Goddess of Vengeance - Jackie Collins [47]
‘Uh . . . how do you feel about dinner at my family’s house?’ she ventured, thinking that the time had come. ‘Family dinners are a Thursday-night tradition, and since you haven’t met them, I thought . . .’
‘You mean you’re actually going to introduce me to your family?’ he teased. ‘What are you – on drugs?’
She laughed weakly. ‘Is that a yes?’
‘Damn right it’s a yes.’
‘Then consider yourself invited.’
‘Oh, you bet your ass I will.’
Things were looking up. He was finally going to meet Denver’s family. He couldn’t wait.
* * *
‘Morning,’ Billy said, fit and tanned, tousled dirty blond hair flopping on his forehead.
Max rolled across the sand and slowly opened her eyes. There he was, Billy Melina standing over her holding a glass of orange juice. So it wasn’t all a crazy dream! He’s here, and so am I.
‘Where . . . where did you get that?’ she asked, as he passed her the glass.
‘From the house,’ he said calmly. ‘Hate to be the one to tell you, but it’s a freakin’ wreck up there. We’re gonna need a cleanin’ crew.’
We, he’d said we. How exciting was that!
The sun was just coming up and it was chilly. Shivering slightly, she attempted to recall details of the previous night. Getting together with Billy was some kind of wonderful hazy blur. But one thing she knew for sure was that it had been totally great, and she didn’t regret one single minute of it.
‘You’re still here,’ she murmured, stretching her arms above her head.
‘’Course I’m still here,’ he answered cheerfully. ‘What did you think, that I was gonna run off an’ leave you?’
She gazed up into his super-blue eyes and broke into a wide grin. ‘You wouldn’t do that, would you?’ she said happily.
He grinned back. ‘No,’ he said sincerely. ‘I wouldn’t do that.’
‘Didn’t think so.’
‘Oh, like you know me so well,’ he teased, dropping onto the sand next to her and placing his arm around her shoulders.
She snuggled close. ‘You do know that last night was . . . uh . . . my . . . uh . . . first time,’ she murmured softly.
‘Yeah,’ he said, nodding. ‘I kinda realized that.’
‘And you weren’t disappointed?’ she asked, dying to hear what he would say.
‘Are you kiddin’ me?’ he said, throwing her a quizzical look. ‘You made it all the way to eighteen, that’s almost a record.’
‘Uh . . . actually, I won’t be eighteen until Saturday,’ she confessed, deciding that she’d better be honest with him.
‘Huh?’
‘Yeah, I kinda fudged a little,’ she admitted.
‘Ah, Jeez!’ he groaned.
‘What?’
‘That means you’re not even legal.’
‘Almost,’ she said quickly.
‘Almost doesn’t cut it,’ he said, imagining the headlines if this got out. ‘You do realize I could get my ass thrown into jail for what we did last night?’
‘Who’s going to know?’
‘You, me, and no one else, right?’ he said, swallowing hard.
‘Right,’ she agreed.
‘That means you cannot tell anyone – an’ I mean anyone. Got it?’
‘Like who exactly am I gonna tell?’ she asked, regaining a little of her composure.
‘Lucky for a start.’
‘You have to be insane!’ she exclaimed. ‘Lucky’s the last person I’d tell.’
‘And who’d be the first?’
‘Oh, I dunno . . .’ she answered vaguely. ‘The National Inquirer, Star magazine, TMZ—’
He lounged on top of her, and they rolled across the sand laughing. The orange juice spilled, but neither of them cared.
‘You’re funny,’ he said.
‘I try,’ she replied, suddenly breathless.
‘And a nasty little liar,’ he added, but not in a bad way.
‘Sorry,’ she said, feeling quite exhilarated.
‘But I like you,’ he said quickly.
‘And I like you back,’ she replied, equally fast.
‘Jeez, this is crazy, isn’t it?’ he said, touching her face.
‘Way crazy,’ she replied, marvelling at the intense blue of his eyes and the feel of his hard body on top of her.
Actually it was beyond crazy. Never mind about the party, if Lucky and Lennie found out about her night of lust with Billy they would totally freak! Losing her virginity probably wouldn’t faze them. But losing it to Billy Melina was a big huge NO!
Anyway, who cared?