Ephemeral and forever

Cobalt Bay, California,

Seventeen years later…

I really had better things to do.

Things more important than let’s say, helping a trio of girls who were simultaneously throwing up into the potted ferns that lined the club’s lobby to the restroom. Management really should’ve plotted a shorter route if they didn’t want their plants fertilized with a vomited cocktail of booze, party pills and nachos.

I could make better use of my time with other things that didn’t involve walking in on two writhing bodies that were contorting themselves into the utilities closet. The row of cleaning solutions and the assortment of brooms and mops were being disturbed by fishnet-clad legs that were complicatedly knotted around narrow hips, broad muscular shoulders and arms that were dangled around a neck, and fire-engine red nails digging into a thick shock of wavy dark blond hair.

I sighed, pinching the spot between my brows while sipping my now-lukewarm glass of iced tea, and counted mentally to ten.

As someone who was content with skipping out on parties and skulking into corners instead so I could plot out and write my stories, I never usually found myself in the middle of things. And I liked to keep it that way.

But if the pair that most likely wasn’t the first to christen the above-mentioned utilities closet didn’t peel themselves off each other, there was going to be trouble and as much as I liked to be a spectator safe by the sidelines, I felt compelled to do my occasional share of public service.

There were more than two hundred people in this club who were desperate for a night of wild and drunken indulgence, my own cousin included, and they would render my intervention a heroic act the next morning if they could all manage to remember it.

« Excuse me, » I called out tentatively but I was drowned out by the moans and gasps of the pair.

Clearing my throat, I tried again, « Hello ! »

Apparently, only the guy heard me because he managed to lift his head from the brunette’s neck and when his eyes focused on me, he flashed an inviting smile and winked.

Winked ! As if the guy needed the extra attention.

When my automatic glare gave him a clear answer, he shrugged and went back to nuzzling the woman’s shoulder.

Walk away, Aiko, the voice in my head said. Walk away from a mess you need not be part of.

But I couldn’t, to my own dismay.

Muttering, I spied an empty pop can on the floor of the small alcove where the utilities closet was. I picked it up delicately between my fingers, trying to make as little contact with it as possible in case of contamination. Then I hurled it forward, managing with a certain grace.

I smiled in satisfaction when the tin can connected with the guy’s forehead, causing him to snap his head up in annoyance.

« What is it, sweetheart ? » he demanded impatiently. « I have my hands full here. Double Ds to be exact. »

Rolling my eyes, I glanced to the side and in the distance, I saw the tall, leggy platinum blonde who was scouring the floor for this casanova.

« Well, you’re soon going to have more than those to grapple with, » I said dryly. « The blonde who polished your lap earlier is hunting you down and if she finds you here with the bar owner’s lovely, and apparently promiscuous wife, she’s going to scream your head off and alert the husband who will no doubt drag you out of here after he’s shredded you to pieces. »

The guy arched a dark, golden brow in curiosity, even as the brunette kept lapping at him. This was a thing ?

« And exactly how do you know I had a blonde polishing my lap earlier ? Were you waiting for your turn ? »

« I would’ve been if I’d wanted to pick up half of the known strains of sexually transmitted diseases, » I said with a smirk. « Let’s just say it was hard to miss because she was aiming for a floor show. »

For a second, his expression became completely lucid and thoughtful—as if he suddenly forgot he had an adulterous wife—not his own—wrapped around him like a vine and whose husband owned the very establishment he was screwing her in.

I resisted another sigh.

This was Maximilian Croft, after all, and from everything my cousin, Paige, told me about him, it was clear that he was an accomplished womanizer with a reputation he dutifully proved with every scandalous affair he got involved in.

Recluse that I was, I’ve never heard of him before until I moved into the loft of Paige’s apartment two months ago. She promptly dragged me into different parties and bars and it wasn’t long before I laid eyes on him.

And since I didn’t really drink or flirt or dance, I had ample opportunity to observe the great Maximilian Croft at work, charming one lady after another into lifting their skirts for him. It was the only real entertainment I found in these late night jaunts with Paige and I honestly didn’t want it cut short tonight by having him thrown out for fooling around with the bar owner’s wife.

« She did, didn’t she ? » he agreed with a nod, as if we were simply talking about the weather. Then he grinned lopsidedly at me. « She surely earned a standing ovation from me. »

I snorted. « I think you give a standing ovation to anything female with spread legs. » I glanced down at the brunette who was still busy grinding against Max at a very odd angle of her hips. « Or other creative forms of contortions. She seriously looks like she’s damaging some internal organs in that position. »

He threw his head back and laughed. « You’re probably right. »

It was very odd to have a normal conversation with Maximilian Croft while he was in the middle of screwing a woman in the utilities closet. It was even odder that the woman didn’t seem to have heard any of it, busy as she was with Max’s body.

Well, it was a great body.

I picked up on the blonde’s voice again demanding at someone about Max’s whereabouts and I jerked my head in her direction. « She’s already prowling around this area so she might come down here and investigate especially if the two of you stay loud. She looks like she’s already called in orders of your monogrammed towels together so to say that she’s not going to be happy to find you like this would be an understatement. You can’t say I didn’t warn you. »

I turned to go when he suddenly said, « Wait ! »

I paused and glanced at him as he tried to pry the brunette off of him who finally looked up and glared at me for interrupting and staying for conversation.

« What’s your name, sweetheart ? »