The Billion Dollar Pact

He shrugged, smiled, got closer to her. For the heck of it, he gave her a noisy kiss, and they slid down onto the pillows together.

“I’m not much of a cuddler,” he said.

“Then you’re doing a good job, considering.”

He was trying. “You seem like the type who would like it.”

She sighed. “I am. I do.”

I do. He frowned at her choice of words, feeling the weight of them. Someday, she was going to find a nice, proper guy. Someday, she would become someone’s honeymoon bride.

But for now she was in bed with Jake, snuggling against him, all warm and cozy, where they both knew she didn’t belong.

Six

Carol awakened early. The room was bathed in soft morning hues. She noticed that the window was still open, but there was less of a breeze.

She’d slept soundly beside her lover. Too soundly, she decided. And now she was anything but calm.

She glanced over at Jake. Sometime during the night, he must have shifted onto his side because they weren’t facing each other anymore. His back was turned and he was sprawled out, one leg inside the covers, the other one exposed, along with a portion of his naked butt.

Heaven almighty. What had she done?

A foolish question, if there ever was one. She knew darn well what she’d done. She’d gone into this with her eyes wide open.

She sat up and steadied her breath. She needed coffee, but first she was going to wash the remnants of makeup off her face, tame her hair and brush her teeth. Rather than trudge off to her bathroom without any clothes, she located her sarong and wrapped it around herself.

Just as she was preparing to slip away, Jake rolled over, nearly giving her a heart attack. She’d assumed he was dead asleep.

“Hey,” he said with a graveled voice and a half smile.

“Hi.” Did he have to look so good, so handsome and wild, with a bit of overnight beard stubble? “I’m going to freshen up, then make coffee. Want some?”

“Sure.” He sat forward, dragged a hand through his hair and squinted into the hazy patch of sunlight that spilled over him. “I need to hit the head, too.”

“Okay. I’ll see you in a few.”

As he climbed out of bed, Carol darted off and practically stumbled over her body veil. She picked it up, but she didn’t take the time to look for her panties. Uncertain of what Jake had done with them after he’d peeled them off her, she would search for them later.

She continued to her room, and once she was standing at her bathroom mirror, she removed her bracelet. She’d actually slept in it. The earrings, too, so she took those off, as well.

Then, after she was fresh and somewhat tidy, with her sarong tied a little tighter, she prepared the coffee in the single-serve machine in her room, making each cup separately. She added sugar to Jake’s, the way he liked it. This wasn’t the first time she’d sweetened his coffee and it probably wouldn’t be the last. But it felt different from before.

Everything did.

Because she’d had sex with her boss. Wild, delicious, sheet-tumbling, tongue-kissing, body-scorching sex.

She brought the coffee to his room, trying to keep her hands from shaking. Jake was back in bed, looking as if he’d splashed a bit of water on his face, too. He certainly seemed more awake. She handed him his cup, and he thanked her.

Instead of joining him in bed, Carol opted for a nearby chair. He was still naked, except that he had a pillow on his lap, to protect himself from the hot beverage, she assumed.

Struggling to stay focused, she sipped her coffee, a perfect brew for a nervous day—strong and rich and aromatic.

“Are you concerned about last night?” he asked.

Lying would get her nowhere. Besides, her emotions were probably written all over her face. “It definitely feels weird now that it’s over.”

“Yeah, it does. But we knew what we were getting into when we did it.”

“That’s for sure.” They couldn’t behave as if they weren’t aware of their actions. “Morning was bound to come.”

Falling silent, he let his gaze roam over her, his eyes dark and intense. Then he said, “I don’t think it should end like this.”

She blinked, not quite catching his drift. “What?”

“Us. The sex. We should keep doing it all weekend.”

Confused, Carol debated what to say. She glanced at the nightstand, where the rest of the condoms were. “You want to do it some more, even though you agreed that it seems weird?”

“Ending it so quickly will make it even weirder. We might as well make the most of this couples-only thing. And there’s no denying how hot we are together.”

No, there was no denying it. She could still feel the forbidden thrill of their union. The warm, slick foreplay. The hard-driving rhythm. The orgasmic shivers.

Every moment was embedded in her brain. In her body. Even in parts of her soul. It had been the most exciting night of her life. But the most irresponsible, too.

Dare she repeat it over the next few days? “Are you sure we shouldn’t just cut our losses now?”

“And do what for the rest of the time that we’re here? Hang out at the beach and pretend it didn’t happen? Better to embrace it, I think.”

Her pulse jumped. “By getting naked again?”

“I’m already bare. And under that pretty dress of yours, so are you.” He set his coffee aside. “Aren’t you?”

“Yes.” Her voice all but quavered. She hadn’t put any underwear on this morning. She still had no idea where her panties from last night were, either. Maybe stuck in the bedcovers somewhere?

“So what’s it going hurt?” he asked. “A weekend of fun, sun and great sex. Things could be worse.”

“What about the other guests here? Are we going to try to hide it from them?”

“I don’t see why we should. Besides, most of them probably already assumed that we were a couple, anyway.”

She thought about her conversation with Lena and how it had influenced her to sleep with Jake to begin with. “Lena predicted it.”

“She did?”

“When we talked at the party. But we can’t let anyone figure it out when we get home. I can’t handle people at work knowing.”

“I agree. It’ll be over as soon as we leave the island. We won’t ever do it again, and no one at the office will be the wiser. It’ll be our secret. But for now, I think we should enjoy each other’s company.” He held out his hand, beckoning her. “Come on, Carol. Indulge me.”

Sweet mercy, she thought. He was just too charming to resist. As she left her chair and came forward, he pulled her into his arms and kissed the living daylights out of her.

She rolled over the bed with him, letting him untie her sarong. He put his hands all over her naked body. She did the same thing to him, exploring that gorgeous golden-brown skin and those strong, sculpted muscles. She couldn’t stop touching him.

They’d both staked their claims, and now it was official. They were having a fling. A weekend rendezvous. A mind-spinning affair.

“Take a shower with me,” he said. “I want to get wet with you.”

She circled her arms around him, pressing her body closer to his. “You’re already making me wet.”

He lowered his hand, spreading her, testing her, teasing her. “That goes with the territory.”

She moaned from the pressure building between her thighs. “A shower sounds amazing.”

“Then let’s go.” He withdrew his fingers. “We can finish this in there.”

Carol wanted him to finish her, as many times as he could. They sat up, and he removed a condom from the nightstand.

She took stock of the inventory. “Do you have any more of those in your luggage?”

He fisted the packet. “No, just these.”

“There will only be three left after we use that one.”

He smiled, then jerked his head, his hair falling across his forehead. “That’s not enough for two more days?”

She smiled, too, anxious to climb into the shower with him. “I don’t know. Is it?”

“I guess we’re going to have to pace ourselves.”

So far, they weren’t doing a particularly good job of that. It wasn’t even noon yet, and already they were gearing up for water-drenched sex.

They entered his bathroom, where the contents from his shaving kit were strewn about the counter. He’d left his toothbrush and toothpaste out, too, with the tube uncapped. Carol never did that.

Of course Jake had a housekeeper who came to his house at least once a week. He had a chef who put healthy meals in his fridge, too. He’d become accustomed to people looking after his needs.

But not always, Carol reflected. He was an orphaned child, just like her, a kid who knew what it was like to be alone, with barely anyone to care.

He turned on the shower, and as soon as it was warm enough, they stepped into the clear glass enclosure. The luxuriously designed stall was big enough for two, fitting them comfortably.

They took turns under the spray, and he helped her shampoo her hair. She’d never had a man do that for her before, and it felt wonderful. He soaped down her body, too.

Slow and sudsy.

Carol washed him as well, working her way down, until she was on her knees, rinsing him clean.

“Damn,” he said, tangling his fingers through her wet hair.

She took him in her mouth. He was big and hard and getting harder with every stroke. She wasn’t normally this bold, but she wasn’t going to waste a second of their time together.

He moved with her, watching her, keeping his hands in her hair. But he didn’t let her bring him to completion.

“My turn,” he told her, changing places with her.

When Jake dropped to his knees, Carol shivered from head to toe. He was determined to make her come, and she was more than happy to let him do whatever he wanted.

Her boss had become her undoing, her vice, her craving, her full-blown, take-me, have-me, I’m-yours hunger. She didn’t want to think about how difficult it was going to be when they went home, when it was over for good, so she tried to block that from her mind.

He used his hands and his mouth. He satisfied every yearning she had, being the beautifully skilled lover that he was.

The climax he gave her rocked her to the core. She shook and shuddered and gulped the steam that was rising.

Jake stood up and tore into the condom wrapper. He put on the protection hastily and slammed into her.

Carol was going to relive this encounter for the rest of her supposedly proper life. It would never fade into oblivion, not even in a million years. She memorized everything: the hammering motion, the pounding spray from the showerhead, the bar of soap that had fallen and was spinning around the drain.

“I’ve got you where I want you,” he said, rasping the words, breathing heavily.

“I’ve got you, too.” She raked her nails over every part of him she could reach, and he rewarded her with a rough groan, proving how much he liked it.

They kissed in wild desperation. They even clanked their teeth, making frantic love, their hips thrusting to a powerful rhythm.

Then he said, “I’m not usually a morning person.”

She smiled, laughed, gazed at him through the thickness of the steam. “You could have fooled me.”

He laughed, too, looking wild and boyish, yet warm and protective. He held her tighter, and she stopped clawing him, using her fingertips to soothe the places she’d scratched.

They kissed again, only not quite so brutally this time.

Somewhere in the middle of the mania was friendship. The knowledge, she supposed, that they shared a childhood bond. That they’d lost everything, and now they had one crazy weekend, wrapped up together in bouts of guilty pleasure.

His release was strong and convulsive, and Carol absorbed the friction when he came, taking everything he was, everything about him, into her body. Until there was nothing left but the sound of running water.

* * *

After the shower, Carol and Jake ordered breakfast and had it delivered to Jake’s room. Carol was grateful that Lena had hired a staff that could be trusted, who wouldn’t sell tidbits to the tabloids or take unauthorized pictures.

Of course, Jake wasn’t a big-time celebrity. His “Beefcake Bachelor” status wasn’t enough to make him a star. No one followed him around, the way they did Lena and some of her other guests. But thank goodness this weekend was private, either way.

“Do you want to eat outside?” he asked.

“Sure. Why not?” Carol thought it sounded nice and relaxing.

He carried the tray onto the veranda, and they sat across from each other at a glass-topped table. She gazed out at the view. The pool area was vacant, almost eerily quiet.

“I wonder if anyone else is even up yet,” he said.

“Some of them are probably hungover from the party.” She cut into her eggs. She’d chosen poached, topped with cheese, tomatoes and pesto. “And the rest of them might just be lazing around like we are.”

“Yeah.” He was eating a sausage and egg scramble. “We haven’t even gotten dressed yet.”

She nodded. Both of them were in their robes, and her towel-dried hair was still slightly damp. She’d combed it straight down, though. He’d only run his fingers through his, barely taming his thick dark locks. But his unkempt look was a part of who he was.

“So,” she said, still curious to know about his youthful rebellions, “what did you get caught doing when you were young?”

He made a face. “I stole things. Mostly video games and DVDs and stuff like that. Sometimes I would nab a bottle of booze, just for the hell of it.” He frowned at his food. “But my biggest thrill was lifting trinkets for the girls I liked. I’d have them show me what they wanted, then I’d go back on my own to steal it. That’s what I got popped for. Taking this little diamond necklace from a department store.”

She studied him in the balcony light, the way the shade played over his face. “The store pressed charges?”

“Yep. I was arrested for shoplifting.”

“And now you buy women pricey gifts to make amends for what you did?”

He glanced up from his plate. “I never really thought about it that way, but I suppose I do.” He paused, fork in hand. “Or maybe it just makes me feel good, being able to afford to give them pretty things.”

Like the jewelry he’d given her, she thought.

“I started stealing about six months after my family died,” he said. “I was so freaked out in foster care I could barely stand it. I needed something that made me feel alive. That gave me a sense of purpose, even if I knew it was wrong. I was fifteen when I got busted, so it had been going on for a while before I got caught.”

Carol questioned him further, piecing his past together in her mind. “Did Garrett and Max know what you were doing?”

“Yes, but they didn’t say anything to me about it. They had enough problems of their own.”

“What happened after you got arrested?”

“I was put on probation. But I stopped stealing. Not because I got busted, but because my caseworker said that if I didn’t get my act together, I would be moved to a group home, where the setting would be much more restrictive. And I didn’t want to go someplace where I would be separated from Garrett and Max.”

She sipped her orange juice. “So in a sense, they saved you? Just by being there?”

“They definitely did. We had our heritage in common, too, which also helped us stay together. We were placed in Native American foster homes, and there weren’t all that many, compared to nonnative ones. The only way we were likely to be separated or never see each other again was if I screwed up and went to a group home.” Jake had a thoughtful expression. “Soon after that, Max came up with the idea for us to band together. To work toward becoming megarich someday.”

Carol considered the situation. “Max came from a really poor environment, didn’t he?”

“Poor. Abusive. The works. He had all kinds of motivation to want to be rich and respected. So did Garrett, with how badly he wanted to keep a roof over his mother’s head and keep her well. But me...? There was nothing I wanted, except my family back. But then I figured there was nothing wrong with having fancy houses and fast cars.” He looked directly across the table at her, flirtation alive in his eyes. “And beautiful women, of course.”

Heat unfurled in her loins. “Yes, of course.”

“Sex was always an outlet for me. I was fifteen the first time it happened.”

“The same year you got caught shoplifting?”

He nodded. “I was already sleeping with the girl I nabbed the necklace for. She was my first. What a rush that was, having a girl want me like that.”

Carol wasn’t surprised that he was having sex at such a young age. She had waited until college, with her first serious boyfriend. “And you’ve had lots of lovers since.”

“Being rich helps.”

“Your money doesn’t matter to me,” she told him. “That’s not why I’m here with you.”

“I know. But mostly women want to date me because I’m rich, even the ones who are trying to heal me. But you won’t try to do that because you’re already broken, too.”

She didn’t know whether to be offended by his assessment of her or impressed that he knew enough to call himself broken. To combat her uncertainty, she said, “You and I aren’t going to be together long enough for me to try to do anything, except get through this weekend without those condoms running out.”

He grinned and topped off his orange juice. “Touché, Miss Lawrence.” When she furrowed her brow, he stopped smiling, the abrupt change hardening his handsome features. “Come on, Carol. Don’t be upset because I said you were messed up, too.”

“Did I say I was upset?”

“No, but I can tell it bothered you.”

She gazed out at the pool. It was still vacant, the water rippling on its own, the chaise longues and chairs empty. Suddenly the entire island seemed lonely, even the parts she couldn’t see. “Your opinion of me is confusing.”

“Why? Because you think that you’re handling being orphaned better than I am? No one gets by unscathed. No one,” he reiterated softy. “Not even you.”

Seven

Later that day, Carol and Jake gathered on the beach with Lena and Mark and a slew of other couples. Lena had suggested that everyone pitch in to build a sandcastle, which had morphed into a whimsical fortress, surrounded by sculptures of dragons and dolphins and mermaids. So far, the results were spectacular, but this was a creative crowd. Some of the attendees were set designers and special effects artists, and they were spearheading the project, offering help where it was needed.

Jake and Carol were on one of the mermaid teams, sitting off by themselves, shaping the sand. Their mermaid wasn’t half-bad. In fact, she was rather pretty, with her curvy figure and flowing hair.

Jake glanced up at Carol, but she averted her gaze. He was molding the mermaid’s breasts, and she was working on the tail, giving it texture. She was also thinking about what he’d said about her being broken. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t seem to forget his unsettling opinion of her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she replied.

“You seem preoccupied.”

“I’m just trying to focus on this.”

“Are you sure that’s all it is?”

She decided to come clean. Otherwise, it would keep affecting her mood. “Do you really think I’m messed up?”

He stopped molding the mermaid and sat back on his haunches. “I didn’t mean it in an offensive way, Carol.”

“Then how did you mean it?”

“I was just saying how losing your family was as traumatic for you as it was for me.” He squinted at her, the sun shining in his eyes. “It’s unfortunate, too, that neither of us had any extended family who could take us in. Or I assume that you didn’t or you wouldn’t have been placed in the system.”

“You’re right. There was no one. Both of my parents were raised by single moms, and they were gone by then. Well, actually, my dad’s mom was still around, but she had cancer and was too sick to step in and help. She died about a year later.” Carol sighed, pushing away the tightness in her chest. “I also had an uncle on my dad’s side, but he was a young man in the military, so he couldn’t raise me. He used to write me letters after my parents died, keeping a connection going, but then he was killed in Iraq.” Another death that had destroyed her all over again. “But I managed to get through it, just as I got through losing everyone else.”

“How? By being overly good and proper? How is that any better than me running wild?”

Irked by the comparison, she defended herself. “I’m not being overly good and proper now. I’m here with you, on this island, sharing your damned bed.”

“My damned bed, huh?” he mimicked her, a slow and sexy smile spreading across his face. “Is this our first fight?”

She rolled her eyes. She even smiled a little. It was silly to make a fuss over it. But that didn’t stop her from being caught up in the past. It didn’t stop Jake, either, apparently.

He said, “I had Garrett and Max to help me through it. I had Garrett’s mom, too. But who did you have, Carol, especially after your uncle was gone?”

She kept her response light, determined to stay strong, rather than dredge up all of that old pain. “Some of my foster parents were really nice people. Of course, some were indifferent, too. So mostly I just learned to do it on my own, to not rely too heavily on anyone else.”

He wiped his hands on his swim trunks. “Yes, but how?”

“By doing everything that I thought was right. By studying in school and getting good grades. By being respectful to my elders. By being as responsible as I could.” She stared straight at him. “I wanted to do the kinds of things that would make my parents proud. I wanted them to be looking down on me from heaven, saying, ‘Look how far she’s come.’”

“That’s nice. Really, truly it is. But it sounds lonely, too. Didn’t you ever want to rebel? To scream and rage?”

“No. Staying calm kept me sane.”

“That would have made me crazy.”

There were plenty of times that she’d cried herself to sleep. But she’d refused to take her grief out on the world, the way he had. “What’s the deal with your extended family? Why wasn’t there anyone who could raise you?”

He returned to the mermaid, absently running his fingers over the areas he’d already shaped. “My dad was an only child, and his parents died before I was born, so that ruled them out.” He spoke slowly, as if he were plucking the memories from his mind. “My maternal grandfather was still around, though, and so was my mom’s sister. Grandpa lived in Ohio, where my mom was originally from, and my aunt was in Arizona, where she’d relocated years before. But at the time of the accident, she was going through a divorce, and the last thing she needed was another kid. She already had two little boys of her own and was struggling to raise them. One of them was a baby, three, maybe four months old, and the other one was a toddler, just barely out of diapers.”

“What about your grandfather?”

“He said that he couldn’t afford to accommodate me. Granted, he was just a working-class guy, but it was more than a money issue. He just didn’t want to get saddled with one of his grandkids. He’d already raised his daughters by himself.”

“When your grandmother died?” she asked, curious about the rest of the story.

A muscle ticked in Jake’s jaw. “She didn’t die. She left him for another man, abandoning him and their daughters when the girls were still pretty young. It tore everyone apart. Grandpa resented being left with the kids, and my mom and my aunt bore the brunt of his anger. They suffered from their mother leaving, too, of course. They were crushed by what she’d done.”

“That’s awful.” Carol couldn’t fathom a woman walking out on her children.

“Needless to say, they weren’t a tight-knit family. Even when my mom was still alive, Grandpa rarely came to see to us. We hardly ever visited him, either. He remained distant with my aunt and her kids, too. He didn’t help them when they needed it.”