Christian grabbed a large towel and held it up. “Scout’s honor.”
Zoe gave a little shrug. She could be daring and all it-stays-in-Vegas-like. “Fine.” She gave him her back as she slipped her panties off under her dress and her bathing suit bottom on before she shimmied out of the cotton cover-up. She didn’t want to take the chance she’d flash him, even if he was holding up a towel and supposedly looking in the opposite direction. “Almost done,” she called out, whirling around and finding him perusing her body.
Gasping, she quickly covered her br**sts with her hands. “I thought you wouldn’t look. You said ‘Scout’s honor’!’”
He took a step forward and crowded her into the corner, only the towel between their bodies. “I lied.” The heat of his body seeped through the material. “You should’ve warned me.”
“About what?”
“How you’d look in a bikini.” It didn’t sound like he was insulting her, but she couldn’t be sure.
“I don’t have my top on.”
“Trust me, I noticed.”
“I have to put my top on.” Her ni**les grew hard against her palms.
Gold-tipped lashes lowered fractionally. “No, you don’t.”
Before she could answer, someone whistled. She rose to the balls of her feet, looking over one of Christian’s shoulders. Two infamous faces accompanied by twins and a tall blonde with an annoyed look on her pretty face stood just beyond the opening of the cabana.
“Oh my God.” She frantically searched for her top, knocking over her bag.
“They can’t see anything,” Christian murmured. “Unfortunately, neither can I.”
She snatched the silver top from the ground and tried to secure it at the back. “But I can see them.” On the second try, the hook finally grabbed the tiny slot.
“You started without me? That’s totally not Zoe,” one of the men called out.
She wrinkled her brow. That was strange. Who did they think she was?
Christian got a funny look on his face before he turned around, throwing the towel to the side. “Cut it out, Brennen.”
“Just saying what we’re all thinking,” Brennen said.
More than a little embarrassed at being caught topless and with Christian, she gave the group a lopsided smile and half waved as they moved closer. “Hi, I’m Zoe.”
“Hell-o, Zoe,” Brennen flashed a confident smile. “I’m Brennen.” He grabbed the dark-haired man beside him and put him into a headlock. “And this bundle of joy is my brother, Wade. Don’t mind the bitch face. It’s his constipated— I mean contemplative look.”
Wade shook off the mock wrestling hold and gave his brother the finger. Turning to Zoe, he said, “Nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” Zoe struggled not to laugh at the brothers.
“Zoe?” The blonde’s lips twisted on her name. She glared at Zoe, then at Christian.
He wrapped an arm around Zoe’s shoulders, pulling her closer. “Yes, this is my good friend, Zoe.”
Good friend? Oh-kay. “Nice to meet you,” Zoe said.
“It’s so Zoe to meet another one of Ian’s friends,” said the twin in the purple bikini.
“Yes,” Zoe said slowly, “that’s me.”
The twin wearing a white one piece shook her head. “No, Zoe is French for awesome.”
For a couple of minutes, an uncomfortable silence permeated the air. No one but Vanessa would look at Zoe. It was as though everyone was in on a joke, but her. Or maybe the joke was on her. Her face heated in increasingly humiliating levels.
“Last one in the pool is, ah, screw it.” Brennen scooped one of the twins into his arms and headed straight for the pool. She squealed and threw out her arms, sending his baseball cap flying.
Wade whispered in the other twin’s ear, and they walked off in the direction of the bar.
Zoe slanted a glance at Christian. “Is there something I should know?”
“Um, well, you see,” he began and to Zoe’s amazement, the bridge of his nose flushed. The infamous playboy actor was blushing?
Vanessa cleared her throat, but Zoe kept her attention on Christian. “Ian told us that Zoe meant awesome in French, but he could have been confused from all the Petron we drank last night at Shift. Their VIP rooms were sick.”
“You said that?” Tears pricked at the back of Zoe’s eyes when Christian didn’t deny it. There were so many things she wanted to do in this moment, so many things she wanted to happen. Like holes opening up and swallowing him whole. Most of all she wanted to be anywhere but here. With him. With his entire stupid lifestyle and rude friends. She needed to be back in her hotel room, under the covers and out of sight. Why had she thought she could handle this?
“Zoe, let’s go talk about this some place more private.”
She shrugged out of his embrace. “If you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
“Leaving already?” Vanessa asked.
It was as if a switch had flipped. There was no way Zoe would give anyone the satisfaction of watching her flee like a scared rabbit. She’d leave when she was good and ready. “Oh, no, I brought it with me.”
“Whatever.” Vanessa flounced off, screeching at Wade to buy her a drink.
“I didn’t sleep with them,” Christian said, his voice subdued.
Zoe brushed past him, grabbing her bag and pulling out her laptop. “Don’t care.”
“I owe you an explanation. It’s not what you think.”
“You didn’t say my name meant awesome?”
“Yes, but it wasn’t what you think.” His hand slashed through the air. “They were following me around in the bathroom and watching me shower.”
“That makes it so much better.” She concentrated on the pool. The water sparkled in the sun and everyone else around looked like they were having the time of their lives. “What about at Shift? Were you talking about me then, too? Or do you normally shower with Brennen and Wade?”
“Hell, no. Look, you’re taking this all wrong.”
“I’m done talking.” She made a move toward her bag.
Christian grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. That familiar feeling of rightness settled between them. “Please, Zoe, let me explain.”
It wasn’t a feeling of rightness; it was a warning to run as fast as she could in the opposite direction. He was wrong for her. Incredibly, undoubtedly wrong and she was a fool to think otherwise. “There’s nothing you could say to make this better.” She snatched her hand away, hating how her skin tingled in the exact spots he’d touched.