Page 5 of Possess Me

“I was beginning to think I wouldn’t see you until the brunch tomorrow,” she says, pulling me into a hug. “I’m dying for a look at that journal.”

“Me, too,” I admit. “I’m tempted to tell Damien it’s time to go, just so I can get my hands on it.”

“Well, he’s talking to Jackson.” She nods across the room. “So I’m in the same boat you are.”

I laugh. “Except not literally.” While Damien and I have a suite at the Pavilion, Jackson and Syl are actually staying the night on The Veronica, the yacht on which he lived when he first moved to Los Angeles.

“We decided to do a long weekend with the kids,” she’d told me a few days ago during one of our frequent late-night calls. “They think the boat is cooler than a hotel suite.”

“Is Ronnie in charge right now?” I ask, referring to their eldest daughter.

“I’d trust her,” she says. “That kid’s been the most responsible one in the family since the day I met her. But, no. I conned my brother into the job. After brunch tomorrow, we’re going to do a family adventure and explore the island. By both land and sea.” She shrugs. “Then we’ll head back to the mainland around sunset.”

“Why not just stay another night?”

“Jackson’s got a meeting about a project in Dubai.”

I nod, not the least bit surprised. As one of the world’s most sought-after architects, he works with clients from all over the globe.

A waiter passes with custom cocktails, and we each take one that is pink and fruity, then sip it as we continue to talk, catching up on gossip about our friends—Jamie and Ryan are smitten with baby Maia, Jane and Dallas are pregnant again, Matthew Holt is still single, and will probably stay that way, and on and on and on.

We’re deep into planning a girls’ night when I see a familiar face. A lanky blond man with piercing eyes and a slightly crooked smile that is currently aimed at me.

“What?” Syl asks as I lift my hand in response to his wave.

“Help me out,” I say as the guy approaches. “I can’t recall his name.”

“Nikki!” the Mystery Man says, easing up beside me and brushing his fingertips down my arm.

Syl’s brows lift, but she extends her hand. “I’m Sylvia. Nikki’s sister-in-law. And you are…?”

“Greg Keeler,” he says, and right then, I could kiss Sylvia.

“I’m so sorry, Greg,” I say. “I should have jumped right in to introduce you two. Greg was almost a client,” I tell Sylvia. “He decided to go on to bigger and better things.”

Greg chuckles, then slides his arm around my shoulder in a casual, we’re-all-buds-here manner. I give Sylvia the look, and she takes a step in the opposite direction—clearly hoping Greg will follow—as she says, “Okay, spill. Because that sounds like a story.”

Greg stays planted firmly at my side as he explains that he’d come to me about doing some custom software for his startup. But he abandoned the startup when he was offered an excellent position at a well-established company.

“Bigger and better things,” I quip, twisting for my purse and, in the process, shaking free of him. I’d mostly forgotten Greg, but now I recall with great detail the wash of relief that had flowed through me when he’d told me we wouldn’t be working together.

He’s a nice enough guy. But the man is a toucher. Not just me. Everything and anything. It got to the point where I would move anything I didn’t want fiddled with from my office before we had a meeting.

Unfortunately, at the moment, his constantly busy hands and fingers have targeted me, and I sigh with relief when I see Damien and Jackson across the ballroom.

I lift a hand, urging them to join us. By the time they do, Greg’s made his goodbyes and taken his busy fingers toward the display cases. Where, I’m sure, he’ll drive the staff crazy by trailing his fingertips on the glass and asking for an item to be taken out of the case—and toyed with.

“Who was that?” Damien asks, and all thoughts of Greg’s busy fingers go out of my head as Damien’s arms go around my waist.

“Greg Keeler,” I say. “I know him from work.”

“Hmm,” Damien says in a tone I know quite well.

“Stop it,” I say, laughter in my voice. “He’s not remotely interested in me.

“The view I had suggests otherwise.”

I hear the humor in his voice and tilt my head back. “Jealous, Mr. Stark?”