Flirting with Felicity (15 page)

Felicity looked up at him from under her long
eyelashes. Blake’s heart hammered at the vulnerability he saw in her eyes. A
vulnerability that touched him on a level he didn’t want to think about. He
wanted to wipe away the pain he saw in her eyes, wipe away her horrible
memories. And along with that need to protect her came an even stronger urge to
hold her to him, to revel in her scent, her softness, her warmth.

He hadn’t felt like this in so long. No, he corrected
himself, he’d never felt this way about a woman before. This wasn’t just lust,
like he’d tried to convince himself when they were in Seattle. He felt a bond
with her. It was like they were two parts that made up a whole. Which was
ridiculous. It had to be. He didn’t believe in such things, did he? At least he
hadn’t before he’d met her.

She made him want to believe. Made him long for things he’d
forced out of his life so many years ago to keep moving forward. What would it
be like to wake up next to someone he actually cared about in the morning, to
feel her warmth cocooned next to him, his hand on her flesh, hers in his hair?

He hadn’t allowed himself to think of such things while he
climbed his way to the top of his uncle’s empire—an empire that had started
with his grandfather. Because Vernon hadn’t married or had children, the
Bancroft legacy would have passed to his much-younger brother, Blake’s father,
had he lived. And Blake was there now, at the top. He could conquer just about
anyone and anything . . . except Felicity. Was that what drew him to her? The
fact that she was a challenge he had yet to master? Or was there something
more?

Something was different between them tonight—something had
changed since their time in Seattle. The sadness in her eyes had seemed to ease
since they’d arrived on the island. Was it the distance from all her
responsibilities that had finally allowed that to ease? Or did it have anything
to do with him? He studied her as his heartbeat thrummed in his chest, the beat
slowing then speeding up.

Beneath the silvery glow of the moon, her beauty struck him
anew. He’d thought her somewhat plain upon their first meeting. How wrong he’d
been. A breeze swept across the terrace and ruffled through her loose hair.
Strands fluttered across her face. She eased the renegade strands away from her
nose and mouth and tucked them behind her ear.

The innocent motion captured his focus. He took a moment to
savor the look of her right now—carefree and beautiful. A gift he wanted most
desperately to unwrap, to indulge himself in over and over again.

He’d offered her himself, and she had refused. She wanted
more than just a sexual partner. What was it she craved?
Love?
Did that
emotion even exist? Closing his eyes against the unfounded agony in his heart,
he stepped back, away from her and the odd pull she held over him this evening.

He shook off the unwelcome thoughts. “Come on. Let’s clear
the table and return the dishes to the kitchen, then I’ll walk you back to the
suite.”

After they returned to the suite, Blake led Felicity into the
lush bedroom with a king-size bed covered in a green tropical print. He shifted
his gaze away from the bed and back to Felicity who stood before him as still
as a statue.

To his surprise, she lifted her hand and ran her fingers down
his jaw. The warmth of her touch sent chills through him. He knew in that
moment that she wanted him to kiss her, and he knew what it cost him to hold
himself back.

He simply reached up and ran the pad of his thumb over her
lips. She barely bit back a moan. He shifted closer. She smelled so good, like
a single rose in a bouquet of exotic flowers.

The air between them was rife with tension, with mutual desire
and need. The force of it stole his breath and sent his heart thudding in his
chest. And just when he thought he wasn’t strong enough to walk away, he pulled
back.

He wanted her with a need that defied reason, and yet, he
knew that if they were ever to be together in that way, she had to be the one
to initiate it. If she wanted to kiss him, she would have to bring her lips to
his.

“Good night, Felicity,” he said as he turned toward the door.
It was the first time he’d ever denied himself something he wanted.

Outside the room, he closed the door, then leaned back
against the wood, fighting the raging need inside him. It was raw and vicious,
and it made him ache for things he had so rarely had in his life.

He had to put her out of his thoughts, or he would never be
able to sleep.

But even as he stood there, the loneliness of his life
settled around him. What was he fighting Felicity for—supreme dominance in his
field? Or were there other things worth fighting for—like people,
relationships, love?

With a groan he pushed away from the door. There was that
word again.
Love.
A useless word that made people do stupid things.

He had a hotel to win away from her. That’s what he needed to
focus on. She was the only thing standing between him and success.

Blake got up early, and while Felicity slept, he headed
for a meeting with the managers of his hotels on the island. He’d sent word to
them last night to meet him in the boardroom of the Mano Kea Hotel. He was the
first to arrive and helped himself to a cup of coffee Haku had supplied, along
with a light breakfast of exotic fruits and macadamia nut scones. He was about
to reach for a scone when a ruckus sounded at the door. He turned to see, not
his managers, but a member of his security team.

“Pardon the intrusion, sir,” Patrick, one of his security
guards said. Patrick shoved a young man with a shaved head and dark, assessing
eyes into a chair near the doorway. He kept one hand clamped on the man’s
shoulder while he held a camera with a large telescopic lens out to Blake. “I
thought you’d like to know I found this young man trying to climb the side of
the building near the balcony of your suite. This camera was around his neck.”

Blake accepted the camera, flicked it on, then reviewed the
digital photographs on the memory card. Images of Felicity and himself since
their arrival in Hawai‘i played across the screen. “You’ve been following us.
Why?”

The young man eyed him rebelliously. “It’s a free country.”

“And the rules of this great country you speak of still
apply. I can charge you with trespassing on private property, attempting to
break and enter, not to mention stalking.” Blake returned his hard stare. “And
unfortunately for you, the police chief of the island is a friend of mine.”

His features hardened. “You don’t scare me.”

“Oh, you’ll be scared when I’m done with you, if you don’t
start talking,” Blake said in an ominous tone.

The photographer glared at him. “You rich guys are all the
same. You think you can buy anything you want with money.”

“There’s more to me than money,” Blake said, pushing back his
sleeves to reveal his muscular forearms. He knew it was a scare tactic, but it
had worked for him at boarding school several times when threatened. “Now start
talking.”

Sudden fear replaced the rebelliousness in the photographer’s
eyes. “I was just doing what I was told.”

“Which was?” Blake questioned.

“To take pictures of you and your lady friend in . . .” he
hesitated.

Patrick tightened his grip on the young man’s shoulder. “Go
on.”

“In compromising situations,” he said in a pain-filled rush.

“Who’s paying you?” Blake asked.

“I don’t know her name.”

“Describe her,” Blake demanded, turning the camera over and
removing the memory card.

“Twenty-something. Red hair. Nice looking.”

Destiny.
Was she still trying to find a way to discredit Felicity? Blake removed, then
palmed the memory card and handed the camera back to the young man. “Patrick
here is going to escort you to the airport. You’re going to get on the next
plane out and never come back here again. Do you hear me?”

He clutched the camera to his chest and nodded.

“And when you make your way back to Destiny, please give her
a message from me.”

“What’s that?”

Blake tossed the memory card to the floor then stomped on it,
shattering the plastic into a hundred pieces. He scooped up a few of the chunks
and sprinkled them into the young man’s hand. “Tell her my answer is still no.”

When Blake turned away, Patrick lifted the man to his feet
and ushered him out the door.

Blake had no time for reflection or anything else as his five
managers he’d invited to meet with him entered the room. Refocusing his
thoughts, he greeted them individually and asked them to help themselves to
breakfast, so they could start the meeting. While he truly was looking forward
to hearing their updates on each of the hotels, he was far more interested in
the woman whose image had been displayed on the camera’s small screen.

Damn
you, Destiny
, Blake lamented once more, before giving himself
over to the business at hand.

Felicity had woken up at the sound of the door to
their suite closing. She slipped out of bed, then smiled. It was still early
enough that perhaps if she headed down to the hotel’s kitchen, she could ask
Haku if she could prepare a surprise light breakfast for her and Blake. On the
way to the kitchen, she heard Blake’s voice and followed the sound to a
boardroom at the back of the hotel. She peered into the room to see Blake and
two other men talking.

She knew she should announce herself, but as the conversation
between them became more heated, she back away from the door, then stood there,
unable to move away. She listened to Blake and a man she learned was his
security guard. The younger man must be a photographer who’d been caught trying
to take photos of her and Blake. When Destiny’s name was mentioned as the
instigator of the plans, anger sizzled along Felicity’s nerves. How dare
Destiny attempt to exploit her relationship with Blake?

What
relationship?
There was nothing between them but a few innocent
kisses. And despite Blake’s obvious displeasure over the photographer’s
actions, she didn’t know his true motives. He might have been acting merely out
of protectiveness. For men like him, protectiveness toward women was ingrained.
Wasn’t it?

If Blake sent this photographer away, like he claimed he
would, would that solve the problem? Or would there be others trying to capture
a private moment between the two of them that could be used against her? She’d
have to be careful during what remained of their time in Hawai‘i. She couldn’t
afford the gross publicity such pictures would bring as she struggled to
establish her foothold as owner of the Bancroft Hotel.

The hallway suddenly filled with noise and activity as three
men and two women headed for the room just as Blake’s security guard and the
young photographer stepped out. Felicity kept moving toward the kitchen, but
not before she heard Blake greet the five new arrivals in a cheerful voice.
From his greeting, she could only assume they were employees.

His words of praise toward them brought a smile to her lips.
Blake might pretend he was a hard-edged businessman, but in the last few days
she’d seen the rounded corners beneath.

She didn’t know much about him. But underneath his businessman
exterior, she could tell that he had a genuinely good heart. That fact
intrigued her more than it should, captivated her at times. And when she looked
at him, as she had only moments ago, her heart beat a little faster and the
strangest sensations settled deep in her core.

An hour later, Blake returned to their suite. They
shared the crab cake eggs Benedict with bacon and hollandaise sauce she’d gone
to the kitchen to create for them, before they started their first day of his
part of their arrangement. After a twenty-minute drive, they pulled up in front
of a dazzling white building that stretched across a white sand beach. Infinity
pools of cerulean blue flowed from one level to the next until they reached the
shoreline, making the hotel appear as though it was an extension of the sea
itself. Thoughts of Atlantis came to mind as Blake escorted her from the car
and into the lobby.

“The Leilani Hotel is the pride and joy of Bancroft
Industries. It has the lowest greenhouse-gas emissions of any hotel in the
world. It was built three years ago with sustainability in mind. We call her
our green pearl.”

“Why did we not stay here?” she asked the obvious question.

“Because I wanted more privacy,” he said, then frowned, his
thoughts no doubt going back to the photographer from this morning. “Come on.”
He offered her his hand. She slipped her fingers into his and allowed him to
lead her into the hotel.

The lobby was all white stone that was carved into rounded
angles with multiple stairways leading to the reception area. In the center of
the lobby was an oval-shaped pool of the deepest blue. Palm trees and exotic
tropical flowers limned the water’s edge, swaying softly as if moved by some
interior breeze. From high above her, white, foamy water tumbled downward,
splashing noisily in the pool’s glassy surface, sending ripples of waves from
edge to edge.

“The Leilani relies on solar and geothermal energy to power
all the buildings and to heat the pools. While she was being built, we were
able to recycle ninety-three percent of the construction waste generated.
Outside you might have noticed a colossal blue pipe.”

She shook her head. Her focus had been on the endless display
of pools. “What does the pipe do?”

“The apparatus pumps seawater that cools the hotel,” Blake
explained. “One of the biggest energy savers for us is our cooling system. The
hotel pumps salt water up through deep wells and then circulates it through two
three-hundred-sixty-ton chillers that provide air conditioning throughout the
buildings. Once warmed, that seawater is released through the waterfall, then
channeled back into the sea through the pools you saw out front. The mechanism
saves us an estimated thirty-six thousand dollars in electrical cost each year.
It also reduces the carbon dioxide released annually by more than three hundred
twenty-eight thousand pounds.”

Her head spinning with not only the technology used, but the
savings, she allowed Blake to lead her up an open stairway. He placed his hand
at the small of her back, guiding her along. His touch was warm and comforting
as he continued his tour of the exquisite hotel.

“We use only one-hundred-percent recycled paper products and
soy-based inks, but last year we diverted about one hundred and fifteen tons of
recyclable waste—that’s the equivalent of nearly three humpback whales—that
would have ended up in the garbage. That was about nineteen percent of the solid
waste generated by the hotel. The recyclable plastics and paper materials are
all separated and shipped back to the mainland for processing.”

Felicity stared in awe at the beauty of the place. Images of
luxury bombarded her as they walked through the meeting areas, ballrooms,
dining rooms, and finally into the guest spaces.

“We are part of a recycling program that allows us to donate
leftover toiletries to Clean the World, an organization that steams and
disinfects the items then ships them to developing countries to fight
hygiene-related illnesses. And we are experimenting with bulk containers
instead of single-use bottles in some of our hotels.”

Breathing a little faster at the extent of the hotel’s
efforts, Felicity grasped for perhaps one thing he hadn’t been able to do
anything about. “What about the unused toilet paper?”

He laughed. “We do have an endless supply of toilet paper,
but we divert that from the landfill by furnishing the employees’ locker rooms
and personal homes with hundreds of leftover tubeless rolls.”

She stared at Blake in breathless wonder. He really had
thought of everything. She followed him through several elaborately decorated
rooms. When they’d finished that part of the tour, Felicity could no longer
hold back asking what she wished to see most. “Will you take me to the kitchen?”

“I’m surprised you lasted this long before asking,” he said
with a smile. “This way.”

An elevator, backed with glass, descended into the open-style
lobby once more. They got out on the first floor and headed down a long hallway
that was decorated with tiled murals of island life. “It’s a beautiful hotel,
Blake,” she admitted with a tiny twist in her stomach. If he could renovate the
Bancroft Hotel with even a portion of what he’d showed her today, the hotel
would not only be more beautiful and energy conscious, but a better steward of
the environment. Felicity held back a groan. His attempt to sway her was
working.

She drew a tight breath and hoped her sudden distress didn’t
show on her face as they entered the kitchen. At the sight of the
state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, Felicity’s knees went a little weak. She
reached for the nearby counter, steadying herself while Blake proceeded to
discuss the top-of-the-line appliances, stainless steel prep areas, and storage
areas.