Page 47 of Taboo

When he let go of her, she laughed. “You sound like a Brit now.”

After promising to tell Jules about the offer, he went on his way, and he was able to avoid anyone else. It was pathetic that he was hurrying out of the hotel late in the afternoon. He had made up an excuse and was almost to his car when he heard the sugary sweet voice of a woman he would rather never see again.

“Aleka, is that you?”

He thought about ignoring her, but his mother had raised him better. He turned, unsmiling, to face Shelley. She walked over to him, her hips swinging in invitation and he felt…nothing. How could he feel anything when he had a woman like Jules waiting for him? Truth was, he could just be going home to spend the weekend by himself and he still wouldn’t want anything to do with Shelley.

“I’m so amazed we ran into each other here.”

He knew it was a lie. She’d been trying to get family members to give her information. Sammie in particular said to watch out for Shelley.

“I work here. It’s not that amazing.”

She pouted in that way he used to love. He’d spent an inordinate amount of time trying to get her to pout when they were in high school. Then, he could kiss it away. It was kind of their thing at the time. Now instead of looking playful, she looked calculating.

“You’re not still mad at me, are you?”

“No, Shelley. I’m not mad, but I have somewhere to be.”

“I thought we could catch up,” she said, leaning closer and slipping her hand on his chest. He looked down at her hand, then back up at her. The disgust and irritation on his face must have been easy to read. She dropped her hand, then took a step back. The woman had issues, that was for sure, but this was…weird.

“I thought maybe you would be interested in getting together tonight.”

“Didn’t you say you were amazed we just ran into each other? Like you didn’t know I was here already?”

Her smile faded just a little bit and he felt a sick kind of satisfaction. “I just thought of it.”

Bullshit, but he didn’t care to argue about it. He wanted to be far away from her. “I have somewhere I need to be.”

He turned to leave, but she wasn’t ready to let him go. “What about tomorrow night?”

He wanted to growl. “What about it?”

“We could get together and talk about old times?”

He shook his head. “I’ll be on Oahu all weekend.”

“Well, give me a call.”

He waved his hand—his mind already on Julienne—then slipped into his car. Traffic was heavy because it was Friday afternoon and Hawaiians took their Aloha Friday celebrations seriously. By the time he made it to the airport, he was ready to call it a day. He knew it was the height of a waste of money booking a private ride over, but he didn’t care. It was the fastest way to get there. Once he was settled on the plane, he made a quick call to Jules.

“Well, hello, Alek, what are you up to?”

Her voice wasn’t sweet or biddable. It was warm…sexy.

“We’re getting ready to take off.”

“Brilliant.”

He heard the happiness in her voice, and he had to fight his cock again. He glanced down at the bulge in his pants. Jesus, it was embarrassing. One little word of praise, and he was getting hard. It was her fault really. If she wasn’t so damned sexy, he wouldn’t have this reaction.

“Are you sure you have space for me?”

“Absolutely. I’m rattling around in this massive house. Definitely could do with someone else here.”

If all he could hope for was a guest room, he would take it. It was sad and a little pathetic, but the truth was that he would take a night near her than in bed with anyone else. What that meant in the big scheme of things, he wasn’t really sure, but at the moment, all he cared about was seeing her again.

Fucking pathetic, but he knew better than to fight the need he had for her. It just wasn’t going away.

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