Page 30 of 7 Nights of Sin

"It's nice to see you, too, Caro," I said.

"Fuck off," she snapped. "It's not nice to see you. I had to drag my ass all the way out here to fix another of your messes because you're too stupid and thoughtless to know how to stay out of trouble. You're a pain in the ass.

I winced slightly at the anger in her tone. It was clear she had worked herself up into a frenzy, and I couldn’t really blame her. "I'm sorry," I said, and I actually meant it.

"No, you're not. You get to have your fun and do whatever the hell you want with whoever the hell you want, and then I have to come along and clean up after you, so you don't have to take any responsibility for yourself or your actions. I'm sure you're having a great time."

"I'm not—”

She lifted a hand and cut me off. "I don't actually care, Kevin. I'm not here to listen to your excuses. I'm not here to talk to you at all. I'm here to calm things down and try to keep you from undoing all the work I busted my ass to do. I need to get a hotel, and then I have to get to work."

“You don’t need a hotel,” I told her. “There’s a perfectly good beach house right here.”

She rolled her eyes. "Kevin, I have absolutely no desire to stay here while you host your topless hot tub parties. I can't believe you'd even think that was an option."

"I'm not doing that anymore," I said, lifting a hand. "Scout's honor."

"You weren't a scout," she said. "It's fine. I'm sure there's any number of nice hotels on this island. Ones that won't be filled with you having sex with who knows how many women."

I winced, a little hurt that she thought so little of me, but I couldn't really blame her. "There won't be any of that," I promised. "And just for the record, I didn't sleep with any of those women."

"Okay."

"I didn't!" I insisted. It was important that she knew that. I hadn't so much as touched them when they were all piled into the hot tub, because ever surrounded by a bevy of gorgeous women who were barely clothed, I was thinking about Caro the whole time.

"Fine, Kevin," she said. "I don't care either way. I'm not here to tell you who can and can't sleep with. I'm here to tell you to be fucking discreet about it until I've finished making sure your sponsors don't drop you like a fucking hot potato. But apparently that's too hard a concept for you."

"It's not," I said. "And I'm sorry you had to come all the way out here. Let me make it up to you by offering you a room in this very nice house I rented. I'll stay out of your way and be on my best behavior. I promise."

I looked at her, sincerity in my tone and on my face, willing her to believe me. I was being completely honest, but I knew Caro was a skeptic, and I hadn't exactly given her much reason to trust that I was being sincere. But I needed her to be here for things to work out the way I wanted them to, and if she went to a hotel, it would all be for nothing.

Finally she sighed, and I could see she looked tired. It was a long flight from New York to Hawaii, and she was probably dealing with the aftermath of my shenanigans before she even got on the plane.

I felt guilty about that. "Here," I told her. "Let me get your bags. I'll show you to a bedroom. You look like you could use a nap."

"I don't have time for a nap," she muttered, and she kept a hold on her bags, walking up towards the house.

I watched her for a second, taking in the way that even exhausted and worn down, she was still straight-backed and clear-eyed. She rarely let things get her down. Not even me being an idiot.

I'd always admired that about her.

"You don't know where you're going," I called after her, turning to follow.

"I can figure it out," she snapped back.

It was going to be a long week.