Seven Nights (16 page)

“I’m a little sore, that’s all.” Sean clicked on his email icon and got an error message. “Fuck.”

“Sore, eh? I wonder what that could be from? Hmmm.” Will placed a finger on his lower lip and tilted his head to the side. Sean glared at him.

“Enough smart ass. I just got too much exercise,” he snapped as he commanded the computer to restart and waited for the data to reload.

“I see.” Will stood up and stretched before he strolled over to the file cabinet and began flipping through the hanging files. “Do you think your exercise regime is going to require closing the mezzanine level pool again?”

“I never exercise in the same place twice.” Sean glared at his best friend, but then he sighed heavily. “Look, I realize having Leah here is interfering with business, but-”

“She’s important to you.” Will nodded. “I know that. But I also know you worked your ass off to build this place. The last thing you want is for it all to fall apart. I have to tell you, man, we’re in some real trouble here. If the rumors are true and The Alexander Midler Corporation
is
pulling its backing, this resort is going to struggle. All the expansion on the North side of the island will have to be postponed. I guess that wouldn’t be so bad in itself, but several travel magazines have already done write-ups on the new features ‘coming soon’. Other investors could see the halt as a weakness and we could lose even more money and support. It’s a vicious cycle.”

Sean rubbed his eyes. He knew the consequences if Midler pulled out, but hearing them out loud made them even more real. The pressure made him snap.

“I get that, Will. God damn it, that’s why I came straight up here last night after I walked Leah back to her villa. It’s why I canceled my plans to spend the day with her, even though I don’t have much time left before she returns to the mainland. I take this business seriously.”

Will stared at him in shocked silence. “I’m not suggesting anything different. I know you’re working just as hard, if not harder, than anyone else.”

“Have you had any luck reaching Midler?” Sean asked as he tried to shake off his grumpy mood. It wasn’t right to take out his frustrations on Will. Business or personal.

“Not yet.” His friend sighed. “Sean, I think he’s avoiding my calls.”

Sean shut his eyes and released his breath in a whoosh. “Damn. So it really may be true. For some reason, Midler doesn’t want to do business with us anymore. What the hell are we going to do?”

There was a long pause as Will shut the file cabinet and sank back into his chair. For a moment, his friend’s age showed in his eyes and that vulnerability scared Sean. His partner was the face of the island because he was always able to hide his emotions, to present a calm and collected front. It took a lot to shake him like he was now.

“I really don’t know.” Will sighed. “I’ll call some other contacts, but no one we know has the kind of liquid capital Midler does. Not in this economy.”

Sean wrinkled his brow. “Do you want me to make some of those calls? You look just as tired as I am.”

“Thanks, but no.” Will shook his head and suddenly the worried expression was gone, replaced by the façade he usually showed to the world. “I’m the figure head of this island. I made the contacts, I ought to be the one following up. Anything different might give off the impression that we’re desperate.”

Sean shrugged one shoulder slightly.

Will smiled. “Yeah, I know, we
are
desperate. But if you could finish up with those financials, that would be a big help for me.”

“Yup, almost done.” Sean turned back to his computer with renewed focus.

“After you’re done with that…” Will paused and his hesitation made Sean look up. His friend was looking at him with a smile. “Why do you go spend some time with Leah? These last few days mean so much to you.”

Sean locked eyes with his partner. “No, man. Look, I’m sorry I was being such an ass. I’ll have dinner with Leah later. If I have to put off my ‘fantasy’ for tonight, I’m sure she’ll come to grips with it. I could arrange for a beauty treatment for her or something.”

Will didn’t answer, but Sean felt his pointed stare even though his face was now hidden behind his computer monitor.

“I don’t think Leah wants a beauty treatment.”

Sean’s face fell along with his attitude. “Yeah, I know.”

“So, how are things going with the lovely Leah aside from this unwanted interruption?”

Sean paused, then continued putting numbers into the spreadsheet in front of him.

“Actually, things are going very well.”

He couldn’t help but think about the night before. And not just about the fantastic sex, but the conversation they’d shared. The love he’d felt for her when she’d lain in his arms as if she’d never left him. It had been a glimpse of heaven, of what could have been.

“Better than I expected,” he murmured.

“How are you going to handle her leaving the island?” his friend asked.

Sean’s fingers slipped on the keyboard, sending a jumble of numbers and letters onto the screen in front of him. Pursing his lips, he started deleting the gobbledygook.

“I knew this reunion was only going to last for a week when I planned it.”

Yeah, he’d known that. But imagining the scenario in his head and experiencing it in real time were two entirely different things. Every night he tossed and turned in his bed thinking about the moment Leah would leave and he’d only have memories to keep him company.

“Have you talked to her about staying longer?” Will asked quietly.

Sean started. He’d considered doing that several times, but never said anything. He wanted Leah to stay because she wanted him. He didn’t want to have to beg.

“I’m the one who put everything on the line.”

He stood up and paced to the window to look down at the pool below. About a dozen guests were scattered around the pool deck, sipping tropical drinks while they chatted. Some bobbed in the pool, enjoying the cool water, but not really doing anything useful.

Except one. Leah was in the lap lane, going back and forth from one end of the pool to the other. He could see her focus, almost feel her lean muscles work as she pushed herself, stroke after stroke.

“I got her down here and put my heart out for her to see,” he continued as he fought the desire that was a constant distraction every time he looked at Leah, even from a distance. “If anyone should bring up the future, it should be her.”

“Wow.”

Sean turned to find that Will had gotten up from his desk and come around to Sean’s. He leaned on the edge with folded arms and a bemused expression.

“Wow what?” Sean asked with a glare. He didn’t like the knowing gleam in his friend’s eyes.

“You were a virtually penniless and inexperienced kid when you stormed into my office and demanded I hear your proposal for opening a resort island. You had no fear when we made our plans, when we put out an obscene amount of money we certainly didn’t have. Even when we stole talent from some of the most famous resorts in the world. In fact, I’ve never seen you afraid in all the years we’ve been friends and partners.” He raised both his eyebrows. “Until right now.”

“What?” Sean snorted his derision even as the truth of his friend’s words crashed into him like one of the powerful ocean waves that pounded against his island’s shore. “Afraid? Are you crazy?”

“No.”

“Well, then you’re just being obnoxious.”

Sean spun back to the window just in time to see Leah coming up out of the water like some spy girl in a Bond movie. His entire body clenched with need. Need that turned to a stab of jealousy when he caught no less than four other guys staring at her as she wrapped a towel around her waist. Their blasted eyes followed her until she took a seat in the shade and was hidden by an umbrella.

Will snapped his fingers to get his attention and Sean reluctantly turned back. “What? Aren’t you done with these ridiculous accusations yet?”

“Not quite.” Will’s smile fell. “I’ve known you a long time. You’re scared to ask her for more than just this week because you’re afraid she’ll say no. You’re afraid you’re going to relive whatever happened when she left you all those years ago.”

Sean refused to either meet his friend’s eyes or answer. Mainly because he couldn’t refute the charge. When Leah left all those years ago, it had broken him. He never wanted to feel like that again.

Will continued, “You invited her down here and you said it was because you wanted to show her how far you’ve come. You said you wanted to remind her of what she’d lost. In reality, you hoped she’d fall back in love with you. But the thing is, I don’t think you knew what you’d do if she did. And I don’t think you planned for what would happen when you realized just how in love with her you still are.”

Sean winced. There was no use denying it. “Is it that obvious?”

Will shrugged. “To me, yeah. But I think Leah shares your blind spot. She’s scared out of her mind by this, too.”

“So what the hell do I do?” Sean flopped back into his desk chair. “Because I don’t want her to go. I never want to lose her again.”

Will rolled his eyes. “What about talking about what went wrong in the first place? Have you two ever discussed your break-up? Maybe if you confronted those issues you’ve both been running from for so long you might have a better handle on what the future could bring.”

Sean shrugged. “I didn’t want to ruin this week by talking about unpleasant things in the past. This time together is supposed to be special. It’s supposed to be perfect.”

“If you don’t talk about it now, you may find yourself reminiscing about the perfect week when you lost the woman you love for a second time.” Will pushed off the desk and went back to his own. “I just hate to see you throw away something that you’ve wanted and needed for so long. It’s not like you. That’s all I’ll say about it.”

Sean’s head reeled as he returned his focus to the financial reports that still waited for him on his computer screen. With a sigh, he went back to entering numbers into the long columns.

“Hey Sean?”

“Yeah?” He didn’t stop working.

“Um, what did you decide?”

Sean laughed as he looked up to find Will staring at him with a crocked grin. “I ought to be able to finish all these financials in a couple of hours if I work my ass off. Then I have to talk to Leah. Fantasy is great, but I want the reality. No matter what.”

***

Leah picked up a shell and tossed it toward the ocean. She hardly even noticed as it bounced perfectly across the waves toward the sunset.

“Nice shot!”

She started at the sound of Sean’s voice coming from the short set of wooden stairs behind her. She turned in time to see him coming down toward her, hands in the pockets of a pair of worn denim shorts. His navy blue t-shirt matched perfectly and he was endearing without any shoes or socks.

“Thanks,” she muttered as she turned away from the kiss he tried to bestow upon her. He hit her cheek instead, but a shot of heat worked through her nonetheless.

“You okay?” He wrinkled his brow as she walked down the sand away from him and the undeniable desire he aroused in her.

“I’m fine.”

She tossed the lie over her shoulder casually, but of course, she was just about as far from ‘fine’ as she could get.

Although she knew Sean’s business was important to him, in fact she didn’t begrudge him that at all, it frightened her that he could so easily dismiss her to take care of it. What frightened her even more was that when she’d tried to offer her assistance, he’d flat-out refused her help.

Just like before.

That statement, ‘just like before’, had been haunting her all morning. It had started playing like a mantra through her head the moment she’d awoken to find Sean’s message that he couldn’t meet with her as planned. Now it echoed in her brain, taunting her, making her realize things hadn’t changed as much as she’d hoped. And maybe they never would.

“You aren’t fine.” He crossed his arms. “I know you too well to fall for that lie.”

Leah folded her own arms and cocked an eyebrow. “Do you really know me, Sean? Do we really know each other anymore? Or is that just a part of the fantasy you’ve created, too?”

His face constricted like she’d slapped him. Immediately, she wished she could take the harsh words back, that she could erase the lines of hurt that darkened his face.

“I think I know what this is about,” he finally said quietly as he took a few steps in her direction. Leah wanted to move away from him, from the hurt she knew he would eventually cause, but she couldn’t.

“You do?”

He nodded as he caught her arm to pull her closer. His body heat warmed her, confused her. Made her want even though she knew wanting would only bring her pain.

“You’re leaving in a few days. You want to push me away so that it won’t hurt so much when you go,” he said softly. “It would be easier for you if we were on bad terms when you went, right?”

She considered his accusation. “I suppose that’s part of it. But not all.”

“What else is it?”

“It’s hard for me to give myself completely to this fantasy you want me to surrender to. After all, it isn’t as if I haven’t lived a fantasy with you before. In the end, we broke up and it was so hard for me to get over you.”