Forbidden Lust

Okay, I’ll admit it was weird as fuck waking up with a woman in my bed, but it wasn’t just any woman. It was my best friend, Connor’s sister. What was weirder was I agreed to her little fuck-buddy pact.

With her still in my bed asleep, I inched out. I left instructions downstairs on the kitchen counter about where we were meeting today and noticed that my housekeeper had restocked the fridge full of Lourde’s favorite yogurt. Now, I liked it too. So what? I was just being polite, asking her to buy more.

My morning dragged with mundane Zoom calls and a meeting in East Hampton until it didn’t anymore, and it was time to get the fuck out and see her.

The sun beat down on the wooden marina, the ninety-foot royal blue power yacht moored at the pier. I walked across the wood planks toward her. She hadn’t noticed me yet, but I had her. Like a walking, talking felony, she stood at the marina waiting for me. Wearing a long yellow dress that lifted in the breeze and a tan belt that cinched in tight at her waist, her naturally wavy hair swept across her shoulders, and I had to remember to breathe.

I shouldered out of my jacket, flinging it over my arm. When I looked up again, she was staring at me. Her smile reached her hazel eyes and made me feel warm all over.

What the fuck, Barrett?

First, I invited her to sleep in my bed, then this? I couldn’t wait for the next five days to be up. Then my head could be out of the goddamn Lourde clouds.

“Hello, dollface,” I whispered, so the men behind me couldn’t hear.

“Hello, handsome.” She kissed me on the cheek, aware of glaring eyes. “Is this how husbands and wives would greet each other?” she asked.

“I’d tongue your pussy if it were only us, but as you can see, we have company.”

She laughed, then threw a hand over her mouth. “My, oh, my.”

“Lourde Diamond, I thought that was you.” She lowered her hand and straightened, her composure returning.

“Lourde, this is a colleague of mine, Fred Basset, and next to him, we have Caleb Johnson.”

“Lovely to meet you, Lourde.”

“Lourde is a dear friend,” I said, instantly dispelling any rumors.

She held my gaze for a moment, then turned, smiling at both men. “Lovely to meet you both.”

“Fred and Caleb were the architects on 21 Park.”

“The lines are stunning on that building, groundbreaking. I hope you charged my dear friend here a bucketload for that award-winning design.”

Laughter surrounded me, and I couldn’t help but smirk. I didn’t miss the emphasis she placed on the word ‘friend.’ Touché. I wrapped my hand around her waist, directing her onboard, and subtly, I squeezed her. “Shall we?”

“Oh, absolutely.” She grinned, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

* * *

I peered over. Lourde talked animatedly with the wives of the men on board. She held the audience of the women even if she didn’t even know it.

“Lourde Diamond is a special friend to have. Would you agree, Barrett?”

Of course, Fred would pry. The guy was a weasel but the best architect on the East Coast.

“Actually, it’s the friendship of her brother I value.”

“He’s taking over from his father soon if the rumors are true,” Fred added.

“Are rumors ever true, Fred?”

“Sometimes…”

Okay, that’s enough.

“Maybe when they discuss your mistress in Sweden?”

He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. His eyes darted to the left, where his wife was chatting with a group of women. I knew she wasn’t in earshot.

“How could you possibly know that?”

“My business is to know everything about the people I’m in business with.”

“Right, well.” He threw his whiskey back, narrowed his eyes, then walked away.

“Bye, Fred,” I said.

I walked over to Lourde and overheard talking about the editor of one of her family's magazines. “What he should do is write less propaganda and more about the facts. But don’t tell my brother that!” They all laughed, then she spotted me and turned around.

“Ladies,” I said.

“Barrett.” Fred’s wife smiled and pushed her newly fake tits up, straightening her back.

“So lovely to see you all here in the Hamptons, but I’m afraid I have to pull Ms. Diamond away from you all now as we have dinner plans.”

“Oh, lovely. Have fun, you two.” She gave me a pointed grin.

“Not sure we will. It’s with a client,” I said, getting the queen bees of the society pages off the gossip trail.

“Oh, no fun!” Caleb’s wife laughed wickedly.