The Power Trip

She was tempted to tell him exactly what she was pissed about. Excuse me, Mister big fucking movie star. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you just about getting ready to dump my ass? So why shouldn’t I be pissed off?

‘It was a long journey,’ she said, deciding that backing down was probably the best way to go. ‘And yes, Cliff, this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Thanks so much for including me.’

‘That’s better,’ Cliff said, satisfied.

And before she knew it, he was unzipping, readying himself for the inevitable blow-job.

* * *

Guy personally escorted Senator Hammond and his wife to their stateroom.

Hammond glanced around and said, ‘This’ll do.’

‘Is there anything at all I can get for you, Senator?’ Guy asked. He was impressed with Sierra Patterson. She was quite lovely, even more so than the photos of her he’d seen in magazines and newspapers.

‘A bottle of Grey Goose vodka would be very welcome,’ Hammond said, winking at Sierra. ‘Right, darling?’

Sierra summoned a weak smile. She was in shock. Total shock. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined she would run into Flynn again.

Yet here he was. Flynn Hudson. The love of her life.

It was all too much.

* * *

15 years earlier

Sierra would never forget the first time she saw Flynn. It was at a party, and he came racing over to rescue her from the man who would one day in the far-off future become her husband.

What a joke! What a travesty! Marriage to Hammond should have never happened.

But it had. Unfortunately.

She remembered getting a quick look at Flynn on his rescue mission. Tall, with longish hair and the most incredible steely blue eyes. She’d run off yelling they were both drunken assholes, and then she hadn’t stopped talking about him to her girlfriends. ‘Who is he?’ she’d wanted to know.

‘Give us a clue,’ they’d all replied. ‘We don’t know who you’re carrying on about.’

She’d shrugged, she had no idea who he was or where she could track him down. Until a few weeks later, she’d been sitting in Hamburger Hamlet in Westwood, when she’d spotted him through the window.

‘Quick!’ she’d shouted at her friend. ‘It’s him! Do something!’

They hurriedly made it outside and tried to appear casual.

The good news was that her friend knew him.

The bad news was that he had a girl clinging to him like a magnet.

But they exchanged names, discovered they both attended UCLA, and Sierra knew it was the start of something special.

Flynn Hudson was her future. There was no doubt about it.

Chapter Forty

Lying out by the pool, located on the middle deck, Bianca and Luca indulged in a major gossip-fest as the sleek yacht navigated the shimmering blue waters of the Sea of Cortez.

‘What do you think of the group we’ve gathered?’ Bianca asked, sunning herself in a barely there Brazilian bikini, her dark skin gleaming in the sunlight.

‘It’s some crazy mix,’ Luca observed.

‘Isn’t it just,’ Bianca agreed, stretching one leg above her head. ‘I only know half the people.’

‘That’s more than I do. And stop flashing.’

Bianca lowered her leg and grinned. ‘Anyway, all I can say is thank God you’re here.’

‘Who’s the tall guy with the two-day stubble?’ Luca asked, reaching for the bronzing oil.

‘Oh, you must mean Aleksandr’s writer friend, Flynn. Sexy, isn’t he? I just met him for the first time.’

‘There’s something kinda cool an’ yet major hot about him,’ Luca observed, rubbing oil on his legs.

‘Hmm,’ Bianca murmured knowingly. ‘Could be you fancy him?’

‘Maybe,’ Luca said, with a wide grin. ‘Don’t you?’

‘I think just about everyone does,’ Bianca said. ‘Only we may as well forget it, ’cause according to Aleksandr he’s major straight. And anyway he’s with that pretty little Asian piece.’

‘Ah,’ Luca said knowingly. ‘Men are like spaghetti, they’re all straight until they hit hot water.’

‘Luca!’ Bianca exclaimed, giggling. ‘I thought you were happily joined at the ass with Jeromy?’

Luca shrugged. ‘I can look, can’t I?’ he said, handing her the oil and turning onto his front.

‘Is that what you’re doing?’ Bianca said, amused.

‘You can bet that Jeromy does more than look.’

‘Really?’ Bianca said, obligingly smoothing the sticky oil all over Luca’s bronzed back.

‘Yeah, really. He thinks I don’t have any idea about what he gets up to, but I know everything.’

‘Yes?’

‘Hey, it’s not as if I care,’ Luca said casually. ‘Do you see me as the jealous type?’

‘I’m jealous as shit,’ Bianca said, rolling her eyes. ‘If I caught Aleksandr screwing around I’d cut off his balls and bounce them from here to Moscow.’

‘You’re such a girl,’ Luca teased.

‘Guilty as charged,’ Bianca said, putting down the bottle of oil and wiping her hands on a towel.

‘So this is what true love is like in all its glory?’ Luca said, still lying on his stomach.

‘I suppose you could say that.’

‘Ah,’ Luca observed. ‘The girl who’d do anyone has finally found the one.’

‘Yep,’ Bianca said, nodding vigorously. ‘Aleksandr is it for me. He’s so sexy, and he treats me like a queen.’

‘Darling,’ Luca objected, ‘I’m the queen, you’re just a girl in lust.’

‘Love,’ Bianca corrected briskly. ‘True fuckin’ love.’

‘Okay, okay, but trust me — I know you. You’ll get bored eventually.’

‘No, I won’t.’

‘Yes, you will.’

‘Don’t be such a Debbie downer.’

‘If you’re giving me a girl’s name, make it Lucia.’

‘Oh my God!’ Bianca exclaimed, once more rolling her eyes. ‘You’re too much!’

Luca sat up, picked up his drink and took a sip. ‘Hey — remember when you and I nearly—’

‘Don’t remind me!’ Bianca squealed. ‘Shades of you couldn’t get it up, and I was totally insulted.’

‘Yeah, but then later we became best friends.’

‘After I discovered you were gay.’

‘For your information, the reason I couldn’t get it up was ’cause I had a hard-on for one of Suga’s back-up dancers,’ Luca confessed. ‘He was that black dude with the amazing abs.’

‘Had him,’ Bianca said matter-of-factly. ‘All abs and no cock.’

They both fell about laughing.