Rivals in Paradise (3 page)

Gran, their father's mother, raised Cicely and Latonya after their own mother died. Their father had left the family years before that and never looked back. They didn't know if he was dead or alive now. Even with all the love their grandmother poured into them as she raised them on her limited resources, the telltale signs of little girls neglected by their father followed both women into adulthood.

Latonya's daddy issues had made her believe that love wasn't a possibility in her life. Even though she had married one of the richest men in the country, she spent the first part of their marriage waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop, waiting for Carlton to get tired of her and leave. That's why when their marriage was tested by interference from Carlton's meddling grandfather, Latonya gave up without a fight. It took years for them to rebuild their marriage and learn to trust in their love.

Cicely didn't know if she trusted love or not. But she liked to think that she was wiser because she never chose men that could possibly break her heart the way her father did. Even though she was very young when her father turned his back on their family, she had vivid memories of his larger than life, ladies' man persona. What he lacked in money, he made up for in charisma. And whenever he was around, it hardly mattered what their mother wanted. He was the man. He ruled. Cicely made it her business to stay away from those kinds of men. She picked nice quiet guys because she couldn't trust men like her father to love her.

Daddy issues? Yes, she had them, too.

However, all she needed to do was spend the week digging into her psyche and hit the church after she'd done the heavy lifting in order to top off the self-therapy with some Jesus and she'd be fine. She was
her grandmother's child, after all, and that side of the family didn't believe in paying for therapy when a little tough love and taking it to the Lord would do just fine. Isaac's betrayal had thrown her off track, but she could fix this and then she'd be good as new. That's why she really needed this time away.

“I'm sorry, Peanut, but I'm not going to spend Thanksgiving with the family this year. I'm not going to New York with you all.”

“Now, Cee Cee, you know we have to celebrate Thanksgiving as a family. Gran is getting up in years, and who knows how much longer we'll have her around to celebrate the holidays with? We should be there for Gran if nothing else.”

“Sorry, I have to pass this time, Peanut. With everything that happened since yesterday, I really can't be around people right now. I love you and Gran, but I need you guys to respect my wishes on this one….”

“Aww, come on, Cee Cee…. Please consider it….” Latonya's pleading voice was almost enough to make Cicely reconsider.

Latonya had spent three years away from the family when a misunderstanding caused Carlton to make her leave their home and their child. Latonya had been pregnant with their second child at the time and no one knew it. Those three years had made Latonya want to hold her family even closer once she
came back. Usually, Cicely was willing to indulge her older sister because she owed her so much. But she just couldn't work up the energy it would take to not be a drain on the family's holiday celebration.

“I'd be a drag and I'd ruin the fun and celebration for everyone. Plus, I'm boycotting Thanksgiving this year. I mean, seriously, what would I be most thankful for, my cheating man or the fact that my jerk of a boss fixed it so that I wouldn't be promoted out of his division? Finding Isaac banging another woman in my bed because he thought I was out celebrating…” Cicely let out a slow hiss of disgust.

“Oh, Cee Cee, I'm so sorry that happened to you, sweetie. You don't deserve that. If he is the kind of man who can do something like that then he doesn't deserve you, Cee Cee. I really hate to channel Gran right now, but you could be thankful that you're alive, in good health, have a family that loves you and that God saw fit to get that lying, cheating sack of trash out of your way so that you can find a good man.”

Cicely sighed.

I am thankful for that. I just want a minute to myself to be in a funk. Is that too much to ask?

“I'm going to be out of the country anyway, so I can't go.”

“Stop lying. Where are you going the week of Thanksgiving?”

“I'm taking an island vacation for a week to have
some me-time and to get my groove back. Sorry, I can't do the family thing this year.”

“Well, think about it before you just write it off. We'll be flying out on the jet Monday morning…” Latonya's voice trailed off. “Why would you want to be on some island by yourself when you could be with your family? Are you sure traveling by yourself in your state of mind is a good idea?”

“Yep, the best idea I've had in a long time. Tell Gran I love her and I wish I could be there with you all, but I just can't.”

“Okay…” Latonya seemed to be searching for another argument that would compel Cicely to say yes.

“Anyway, Peanut, now that I'm up I have
sooo
many things to take care of before my trip. So many details…”
Like actually planning a trip and booking one…. I'm going straight to hell for being a big ole liar.
“I think an island getaway is just what I need right now.”
Maybe an island fling really will help me get my groove back.
“So, I'll call you when I get back. I'll have you all in my thoughts this week. You guys have a great Thanksgiving. Give my niece and nephews a big ole hug from Aunt Cee Cee and tell them I'll see them when I get back.”

“But—”

“Thanks, Peanut! Love you. Bye.” Cicely hung up the phone and turned it off.

She could have just stayed in the hotel and licked her wounds for the week. But the more she thought about a trip, the better it sounded. All she had to do now was make her fictional island getaway a reality.

“T
his must be my lucky day. If it isn't Cicely Stevens,” came a deep, sexy and taunting male voice from above her.

Cicely stared at the passenger waiting for her to move so that he could sit in the seat next to hers, and her heart stopped. She looked him up and down. Tall, russet brown, built like nobody's business with passionate, daring brown eyes and a mischievous dimpled smile—in a word, gorgeous.

Chase Yearwood.

It couldn't be. Fate isn't that unkind. The universe doesn't have that sick a sense of humor.
If it didn't
seem too totally melodramatic, she would have thrown her head to the sky and cried out, “Why?”

A weak half smile flickered across her face, and she knew it must have looked like a cross between a grimace and a sneer. Yet she couldn't force her lips to give up a full, bright but very false form of greeting to save her life. The shock of seeing
him
of all people seemed too much.

There was no way that Cicely could endure a three-and-a-half-hour flight sitting next to her arch-nemesis from college after finding out that she didn't get the promotion she'd wanted and finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman.

The timing of it all sucked. No way in hell was her biggest rival supposed to be a part of her get-away-from-it-all, soul-searching trip to Dahinda!

Granted, she probably should be on Carlton's private jet with Latonya and Gran headed for the family's Thanksgiving celebration in NYC instead of taking a solo island vacation and looking for a fling to help her get her groove back, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She only hoped that the family would understand that she had to get away. She needed some time alone to process and reevaluate everything in her life from her failed relationships to her stymied work life. She refused to believe that she had really and truly peaked in college and there was nothing left for her to excel in.

Judging by the fact that she'd ended up sitting next to Chase Yearwood—
The Wolf,
as he'd been called in college—the universe wasn't very forgiving about her blowing off Thanksgiving with the family.

The universe is sooo freaking mean!

Chase Yearwood. Seriously? What, is Satan too busy to sit next to me on a plane to Dahinda?
That was the only thing she could think of that would be worse than Chase, the devil himself.

She never thought she would see him in person again. Oh, she couldn't help seeing him in print. From the business pages to the society pages, The Wolf was media fodder. Corporate takeovers. Love them and leave them. You name it, The Wolf did it. And the press wrote about it. As far as she could tell, she was the only person in the world who could actually say that she had beaten The Wolf at his own game.

That small victory had cost her a piece of her heart.

Shouldn't have sprung for the first-class ticket,
she thought as she eyed him wearily.
The Wolf wouldn't be caught dead in coach!

Cicely got up and let Chase get into his window seat. While standing, she glanced toward the back of the plane.

Packed. Full. No chance of changing seats.

Dang
.

She sat back down and fastened her seat belt,
mentally preparing herself for what could only be a very long flight.

“So, little Cicely Stevens, what have you been up to since FAMU?” The Wolf leaned back in his seat and glanced at her. A smug smirk spread across his face, showing more teeth than lip. And, oh, what perfect teeth they were.

Cicely thought about just ignoring him. Really, just because the flight was full and she couldn't move to another seat, did not mean she
had
to talk to him.

She glanced at him sideways and expelled a deep breath to let him know that she was going through great pains to speak. “After finishing my undergraduate degree I went on to get an MBA in finance. I work in finance.” She crossed her arms and twisted her lips.

He squinted and opened and closed his mouth quickly. Staring at her for a second, he finally spoke. “Interesting. I would have thought that you'd be somewhere running the city by now. You know, given the way you blew into FAMU, trying to run things.”

Doing a double take, she tilted her head and thought,
Trying to run things? Whatever!

She pursed her lips a moment before responding. “Well, given the fact that I was elected student government president in the second semester of my sophomore year and I beat a guy who was going to
be a senior—a fancy frat boy, sports star, and all-around Mr. Popular… Oh, wait…that was you, wasn't it? Anyway, I think it's safe to say that I didn't try, I succeeded.”

He arched his eyebrow as he observed her. “Modesty has never been your strong point.”

“Yours, either.”

“Touché.” A predatory smile, which highlighted those perfect teeth, crossed his lips. The russet-brown complexioned man with almond-shaped eyes that made a woman long for the bedroom could be likened to a taller, finer Tyson Beckford.

“So what do you say,” he started and smiled at her before finishing, “we bury the proverbial hatchet and let bygones be bygones?”

Cicely pretended to consider his suggestion. There was no way she would do such a thing. Chase and his flunkies had run a horribly slanderous campaign and spread so many lies that people had still been whispering about her well into her senior year.

But the lies weren't the reason why she'd vowed never to be nice to Chase again. It was the truth that he let creep out that firmly placed him on her hate-with-a-capital-
H
list.

This time she found herself able to manage at least a fake smile. “Burying the hatchet would be the mature thing to do, huh? I mean, why hold on to silly college grudges when we're both adults.”

His smile didn't appear genuine to Cicely, either. “Right. I for one am over the fact that you and your sorority sisters stole that election from me and ruined the legacy that I was going to leave for FAMU.” He took a deep breath, looking all magnanimous and pompous. “I'm ready to forgive you.”

Forgive me? Why, you arrogant, smug jerk! I'll show you forgive me,
she thought as her right eyebrow arched slightly.

“You know, you might be on to something. I think it would be wonderful and very big of me to forgive you and your trifling fraternity brothers for running such a slanderous campaign. Especially since, even with all the lies you told, you
still
lost. Forgiving you for your lies…is…” She let out a long, exaggerated sigh before finishing, “the very least I could do. Especially since my winning the election and becoming student government association president was the beginning of the very rich legacy of dynamic leadership
I
left to FAMU.”

Chase's eyes narrowed and he stared at her a full minute before his face moved and the hint of a smirk appeared.

The close quarters of the small first-class cabin seemed to move in on her with that smile.

First class was supposed to be roomy. Wasn't it? Chase and his overwhelmingly sexy, larger-than-life persona took up all the dang room. She steeled
herself to his magnetism by remembering who and what he really was. An arrogant, self-serving wolf!

Cicely sighed, making strategic use of the stylized attitude that sistahs had perfected across the ages with just enough huff and a slight roll of the eyes for good measure.

“Well, I'm glad we can agree to let the past be the past. Forgive and forget,” he said.

Forgive? The jury's still out. Forget? Not even on a bet.

She offered a fake laugh, a “hahahahaha” that was movie-ready. “Yes. It was a silly college rivalry, after all. Life goes on. People change.”

Except for people like you. I will never forgive you for tricking me into thinking that you liked me, all the while scheming to get a picture of me kissing you to use as part of your smear campaign. “See, even opponent Cee Cee Stevens has the hots for Chase Yearwood. Cast your vote for the candidate everyone wants!”

Clearing his throat, he asked, “So, Cicely, have you been to Dahinda before?”

Cicely glanced at him. For a brief second she considered not responding.

Why are you still talking to me?

“Just briefly. I took my grandmother on a Caribbean cruise, and Dahinda was one of the islands we visited. It was so beautiful that I always wanted to
come back and spend a little more time there. So, I figured I would spend a week getting to know the island.”

“Well, it's my home. I was born and raised there.” Chase gave her a smile that she was sure he meant to charm with. It was all teeth. “So, please allow me to be your host and tour guide, for old times' sake.”

“Yeah, right.” She sucked her teeth and shook her head. “I don't think so. I'd like to find my way around on my own. I'm sure you have plenty of family and friends here to keep you busy.”

He leaned in close, nostrils slightly flared and eyes darkened considerably. If she didn't know any better, she would think that he was on the prowl. “Yes, but it's not often I get a chance to catch up with an old friend such as yourself. What kind of frat brother would I be if I let one of my Delta sisters roam around my island home all alone?”

She rolled her eyes then. The brother was truly reaching, trying to play the Delta and Omega connection.

“Now, you know during the years we were at FAMU the Deltas and the Omegas hardly bought into that brother-sister thing. The entire time I was there we called the Kappas our brothers. Most of my sorors couldn't stand y'all.”

Nationally, the Deltas and Omegas may have had an unofficial brother and sister bond, but at
FAMU during her freshman and sophomore years and part of her junior year, the FAMU chapters of those organizations might as well have been mortal enemies. The beef between the Deltas and the Omegas was so intense the year she pledged that she wasn't required to greet members of the fraternity. In fact, she and her line sisters were expressly forbidden to greet any members of Omega Psi Phi. That year, the “Que Dogs” were on FAMU's chapter of Delta Sigma Theta's do-not-greet list. That had led to some very awkward moments for her, since she had several classes with Omegas and had to see them and not acknowledge them as fellow Greeks on the yard.

As she remembered, she realized Chase had been in one of her classes. She remembered how he would sometimes stand in her way in an effort to make her acknowledge and greet him. She would simply walk around him and not say a word.

Cicely had actually worked on building peace with the Omegas during her junior year. But Chase and his group of frat brothers had been long gone by then. The two chapters actually had a much better relationship now due to the work she had done to make peace. But she wasn't about to tell The Wolf that. It would just give him more reason to pursue what ever evil plot he had hatching in his big ole sexy head.

The smirk that came across his face let her know
he wouldn't be giving up anytime soon. “Yes. But historically our organizations have an unwritten brother-and-sister bond that I feel obligated to uphold. I just refuse to have one of my sorors wandering around Dahinda alone when I'm here to show her around.”

“I'll tell you what. If I feel the need for a tour guide, I'll let you suggest the name of a good one. But I really think the time we are spending on the flight right now is enough to last us a lifetime.”

Just then, the flight attendant announced that passengers could now turn on authorized electronics, and Cicely made a show of pulling out her iPod, hoping that Chase would get the hint. She figured some of the girl-power singing groups would get her though the trip and deal with Chase's annoying presence.

Cicely let out a sigh of release as she sang along with the girl groups playing on her iPod. This should make the three-and-a-half hour trip a little more bearable.

 

Chase watched the words coming out of Cicely's lips, but he didn't believe them for a minute. The woman wouldn't know the truth if it jumped up and bit her in the behind. He smiled at the image briefly, and then frowned when the image turned into one of him softly nipping at her shapely derriere.

She was a lying, conniving woman who had cheated
him out of his chance to be student government association president and finish his undergraduate career with a bang. She messed up his rightful place in the school's history. There was
no way
he could possibly
still
be attracted to her.

He had always been an overachiever. He was used to obtaining everything he tried for, getting everything he wanted. He had earned his nickname,
The Wolf
. And he wore it proudly. He hadn't been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, far from it. He knew the meaning of hard work, and he played to win. Losing the election to that sweet, sexy little sophomore was a sore point in an otherwise stellar record.

Cicely Stevens owed him, he figured, as he stared at her lying lips—her soft, luscious, lying lips. It must have been his lucky day to end up sitting next to the lovely Cicely.

Cicely had pulled out an iPod and was bobbing her head to some little melody. That was fine with him. It gave him some time to study her and come up with a game plan.

“Would you like a beverage?” the curvy and jovial blonde flight attendant asked, breaking him out of his contemplation for a moment.

He tapped Cicely, who looked at the flight attendant and shook her head.

“I'll take a vodka tonic,” he responded.

Vacationing in Dahinda allowed him to squeeze in a visit with family, the first since his grandmother's funeral and one of many he hoped to have in the future. Having Cicely Stevens on the same island was an unforeseen bonus.

He'd recently missed being at his grandmother's bedside with the rest of the family when she passed away. He'd had work related commitments and couldn't make it back to Dahinda in time. Leaving his job as a corporate raider, taking the job at Mainstay and his guilt about his grandmother made him consider the possibilities of changing his ways.