“No, just my mother trying to get me to take Greg back. You look good in that tux, by the way.”
“Thanks. “I thought Greg was going to marry his work buddy.”
“Changed his mind.”
“Of course. Like the dress. Very hot, Counselor.”
“Thanks.” She couldn’t believe they were actually together again. “I told Greg’s mom he was a ball-less wonder.”
Steve snorted. “I like that, too.”
“So did my dad.”
“So, what else have you been doing besides pissing people off? Did you get the partnership?”
“No, in fact Jane’s closing down the agency.”
He turned to her. “What?”
“Yes.” She explained about Jane’s mother.
“So what are you going to do?”
“Move to Hawaii, looks like.”
The surprise on his face made her grin, then she explained that whole scenario, as well.
“Good thing I bought a house.”
Her turn to be surprised. “You bought a house?”
He nodded. “Figured we’d need one.”
“So when can I see it?”
“Whenever you fly down.”
“Can we go now?”
“Jet’s fueled up and waiting at the airport. We can be home in nothing flat.”
“Give me a few minutes to pack and I’ll be ready.”
“First things first. Hold out your hand. Gotta put a ring on it.” Her reaction made him say teasingly, “Close your mouth, Counselor, and hold out your hand. Unless you don’t want it, of course.”
Anita began to cry and placed her hand over her mouth in wonder and joy.
In a voice that really made her tears flow, he asked, “Will you marry me, Anita Hunt, so we can watch sunsets and eat popcorn?”
She was so moved and so speechless, all she could do was nod.
He took a small black velvet box out of his coat and opened it. He gently took her hand and pushed the sparkler onto the third finger of her left hand. “I figured no sense in getting an engagement ring since I plan to marry you just as soon as we get all the legal stuff out the way.”
Through her happy tears, she stared down at the serious rock on her finger. “This is gorgeous.”
“Trust fund money does come in handy sometimes. Now, do I get my kiss?”
She threw herself at him and lost herself in the arms and kisses of the man she planned to watch sunsets with for the rest of her life.
Someone cleared their throat close by. A hazy Anita looked up to see her smiling father standing next to the car.
“So, you two good here?”
“Yes, Dad.”
“Yes, Mr. Hunt.”
“Then I’m good, too. Call me when you come up for air.”
With that he walked away.
Steve met her shining eyes and slowly traced her mouth. “I think we should leave in the morning.” The finger languidly slid down her throat and toyed with the tops of her breasts peeking up above the neckline of her fancy gown.
Heat claimed her. “Why?”
“Because I want to spend some time taking this hot dress off you, and it’ll probably take most of the night.”
“Then let’s go to my place.”
He kissed her. “Your place have popcorn?”
“Yes, my sky pilot, it does.”
He drove them away from the restaurant. She waved at her father and Mr. Zola standing by the door, then cuddled close to her soon-to-be husband.
He said, “Forgot something.”
“What?”
“Forgot to say, I love you, Counselor.”
“I love you, too.”
Soaring on the wings of happiness, Anita looked forward to their future.
* * * * *
FIJI FANTASY
Elaine Overton
Dear Reader,
Haven’t we all fantasized about vacationing in some exotic location with a gorgeous companion? I know I have! Other than the fun fantasy part of the story, I hope you will see the evolution of a butterfly that has been stuck in her cocoon for far too long. I thoroughly enjoyed developing Connie into Contessa and revealing the multifaceted person just below the surface of her staid persona.
I guess, in some ways, their relationship is a reflection of my personal belief that you must always trust your inner voice. Just as Michael had to learn to ignore his eyes and listen to his heart.
I hope you will enjoy reading Fiji Fantasy and getting to know Michael and (Contessa) Connie. Feel free to let me know what you think by emailing me at
[email protected]. I look forward to your comments.
Elaine Overton
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
BPA
Chapter 1
Eeegh! Eeegh! Eeegh!
Connie Vaughn reached across the nightstand and hit the snooze button on her alarm clock, as her eyes popped open. She was wide-awake, and anyone who knew her well understood this was a rare occurrence. Most mornings, her alarm clock got knocked across the room before Connie even considered actually getting out of bed. She was not a morning person.
But today was different. Today was the day. The one she’d been patiently waiting on and planning for years. Later, she would board a plane alone heading to the tiny island of Fiji where she would spend the next seven days celebrating her thirtieth birthday.
A small tap on her door brought up her head off the pillow. “Come in.”
Annie, her sister-in-law of three years, peeked her head around the door. “Morning, I was frying some eggs and wondered if you wanted any?”
Connie smiled at her unexpected ally. Looking back, Connie was pretty sure this trip never would’ve happened without Annie’s unwavering support.
“No, thanks.” Connie sat up in the bed, bracing herself on her elbows. “I want to get to work early. I have a lot to do before I leave.”
At the reminder that today was the day, Annie’s eyes twinkled and took on a faraway look and Connie knew her sister-in-law was contemplating a full week alone with her husband. Something the poor woman hadn’t experienced since moving into Brian’s house three years ago.
After Annie left, Connie hopped out of bed with high energy. She was feeling an excitement that was increasingly hard to contain. She crossed the room and locked her bedroom door before reaching under the bed and pulling out her suitcase. She propped it on the bed and opened it, breathing a sigh of pleasure at the array of colorful outfits she’d bought just for the occasion. The contents of the medium-size brown suitcase had cost a small fortune, but to Connie it was money well spent.
Looking down at the neatly packed bag, she knew that this week would be the one and only time she would ever wear these clothes. Never again would she have the nerve to wear expensive designer clothes.
Considering her forty-thousand-dollar-a-year salary as a personal assistant, Connie knew that spending that kind of money on clothes was ridiculously extravagant. And yet she did not regret a single penny of it.
She picked up the small matching scraps of clothing sitting on top of the others and unfolded them into a tiny two-piece, hot-pink bikini. She smiled to herself, realizing the little thing would barely covered her most private parts. Her brother, Brian, her aunt Rita and even Annie would all be scandalized to know that she had bought the bathing suit precisely because it revealed so much.
/> She glanced at the clock and saw that it was six forty-seven; she wanted to be at work by seven-thirty. She neatly repacked the bikini and stood staring down at it for several seconds before deciding, Why not?
Quickly she slipped her flannel gown over her head, pulled off her cotton underwear and put on the bikini. Tying the halter top behind her neck, she walked across the room to the full-length mirror that covered the back of her closet door and her small smile widened to a grin.
She’d bought the bathing suit one year ago, and every night since then, she’d been putting herself through a rigorous exercise routine, sit-ups, leg lifts and twenty minutes on the treadmill that sat in the far corner of the room.
She had a naturally slender build, but the lack of activity in her life had left her soft and flabby. But, the woman she saw in the mirror now did not have an ounce of flab on her. Her petite body was as toned as a professional athlete. And although she’d been raised to believe vanity was a sin, at this particular moment, Connie chose to ignore that teaching. Because she looked good, and was feeling quite proud of it! She turned this way and that, looking at herself from every angle. Yep, damn good!
She covered her mouth to suppress a giggle that had bubbled up from nowhere. This trip would be the fulfillment of her every dream. For once in her life, she had a chance to be happy. A one-week extravaganza, but that was okay, because she would make the most of this time. Even if it were only for a few days, it would have to be enough. She would make it enough.
This was her single chance to be…free.
A short time later, Connie entered the kitchen, dressed in a black, polyester pantsuit with a light gray shell underneath the jacket that matched her loafers. Her shoulder-length hair was twisted in a tight bun at the back of her head, and the only jewelry she wore was a small cross around her neck unless you counted her glasses.
“Good morning.” She came up behind her brother and placed a light kiss on his cheek.
“Good morning, Connie,” Brian Vaughn muttered. Folding the morning paper he was reading, he laid it beside his plate on the table and took in his sister’s appearance with one glance. “You look nice today.”
“Thank you.” She gave her automated response to her brother’s daily comment. Connie knew she did not look nice, she looked like exactly what she was. An exceptionally efficient personal assistant. But every morning Brian commented that she looked nice, for lack of anything better to say. She appreciated the effort.
Annie turned from the stove holding a sizzling skillet in her hand. “Sure you don’t want any breakfast?” she asked again, as she slid the fried eggs onto her husband’s plate.
“No, thanks.” She glanced at the clock on the wall above the stove. “I’ve got to get going. I just wanted to say goodbye…this is the last time I will see you for a week.” Her eyes quickly slid to her brother and then away.
“I still don’t like this.” Brian frowned while using the side of his fork to cut into his fried eggs. “Why would a single woman want to travel so far by herself with what’s going on in the world? Every time I turn on the news, I hear a story of a woman being accosted in some strange land.”
Connie pursed her lips, but otherwise held her peace. Brian had been trying to talk her out of this trip from the moment she had announced it. And she should’ve expected him to try again this morning. Brian wouldn’t be Brian if he didn’t try one final time.
“I’ll be fine.” She reached over and covered his hand resting beside his plate.
“I just don’t like the idea of you going away by yourself.”
“I’m single, Brian. If I don’t go anywhere by myself, then I’ll never go anywhere.”
He arched an eyebrow. “And is that such a bad thing? You don’t see me and Annie traipsing all over the earth looking for trouble.”
“That’s because we can’t afford to,” Annie said laughingly, even as she turned off the stove and picked up her own plate to join them at the table. “Connie has been saving for this for years, Brian. Probably dreaming about it for longer than that.” Annie caught her husband’s eye across the table and shook her head. “Let’s not spoil it for her.”
Once again, Connie was grateful for whatever twist of fate had brought her sister-in-law into her life. Unlike Brian who was her own flesh and blood, Annie knew that this was more than a vacation. It was a time for an untested dove to try her wings.
For the first time in her life, she was doing something totally out of character of ultracompetent Connie. For once, she was doing something just for herself and she was not about to let Brian talk her out of it this time.
She was thirty years old and had never been outside the state of Connecticut. She’d worked in the same job with the same company since finishing business school at the age of twenty. She’d lived with her brother almost her entire life, from the time their parents died when Connie was twelve until now, barring that brief six-month nightmare in which she found herself married to and living with a sociopath posing as a perfectly sane accountant.
She’d met Nathan Moore when he had joined their church less than six years ago. He was average looking, and at first he had seemed a really nice man. But nothing probably would’ve come of their acquaintance if Brian hadn’t taken to bringing him home to dinner a couple times a week. It didn’t take Connie long to realize her brother was playing matchmaker and, although there was nothing particularly interesting or appealing about Nathan, in a strange way, Connie thought his very blandness was a good sign. In her ignorance of men, she had missed many of the signs that he was trouble. Signs a more experienced woman may have picked up on right away.
Like his subtle suggestions about what she wore. The small criticisms he offered as advice. His volatile temper that she first dismissed as the stresses of his job as a Certified Public Accountant for the city of Hartford. At least, that was always the explanation he would offer in those more-sane moments and, needing some sense of understanding, Connie was eager to grab on to any excuse.
And after just over eight months of dating, they married in a small ceremony at their church. Brian was his best man.
It wasn’t long after the wedding that Nathan’s premarital suggestions became commands. And the mood swings became more extreme and occurred more often, and eventually he just stopped offering any explanation. And the criticisms became abusive.
And Connie learned one of the hardest lessons of her life. That of all the different types of abuse, emotional abuse was the hardest to prove. After all, it was mostly done with words, and in the privacy of their home. But the effect it had on her already fragile self-esteem was devastating. She became depressed, and stopped caring about her appearance. After all, nothing she ever did pleased him anyway.
Of course, Nathan used her lack of interest in…anything against her. Convincing Brian, and everyone else they knew, that this was why they were getting divorced after only six months of marriage. Connie just wasn’t willing to put forth the effort to make their marriage work.
Connie didn’t have the energy or desire to fight him. She just packed up her most precious possessions and moved back in with her brother. Less than a year later, Brian met and married Annie and the three of them settled into a small family unit. And although she’d toyed with the idea of moving out, maybe even leaving the state of Connecticut, she never did. She just dreamed and hoped that, one day, life would present her with the opportunity for something…exciting.
It finally came two months ago when she won the daily lottery for ten thousand dollars, playing the same number she’d played for almost five years. Her wedding date. And the irony, that finally her marriage to Nathan was paying off, was not lost on her.
Of course, Brian had expected her to just put that money in the bank to gain interest and be a safety net. But then, Brian didn’t know—nor would he have approved, if he had—that this was the opp
ortunity she’d been waiting for.
This was her time to shine, her time for a little island fantasy. And she had every intention of living it to the fullest. For one glorious week, she was going to lock staid assistant Connie in the closet and bring out hedonist Contessa. She was going to eat as much as she wanted, drink as much as she wanted, do anything she wanted to and that included having sex for the first time in five years! And…as much as she wanted to.
Chapter 2
Contessa was almost certain there was a silly grin on her face, but she found it impossible to wipe it off. Everything about her trip so far had surpassed her expectations. Her first-class flight to the big island of Viti Levu had been relaxing. The limousine ride to the harbor was comfortable, and now she was on a luxury ship being ferried to the resort island itself, while sipping on an iced tea. Life was sweet.
Her eyes lit up as the resort began to come into view. It was even more beautiful than the pictures in the brochure. At first glance, the hotel looked like something out of a science-fiction novel, all shiny steel and glass. It towered over the palm trees and lush green foliage that seemed to be everywhere. In the distance, she could see a line of mountains that were the essence of rugged beauty, reaching for the sky.
As they drew closer, she could see the bay and convinced herself that she could even make out the pods below the surface. When she had first read about the construction of an underwater hotel in Fiji, it had been years ago and she thought the idea was fascinating in a vague way. After all, it was not like she would ever be in any position to afford to stay there.
And yet…here she was!
A short while later, she was in the elevators being lowered to her underwater suite. She stared out through the window at the fish swimming by in total disregard of the intruders that had taken over their home. The fish were so close, and the water so clear, she felt she could almost reach out and touch them. And she wondered, How this was possible? What type of brilliant engineer could’ve designed such a structure?
Absently, she felt the glass wall of the elevator just as the doors behind her opened and she found herself standing in a hotel lobby. Intellectually, she understood that yes, it was a hotel and therefore it would have a lobby. But her eyes told a different story.