Three Months and You're Mine (In Too Deep) (4 page)

"My brother and Zack can get us in anywhere. We should go to The Yard or that new
club that just opened up."

"Bailey will be with us too," Rachel said. Bailey was a friend of theirs who starred on Paradise Island. She was the one who got me the job. Rachel was saying it to let me know we'd have no problems getting past secur
ity, but it made me excited to hear that Bailey would probably be coming out with us.

"See if she'll bring Caleb," I said. I was definitely a little star struck by
some of the stars of the show, including Caleb Scott. He'd grown up in the spotlight on Paradise Island, and I'd been watching him on the show for years. He was a really good actor, and I got suddenly nervous at the thought of him being at my birthday party. I had to remind myself that I'd be starting my new job on Paradise Island soon, and I was going to have to get used to seeing Caleb and the other stars on a regular basis.

I loved my new life.

Chapter 4

Zack

Rachel planned a night out to celebrate my birthday. Collin's little sister had just moved here, and they asked if we'd combine the celebration since we shared the same birthday. Rachel wanted to go to the club because it had been a while since we all went out together, and I was fine with that idea. I went out every weekend, and I was almost certain she'd pick a place where they recognized me at the door.

She called me a few days before we were supposed to go out to let me know we were meeting at Joel Perrin's house before going to The Yard to go dancing. Joel was a friend of ours who made millions when he developed a type of plastic that revolutionized lenses of all type
s. He had already cornered the market on glasses and goggles, and now he was working on camera lenses. Being that the sport of swimming was my passion and livelihood, I knew first hand how much of a game changer his goggles were. Joel was just a really cool guy, and I counted myself lucky to be a friend of his. Not to mention, he'd have really expensive alcohol and be willing to share it.

My birthday was on a Thursday, and it came and went with me pretty well sticking to my same routine. Everyone at the pool wished me a happy
birthday, and I got a bunch of Facebook posts, but I didn't really make a big deal out of it. It was probably better that way because the next night turned out to be a much bigger deal than I expected.

I arrived at
Joel and Gretchen's place to find that everyone else was already there. There was a limo in the driveway, and judging by the cars, there would be about twenty people in the house. Brit's dog, a huge, tan, flat-faced thing that was the same mastiff breed as Ethan's, greeted me in the courtyard before I made it inside. No one had seen me pull up, and when Brit came to call Arlo inside, she caught sight of me.

"Hey Zack, happy birthday!" she said, smiling and reaching up to put an arm around me.
"You're the last one here, but I think Rachel planned it that way. I think the limo was supposed to be a surprise. Did you know about it?"

"No,
I mean, I see it here now, but it's the first I've heard about it," I said. I gestured to the enormous stretch limo. It was a Lincoln SUV of some sort. Definitely brand new. "It's nice. It'll be fun rolling up in that."

"I know," Brit said. "I can't wait.
I've never ridden in a limo before. I mean, that bus they rented last Halloween should count for something, but this is my first actual limo. I feel like a movie star already."

"What are you guys doing out here? The party's inside." Our friend Emily stood in the doorway with a drink in her hand.

"Hey
Em," I said, passing her as I went inside the house. I stopped for a sideways hug.

"You like the limo?" she asked.

"Hell yeah, what's not to like?" I said. I gave her a sly grin and took the cup out of her hand. I put it to my mouth to take a drink. It was something girly, and it went down way too easy.

Emily smiled. "That one was for you anyway," she said. "I'd been holding it all night
waiting for you to get here, I was hoping you'd be out here right now so I could give it to you."

We were making
our way inside as we talked, and by that point, everyone was starting to announce my arrival and wish me happy birthday. Emily left me holding her cup as she crossed the kitchen and living room to stand next to her boyfriend, Ethan. All eyes were on me as everyone continued to yell out birthday wishes. It was the closest thing I'd ever had to a surprise party, which was sad since I knew we were getting together for my birthday that night.

"How about that limo?" Rachel asked proudly.

"Pretty freakin awesome," I said. I started to circle the room, greeting everyone who'd come to celebrate my birthday. A few people even handed me gifts, which was totally unexpected.

I was balancing five
or six packages when there was uproar in the room. I heard someone say, "She's here," and I looked up to find Collin's little sister, Meredith, standing in the kitchen. I felt as if time stood still for a second. I still thought of her as the kid who hung out under the bleachers at our swim meets, but the beautiful girl standing in the doorway was all grown up. It was probably the proposition she'd texted me about, but for the first time I was noticing just how gorgeous she was. In some ways, she resembled a dark-haired Collin—which was slightly weird for a second. But then I kept looking at her, and could easily see her for what she was. Fucking tasty.

My only option at that point was to look away. The longer I stared at her, the more I wanted to take her up on her offer as early as that very night. I pretended to stare at something in the opposite direction for a few long seconds while I caught my breath. When I turned back, she was standing right in front of me.

It was an assault on my senses. She was so close to me that I could feel her. She wasn't touching me, but she was definitely disturbing the air around me. I could feel her and smell her. Most of all I could see her. She was standing in front of me like some brave warrior princess, not in the least bit intimidated by me or anyone else around us.

"What are you doing trying to steal all my glory?" she said. Her
arms were crossed and her eyes were narrowed playfully at me. "Don't you know March 12
th
is
my
birthday?"

I laughed. "I was okay with sharing, but if you want to be like that… it was
mine
first."

She laughed and reached out to hug me.
"I'm just messin with you," she said. "Anyway, my name's Jenny Canter and my birthday's in January."

"I heard you'd have an alias."

"Nobody really cares. I'll just walk in next to Collin. I'll bet you ten dollars they won't even card me."

"Why don't you hang back and walk in with me? I'm famous too, you know."
 

She looked me up
and down as if to measure me. She was so freaking confident and sassy, and I just wanted to put her into her place.

"Not as famous as my brother, though," she said.

The audacity of that girl.

I thought no one was really paying attention to us because conversations
were going on all around us, but apparently Meredith and I were getting too friendly for Collin's taste. "Okay, everyone's equally famous here," he said. "I think Rachel wanted you guys to open your presents."

Rather than push
her brother's buttons, like I thought she'd do, Meredith went along with it. "Are there
presents
?" she asked hopefully. Bailey held out a small box and Meredith turned and started talking to her and a few other people she'd be working with at Paradise Island.

I sat my gifts on a coffee table and began unwrapping them one by one. I could tell by feel that
a couple gifts were bottles of some sort of liquid. It was undoubtedly alcohol, and most likely whiskey or scotch. I rarely treated myself to a good bottle of booze, and I loved it when someone else did it for me.

Indeed, they were what they felt like—a bottle of bourbon and a bottle of scotch, both really nice. I also got two gift cards, and one box of Cuban cigars. Ethan and Emily got me a set of mirrors I'd been talking about getting for my bike. I was really e
xcited about all my gifts. I thanked everyone, and Gretchen went to scrounge up a bag for me to put everything in.

"I got you something." I turned to find Meredith holding out a small box. "Don't feel bad for not getting me anything," she said.

I took the box from her and unwrapped it. It was a really nice Casio G-Shock. It wasn't really an expensive watch, but I liked the looks of it and thought I'd probably wear it. Though I wasn't sure I should accept a gift from her.

"The alarm is set for three months from last week," she said.

I had to think about it for a second before I caught on to the significance of what she was saying. I looked around, hoping no one else but me had heard. I gave her a disbelieving glare.

"It'll start beeping when it's time for you to call me. You still have my number, right?"

I did
not
know what to make of that girl. I
freaking loved
her nerve. Instead of refusing the gift, I took it out of the box and strapped it onto my wrist. I adjusted it and stared down at it approvingly.

"All right, all right, we can all see that it looks good on you. Just don't forget how to use it."
She said, winking at me.

"D
on't forget how to use what?" Collin asked.

Meredith and I both flinched at his
words. For some reason, he made me nervous, like I was in high school and he was her dad. He must have made Meredith nervous too, because she lied.

"I was talking about the watch Zack got for his birthday. I told him I wanted it, and he said no way because someone really special gave it to him."

Collin gave us a confused look since the original question had been about forgetting how to use something. He chose not to say anything about it. Instead he said, "Who gave you the watch?"

I was totally taken off guard, and Meredith wasn't offering any help.

"My mother, my parents, I mean my mom and my step dad." Collin glanced down at the empty watch box and gave me a skeptical shake of the head before turning and walking off.

"That was close," Meredith said.

I just looked at her, stunned speechless.

Gretchen and Rachel got everyone's attention, and Gretchen announced that we should go ahead
and get in the limo. One by one, we all piled into the big beast of an SUV.

We rode around for a little over an hour before the driver dropped us off at The Yard. I'd shown up to a club in a limo a couple of times, but it never got old. It felt like I should have been walking in slow motion as I got out and walked past the line
up to the door of the club. Everyone let me lead the way since I'd been going there a lot lately and would know the bouncer at the door. It could be any one of three people, but I knew them all, and thought we'd have no problems getting a couple of tables.

"Damn Zack, you got your whole crew with you tonight."

"You straight, boy. Check my ID. I'm bringing the party to you."

"It's your birthday? Aw, man, I wish
you'da called ahead. I know I'm not gonna have a room open. How many you got with you?"

"Twenty or so, but just get us one of those big tables. We'll all be roaming around anyway."

Big Mike turned away and pushed a button on his receiver to speak with someone. "Steph's coming to show you guys to your table," he said turning to face me again. Meredith had pushed her way to the front of the group and was standing beside me like she belonged there. "Who you got here?" Big Mike asked. You could tell by the way he asked that his intentions weren't pure. She oozed sexual energy and apparently guys responded to it.

"This is Jenny," I said. "
She's jealous because I get to celebrate my birthday, and hers was in January."

"My birthday's in January too, Lil' M
ama," Mike said. He gave her a wink, and she batted her sexy little lashes at him.

Thank God, the door opened at that moment, and
Steph waved us inside. The familiar boom of rap music shook me from the inside as we made our way past the bar and the dance floor to one of the huge, round booths. There was only room for about half of us to sit comfortably, so I decided to mingle around a little bit so other people could hang out at the table. Steph told me she'd try to grab another table, but warned me not to hold my breath about it. I wasn't worried about getting another table. I wanted to get out on the dance floor. The place was packed, and I'd already spotted a few ladies I recognized and a few more I'd like to become acquainted with. Collin's little sister was out of the question, but that didn't mean I couldn't go home a winner. It was my birthday, after all.

We'd been at the club for more than an hour when I caught sight of something that
made me stop dancing and stand completely still on the dance floor. Meredith Blake was out there with some random guy. At first glance, I thought it was Caleb Scott from the soap opera, but after a closer inspection, I realized it was just some other shaggy haired surfer guy. They were swaying to the music, and he had his hands all over her. He had his tongue shoved halfway down her throat. It was so disgusting that I almost lost my lunch right there in front of God and everyone.

As if I were completely out of control of my own limbs, I stalked over to Collin's sister and her spit-swapping partner and physically pried them apart.

"What the hell—" he was pissed at first, but he trailed off when he saw how mad I was. Or maybe it was how tall I was, but either way, after he looked up at me, his tone grew somewhat cordial. "She seemed like she was into it," he said, raising his hands in surrender.

"She's with me." I said.

I took her by the arm and led her away from the guy. "What were you thinking?" I asked. I was yelling over the music as we walked. I looked back at her for a second, but then turned to pay attention to my path again.