Cherish Hard
Page 12

“Did you see how it glitters when the light hits it?”
“You look like a goddess of the night.”
Nayna cut herself off mid-laugh. “Damn.” She pointed to where she’d hooked up her phone to act as their GPS. “Can you fix that?” For some reason the screen had gone blank.
“What’s the address?” When Nayna told her, Ísa didn’t bother to reset the phone. “I know the way. My mother used to take me to parties around there.”
Social events that had actually been more like business mixers.
Jacqueline training Ísa to be her successor. A mini-dragon. No matter if Ísa had no desire to breathe fire and cut throats.
“You met our host through work, right?” she said to Nayna about twenty minutes later as her friend brought the car to a halt partway down the long drive already clogged with a number of vehicles.
“It’s a couple actually.” Nayna turned off her engine. “The kind of power couple who end up in the social pages. This is their annual pre-Christmas-slash-anniversary party.”
“Oh, I didn’t bring a gift.”
Reaching into the back, Nayna held up a beautifully wrapped package. “Already taken care of. It’s a his-and-hers spa package from that fancy place we took Catie to when she turned thirteen.”
Once out in the balmy night air, they took care navigating the drive, neither one of them used to walking in such spindly high heels. Ísa also had to fight the urge to keep tugging at her dress. It wasn’t going to get any longer no matter how hard she tugged.
“Devil women,” she said to Nayna, hooking her arm through her friend’s. “That’s what we are tonight.”
Nayna nodded, something haunted in her eyes. “Wild, wild devil women,” she said. “Definitely not good girls who do what their families want.”
Ísa wanted desperately to follow up on what she’d caught in Nayna’s expression, in her voice, but there was also a desperation in her friend that said Nayna needed to have a good time. Tonight was not the time to talk about her choices and whether she truly could live with them.
“I dare you to kiss a random guy tonight,” she said instead of digging into Nayna’s heart and fears. “A gorgeous, ripped guy you’d never normally approach.” Her friend was confident in her work, but she was Ísa’s best friend for a reason—neither one of them was exactly the femme fatale type.
“Dare accepted,” Nayna said firmly. “Since we’ll never again see each other, who cares if he thinks I’m a crazy woman?”
Ísa decided she’d have to keep an eye on her friend tonight. There was an edge to Nayna she’d never before felt. Or… maybe she wouldn’t keep an eye on her. Nayna already lived life by too many rules. Tonight was about breaking them. “Just tell me if you’re going to go off with someone so I don’t worry.”
“You do the same.” Nayna took a deep breath as they reached the open front door. “Let’s go do bad-girl things.”
They entered to find the party already in full swing. To their right was a massive living area that flowed out onto a huge deck that, in turn, led into the glowing blue waters of a pool that already boasted several swimmers. The cathedral ceiling soared high above, a huge crystal chandelier glittering light across every surface.
Music filled the space, not so loud as to halt conversation, but more than loud enough for those who wanted to dance—as a champagne-flute-waving group was doing in one corner, that area decorated with disco ball lights that turned it into a mini dance floor filled with beautiful bodies.
Walking gingerly into the area where yet more beautiful people laughed and mingled, Ísa had a sudden attack of nerves. What the hell was she doing here? She didn’t look anything like these skinny creatures with their sleekly tumbling hair and skin tanned to golden perfection. If she tried to tan, she’d turn into a crispy critter.
“Nayna!” A stunning brunette walked toward Nayna with her arms wide open.
Going into them, Nayna hugged the other woman before passing on the gift package. “This is my friend Ísa.”
“I hope you two brought swimsuits,” the brunette said after a hug of welcome. “Though”—a wink—“from the look of it, not everyone is bothering with suits.”
The brunette was tugged away by another woman a second later while a grinning Ísa looked at Nayna in a silent question. Not saying a word, the two of them began to head toward the pool.
And the back of Ísa’s neck prickled with a sudden, visceral awareness.
Of hot, blue-eyed trouble.
9
Voodoo Games
ÍSA TURNED AROUND WITH A pounding heart… to see only the glossily beautiful people she’d already spotted, including a couple of men who were trying to catch her eye. Ignoring them, she kept on looking for the cause of her prickling awareness.
Nothing. No sign of her hot gardener.
Disappointment was a leaden rock in her stomach.
“Oh my God.” Nayna’s awed whisper snagged her attention. “Is he even real?”
Following the other woman’s gaze, Ísa saw that it was locked on the heavily muscled form of a tall male with bronzed skin and rough scruff around his jaw, his black hair tumbled.
He was dressed in a classic white T-shirt that hugged his pecs and biceps, teamed with a pair of jeans that were well-worn and comfortable rather than being too tight—no showing off the goods like some of the men around here. Of course, that just made women all the more curious about what lay underneath.
Confidence pulsed off him in waves.
Ísa could definitely see the attraction, even if her own female hormones were still sulking at being denied another taste of a certain gardener.
“Go for it,” she whispered to Nayna. “That’s your kiss target right there.”
When her friend just stared at her, Ísa said, “Wild women, remember?”
“Not humiliated women though.” Bland words that didn’t manage to hide Nayna’s disappointment. “Have you seen the woman he’s talking to?”
Ísa glanced over just in time to see the gorgeous stranger’s eyes skim across the crowd and land on Nayna. Her best friend wasn’t looking, more interested in making sure her dress was covering her butt, but that dark-eyed glance didn’t skim away from Nayna as it had everyone else. Not until the busty raven-haired beauty in front of him put a hand on his forearm and literally tugged for attention.
Ísa smiled. “If he’s not taken by that woman, and my instincts say he’s not,” she whispered to her friend, “then I think you’ve got a good shot. He was just staring at you.”
Nayna was unimpressed. “Probably wondering what a nerd like me is doing in this den of freakily good-looking people.” Grabbing Ísa’s arm before Ísa could reply, she continued moving forward. “Come on, let’s at least go see some skinny-dipping.”
Sadly, when they reached the pool it was to realize that their hopes of wild debauchery were premature. The swimmers all appeared to be in swimsuits. “We’ll be the skinny-dippers,” Nayna announced. “After the lights are off and everyone’s gone home.”
Ísa’s shoulders shook. “Deal.”
Her own smile wide, Nayna turned to grab a drink from the tray of a passing waiter, her sleek black hair shining with reddish glints under the outdoor lights. “You want one?” At Ísa’s nod, she passed across the first flute and was reaching for a second one when her hand collided with a big male one. “Oh, I’m so sorr—”