Alpha Billionaire's Bride - Part 3

“Being a man, you have no idea what you’re asking. But I can’t seem to say no to you.” She smiled, reached back and undid the clasp. Her hair tumbled down in all its glory. Ian slid over closer while she pushed her unruly mane into place.

He touched one of her curls and tugged on it. They should talk some, he supposed. But all he wanted was to pull her onto his lap and strip off those tiny scraps of fabric that stood between himself and heaven. He wanted to—

Jada sprung forward, wrapped her arms around his neck and surprised him as she kissed him with a force that said she was ready for more. Hot damn. The girl next door had needs of her own.

Ian required no further invitation. He met her demands with his own, driving his tongue past her soft, plump lips, into her hot mouth. They held each other close, their hands roving over one another’s bodies. Ian tangled his fingers in her soft curls, turning her head to suit him best, inhaling her flowery scent as he took what he wanted from her sweet mouth.

She raked her fingernails down his back with the exact right kind of pressure to make his nerves zing and nearly send him jumping out of his swim trunks. She made several little “ah” sounds that drove him crazy. He groaned.

He should hold back. Their first time shouldn’t be in a jacuzzi, should it? Jada made another sound of satisfaction and crawled onto his lap.

He cupped her rear and decided that as it turned out, the jacuzzi was the perfect place for a first time. He reached for the ties on her bikini bottom.

And then the lights came on.

Ian was temporarily blinded, the light was so bright. Jada blinked, pulled backward and leapt off his lap. They both swiveled in the direction of the door.

Marina and Sasha stood inside the doorway, looking almost as surprised as Ian and Jada.

“Oh, we didn’t see you there,” Sasha said, recovering speedily and giving them a saucy look. “Looks like we may have interrupted something, Marina. Something hot and steamy, and I’m not talking about the jacuzzi.”

“Oops!” was Marina’s response. “We should go. Sorry.”

Sasha sauntered into the room. “I don’t think so. It’s not every day I get the chance to ruin Ian’s game.”

“Really?” Ian said drily. “It seems that you do lately.”

Marina lingered by the door, looking uncertain. Sasha strolled over and changed the sexy music to a ramrod beating dance club number, then pranced over to the jacuzzi, ditching her robe on the tiles as she went. Looking svelte and sleek in a one piece suit, she slipped into the water beside Ian.

“Ahh, that’s wonderful,” Sasha said, closing her eyes briefly. “Marina told me you were turning in early, Jada. She didn’t mention you had plans with your old man.”

Jada scampered away from Ian, putting a good foot between them. “I didn’t. I mean, I did, but then I wound up here, and ... whatever.”

Marina came over to the jacuzzi. “Come on, Sasha. Let’s go up to Deb’s room. She’s got a hot tub.”

“Oh, I know, but I’m all settled in here now.” She held out a hand. “Could you hand me my snacks, please?”

Marina passed her a large baggie chocked full of Ian didn’t know what, though he guessed it was freshly made with much love by Mrs. Best.

Marina exchanged an apologetic glance with Jada, then doffed her own robe and stepped into the jacuzzi between Sasha and Jada.

Sasha opened her baggie and began chowing down. “Yum.” She sighed. “This is the best caramel corn in the universe. Want some?”

Everyone declined.

Sasha munched loudly. “Nothing hits the spot like something sweet when it’s that time of the month, does it girls?”

Oh hell no, Ian thought. “On that note,” Ian said, “I’m off to bed.”

“I’ll go with you,” Jada said, half-jumping up but slipping on the wet edge and plopping back into the water with a splash.

Sasha snorted. “Damn, Ian, you get her liquored up again tonight?”

“What?” Marina asked. “Again?”

“That’s right.” Sasha shoved a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

Ian bent down and whispered in Jada’s ear. “You stay. No telling what she’ll say if you leave her here with your sister.”

Jada nodded. But she didn’t look happy about it.

Ian left the room, leaving behind the shattered remnants of what had been a promising end to the day, but taking some comfort in the fact that Jada wasn’t any more pleased about it than he was.

Tomorrow. There was always tomorrow. He’d make sure of it.

Chapter Four

JADA WATCHED IAN WRAP HIMSELF in his robe and sighed in disappointment at all that physical perfection being hidden behind terry-cloth. She sighed again when he left the room.

“I guess he’s decent looking, for a man,” Sasha said. “It’s kind of hard for me to see it, though, since he’s like a brother. That’s why I make life as difficult for him as I can. It’s my kid sisterly duty. Marina gets it, don’t you?”

“Great,” Jada said. “Both our kid sisters are out to keep us apart.”

“I’m not!” Marina looked appalled. “Speak for yourself, Sasha.”

“Whatever.”

“Anyway,” Marina said, “we came here to talk about what’s actually important. Now, Sasha, we need to go over your list of enemies.”

“What?” Jada asked, thinking her sister must have lost her mind to be questioning the supermodel so blatantly.

“Oh, she knows everything. I told her.”

Jada goggled. “You didn’t.”

“I had to. It’s the best way to get her help. And she said she’d keep it a secret. Didn’t you, Sasha?”

Sasha nodded, her mouth full of popcorn.

“That’s it. We need to tell Ian. There’s no way this will stay a secret, not at this rate,” Jada said.

“Don’t tell Ian,” Sasha said.

Popcorn crumbs dropped from her lips and fingers and floated on the water. Jada worried they might clog the jacuzzi filter, not that she knew anything about filters, but still. It couldn’t be good to get popcorn bits in them.

“He’ll get uptight about it and probably blow up,” Sasha added. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt Marina.”

“I can’t imagine Ian blowing up, not over this, anyway,” Jada said. “It was an honest mistake and Ian’s a reasonable man.”

“Sure, you’d think so,” Sasha said. “But let’s say I’ve known him for years, and you’ve known him for what? Two days. Who do you think knows him better?”

Jada couldn’t argue with that, though she wanted to. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t picture Ian getting upset over what amounted to a mistake. Sure, Marina had lied after the fact, but not for long, and she was sorry about it.

Jada was disconcerted by Sasha’s opinion about Ian. She only half listened to the answers Sasha gave to Marina’s questions regarding possible enemies.

From what she gathered while trying to imagine Ian in the role of out-of-control jerk, Sasha had a handful of minor enemies, but didn’t think any of them hated her enough to go to so much trouble to try to hurt her.

Marina kept turning the conversation to a model named Freya Volker. According to Marina, gossip magazines h

ad reported numerous tiffs between the two at various fashion shows and events over the last few years.

Sasha insisted she and Freya resolved their issues long ago. “The gossips exaggerated the situation. We’re friends now. No need to waste time investigating her. We’re better off focusing on Esmer Granger and Petra Sukolova. Those two are grade A bitches and run as a pair. They once put oil on the soles of my shoes at a Betsy Johnson show. I love Betsy Johnson. We did cartwheels together.”

Marina said she remembered reading the story about Sasha falling on the runway. “The press didn’t say anything about oil on your shoes.”

“Petra’s daddy is a huge Russian mobster,” Sasha said. “Would you say unkind things about his darling daughter in your newspaper?”

“Probably not.” Marina appeared to think. “Do you have a number for Esmer? Or Petra? I’d like to call and ask them a few questions.”

“Nope. And I don’t recommend it,” Sasha said. She drew a line across her throat with her manicured fingertip. “Seriously. Those people play for keeps. They’re not like the rest of us. And anyway, the more we talk about this, the less I think another model could be out to get me.”

“Why?” Marina asked.

“You may not realize this, but models don’t have a lot of energy. They spend most of their free time sleeping.”

“Why?” Jada asked.

Sasha chewed a big mouthful of popcorn and swallowed. “They keep this pretty hush-hush, but the truth is, most models hardly ever eat.”

Marina looked about as shocked by Sasha’s big secret as Jada herself was—in other words, not surprised at all.

“They only eat a bite here and there,” Sasha continued. “Who can have energy when your body doesn’t have fuel? I have lots of energy because I eat and eat and eat. All day long, and sometimes I get up in the night and eat more. I have to do it, or I get too skinny. And I don’t have to worry over my skin and hair the way other models do, either, because I get plenty of nutrients from my food. I never get breakouts or anything like that. I don’t even get split ends. I’m always telling my fellow models that they should follow my example if they want to simplify their lives.”