Diamonds (All that Glitters #1)(31)

“All right,” he said. His brows furrowed, but he went back to swimming. At least there was one benefit of his sneaky conversation this morning. No questions.

“Who are you with?” Gates demanded.

“It doesn’t matter. I cannot believe Celia had the audacity to call my mother. What a bitch! How dare she question me like that and reach out to my mother just because I didn’t answer some stupid phone call. You would think she suspected me of doing something wrong!”

“Well…aren’t you?” he asked.

“Whatever,” she said. “Wait, how do you know all of this?”

“Because when Celia realized that you weren’t, in fact, spending Christmas break with your mom, she went off the deep end trying to find out where you actually were and called me.”

Bryna’s stomach dipped. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. “Why would she call you?”

“I don’t know, Bri,” he said exasperated. “Maybe because I’m the only friend you have.”

Bryna rolled her eyes again. “Please.”

“And I’m your ex, so it would be reasonable to assume that we had snuck away together, which is what I told Celia when she called.”

“You covered for me?” She breathed out a sigh of relief. Thank God!

“What the f*ck was I supposed to say?” He groaned and muttered curses under his breath. “Fuck, Bri. I don’t want to be in the middle of this shit. You’re obviously with some other f*cking guy somewhere, and here I am, still covering for you with your family.”

“Cut the shit. You didn’t have to cover for me. I know you too well. You did it because you want something. What is it?” she asked. She was grateful that Gates had told Celia they were together, but he hadn’t done it out of his own good grace. He was a schemer much like she was, and if he had done something generous, it was because he wanted something from her for the favor.

Gates exhaled softly into the phone. “I did have to cover for you. While you might choose to believe you have other friends, I know that you’re the closest thing to a real friend I have. Even if you are a total psycho sometimes, Bri.”

“How charming.”

“Come with me for New Year’s.”

“There it is,” she muttered. Of course. She should have known. “I knew you wanted something out of this.”

“You already knew I wanted you to come with me.”

“You have to f*cking promise not to tell anyone about me being gone,” she insisted.

“It’s not an I’ll-f*cking-tell-if-you-don’t kind of thing,” Gates cried. “I told Celia you were with me, and you will be until you get back. I’m a man of my word.”

“Good, because if that isn’t the case, be sure to remember that I know about you and Chloe.”

“Jesus, Bri!” he griped. “You don’t have to blackmail me to keep a secret.”

“Just making sure.”

She couldn’t let anyone find out about her being away with Jude. Things were finally starting to get on the right track, and she couldn’t risk anything going wrong. As much as she wanted to trust Gates, it was always easier to have dirt on the other person to ensure that they kept their mouth shut.

“Well, are you going to come with me?” Gates asked.

She glanced back down at Jude slicing through the water. He had said that he would be out of town for business on New Year’s. It wouldn’t hurt anything to go with Gates. “Fine. I’ll go but just as friends.”

“Sweet,” he said, excitement in his voice. “Have fun on your trip.”

“Yeah, thanks. Tell Chloe I said hi,” she said, laughing lightly at the end.

“Don’t be a bitch, Bri.”

“All I know how to be.”

Sometime later, Jude hoisted himself out of the pool. Water dripped down his body, and his soaked shorts clung to his legs. Bryna couldn’t tear her eyes away. He lazily smiled at her as if he didn’t already know that she was staring at him with desperate need.

“So,” he said, taking a seat on her lounger. He planted a kiss on her lips, and water trickled down her white bathing suit.

“So,” she muttered. She ran her fingers up into his dark wet hair and tugged him back down for another kiss.

“I might have planned something for you today.”

She arched an eyebrow. “You took me on a private plane to Saint Barts. I don’t think you need to plan anything else!”

“But I like to,” he said, looking meaningfully into her eyes. “You appreciate it.”

“I do.” Their fingers interlocked, and she leaned into him. “I love this.”

He kissed the top of her head. She didn’t need any other plans if they could do this all day. Being here with him was enough.

But he did have plans, and she wasn’t going to keep him from them if he had made them for her.

“So, what are we doing?” she asked.

“You are going to the spa. I have a car waiting to take you into town, and when you come back, put on something nice.”

“And what will you be doing?”

“That is a surprise,” he said with a devious smile. “You’ll find out when you get back.”