Trust Me (8 page)

    
“Which means he’s going to get you naked
as much as possible over the next month,” Patti whispered in her ear as her and
her husband, Doug, stepped on board behind her.

    
Brooke met the couple at Gabe’s wedding
last year and had an enjoyable visit with them on the dock while waiting for
Alec to pick them up. Knowing the couple was part of the small group of friends
that partied on the island with Alec on a regular basis, she was glad for their
support and encouragement of a brief affair between her and Alec.

    
“Good. Since this is a working vacation,
I’ll need a diversion every so often.”

    
“I’ll see what I can do so you’re not spending
all your time working. Take a seat and we’ll get underway.” Alec released her
hand and reluctantly moved back to allow them to pass and him to pull up the
plank.

    
Alec was tempted to ask Brooke to join him
at the helm, but instead he enjoyed watching her as she conversed with Patti
and the other guests, her cheeks flushed from the sun and her smile more
relaxed than when he had first greeted her. Twenty minutes later, they pulled
up to his dock where Will was waiting for them.

    
“Brooke, it’s good to see you.” Will
greeted her with a hug before grabbing her two largest bags. “Gabe’s been a
bear finishing up this last book. We’re all hoping you can do something with
him.”

    
“I’m his editor, Will, not a miracle
worker,” Brooke laughed, not in the least worried about working with a taciturn
author.

    
“I hate to do this to you, but he’s
waiting for you at your bungalow and I have instructions to bring you right to
him.”

    
“She’s been traveling all day,” Alec
snapped, irritated at having to wait to get her alone. “Tell Gabe she’ll meet
with him tomorrow.”

    
“It’s all right, Alec, I can handle Gabe,”
she assured him. “Besides, I’m sure you have other guests to attend to right
now.” Brooke was glad for the diversion of meeting with Gabe before she spent
any time alone with Alec. Though she was relieved the attraction was still
there and seemingly just as strong as it was last year, her self-confidence had
taken a major hit the past few months and she knew she was going to have to
shore up her nerve before she got naked with him again. Alec had been a very
astute lover and if she froze up with him it would be difficult to fake her way
through it, even with all her experience at doing just that lately.

    
Knowing she was right didn’t appease Alec
much, but he had no choice but to let Will escort her to her bungalow. “I’ll
see you later then.”

    
Will chuckled as he loaded her bags onto a
golf cart while Alec saw to the guests who would be staying at the bungalows
located closer to the resorts facilities. “Talk about bears. That man has had a
hard on for you ever since Gabe and Kira’s wedding. You’re going to have your
hands full, sweetie, trying to keep both Gabe and Alec happy over the next few
weeks.”

    
Hopping into the passenger seat of the
golf cart, Brooke replied, “I find it hard to believe Alec’s been pining for me
after a one night stand, but I’ll be happy to see to his needs as soon as I see
what has Gabe all riled up. Last time I looked at this manuscript, it was
coming along fine and I only asked him to make one change.”

    
Will pulled out behind Doug and Patti as
they drove their carts along the wide path that would take them down to the
secluded beach front bungalows. “I wouldn’t know, he doesn’t let any of us look
at his books until he’s done, except Kira of course.”

    
It was a well-known fact that Gabe spoiled
his young wife and Brooke wasn’t surprised to hear he allowed her to read his
writing before the final copy was finished. It had been dark when Brooke had
accompanied Alec back to his home after the wedding and she hadn’t been able to
see any of the surrounding landscape. The short drive down to the beach gave
Brooke her first real good look at the resort. An eighteen hole golf course
spread out across several acres of lush green lawn broken up by the winding
tree and shrub lined path that wound its way through the course. She could see
a large pond in the distance as well as a picnic area separating the main
course from a miniature golf course.

    
“This place is larger than I thought,” she
commented as they passed tennis courts, a restaurant with a large wrap around
deck for ocean view outside dining and a rental office that had a variety of
bicycles, dune buggies and kayaks for rent.

    
“The three of us each own several acres
for our personal living space, the rest of the island we own jointly. Alec runs
the day to day activities of the resort while I manage the books for not only
the resort and restaurant, but for Gabe also since he has no interest in the
resort.” Pride suffused Will’s voice and his green eyes lit with pleasure as he
told her about their island. “Buying this land and relocating here was the best
move we’ve ever made and none of us regret leaving the hectic, faster pace of
living in New York.”

    
“It’s beautiful. I can definitely see the
draw.” Especially after the last few months of juggling her hectic work
schedule while trying to deal with the emotional and physical results of her
ordeal. “Is Kira responsible for all of these gardens?” Surrounding the dock,
the decking around the restaurant and the connecting pathways were beautiful
annual displays in beds and containers that were an added attraction for
visitors. Unusual combinations of foliage and flowers provided stunning beauty
and color throughout the resort.

    
“Yes, she’s done an awesome job not only
around here, but on their side of the island in their private gardens.
 
She says a unique feature of living and
gardening in the South is the ability to garden and have something flowering year
round. Most of what you see will bloom throughout the year, even in winter,” he
said as he pointed out flowering plants complemented by various evergreen
shrubs and ground covers as well as flowering bulbs. “Kira could tell you every
name of every flower, bush and tree.”

    
The pride and warmth that infused his
voice told Brooke that Will was as fond of Kira as Alec was. She was a lucky
woman to have the affection of all three men. A few minutes later, Patti and
Doug waved to them as they pulled their cart into a small covered parking spot.

    
“Your parking slot is up ahead then you’ll
have to walk down to your bungalow,” Will said as he beeped at the couple.

    
“Wow, this is secluded,” Brooke replied
when Will pulled into the next parking spot, grabbed her bags and led her down
a winding wood planked path. She could hear the sound of the ocean, but still
couldn’t see it through the copse of trees around the trail.

    
“It’s what you said you wanted, isn’t it?”

    
“Definitely, it’s just so different,
coming from New York.” The silence was broken up by the sound of birds chirping
and the crashing of waves coming from up ahead, both sounds so pleasing yet so
foreign to her.

    
“Yeah, but in a good way.”

    
“It’s about time,” Gabe greeted them
irritably as they emerged from the cover of trees onto the beach. “What the
hell do you mean tone down the violence in these chapters?” Gabe thrust a copy
of her last email to him at her. “Those scenes are the reasons for my
characters actions.”

    
“Gabe, be nice,” Kira chided him, rolling
her eyes behind his back as she smiled at Brooke. “Hi, Brooke. How was your
trip?”

    
Brooke smiled back, ignoring Gabe’s
glower. “It was fine, thank you, but I’m ready for a little R and R before I
jump into work.” Glancing at Gabe, she stated calmly, “I’ve told you before,
Gabe, that your readers don’t like reading such graphic violence.
 
Tone it down, or better yet, simply refer to
it as a reason for the character’s behavior, but eliminate the gory details. If
you’d read your fans letters, you’d know they like the mystery and suspense and
want just enough details on past abuse to give a reason for the character’s
motive’s.”

    
“That’s Will’s job,” Gabe said, referring
to the hundreds of emails he received from readers.

 
   
“I
turned it over to Kira,” Will threw back over his shoulder as he walked to the
small porch on the bungalow. “Hang on a minute and I’ll hitch a ride back with
you.”

    
“Which I told you, Gabe, as well as
telling you I agreed with Brooke and your readers. Now come on.” Grabbing his
hand, she pulled her much taller, much bigger husband over to a bright yellow
dune buggy. “Call Ralph out of the water and let’s go home. You can harass
Brooke later.”

    
Brooke laughed as Ralph bounded out of the
ocean at Gabe’s call and waited until he was next to them before spraying them
with a vigorous shake. Turning, she followed Will inside, charmed by the small
cozy feel of the quaint one bedroom cottage. “Oh, I like this,” she said as she
set down her small bag and computer case. The front room held a bare
necessities kitchen, a small table with four chairs and a living area with a
pull out sofa, small desk, a lava rock fireplace and a television. Colorful
throw rugs decorated the wood floors and bright red, yellow and orange pillows
brightened the white cane furnishings.

    
“The bedroom and bath are down the hall.
Here’s the key to the bungalow and this one is for the golf cart which I’ll
leave here for you. If you need anything, use that phone,” Will pointed to a
land line on the wall next to a small refrigerator, “and call the office. The
number is on the pad next to it as well as a few other numbers. The kitchen’s
stocked and…”

    
Smiling, Brooke grabbed his arm and pushed
him out the door. “I’ll be fine, thank you.”

    
“Got it. See you later.”

    
As soon as she closed the door her
thoughts automatically shifted to Alec and her reason for seeking him out.
Eight months ago, Brooke’s poor judgment had led to an abusive evening from
which she had yet to emotionally recover. Two men had ignored her right to say
no, and even though the acts they perpetrated upon her were ones she had done
countless times before with other lovers, the fact that the choice to
participate in a ménage for the first time had been callously stripped from her
had left her with a mental block she had failed to break through on her own.
For all her openness and ease with sex, and as much as she had always found
pleasure in her encounters, she admitted she hadn’t pursued very adventurous
exploits or lovers. Until Alec.

    
That one night with him had opened up a
whole new avenue of sexual experiences she had never considered exploring.
Having always been content with her sex life, she had never taken the time or
the initiative to explore alternative sexual activities. Alec had given her
first outdoor experience, her first taste of male dominance and her first
erotically pain induced orgasm, all of which had accumulated in a night of
powerful, body enveloping, mind numbing climaxes. Climaxes she had attempted to
achieve again with the wrong man, resulting in her being unable to achieve
orgasm once a man got inside her ever since. She had no one to blame but
herself for what happened that night eight months ago, but in her self-pitying,
weak moments, she liked to heap some of the blame on Alec for introducing her
to ways to achieve those wonderful sensations, of showing her the difference
between coming with a pleasant pop accompanied by a soft moan and exploding
with a burst of pleasure that ripped a scream out of her. If he hadn’t done
such a good job in showing her the difference between good sex and great sex
and given her a taste of alternative sexual practices, she would have been none
the wiser and never would have gone out seeking those extraordinary climaxes
achieved with alternative means with the wrong people in the wrong place.

    
Remembering that night with Alec had its
usual effect on her. Her pussy swelled and dampened and her nipples peaked with
remembered pleasure. It was because of that response and the hope it gave her
that made her seek out Alec’s help, and there was no time like the present to
see if she was right to listen to her body. Will had set her suitcases on the
large king size bed and it only took her a moment to rifle through them to find
what she wanted and even less time to strip off everything, including her bra
and panties, and slip on the short, spaghetti strap sundress and a bright green
pair of flip flops that matched the parrot green and yellow of her dress.
Grabbing the key to the golf cart, she hastily made her way back to the resort
and prayed Alec was free to indulge her.

    
Alec’s mind was on getting back to Brooke
the whole time he was giving his guests a brief tour of the facilities and
getting them settled into their bungalows. He had quit questioning his
obsessive attraction to a woman he had only spent a few hours with a long time
ago. It hadn’t stopped women from coming and going in his life with as much
frequency as usual since the last time he saw Brooke. Due to Gabe’s busy
schedule, the parties had slowed to once a month, sometimes longer if he was
out of town, but those weekends were so filled with fun, sexual excesses, they
were more than enough to keep him sated. Just because thoughts of Brooke had
invaded his mind when a woman or an act reminded him of her didn’t mean
anything. Just because it was her face he saw and her body he was fantasizing
about when he climaxed with these women didn’t mean anything. And just because
he had been as excited as a kid awaiting the arrival of Santa ever since he saw
her name in the reservations book and he had felt the same emphatic, hot rush
of arousal when he first saw her again didn’t mean a damn thing either.