Frayed (23 page)

“How did you and Bass meet?” I questioned Bass and Taylor as we swam together.

Taylor shrugged as he tried to climb onto the big, mustard colored trampoline. “Boarding school in Switzerland. Our parents were actually friends back in Los Angeles for a few years until my mother remarried again and moved to Paris.”

“Over the years, we kept in touch. Taylor didn’t like Paris so I suggested he come back to LA. It worked great for both of us, I guess.” Bass added as he swam towards Taylor who was jumping on the trampoline like a little kid.

“Wanna join the little munchkins?” Emma asked smiling as she watched the two grown men jump up and down with entertained and child-like expressions.

“You go ahead, Doll; I want to jet ski with Lindsey and Dimitris.” Those two were splashing each other with water, showing off their mad skills. I hardly had any skills with the machine, but today was fun and I wanted to try new things.

Before we knew it, the three men had us riding behind them as the jet skis roamed playfully around the sea, making a loud ruckus while circling the large yacht.

Lindsey went loco, jumping from her jet ski to land in the sea. She swam towards where Emma was clinging onto Bass then strategically pulled the other woman’s leg, making her fall off and land in the water next to her. “Swim with the sharks, woman!” she laughingly teased her while Emma panicked and started to swim towards the yacht. “Dude, I was just joking! There are no sharks here!” She screamed at the still swimming blonde, but Emma wouldn’t have any of it. The rest of us joined the hilarious situation.

“She’s only joking! Come back and join us!” Bass interjected as he tried with all of his might not to bust out laughing, but Emma just sat on the edge of the boat’s footer.

Emma merely shrugged
, nonchalant
unamused
. “I’m good.”

Emma was scared of sharks, she couldn’t even stand watching shark week when it came on TV, so that joke was going to traumatize her for a while. Heck, it was funny, though.

Taylor carefully shifted himself so that he could sit the other way, facing me. “I have an idea. I was hoping you’d want to spend the next two days with me here.”

“Here,
here? Mykonos?
” I double checked, taking in how the tan he’d gotten over the last couple of days made his eyes stand out all the more. He looked utterly and decadently divine in my eyes.

“Yes, Emma and Bass need to get back to filming, but you and I are on vacation. I want to spend more time with you.” He then leaned over and kissed my sea-salted lips. 

Summer in Greece sure as hell was changing me. The hurt, the pain, the darkness and the ongoing battle of evil that lurked in the depths of me were all slowly diminishing. Whatever it was—the heat, sun, having fun—that was causing the change, I liked it. I felt lighter. Each day I woke up with less heartache to weigh me down, when it used to sink its claws into me and try to drown me with it. Now, I felt like I was floating, as if those shackles were actually attached to buoys now, instead of anchors, keeping me afloat. It all reminded me of my past sins and actions, but purposely drove me to look into the future.

The past had taught me, the present I could continue to learn from, and the future I could embrace. “Sure, why the heck not? I’m honored to be invited to spend the next few days with you.”

His eyes crinkled as he beamed at me. His hand tucked a wayward hair behind my ear. “Did anyone ever tell you that you’re easy to please? I love how little things make you happy.”

I hadn’t been easy to please before, but when I started dating a married man, I had learned that it was the little things I needed to be grateful for. “You’re an amazing guy, Taylor and I’m one lucky lady to be spending this summer with you.” Oh, I was bitchy at times, but that didn’t make me blind of the fantastic things when they occurred. I definitely noticed.

“I can be more than amazing. You have yet to find out.” The man kissed me, baring me—exposing me to him—slowly and deliberately. It reminded me of that expression “
kissed by the gods
” since it sure
as
hell
felt like I was being kissed by one.

***

The first day in Mykonos was practically spent indoors. When the next sunset rolled in, Taylor didn’t want us to spend another evening in bed ordering room service, so here we were, arms around each other, walking the cobbled streets of Mykonos as we figured out where we wanted to eat dinner. We weren’t in a hurry, we checked out each restaurant as we passed. When we spotted a nice, cozy, candlelit diner by the edge of the water, we both agreed to dine there.

The glassy surface of the Aegean Sea was still tonight, the full moon high; stars dotted the darkened skies, glittering the treasured island with bewitchery and magical allure. The heady essence of romance was everywhere. It caressed and enchanted me. I was moved and most definitely spell
-
bound. The man before me romanced me just as
much as our surroundings. I couldn’t help being a little amused watching as he was rather entertained with the candle in his hand, playing with it as he watched my face.

The intense, mossy depths of his eyes seared into me—touching me—sparking me alive and setting me on fire. “Do you know the candle highlights your beautiful face perfectly? Whichever angle I place it in, it shows off your contoured exquisiteness.”

Blushing really wasn’t my favorite thing to do, but tonight I was beet red. “
I’m not
—I’m pretty in a way, but not like Lindsey or Emma.”

“Why would you want to compare yourself to them? You’re your own kind of beauty. I see it, I appreciate it and I love experiencing it. Never underestimate yourself, my perfect little vixen.”

Taylor had the key to my head, and he sure was screwing with it. For the longest time, tonight, I was incandescently happy because he made me feel like the only woman in the world that mattered. Not only that, but I felt like the most beautiful woman. In Taylor’s eyes, I was, and that was enough.

We had just finished an excellent meal and were enjoying our wine as we waited for our dessert to arrive when Taylor asked me a significant question. “What are you thinking about? You’re in deep thought.”

“I’m not too sure you would want to know, actually.” My thoughts were kind of my kryptonite, sadly.

He studied me a moment, considering where this conversation could lead to, before carefully responding to me. “I do want to know, if you care to enlighten me.”

“I was thinking how different it is when you’re not seeing a married man.” I gave him a sad smile, before returning my gaze back to the sea. “Harry was married to my cousin. I was his mistress.”

Taylor’s eyes didn’t leave my face. I could see my words sinking in to that pretty face of his. When the waiter brought out our dessert, I graciously thanked him, but no words came out of Taylor’s mouth. “It’s true. Now, I’m not so pretty anymore, huh?” That was only the half of it. I could only imagine what he would think of me once he found out the other truth.

“That explains a lot of the bitterness, but not its entirety. It sure as hell explains a lot. With your cousin’s husband though, Trista? Isn’t that a—”

“
Bitchy move?
Yes, it was. Not that Becka wasn’t a bitch in her own right
,
but I didn’t care. I wanted to be with him. My stupidity sure ended up making me pay, though. Trust me, karma didn’t ask for an even exchange, but a full fucking refund. I’ve learned the hard way.” 

“I’m not really a fan of cheating, but I believe you when you tell me that you’ve learned from your experience. I hope that someday you are able to make wiser decisions. I understand that some things can’t be helped, but there are other things that we can prevent from happening. Sometimes being selfless is good for the soul,” Taylor said thoughtfully. Selfless, when it came to Harry, I was not.

For the rest of the night, Taylor didn’t bring up the subject of Harry and our affair. It seemed that the man was content with whatever information I had already shared. I appreciated that he gave me time to be comfortable sharing such shameful facts about my past with him instead of pushing for every last detail.

What I was truly grateful for was that he wasn’t repulsed by what I had said. He never once passed judgment about my reckless and frivolous actions. People and society aren’t as forgiving, but it pleased me to know that Taylor reserved his judgment, at least for now.

Chapter 20

Trista

A
fter a
week and a half
after
of
our arrival in Greece,
the main cast
s
of
the movie
our actor friends
were being interviewed. I couldn’t be any more excited about it. The other side of the island was transformed into a nice setting for the
Behind-The-Scenes
interview. Lindsey, Taylor and I were standing behind one of the screens that showed Emma, Bass and Dimitris with a beautiful lady named Jill, who was the interviewer. We all had headphones on as we watched the whole thing with a front row pass.

Jill started with the bright star of the film, of course. “Bass Cole, how are you doing today? I’m thinking the Greek sun is agreeing with you, huh? I’m pretty sure America will think so, too.” She was grinning like a lapdog at Bass, eyeing him like he was the most delicious treat in the world.

My eyes glanced at Emma, but she was calm and looked like she was enjoying herself.
Was she really?

Bass merely shrugged at that comment before he gave a little laugh. “I’m doing well, Jill. I concur, the Greek sun has been more than agreeable. It’s been fantastic, I love it here.”

Jill’s face lit-up as she looked at him through her lashes, a flirty look in her eyes. “
Blasphemous
is gaining a lot of publicity due to its content. What made you sign up for a movie that’s so different from your usual endeavors? I heard this movie’s very steamy and graphically raw. Is there any truth to that?”

Bass gave her a winning smile. “Graphically raw, I like that. Yeah, the movie is definitely raw and steamy. I’ve always wanted to make a movie with Martin and, after
reading the script, I knew this film was something I wanted to be in and that’s mainly because it
is
different from all the other ones I’ve made.  It’s more dramatic, allowing me the opportunity to show a wide range of emotion that you don’t see in my other films. You could just say that I gave my heart and soul to it, I suppose.”

“The way you described it makes me want to see the movie all the more. Do you two agree with what Bass said?” Jill directed her attention to Dimitris and Emma.

Dimitris chose to respond first. “The movie does need a lot of emotion, be it anger, passion, hate or love. I think this movie as a whole is about passion. I don’t think Martin could’ve done a better job than selecting Emma as the lead. This woman lights up on screen.” He directed his smiling face at Emma.

Emma was biting her lip, blushing and laughing. “It’s not that hard to light up.” She laughed again. “These men are great actors. I’m new to this, but both have been very generous to help out if I needed to make a certain scene better.”

Jill was laughing with her. “I can just imagine. You’ve these terribly good-looking men to share scenes with. Women all over the world would die to be in your spot. How did it feel kissing Bass and Dimitris for the first time? Was it awkward at all?”

Emma looked comfortable on screen. The question barely fazed her. “It was in the beginning, but after the first scene you’re like, ‘okay, here goes.’ Dimitris and I make fun of each other. He’d say something like, ‘I brushed my teeth twice, I’m ready.’”

Jill was now more than eager to pull out more juicy details. “Who kisses better? Bass or Dimitris? You have to give us an answer. We’re all dying to know.”

Emma bit her lip and took a sneak peek at the two men on both of her sides. “Dimitris is an amazing kisser. He’s very in control and sets the pace. Bass kisses like he’s consuming you whole. Both men are different. It’s hard to scale it that way.”