members of the fraternity. In fact, she and her line sisters were expressly forbidden to greet any members of Omega Psi Phi. That year, the “Que Dogs” were on FAMU’s chapter of Delta Sigma Theta’s do-not-greet list. That had led to some very awkward moments for her, since she had several classes with Omegas and had to see them and not acknowledge them as fellow Greeks on the yard.

As she remembered, she realized Chase had been in one of her classes. She remembered how he would sometimes stand in her way in an effort to make her acknowledge and greet him. She would simply walk around him and not say a word.

Cicely had actually worked on building peace with the Omegas during her junior year. But Chase and his group of frat brothers had been long gone by then. The two chapters actually had a much better relationship now due to the work she had done to make peace. But she wasn’t about to tell The Wolf that. It would just give him more reason to pursue what ever evil plot he had hatching in his big ole sexy head.

The smirk that came across his face let her know he wouldn’t be giving up anytime soon. “Yes. But historically our organizations have an unwritten brother-and-sister bond that I feel obligated to uphold. I just refuse to have one of my sorors wandering around Dahinda alone when I’m here to show her around.”

“I’ll tell you what. If I feel the need for a tour guide, I’ll let you suggest the name of a good one. But I really think the time we are spending on the flight right now is enough to last us a lifetime.”

Just then, the flight attendant announced that passengers could now turn on authorized electronics, and Cicely made a show of pulling out her iPod, hoping that Chase would get the hint. She figured some of the girl-power singing groups would get her though the trip and deal with Chase’s annoying presence.

Cicely let out a sigh of release as she sang along with the girl groups playing on her iPod. This should make the three-and-a-half hour trip a little more bearable.

Chase watched the words coming out of Cicely’s lips, but he didn’t believe them for a minute. The woman wouldn’t know the truth if it jumped up and bit her in the behind. He smiled at the image briefly, and then frowned when the image turned into one of him softly nipping at her shapely derriere.

She was a lying, conniving woman who had cheated him out of his chance to be student government association president and finish his undergraduate career with a bang. She messed up his rightful place in the school’s history. There was no way he could possibly still be attracted to her.

He had always been an overachiever. He was used to obtaining everything he tried for, getting everything he wanted. He had earned his nickname, The Wolf. And he wore it proudly. He hadn’t been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, far from it. He knew the meaning of hard work, and he played to win. Losing the election to that sweet, sexy little sophomore was a sore point in an otherwise stellar record.

Cicely Stevens owed him, he figured, as he stared at her lying lips—her soft, luscious, lying lips. It must have been his lucky day to end up sitting next to the lovely Cicely.

Cicely had pulled out an iPod and was bobbing her head to some little melody. That was fine with him. It gave him some time to study her and come up with a game plan.

“Would you like a beverage?” the curvy and jovial blonde flight attendant asked, breaking him out of his contemplation for a moment.

He tapped Cicely, who looked at the flight attendant and shook her head.

“I’ll take a vodka tonic,” he responded.

Vacationing in Dahinda allowed him to squeeze in a visit with family, the first since his grandmother’s funeral and one of many he hoped to have in the future. Having Cicely Stevens on the same island was an unforeseen bonus.

He’d recently missed being at his grandmother’s bedside with the rest of the family when she passed away. He’d had work related commitments and couldn’t make it back to Dahinda in time. Leaving his job as a corporate raider, taking the job at Mainstay and his guilt about his grandmother made him consider the possibilities of changing his ways.

Chase had loved his old job. He’d loved the thrill of sniffing out companies ripe for corporate takeovers. His instincts had made for a quick rise in the business world. Although his devotion to his job had meant that he hadn’t been able to make it home often. He had a spacious home that he’d built for when he visited the island, and he barely used it.

He seldom had time for a social life. But he had managed to find time for other recreational activities. He hadn’t been hard-pressed to find company of the female persuasion. Fortunately, the demands of his former job meant he hadn’t had the time to forge long-lasting relationships. He didn’t have any intention of giving up his bachelor status any time in the near future.

Yes, women usually came and went at his command, all except for one.

He turned to Cicely, still bobbing her head and pretending to ignore him.

That she would be sitting next to him all high and mighty was a sunny side to his vacation that he hadn’t expected but certainly welcomed. It was time to pay little Miss Cee Cee back for her lies and games.

This time she wouldn’t get away until he was quite done with her.

She had fooled him once with her sweet idealism. He had admired her spunk in running for SGA president at the end of her sophomore year. Every time he had spoken with her, even during their heated public debates, he’d found himself liking her more and more. He hadn’t intended to let her win, of course. But he could have seen her doing great things for the university in the future.

He had even considered telling his fraternity brothers to calm down on the campaign tactics, especially when she came to see him and he’d ended up kissing her. He hadn’t known until later that it had been a setup.

She had paid someone to get pictures of the kiss.

Luckily, one of his fraternity brothers had been able to get a copy of the picture and their camp had used it first. It hadn’t made a difference, however. What she had come back with using the same picture of them kissing was what he felt cost him the election.

Do you really want a president who can’t stop sniffing behind women long enough to properly run a campaign, let alone run the student government? Cicely “Cee Cee” Stevens will go to great lengths for FAMU, even if it means kissing a fool to get at the truth! Vote for Cee Cee and leave The Wolf to his pitiful prowl.

The truth.

That was exactly what Chase was going to devote his vacation to finding out. Cicely obviously wasn’t the sweet girl he’d thought her to be. And the one kiss they’d shared had cost him the election and had haunted him for years. It was time to put all those old feelings to bed, literally.

He glanced at her.

She was still beautiful. Her flawless nutmeg complexion was radiant. Even that fake smile she’d given him as she lied through her teeth had an exuberance about it that pulled him in. She wore her long, dark brown hair in soft ringlet curls that framed her face. Judging by what he was able to see when she stood up so that he could get to his seat, her body had matured in all the right ways and all the right places. He didn’t see the same sweet idealism in her soft brown eyes that he remembered, but they still made him want to gaze into them.

She wasn’t going to make it easy, that was for sure. But then, he never liked things too easy, anyway; it spoiled the fun of the chase. One thing was certain, he wasn’t going to miss out on the opportunity that fate had sent him to get the one who got away and pay her back for all her devious treachery.

She would crack eventually. He’d see to it.

He tapped her again and she turned to face him just as the flight attendant came back with his drink.

Cicely made a show of turning off her iPod. “What?”

Clearly that nice, sweet girl he knew back at FAMU was just an act. The way the woman was giving off attitude, you would think it was her middle name.

Chase smiled. It would take more than a sistagirl-tude to scare him off. “It’s going to be a long flight. And even though I brought work with me, I’d much rather catch up with you. So, what brings you to Dahinda?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. Despite how things ended up in the past, I’d like to think that we would’ve been friends if we hadn’t been running against one another.”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “Please, you wouldn’t have even noticed me or known I was alive if I hadn’t stepped up to run against you.”

That certainly wasn’t true. He had noticed little Miss Cicely Stevens from the first day she stepped on campus during her freshman orientation, when he’d been an orientation leader for another group of freshmen. He’d also noticed that she seemed to gravitate toward the quiet, four-eyed, nerdy-type guys. And she had run through the nerds and over them like nobody’s business. He’d always thought that what she really needed was more of a challenge.

Not wanting to give her ego anything to feast on, he just let her comment about him not noticing her slide. “So, what are your plans once you land on my beautiful island?”

She paused and considered him carefully. Her eyes narrowed ever so briefly and he thought for a minute she wasn’t going to answer him.

Taking her iPod and placing it in her bag, she then turned to him. “Actually, I haven’t the slightest idea. This vacation was sort of spur-of-the-moment. I needed to get away from it all and needed someplace to clear my head. I figured I’d wing it.”

She opened her mouth as if she were considering adding something else and then shut it quickly.

Interesting.

“Well, that just won’t do, Cicely. You really have to try and make some time for me to show you the sights. How long will you be staying?”

“One week. And while I appreciate your quite insistent offer, I really don’t think I’m in the mood for any company. You know, part of the whole ‘space to clear my head’ thing?” She forced a fake smile and made a move to go for her iPod again.

Chase reached out and touched her hand before she could do so. An electric shock went through him, and he felt his heart skip.

Oh, shit, that was odd.

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open, but no words came out. She shut her mouth, but she stopped reaching for her iPod. Slowly, she removed her hand from his touch.

“I’m going to be on the island for two weeks. And I’m thinking I need to spend some of that time reacquainting myself with you, Cicely. I’m not one to beg, or to force my company on a woman. But I know that you would regret it if you allowed this moment to pass without taking the chance for us to get to know one another again.”

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