Paradise Lost (Private 9)

In spite of myself, I slowly inspected every inch of Upton Giles. His square cheekbones. The curve of his shoulders beneath his light-blue shirt. The slightly exposed skin of his chest. He had missed a button at the bottom of his shirt, and every once in a while he would shift or make a gesture and a bit of his toned stomach would be exposed. Every time this happened, my throat caught.

I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to kiss him. And then I realized that these girls who were flirting with him--Kiran and Paige and Tiffany--all knew what it was like to kiss him. And for the first time, that realization didn't gross me out. Instead, it pissed me off. Why should they get to win the Upton Game when they had already won in previous years? It simply wasn't fair. Someone else should get to win. Someone new.

Someone who was definitely not Amberly.

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As I glanced around the dance floor, I noticed that there were couples everywhere. Graham Hathaway was dancing with a blond beauty who was at least six inches taller than him. Gage was putting the moves on some unsuspecting girl with thousands of braids hanging down her back. It seemed like every girl on the dance floor had a guy who was obviously into her.

And back home, Josh had Ivy. And I was here. Alone. On vacation. Being Carefree Reed. Screw It Reed. Fun, Fun Reed. So I was going to have a little fun. And talking to Upton would be fun. And so would wiping that perpetually smug look off Paige Ryan's face.

I stood up and crossed the room, weaving my way around the various couples. Upton caught my eye as I approached. He stood up straighter, casually shrugging off Paige's hand.

"Hey," I said, looking into his eyes.

He appeared intrigued. "Hello."

"Want to get me a drink?"

"At your service," Upton said with a half smile. He turned and signaled for the bartender.

Kiran raised her eyebrows, impressed, and tipped her glass toward me like she was welcoming me into the game. Paige backed up a touch and crossed her arms over her chest. She eyed me with obvious irritation.

"Well, well. Look who's a player," she said.

I simply smiled. My heart was pounding so hard I couldn't do anything else. Upton turned and handed me a glass of champagne. He had a new drink for himself as well.

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"Perhaps we should go someplace a bit more private?" he suggested.

"Absolutely," I replied.

He took my free hand and a jolt went through me. His hand was warm and slightly rough, his grip confident and firm. Every girl in the room eyed me with envy as we wound through the crowd. My heart fluttered around on feathery little wings. I had no idea what I was doing or where this was going to go. All I knew was that this was fun.

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CHAPTER 9 TRANSPARENT

Upton was staring at me.

He was staring at my profile and I was staring at the ocean, sipping champagne and trying not to crack up laughing. We were sitting, almost lying, on a double lounge chair with a thick striped cushion, on a verandah overlooking the water. The sky was this sort of purplish black, blanketed again with stars. Set against the dark turquoise blue of the water, it was like something out of a surrealist painting. I couldn't believe views like this actually existed in nature.

And I couldn't believe Upton was looking at me as if I were even more beautiful than the view. No one had ever stared at me in quite that way before. Like he was trying to memorize every inch of my face. Was this part of his playboy shtick?

The thought made me feel suddenly defensive. Like I didn't want him to think I was going into this all naive and wide-eyed like some inexperienced moron. I turned slightly on my side to face him better.

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I looked into his face and managed not to blush. "So tell me . . . how many girls at this party have you hooked up with? "

Upton gave a short, incredulous laugh. "Is this your transparency thing kicking in again? " he asked.

"Maybe," I said with a grin, thrilled that he had paid attention during our last conversation.

He pushed himself up on his side and looked through the half-open glass doors that led to the penthouse. Inside, the music had been cranked up and the voices were growing louder as the drinks continued to flow.

"None," he said confidently, dropping back down. I looked at him skeptically until he smiled and added, "Tonight."