When It Holds You by Nicki Elson

Author:Nicki Elson [Elson, Nicki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nicki Elson
Published: 2016-10-19T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

CLIFF ONCE AGAIN LOOKED into JoAnne’s widened eyes. This time, she covered her shock quickly, pressing a mild smile onto her lips and shifting her gaze to Chuck, the only guy in the room she hadn’t gotten naked with—as far as Cliff knew.

Amy wasn’t as suave. She half coughed upon seeing Cliff and shot a glance at Jo before looking back at him. “Well, guess we all know each other. I mean…because of Saint Lucia. That’s all I meant. Did you meet Chuck?”

Chuck hitched a cheek in confusion as he watched his wife babble. Her discomfort told Cliff she knew all about the stunt Jo’d pulled the night before. This was a disaster. He’d wanted to tell her off the night before, but now that they were surrounded by friends, he felt paralyzed. But he had to do something to stop her from informing the world of what a fool she’d made of him.

“Yeah, we met,” Cliff said, then forced his gaze back onto Jo. “I’m glad we ran into each other again. Can we talk for a sec?”

She tensed her eyes in apprehension but nodded, keeping her lips pressed into a straight line. In a short, flowered sundress under a cropped denim jacket, she was dressed for a fun night out, not a confrontation with a conquest. Cliff gestured toward the front door and followed her as she moved out of the house.

He shut the door, giving privacy as they stood amid the rocky front garden. They stared at each other in silence. Wearing a pair of high, chunky wedges, she was still inches shorter than him. He’d expected her to give off a sense of triumph, but she looked anxious, almost afraid.

“I’m not looking to start a fight,” he said at last, “and I congratulate you on your success in duping me. I’m sure I had part of that coming, but you took the joke too far.”

“The joke?” Her eyes tightened.

“I apologized in Saint Lucia for not remembering you. If you still had a problem with me, you should’ve taken it up with me then instead of coming up with this elaborate ruse.”

“What the hell are you talking about? What ruse?”

“Pretending to be PlanetClaire. Getting me to the hotel room. I’m not an idiot.”

She closed her eyes for a long moment, her mouth dropping open while her eyebrows lifted, her head slightly shaking as if she were sorting her thoughts. Slowly, she lifted her lids. The gray of her irises raged like a stormy sea.

Cliff’s indignation flamed. She had no right to still be pissed off. “At what point did you figure out it was me?” he demanded.

“The same point when you figured out it was me, asshole.” She crossed her arms in front of her, her breasts pushing together and up in the process.

Cliff fought to keep his eyes off her bulging cleavage. “I didn’t know it was you until we pulled off the masks.”

She widened her eyes and gave her head a small shake in a “no shit” gesture.

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