The Siren by KATHERINE JOHN (general ebook reader .txt) 📕

plans Felicity’d had to go out tonight were now ruined, and I wasn’t sorry. Who did she think she was? She was here to take care of me, not the other way around.

A fat raindrop hit my face, and then another. I unscrewed the top of a medicine bottle without checking to see which it was and dumped a pill on my tongue as I plodded up the stairs to the pool, impervious. I wouldn’t let a little rain ruin my night. I’d had a nap and I was going to enjoy myself.

Rain pocked the surface of the fluorescent blue pool, casting the courtyard in flickering luminescence. The two lone guys playing Ping-Pong under the wide eaves of the lobby waved as I passed, and I blew them a kiss. One of them pretended to catch it and slap it on his cheek. I laughed. I was feeling better already.

Energized by the prospect of a lively evening at a lovely restaurant, I threw open the door.

My heart sank. The scene was anything but lively. It was dark and quiet, illuminated only by the backlit bar that lined most of the wall to my right. The tables were empty, the windows that faced the beach closed to the coming storm outside. Caribbean jazz played softly over the sound system, barely audible above the sound of the rain on the roof. The lone man at the bar turned and raised his glass to me.

It was Cole.

My stomach did an unexpected flip. Sure, we’d been working together for a week—staring into each other’s eyes, kissing, stroking each other’s nearly naked bodies—and we obviously still had chemistry. But all that was pretend, for the cameras, in front of an audience. Up till now, we hadn’t once been truly alone together.

In fact, I hadn’t been alone with him since the night he left, thirteen years ago. I forced the memory from my mind.

“Come have a drink,” he beckoned to me, slapping the leather barstool beside him. “No one’s looking.”

I sized him up as I crossed the room. Cole could just as easily play the villain or the hero, and it was crucial to know which you were engaging with. Though I’d often known the wolf in him to dress in sheep’s clothing, so even when he was at his most charming, it was advisable to keep your wits about you. I slid onto the barstool next to his. “Where is everyone?”

“Most of the crew went to dinner in town. Everyone else from our cruise is a pussy.” He laughed. “But not you!” He rattled the ice in his empty glass and called out to the invisible bartender. “Another! And one for this gorgeous lady.”

So he was feeling agreeable, apparently. A bartender materialized from around the side of the bar and poured a heavy shot of Scotch into his glass. “What can I get you?” he asked me.

I glanced at Cole, unsure. I wasn’t supposed to be drinking, and he was technically my boss. “Come on, I won’t tell. Anyway, we all know you’re not really sober.” He poked me in the belly. “You were passed out on the boat like a frat boy after a kegger.”

I shot him a dirty look. “I wasn’t drunk. I was tired from the week.” I shifted my gaze to the bartender. “Spiced rum with a splash of pineapple, please.”

“You are a gorgeous lady, you know.”

Seductive Cole, the most dangerous of all.

“Thank you.” I smoothed my hair.

“Really.” He locked eyes with me and placed his hand on my thigh. Could it be that this was the reason he’d wanted me on the film? I hadn’t thought it possible, after everything that had transpired between us. But that was all years ago. We were different people then. I could tell from the softness of his gaze that he was somewhat drunk, but that wasn’t exactly rare for him, and alcohol always brought out the truth. Maybe this was his truth. My horoscope this morning had said that cycles from the past that were left unfinished would be coming full circle.

“Cole,” I warned, cutting my eyes to the bartender. But I didn’t stop his hand.

“Oh, he won’t breathe a word, or he’ll be fired,” Cole whispered into my hair.

The bartender slid my drink in front of me.

Cole threw him a smile. “Thank you, Darian. We’d like the room.”

Darian disappeared through a door that led to the kitchen. I took a long draw of my drink and considered Cole. He was as irresistible as he’d ever been, and I’d be lying if I said that his kisses earlier in the week hadn’t turned me on. He slid his hand farther up beneath my skirt, and I took a fortifying swig of my rum, remembering what Felicity had said, that a relationship with him would be good for my image. But it wasn’t just about that. It felt good to be wanted, if I was honest. And not by any man, but by Cole Power.

“Where were we?” He fingered the lace of my panties.

My heart beat faster. After everything, how was it possible I was still attracted to him? He brushed the spaghetti straps of my dress from my shoulders. He was just so good-looking. “Cole,” I protested. “Someone could come in. Some guys are right out there playing Ping-Pong.”

“Even better.” He pushed aside my panties and inserted a finger in me. I gasped. “There’s my dirty girl.”

He jerked down the front of my dress and covered one of my nipples with his mouth, his stubble rough against my skin. Feeling my body respond to his, I became suddenly panicked. This raw lust was how it had started before between us, and look how that had ended. I couldn’t go there again. “Cole.” I stopped him, lifting his face in my hands. “Not here.”

He groaned. “You used to be fun.”

“I am fun,” I protested, stalling for time as my mind seesawed. “Just not in the middle of a restaurant in a resort you own,