Page 62 of Eye Candy

CHASE

I was furious.At myself, at Caroline, at my father, and especially at my stepbrother who was nowhere to be found, the fucking coward. I made myself calm down and rejoin the party like nothing was wrong, but my chest was a burning ball of rage, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I could hit someone.

Maybe I will keep trying to find Gerry?—

The thought died in my head the moment I saw her at the top of the staircase.

Caroline glided down the stairs like one of her belovedZiegfeld Girls. I stopped pretending to listen to Roberton and openly stared as Caroline worked her way around the room, offering guests champagne. The gold material of her dress split over her leg with every step, slipping across her thigh like an expensive sheet. She flirted outrageously and basked in the admiration she received, all the while pointedly ignoring me.

I’d hurt her feelings, and instead of finishing our discussion and letting me apologize, she wanted to twist the screws. The brat.

Finally, she turned to where I stood by the fireplace, talking to Roberton and someone else whose name I hadn’t paid attention to. The way Caroline’s hips swayed as she sashayed in our direction, set on vengeance, had my cock thickening. And she knew it.

I regretted what I’d said earlier, but it would have been a shame to miss seeing her work like this. Even though I preferred the real Caroline to whomever this coy iteration was, she was undeniably mouthwatering in all forms, and it was a pleasure to watch her flex her skills in front of me.

Even if it was to spite me.

In fact, especially then.

I’d never thought of myself as the kind of man to enjoy being baited, but with Caroline, I couldn’t get enough. It got my blood rushing and my imagination firing with all the different ways I could bring her in line. Ways we’d both enjoy.

Roberton noticed my preoccupation and looked from me to Floss rapidly, trying to peel the truth from my face. I tried to stay expressionless, but he knew me too well.

I had been looking forward to introducing Caroline to Roberton. She would have liked him. Everyone did. Rob was attractive, nice, and good at talking. His demeanor, paired with the fact he went into real estate after college, made him exactly the kind of son my dad had wanted. That should’ve made me hate him, but it was too hard to hate Rob.

He stepped in Caroline’s path, and she whispered something to him that he had to lean down to hear. The smell of roses was always strongest at her neck. Rob would be breathing her in right now.

My feet were taking me towards them before I’d made the conscious decision to move.

“You look beautiful, Caroline,” I said when I reached her. “I’m sorry for?—”

She raked her eyes over me then tossed her hair in blatant rejection, turning her attention to anyone but me.

“I’m Rob.” My former friend smiled at her.

“Hello Rob.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him. “I’m Summer, Summer Holliday.” Then my tiny vixen giggled as if it were the very first time the absurdity of this name had occurred to her.

“Caroline—”

“Summer,” she corrected me, but that was her only acknowledgment. “Are you thirsty, Rob?” She held out her champagne bottle.

“Parched.”

“Would you like to help me with a trick I’ve been practicing?”

I didn’t even feel bad about the jealousy flooding through me. It was like a flame burning through wax, the sun tracking through the sky, or rain in April: it was inevitable. No, necessary. When it came to her, I couldn’t be calm and I didn’t want to be.

Rob grinned. “Sure. Unless— Chase, my man, would you rather…?”

“No,” I said through my teeth. It was supposed to be a smile, but it must have been a poor approximation, because Rob’s grin widened.

“You’re sure, Chase? Really sure? You’re seeing this smokeshow here and youdon’twant to trade places with me?”

“No.”

“Can you step back?” Caroline hissed at me, dropping her character for a second. She gave my chest a little push, then turned, once again the consummate professional. “I need space,” she told the enthralled crowd.

The evening had been full of performances—earlier in the night I’d seen a man light a candelabra by spitting fire—so this shouldn’t have been any different, but it was. Caroline’s Summer character was so magnetic she could have whistled ‘O Canada’ and people would have been impressed.

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