Page 70 of South Beach Bodyguards

Shelly made a face. “That’s Jessica. She’s a porn star and no, she is not Benito’s girlfriend. That is just me and Sophia.”

Apparently there was a drug dealer compound pecking order. I felt a little bad for Jessica. “I see,” I said, even though I didn’t. I didn’t know a damn thing.

Benito’s house was nowhere near the size of Ricardo’s, nor was it as private. Across the water were the high-rise condos of North Beach, houses clearly visible, snug against Benito’s on either side. The place was definitely palatial and upscale, but in contrast, my brother-in-law was filthy rich. Nasty, dirty, ridiculously rich. Benito looked regular rich.

“I’m starving,” I told the woman across from me. “Is it okay if I just grab something from the buffet?”

“Absolutely,” Sophia said. “This is a mango mimosa. It’s divine.” She had a slight Latin accent and very large breasts in a tiny yellow bikini. She delicately took another sip of her drink.

“Great, thanks.” My stomach growling, I went to the buffet and piled a plate with eggs and fruit. If I was going to die, I might as well enjoy a last meal. Yet the casual friendliness of Sophia and Shelly made me more comfortable that I had been since Wester had walked out on the patio the night before at Ricardo’s. They wouldn’t bother to chat with me if I were slated for execution. I didn’t think.

When I sat back down and started plowing through my food, Shelly gave me a grin. “So… I hear you’re Wester’s girlfriend. He’s a hottie McHot Hot.”

The eggs stuck in my throat. I nodded. I didn’t want to think about Wester and I certainly didn’t want to have to pretend to be his girlfriend to total strangers. He was relegated to a dark, mysterious corner of my brain to be pulled out and examined later, when I wasn’t in a cheetah print cover up having breakfast with drug dealer mols.

“You know he and Benito were best friends the whole time they were growing up.”

I had no clue if Shelly was just being conversational or if this was some sort of trap. “I knew they were friends, yes. Wester mentioned that.” I took a massive swallow of my mimosa. I was overcome by the sudden urge to get drunk. I didn’t do well being passive and this was about as passive as it got. A leisurely meal while I was trapped with no clue what was actually going to happen to me.

My left eye was starting to twitch. I decided to ask a few questions of my own. “So how did you meet Benito?”

Sophia looked away. Shelly’s eyes shuttered. “At a party,” she said vaguely.

Interesting. It confirmed that I couldn’t trust either of them. They were involved in a world I was no part of normally. I tried to picture them taking a chemical engineering class at the University of Miami with me and couldn’t see it. The thought reassured me. I knew where I belonged and it wasn’t here. “Oh, fun,” I said, my voice sounding surprisingly breezy. “Wester is my dog’s bodyguard. That’s how we met.”

“OMG, that’s so awesome,” Sophia said. “I love dogs. I want a Bichon but Benito hates dander. Besides, he says they’re too expensive.”

Benito was quite the layered guy. Loved cheetah, hated dogs. Loved luxury, but was cheap. “Aw, that’s too bad. I love animals.” I did. I just hadn’t been able to have one in my apartment because I was either at school or at work. Once I had my degree, I at least wanted a cat.

“Wester’s an animal.” Shelly giggled.

That sounded a whole hell of a lot like she had intimate knowledge of my fake boyfriend. That pissed me off. I was actually jealous. I was jealous of the drug dealer’s girlfriend possibly having slept with my fake boyfriend, who was actually my sister’s fake boyfriend. I seriously needed to download a dating app when I got out of here because that was ludicrous.

“Are you friends with Wester?” I asked, hoping there was no bite in my voice.

There was. I sounded like a shrew.

She smirked. “A little bit.”

Fun. How fabulous.

“It’s those eyes,” she added, pretending to fan herself with her napkin. “So dreamy. So intense.”

Yes they were. But it was still annoying to hear that I wasn’t the only one who had felt the intensity of his stare.

“OMG, speak of the devil,” Sophia said, her gaze drifting behind me.

I swiveled and saw Wester himself strolling across the back lawn, still in a suit, looking hot and tired and dangerous. He had on sunglasses so those damn eyes were hidden from view, which was a good thing. I didn’t need Shelly and Sophia melting into a puddle next to me. Or worse, me melting into a puddle. He was headed straight for me. Wester bent down, dropping his hand onto the back of my chair. He invaded my personal space entirely and gave me a slow, lingering kiss. I responded because I had no choice. My body was reacting without any directive from my brain.

Memories of just a few hours earlier, his naked body colliding with mine, rushed into my head, crowding me as thoroughly as he was physically. I couldn’t process how to feel in general, but I instantly knew that no matter how annoyed I was or scared I was, he made me weak in the knees.

“Nice bikini,” he murmured with a smirk as he pulled back slightly. Then as he stood up he said in a louder voice, “Good morning, beautiful.” He turned and nodded to Shelly and Sophia. “Ladies. Good to see you again.”

That made me snort. I bet it was.

Shelly giggled. “Hey, Wes, what’s up?”

Sophia gave him deuces, her mouth full.

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