AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pucker my lips at her question. “You know me better than that! I have every intention of absorbing so much sunlight I’ll practically glow from now ‘till Christmas. That will take at least two more days. Maybe a full week. I don’t know yet.”
What can I say? I have finally taken my life back from the controlling man who raised me and it feels so damn good. He thinks the second I leave the compound wolves will descend and that I’m some princess in need of a tower. Don’t get me wrong. I love the man, but he can’t keep me secluded away from the world forever just because of who he is and who that makes me. All I want is a girl's week away—me, my bestie, and a possible one-night stand with a handsome stranger who will make me feel things.
Then I’ll go back and be the dutiful, loving daughter of mafia kingpin Matthew Kingston who never steps out of line. For a while at least.
So far I’ve managed three things on my must-do list. Sand on my feet, coconut-scented sunscreen on my body, and fruity drinks with all the pineapple I can eat in my tummy.
Make those four things. The sound of waves crashing against the beach in my ears and nothing else.
None of which are the sins I’d hope to have committed by now.
I look up from my lounge chair to watch a sexy couple walk by holding hands and the piña colada I had for lunch sours in my stomach.
The one-night stand seems more and more like one of my fantasies rather than a dream come true so far.
Reaching for the floppy knot at the back of my neck, I secure my black bikini top and sigh heavily. Maybe this forbidden getaway to the beach wasn’t such a hot idea after all.
“I can hear your dreadful thoughts all the way over here. Come on. Isn’t this what you wanted?”
I slide my sunglasses down the bridge of my freshly sunscreened nose to peer at Serenity. Sunlight glistens off her perfectly polished golden-red hair making her appear angelic. But I know the real she-devil lurking behind that innocent smile and all those cute freckles. Both happenstances of her cosmic makeup as she likes to call her God-given beauty traits. As one of Chicago’s youngest and brightest attorneys, I call them tools in her arsenal which she wields ruthlessly, and is turning on me right now.
She dangles my phone in front of me. “I’ve already given you a solution for your cough-cough lonely problems.”
“A hookup app. Yeah, I don’t know.”
“What’s to know? You want sex. This solves that.”
I can’t help but laugh at her black and white view of the world. But she does have a point. “Okay, but I do this and you buy the three next rounds of drinks. But this time I want extra pineapple and grilled shrimp.”
“Ha! Deal.” Serenity bounces lightly on her lounge chair and gives a little clap. She grabs my phone, flips the camera app around, and snaps a pic.
“Wait, I wasn’t even ready.”
“Believe me. Any man sees you like this…”
She gestures to my two-piece beach attire and messy bedhead bun.
“...and you’ll have so many swipes right it’ll be like a candy store. All the lickable candy you can handle in one summer vacation.”
I’m actually enjoying the look of pure joy and determination pulling at my best friend's expression right now. She’s the only one who understands my unique situation. As the daughter of my father’s family attorney, she’s the only one with a view into my world. Freshly out of law school she’s under a lot of pressure to slip into her father’s shoes. Something I know all too well.
Mine has big hopes for me to do the same one day. But while Serenity’s path to success is legit and all above board, mine is not. If I take over the family business as the next head of Chicago’s criminal underworld, my father’s life choices could land me behind bars someday. Or dead. No matter how much my father tries to groom me, I’m not too anxious to take over just yet. If at all.
“Look Serenity.” I’m up on my feet ready to forget this whole idea of finding a date when my phone is shoved into my hands.
“Nope. I’ll signal for fresh drinks while you get to typing.”
Big green eyes meet mine.
“Before I do it for you. Come on. Come on. All you have to do is say it like it is. You know I’m living vicariously through you. Don’t let me down.”
I mean—what could it hurt? It was all local people on the hookup app and no one here knows me or the Kingston name. I reluctantly grab my phone and take a nerve-settling deep breath.
Say it like it is.Okay, I can do that. I set to thumbing out the first thing that comes to mind for my profile.
24-year-old female with too many daddy issues seeking hot daddy for dirty one-night fling.
Damn it. No, that won’t work. I furiously erase the words and try again.
