KIMBERLY

I knew I was fucked.

And not in a nice way.

The little display from earlier had me woefully flustered out of my mind. When Jace and I ended up in the hotel's lobby to meet up with Van and Benicio, the former had a knowing look on her face as her eyes switched between me and her boss.

Benicio looked happy to see me. I didn't blame him; we ended things on very good terms. He reached out to give me a friendly hug, only to pull back the second Jace cleared his throat obnoxiously.

"That sounds like a bad cough. Is the weather getting to you, honey?" I innocently asked, batting my eyelashes. He narrowed his eyes at the endearment, but with Benicio present, we needed to keep up the pretense of a couple.

Disregarding my comment, Jace just said, "The car's already outside. You and Van should head there first."

"What about Beni?" Van asked, acknowledging the poor administrative assistant.

"He and I need to discuss some things."

Benicio's bobbing throat didn't escape my line of sight.

Physically, Benicio was—to a certain extent—my type. That's why I accepted his advances almost a year and a half ago. And I certainly did like the three times I finished with him, but nothing about his personality got me hot and bothered.

He was a sweet guy with whom I could hold a pleasant conversation.

But that was it... completely and utterly vanilla. I liked things rough... being praised and degraded simultaneously... tied up... spanked...

The works, if you will.

Still, I followed Savannah out of the hotel, only turning back to mouth 'behave' to my fiancé. I was cursing myself for not walking slower when Jace lowered his head to speak to my ex-fling with a dark look in his eyes.

I'd shit my pants if I was on the receiving end of that... Or, maybe I'd be turned on.

Van and I were sitting in the car, making small talk, when the two boys finally joined us. Jace's face, as usual, didn't even hint to any emotion. Beni, on the other hand, was nervously fidgeting and not looking anywhere near my direction.

I shot Jace a 'what did you do?' look, only for him to ignore me. Then, the jackass had the audacity to settle into the car casually, with one hand scrolling on his phone and the other hand resting on my thigh.

I repeat: his hand was on my fucking thigh.

Why me?

Well, probably because you'd stab him with my red-bottoms if he dared to touch another girl... Because of the contract, of course.

Keep telling yourself that.

Shut up, dummy.

Great. Now, I was arguing with myself.

The look on my face must've been really amusing because Van's soft snickering turned into full-blown laughter. Hearing her laughter bubbled small bouts of laughter out of me. I couldn't help it, her laugh was infectious. Benicio also started laughing nervously. Even Jace had a small smile on his face.

Wow.

Something was definitely wrong with me because seeing that somehow made my smile wider.

♕♕♕

After twenty minutes in the car, we ended up in front of the company's building. From the structure of the surrounding buildings, it was evident that we were in the central business district of São Paulo.

I've been to the city a few times before, but it was normally for nightlife or if I had any photoshoots in the area. It was my first part in the business district, but it was just what I expected from one of the major business hubs of South America.

Benicio assumed his role as translator perfectly, but he wasn't necessarily needed. To a certain extent, the administrative team here was somewhat fluent in English with a translator of their own.

But Mom always emphasized the importance of speaking to people in their native tongue, which is why I learned several languages growing up. It was probably the only thing I did that impressed Dad.

Plus, seeing the bewildered look on Jace's face when I made small talk with everyone in Portuguese was hilarious.

What can I say? Sex with Benicio came with free language lessons.

The meeting was relatively short as today was mainly geared towards the signing of contracts and establishing a good relationship between Kingston Industries and their executives. The rest of the week was dedicated to ironing out all of the fine details and securing communication.

To the average person, all of this would seem boring and tedious, but I loved it. Well, I wasn't sure if I loved it—per se—but I thrived in this type of environment. It kept my mind busy and was all I knew for so long. When I was in the boardroom, I didn't need a drink to keep me going. I was only ever focused on the situation at hand.

After the meeting, the four of us went out to lunch, following Benicio's recommendations for one of his favorite restaurants. Since the workload was quite low today, Jace allowed for Benicio and Van to take the rest of the day off.

Benicio was adorably grateful, deciding to go pay his vovó a visit since she lived about an hour away from the central city. Van tried staying around, since Jace was still working on some other business remotely, but he waved her off and told her to enjoy her first time in Brazil.

With that infectious happiness, Van begged me to take her to some of my favorite day-time and touristy spots in São Paulo. I obviously obliged and the two of us were off.

And that all led me here to this moment.

This historic, memorable moment.

A shirtless Jace lounging by the pool attached to the suite. I've never wanted to lick a guy's body more.

Boy, was it a sight.

His pectorals were so defined, so perfect with the right amount of chest hair dusting the tan skin. I got a complete view of the gold chain hanging from his neck with a ring at the end. I stood there, imagining how it would look dangling over me.

Thin, supple skin stretched over the muscles of his biceps, triceps, and all the other -ceps. Eight squares that led to a deep V, hugged by a pair of swim trunks. I was ready to pull them down and suck him off right there.

He was oblivious to my ogling, concentrating on something on his laptop.

But the warm lights surrounding the pool highlighted every inch of muscle definition perfectly.

I wouldn't mind standing there and just staring.

I was a model, for crying out loud. Appreciating the finer things was my way of living.

"If you're going to keep staring like that, I'll expect you to do something about it." His deep voice pulled me out of my thoughts before a recreation of last night's dream started playing again. "Join me."

I raised my eyebrows with a coy smile. What did I have to lose? "Be patient, Jace. Your desperation is showing."

Him shaking his head was the last thing I saw as I headed to the bedroom. A shopping spree with Van was a must while we were here, and I've never been more thankful that I swiped my card many times.

I bought this tastefully sexy cut-out, one piece bikini that criss-crossed in the front. Of course, I bought in my signature deep red that paired well with the—thankfully waterproof—red lip I was sporting.

Taking my hair out of the clip, I ran my fingers through the waves before walking back to the pool.

His eyes were on me the entire time, watching every single movement I was making. That smolder would be the death of me.

I dove into the pool, the cool water hitting my skin refreshingly. The heat was pretty bad today, but this swim was about to make it all worth it. I glided through the water, breaking the surface and pushing my hair back.

Swimming to the edge where he was lounging in one of the pool chairs, I crossed my arms against the stone, smirking up at him. "You're so boring," I taunted.

From this close, I could see muscle definition more clearly. The easy smirk on his face, relaxed eyes, chill demeanor... This was easily the sexiest he's ever looked.

Fuck. I didn't need any more ammunition for my late-night sessions.

"How come?"

"Your hot fiancé is in a pool, all by herself, and you're just sitting there... working," I drawled, feigning distress. Teasing was just so much fun.

Since we weren't going to do anything, we might as well make the most out of it.

Jace put the laptop aside, leaning forward in the chair. "And what would you do if I got in?"

"Come in and find out."

Diving obnoxiously, he splashed me with water before rising to the surface as if that didn't happen.

"You are so dead," I muttered, using all my strength to push him underwater.

Jace resorted to grabbing my legs and dragging me under with him. I didn't even register his hands on my bare skin with the amusement clouding my judgment. Both of us came up to the surface, gasping for air during a momentary truce.

But, the second he recovered, Jace pushed me back into the water.

Buckle up, bitch. This means war.

♕♕♕

"Is that your natural hair?" Jace pointed to the damp, wavy mess on top of my head.

We got out of the water a little over twenty minutes ago, prompting showers and ordering room service for dinner.

I obviously won our little water fight, using my feminine wiles to my advantage through mindless teasing and touching. It was strangely nice to spend time with Jace without having to think about the impending doom of our upcoming nuptials.

It took some of the animosity away... albeit temporarily.

"Yeah," I replied hesitantly. "Why?"

My overdramatic ass thought he was going to shave it while I was asleep.

"No reason," he dismissed, taking the covers off of our meals. "It just looks nice."

Be still, you traitorous heart.

I nodded with a grateful smile, sitting on the couch with some distance between us to alleviate the tension I was feeling. My sad, little salad was staring at me while his beautiful steak was calling my name.

With the shoot being tomorrow, I had to sacrifice a hearty meal to prevent myself from being absolutely bloated in the morning. Being able to eat whatever I wanted without having to worry about how I looked was the best part about quitting modeling.

Jace had one of those History Channel videos about Greek mythology playing in the background to fill up the silence that came with eating.

"You're into Greek mythology?" I asked, raising my eyebrows in the direction of the TV.

"Kind of," he admitted. "My mom taught World History at my old high school. She used to tell me a bunch of stories about the constellations and shit. That's why I like astronomy."

Ahh... the mention of his mysterious mother. I wanted to ask more about her, but I knew Jace wouldn't feel comfortable, so I pushed that curiosity aside.

"Vivi and I used to read Percy Jackson when we were in middle school or something," I added. "Granted, I had a raging crush on Percy and Vivi would sell her soul for Annabeth, but we definitely loved the mythology too."

It felt weird bringing up these kinds of memories. Not because they were bad, but because it's been so long since I talked to anyone about it. I never shared details about my life with anyone, and the people I would share them with, already knew because they were there.

"I'm not surprised," he snorted. "Your shoot's tomorrow, right?"

I nodded. "It's an early morning shoot, so I'll be leaving at like four in the morning. The beach we're headed to is like two hours away, but the sunrise view is so worth it."

"You're going alone?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Why? Do you want to join?"

I meant that last part as a joke, but apparently, Jace didn't understand my humor.

"Yes," he deadpanned.

Stunned, I rambled, "You don't have to. I'm sure you have better things to do than watching me pose on a beach."

His eyes darkened, halting the piece of steak that was on his way to his mouth. "I disagree."

Holy fuck.

I cleared my throat, hiding the desire that just invaded my body. "Fine... you can come. If anything, it might help with the publicity for this marriage. Chantelle—my manager—and some of the other models there are huge gossips."

"Sounds good," he replied.

We continued eating, the narrator's voice filling the gaps of light conversation between us. Suddenly, Jace reached over and plopped a few pieces of steak on my plate. Unconsciously, I was probably eyeing his food, but I didn't mean for him to give me any.

When I tried returning the pieces, he stopped me. "Just eat it, Kimberly."

"But it's your dinner," I argued.

"A few pieces of steak isn't going to kill me," he retorted. "If you want more, take it. I don't mind."

"Thank you," I mumbled. I hated being indebted to anyone, so I did the logical thing and offered my breadsticks. I wasn't one to share food—like one of my favorite Friends characters—but I felt compelled to do so. "You want some?"

Jace looked at me incredulously before huffing with a slight smile. "Pass it over."

♕♕♕

After we finished dinner, the comfort of the couch was beckoning me to sleep. All the tossing and turning from last night and the thought of having to wake up early tomorrow finally came crashing down on me.

A gentle hand nudged me after a few minutes, but I was in that delirious state of being half-awake and half-dead.

"Come on, Venus," Jace said. "Let's get you to bed."

I groaned, swatting him away. "Fuck off."

He chuckled deeply, the vibrations feeling good as he picked me up. "You need to brush and take that shit off your face," he replied, referring to the makeup I had on.

My shower from earlier was more for washing the chlorine off my hair and body rather than deep-cleaning myself. I was blessed to have good skin—thank you, Mom—so I didn't always break out if I slept with makeup, but the esthetician-wannabe in me took care of my skin religiously.

"What do you have against my clothes and makeup?"

"Nothing," he replied without emotion. "You just look better with them off."

Now, it was my turn to laugh. "You cheeky, cheeky jackass. You wish you could see me naked."

Jace shook his head slowly, gently placing me down next to the bathroom counter, keeping an eye on me while I did my night routine so I didn't drown in the sink or something.

When my teeth and skin were squeaky clean, I trudged to the bed and plopped myself down.

"Goodnight, Venus." His tone was teasing, as if he was talking to a child.

"Jackass," I replied, flipping him off.

His light laughter was the last thing I heard as he closed the door and walked back to the living room.

Oh, fuck me.

***

ahhhh... brazilian nights.

this batch of chapters is slowly becoming some of my favorites. we're finally seeing different sides to both of them, but sadly, nothing good ever lasts. knowing me, angst is on the way.

anyway, i hope y'all like this short chapter! leave some of your thoughts!

love, zia.