Bravura (Portentous Destiny Series Book 3) Page 7

  “You know I don’t kiss and tell,” I say.

  “So, what about giving BJs and telling?” Lena laughs. Cami can’t control it any longer, and she bursts out laughing.

  “Lena, are you talking about Zoe or yourself?”

  Lena’s face goes bright red, and Cami and I double over in laughter. “Lena, seriously?” I gasp as I try to stop the tears flowing down my cheeks.

  She shrugs. “You know, it’s that type of girls’ weekend,” she says. “Actually, it’s sort of turning into a boys’ weekend.”

  “Yeah, are you guys OK with that?” I ask. “I mean I know you wanted a girls’ weekend and all.”

  “It’s fun,” Cami says.

  “Yes, we needed some fun,” Lena agrees. “Plus, it gives it more of The Hangover quality, and I kind of dig that.”

  Cami and I laugh, and we all lie back and enjoy the sun and gentle ocean breeze. We order lunch from our chairs and only get up once to go for a dip in the water. It’s a relaxing day and I have to say I’m so glad that I came. And deep down, I know I’m glad we ran into Cody and his friends.

  At five o’clock I tell the girls the time, and they both pop up from their beach comatose states.

  “OMG, why didn’t you wake me earlier?” Cami asks as she throws her stuff in a beach bag. “I have to prep!”

  Lena and I start laughing, and we follow her back into the hotel. My room seems small compared to Cody’s massive suite, but of course, it’s on my dime and his has to be on his company’s dime. I really ought to see if they have any entry-level positions available, his work sounds just like what my cousin Nick wants to do. Although Nick has a job, it’s always good to have options.

  I’m the first one in the lobby. I’m feeling relaxed, and I leave my hair down. It’s mostly dry, but I know in the humidity the dampness will make it wave slightly. After years of going dancing, I’m a pro at the smoky-eye look, and I’ve thrown on some red lipstick for effect. I’ve brought my signature sexy, black party dress; what wardrobe isn’t complete without that? I have some killer heels that I put gel insoles in so that they are actually comfortable for more than one hour. I check myself out in a mirror as I wait, not half-bad I think to myself.

  Lena comes down first. She’s got her dark hair up in a twist and a sexy red dress on that comes down to her knees and resembles the dress Marilyn Monroe wore in the famous city grate movie scene. I nod my approval and then turn to see Cami.

  “Hot damn, girlfriend! You look hot!” I exclaim as she struts across the lobby. She’s wearing an amazingly sexy, emerald-green dress that shows off her breasts and her back. The tiniest of straps hold it up and it hugs her ass and then promptly ends. I smirk wondering if she’s wearing underwear, and then remind myself to remind her to not bend over at all, like ever, in that dress. I smirk at her again. “Well, looking for a hot Miami hookup, are we?”

  She shrugs. “I’m non-committal.”

  We all laugh and walk toward the front. A limo is out front waiting for us, and we all get in and crack open the bottle of champagne that has been left there for us. By the time the limo pulls up to a building, we are set for a fun night. I step out of the car and look up to see that we are at a very famous restaurant. Apparently, I stop too abruptly, because I’m literally plowed over by Cami and Lena. I start to stumble forward when two strong arms grab me. I’m pulled into a familiar smell, and I smile as I’m pressed against Cody’s chest. I look up and am greeted by amused blue eyes.

  “You’re not starting to take after Lily, are you?” he asks. I laugh remembering how many times Lily literally ran into his brother.

  “Uh, no. My friends are just incapable of paying attention,” I say as I turn to chide Lena and Cami. They laugh and walk over to Jeff and Mike.

  Cody threads my arm through his and we walk up to the restaurant door. “You look ravishing by the way,” he whispers in my ear as he opens the door for me. I know he can feel the goose bumps form on my arms, but I don’t care. I’m letting my guard down, but just for tonight.

  We are led to the back of the restaurant to a very private circular booth. Somehow, we pair off with Lena and Mike sitting by each other, Jeff and Cami and then Cody and me. I ask them how their project was coming along and the three of them launch into the issues that they’ve been having and why Cody got called up here. Apparently, there was some issue with the footings on the bridge segment that they were working on, and Cody is an expert on underwater drilling. After I pulled my chin off the ground, we have a very analytical discussion about his job. He worked on oil rigs for a while and then went back to his college roots and started working on projects that can withstand earthquakes and seismic activity from volcanos. He haphazardly mentions that he minored in geology. By the time dessert rolls around, I can tell the girls are ready for lighter conversation.

  “Soooo,” Cami starts. “Where shall we go after dinner?”

  “No worries, sweetheart,” says Jeff. “We have the after-dinner plans all taken care of.”

  Cami raises her eyebrow. “Oh really?”

  “Yes, really,” Mike answers as he winks at Lena.

  “So, we should be concerned,” I state rather than ask, a smirk on my face.

  Cami and Lena start laughing.

  Cody places a hand on his chest. “You wound me? Ye of little faith.”

  “Oh wait, you were the mastermind?” I ask, giving him a quizzical look.

  Cody winks at me and takes a sip of port. “Hey, Cami?” I ask.

  “Yes.”

  “Remember alluding to The Hangover earlier…” I smile innocently.

  Cami and Lena burst into giggles.

  The guys look at us perplexed, and I flash them a sweet grin as I down my dessert cocktail in a single pull. The girls follow suit, and we all stand to leave. Cody places a hand on the small of my back as he escorts me out of the restaurant. As we wait for the limo to pull up, I turn to him.

  “Thanks for dinner,” I say. “Drinks are on us tonight.”

  “We’ll see,” he says as he opens the limo door for me.

  Jeff opens a second bottle of champagne in the limo as we drive through downtown Miami. We pass several popular clubs that I’ve been to before, and I begin to wonder where we are going. The lights of downtown are behind us and the limo keeps on going. Cody grabs my hand and brings it to his mouth, planting a sweet kiss on it.

  “Penny for your thoughts, Miss Greene?”

  I smile and shrug. “Just curious.”

  “Ah, my evil plan is working then.” He grins.

  I roll my eyes and look back out of the window. Cami and Lena are busy laughing at a funny story Jeff is telling them about his first date in high school. Mike keeps egging him on with tidbits of his failed dates since. The two of them have apparently been friends for a long time.

  Chapter 9

  Zoe’s Playlist: “Just Give Me a Reason (feat. Nate Ruess)” by Pink

  We pull up to a marina and the limo stops. The men lead us down various walkways in between some amazing yachts, and then they stop in front of a beautiful yacht that seems to have some unique features such as the heliport on the back deck. It’s not the largest one at the marina, but it is awfully close to being the largest one.

  “After you, ladies,” Cody says, motioning for us to step aboard. He holds out his hand as a crew member assists us with hoisting ourselves up the steep steps and ramp and onto the main deck of the yacht. I walk toward the front of the boat and look out at the marina. It’s a lot to take in as I look around at the wealth and elegance that surrounds me. I can hear Lena and Cami heading toward the inside of the yacht. I hear footsteps behind me, and I know who it is.

  “This is beautiful,” I say as Cody approaches me. “But really, Cody, this is a bit much.”

  He waves me off and smiles. “It belongs to a friend who owes me one. So, I called in a favor. I could use a nice night out, and I thought you all would enjoy it.”

  I grin, partly because his sentimen
t is sweet and partly because I’m like a kid in a candy store. Little does Cody know that I spent my youth learning how to sail. My father owned a small sailboat that we used to take out in the summers. His best friend had a small yacht that he kept in the Bahamas and we would also go out on it sometimes. Of course, neither boat, well for that matter, no boat I have previously been on, can even come close to competing with the luxury that I am currently surrounded by as I take in the opulence of this vessel. I smile at one of the few happy family memories I possess. My last sail with my dad and Rob prior to the divorce plays in the back of my mind.

  Cody gives me a look. I smile.

  “Just remembering something,” I say as I grin at him.

  “And what would that be?” he asks as he leans against the railing of the boat.

  “I once spent a week sailing the Chesapeake with my brother and my dad,” I say softly as I run my hand along the mahogany railing. I look back at Cody and shrug. “It was the last really happy week I spent with him, before the divorce and before he moved to the other side of the country. I loved that little sailboat.”

  “You know how to sail?” Cody asks, a look of surprise on his face.

  I smirk. “Yes, I know how to sail,” I say while rolling my eyes. I giggle. “I was an East Coast seagoing brat, what can I say?”

  Cody nods and smiles back at me. “So, do you like her?” he asks as he motions to the vessel.

  I run my hand over the wooden railing again, feeling the smooth texture of the polished wood. “She’s beautiful,” I say absentmindedly as I look at the rich woods and leathers and fabrics that adorn the vessel.

  “Yes, she is,” Cody murmurs in my ear, and then he walks away to go speak with a man who I presume is the captain.

  I take in the enormity of the yacht. There’s a main open cabin area that has a deck off it, and there’s club music pumping from hidden speakers. A bar sits at the far end of the room, and a crew member is staffing it. I walk over and smile at her. She’s short and has black spiky hair.

  “What’s your poison?” she asks as she wipes down the beautiful mahogany countertop. The wood is so well-polished that every grain shows, every pattern pops out, and the glossy coating gives it an almost fake feel, yet the natural beauty isn’t detracted from it in the least bit.

  “A mai tai, please,” I say, smiling at the memory of the Galapagos.

  I feel Cody’s hand snake around my waist. “Make that two, please.”

  I turn to face him. He pushes my hair out of my face and smiles down at me. “Reminiscing tonight?”

  I nod and take my drink and hand him his. We clink glasses and cheers. Cody walks over to his friends and then walks out of the room. Cami and Lena run over to the bar squealing with excitement. They are talking a mile a minute and our bartender gives me a look. I laugh, and Cami and Lena ignore me as they keep raving about our private luxury yacht for the night.

  I just raise my glass and smile. “When in Miami…,” I say as I walk away. I want to explore the yacht, so I begin walking around. I find Cody on the deck near the bow of the yacht. I lean on the railing and peer up at him.

  “Thanks for all this,” I say quietly.

  “You’re very welcome, my lady,” he teases.

  “Seriously, this is…well, way above the call of duty,” I explain. He smiles. “Can you give me a grand tour?”

  “Sure.”

  “So how exactly did you get this yacht for the night?”

  He laughs. “Well, a few years ago, I was working on a project in Dubai. The owner of the property was quite wealthy and was asking for near impossible results. Everyone kept telling him no, but I knew we could do it. I explained my plan to him and told him if he was willing to make two compromises, which really weren’t that bad, then we could get the results he wanted. He agreed. I did it. He loved the outcome, and it got done ahead of schedule. He made a ton more money because of it, and he told me that he owed me one.”

  “So, this is your ‘one’?”

  “Something like that.” I give him a look. He laughs and puts up his hands. “OK, we became good friends, and when he heard I was here, well he offered it to me for the night.”

  “I see. Cody, why do I get the feeling that you are a lot more than just ‘an engineer’?”

  He shrugs and grabs my hand. “Come on, I’ll give you the fifty-cent tour.”

  He takes me up to the top deck, the heliport, the bridge, the two lower decks and he even lets me peek into the engine area. It’s massive and very interesting. There are four main sleeping quarters each with its bathroom, a restaurant-grade kitchen, a dining area, a sitting area, and three smaller bedrooms with bathrooms for the crew on the lower deck. Cody doesn’t explain who owns it aside from the cryptic description he has given me earlier but guessing at the size and décor and that the project was in Dubai, I begin to put two and two together.

  “What do you think?” he asks as we make our way back to our friends.

  “She’s a gorgeous vessel,” I admit.

  “Glad to hear you like her, because we have her all night,” he says with a wink. We walk back out to the front of the yacht. I lean over the starboard side and look back as Miami disappears behind us, and I look forward to seeing the moonlight and the stars above as we head out to sea. I feel Cody next to me. It’s a bit cold, and he puts his coat over my shoulders. I lean my head down on my wrist and breathe in the salty ocean air.

  “This is lovely,” I murmur.

  “I agree,” he says as he runs a hand down my back. I shiver, but not from the cold ocean breeze.

  “Where are we going?” I ask him.

  “Just a little ways out,” he says. “We’ll be back in the morning.”

  We stand and watch Miami’s lights from the distance for a while. Some dolphins jump in the water not far from us, and we laugh as we are reminded of our Galapagos boating adventures.

  “Shall we head inside?” he asks after a while. “It’s a bit chilly out here.”

  I nod, and he places a hand on my lower back and guides me toward a door on the side of the yacht.

  Cami and Lena are now at least several drinks into the night, and they are dancing with Jeff and Mike, clearly having a blast. The six of us dance and drink and laugh for hours. We eventually make it outside to stargaze and drink some more, before going back inside so we can play pool and drink more. At some point, exhaustion takes over, and I lie down on a built-in chaise lounge. I feel the cushion next to me sink down, and I smell Cody. I keep my eyes closed but can’t help the smile that forms on my face.

  “Sleepy?” he asks. I nod. All of a sudden, I feel myself being picked up and my eyes fly open. Cody is carrying me.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “Taking you somewhere more comfortable,” he explains as he carries me down a narrow flight of stairs to the main master suite. He lays me down on the bed. I glance over at a wall clock and see it’s three in the morning. He takes off my shoes and then his own, and he lies down next to me.

  “Let’s sleep for a bit, OK,” he says rather than asks. I nod, and as his arm goes around me, I fall fast asleep.

  The rocking is the first thing I notice when I wake. I internally groan at myself for drinking too much. But I also have to smirk because I know wherever Cami and Lena are, they have to be feeling worse than me. I’m locked in place by Cody. My back is pressed tightly against his front. His arms are wrapped around me and his legs are behind mine. It’s spooning, but more than spooning. I feel protected. Before I can begin to tell myself to stop feeling this way, Cody stirs against me.

  “Good morning, princess,” he whispers in my ear. Why o’ why does his morning voice have to be so damn sexy? Are the gods of dating punishing me for my past sins?

  “Morning,” I say quietly. I squirm against him and feel that it is indeed a good morning for someone. I giggle.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing.”

  Before I can think, I’m fli
pped onto my back, and Cody pins my arms above my head with one hand and begins tickling me with the other.

  “Stop!” I gasp in between my laughter. Cody stops and looks down at me. His eyes go from playful humor to sex god on a stick. He leans very close to my face but doesn’t kiss me. I look up into his eyes, and we stay like that for a few seconds, assessing. Then very slowly, he runs his tongue against my open lips, and I suck in a breath from his touch. A moment later our lips are locked. I don’t care if I have morning breath, I don’t care that I’m wearing a dress from yesterday. I don’t care about anything, except the feel of Cody’s body against mine. His mouth tastes me and tells me I belong to him with just the movement of his lips and tongue. His legs are on either side of mine, and I scissor mine wanting to feel the friction I so desperately crave.

  He releases my legs and places his in between mine, pushing my dress up around my waist. He presses his erection against my heated core, and I moan into his mouth. He releases my hands and his hands pull my dress up over my head, and he tosses it to the side. I unbutton his shirt, and it flies off in the same direction. I reach down and start fumbling with the zipper of his trousers. He assists, and they are off in a matter of seconds. He makes hasty work of my bra and panties, and then our bodies collide together.

  He slides into me, and I arch to meet him. He takes my hands in his and places them on either side of my head as he thrusts into me. Our eyes stay locked together. We stare at each other until we’re both on the brink. Normally, this type of intimacy would be too intense for me, but for some reason, I’m not scared or wanting to look away. We both come silently, never letting our eyes leave the other’s. The intensity of it is overwhelming. Cody crushes his lips to mine, and he makes love to me with just his mouth as our bodies stay joined together, his erection still throbbing inside of me. We lie there kissing as we come back down from our bodies’ sexual highs.

  Eventually, he pulls back and looks down at me. “That was intense,” he says, smiling at me.