Sweet Seduction ✔︎

|14| 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆

Colorful bouquets of helium balloons rose from the redwood deck railing. More balloons floated from the numerous beribboned posts scattered around the backyard of Warren King’s vast estate.

The deck stretched out over a manicured lawn that swept down to a magnificent view of the valley. A few dozen people were busy laughing, talking, and playing lawn games. Music floated from a speaker system, and Warren presided over an elaborate grill smoking with the tantalizing smell of steaks and hamburgers.

Under any other circumstance, Freya would have been having a good time—except the party had been underway for well over an hour, and Gavin hadn’t shown up. Clearly, despite her impassioned plea, he wasn’t going to.

She tried to smother her disappointment, which unfortunately felt more vast and all-encompassing than it should have. Gavin was under siege with security issues, so it was no wonder he didn’t have time to attend a family barbeque. Even though it was Saturday, he’d probably been at the office all day or at the wedding villa going over all his checkpoints and whatnot.

Freya had no reason to feel as if his absence was some sort of message about the disparity of their lives—while he worked, she went to parties. He was responsible and grown-up, she was flaky and immature. He needed to spank her when she got sassy (okay, that one totally worked for her). But they could never sustain a long-term relationship. They were night and day, oil and water, fire and ice.

She wanted to tear up that message and throw it away.

She gazed at the crowd of people out on the lawn. Jupiter was engaged in a hula-hooping contest with a group of kids, and her sister Isabelle was playing croquet. Evan King, who had made a remarkable recovery from a heart surgery that had almost put an end to his and Isabelle’s budding relationship, was tossing a football with the twins Spencer and Carson. It was all so friendly and homey—exactly the kind of big family gathering that one would want.

And maybe Freya was just feeling morose and a bit lonely, but she was sharply aware of the energy crackling between the couples-in-love. Even though Isabelle and Evan were clear across the lawn from each other, an invisible thread seemed to bind them together, causing them both to glance up every so often and catch the other’s eye.

And Josh and Jupiter… well, the love and adoration between them was strong enough to be tangible. Freya had never seen her friend look so glowing and downright content, as if all the pieces of her life had finally fit together in the exact right way.

“Uh oh, I see a problem.”

She looked up from her place at one of the round tables lining the deck. Adam King, the third in line to the Candy King throne, was standing beside her and shaking his head in dismay.

“What problem?” she asked.

“Empty glass.” He picked up her glass and gave her a wink. “Lucky for you, I can solve that problem. What’re you drinking?”

“It was cherry sangria, but I don’t need another, thanks.”

His expression shifted into a frown, and he pulled out the chair beside her. “Looks like you need something to cheer you up,” he remarked. “Why so glum, chum?”

Freya smiled in spite of herself. She liked all the King brothers, but she had a particular affinity for Adam with his tanned, chiseled features, blue eyes, and sun-streaked blond hair that enhanced his easygoing personality. She’d always envied him a bit—he worked for Candy King as part of Evan King’s Cocoa Bean Team, visiting farms and plantations in South America and Africa to ensure fair trade and sustainable practices, but he also owned a travel company known for its adventurous trips from African safaris to hiking up a volcano.