The Romance Challenge, Complete Series Box Set: BBW Hot Alpha Billionaire Romance (13 page)

But she was shy. Even though we moved
together in bed like clockwork, I suspected she hadn't been with many lovers.
She seemed surprised that I showed her so much attention, that I wanted to give
her pleasure. Too many guys were takers in bed. They didn't get that, the more
you gave a woman, the more you received in return. Idiots.

Then she turned me down for dinner. I got
that she had family issues to deal with, and maybe I scared her off, jumping in
so quick to offer my assistance. But I had the resources, and it would make me
happy to use them to help her. Especially if it freed up her time for me. There
were other reasons she said no, reasons she wasn't sharing with me.

So I'd give her space. Give her time to do
what she needed.

Up to a point.

Sometime last night, or this morning, I'd
decided, I wanted more of Amber. Which shocked the hell out of me. The solid
wall of bricks I kept up wouldn't normally let me consider the possibility of a
relationship. Every time I started to get caught up with a woman, I pictured
Tanya, and those police photos I got ahold of, with her smashed-up car.

But after spending time with Amber, seeing
her strength and resolve, I knew she was different from Tanya. Much as I'd
loved my fiancé, she didn't have an inner core of strength. I saw that now,
didn't see it then. Tanya had issues. Shit, we all did. How we dealt with them
defined us. Tanya took what she believed was an easy path of escape, but turned
into a deadly road.

I learned my lesson from that relationship
and didn't let anyone come close to my heart, especially not an employee. My
money would not be the cause of another tragedy. I enjoyed women on a temporary
basis, didn't let anyone become serious. A perfect strategy.

Until now.

The minute I saw Amber, standing there in
her thin t-shirt with a picture of an upside- down cat, I knew she wouldn't be
a one-night stand. As soon as I breathed in her scent, the desire to claim her,
to make her mine, flooded my brain. It took all my willpower not to take her
against the wall right there.

But the look in her eyes stopped me. Made
me slow down, move easy. She'd been hurt, and I wouldn't add to her pain. I'd
show her how lovemaking should feel.

Amber was unlike anyone in my world. Way
the hell different from the women I casually dated. She didn't want to take my money
unless she earned it through hard work. Didn't expect life to be handed to her
on a shiny silver platter. She wouldn't be easily corrupted, wouldn't lose
herself or forget the important things in her life. And tough. Damn. That look
in her eyes when she got that message from the detective. She planned to throw
herself into the hunt, that was for sure. Whoever fucked with her sister didn't
realize what he got himself into.

I didn't know how a relationship with her would
progress, but I knew I had to begin. Had to make the move. It was time. I'd
never turned away from a challenge, never given up on something I really
wanted, and damned if I started now. After seeing Juan and Chris together, then
Mariana and Daniel, shit. All this work I'd done to accumulate properties and
build my business, what good was it without someone to share with?

An empty spot in my soul cried out for
attention. Amber coming into my life now was not a coincidence. I might get my
heart broken, again, but better than living a pathetic half-life. Fate? I made
my own fate. Lady Luck came to those who worked for it, who weren't afraid to
take chances.

CHAPTER NINE

Music would be good at our meet and greet.
I went to find Elena, the housekeeping supervisor. We'd met only once, so this would
be a good opportunity for me to spend time with her. She shared an office with
the other managers and as I looked around the small space, I made a few notes
for improvement. The carpet smelled musty, and the walls needed a fresh coat of
paint. New desks would help perk up the environment. When a workplace looked
good, workers felt better, I'd learned.

"We don't have an official sound system,"
Elena told me. "Mostly, our guests are tourists and vacationing families.
Business people don't book here often and the wedding parties hire their own
DJs."

Another note, for a possible source of
revenue to explore. Why not expand to include more business meetings and
conferences? Bay Paradise Resort wasn't huge, but it could accommodate a
good-size group, especially on weekdays when vacation bookings were lower.

"My son, he's got a portable stereo system
he never uses, with good speakers. Not real loud, but you can hear it okay in a
smallish room. He's got a spare MP3 player too, I'm pretty sure. I'll get him
to bring that in tonight when he comes to work. I'll tell him to make up a list
of party songs. Not some of that trash he listens to. You make sure the stereo
is safe each night, okay?"

I assured her I would lock the Reef room
and thanked her. We went over a few more details about the set-up, then I was
off to talk to the executive chef and restaurant manager, Ian. Though he wouldn't
be making the food, he would supervise the caterer and handle any problems that
came up. He shared this office also but spent most of his time in the café. He
answered my questions politely but seemed stressed and overworked and I had to
agree again, leasing out the restaurant would be best.

If he was let go, Ian would find work, no
fear of that. From what I'd seen in the local newspaper, a good chef could
easily get a job anywhere. Or, Ian's position might be modified. I knew Nathan
wanted to keep the good employees around.

Nathan. Damn, I'd gone a whole hour barely
thinking about the man. And I didn't want to start now. I absolutely didn't
want to remember that look in his eyes, like a hungry animal, when he told me
he wanted dessert with me. Or that predatory smile when he told me he'd get
what he wanted. I'd hurt his feelings, pissed him off too, turning him down for
dinner, but once I'd told him no, told him I wanted to keep our relationship
professional, I knew I'd done the right thing.

At least my Bratty Inner Child was happy. Starting
a thing with Nathan, setting myself up for pain, not safe. Not at all. It would
only turn out badly. As intense and beautiful as our night had been, it couldn't
continue. I'd have that one memory to treasure and had to hope Nathan would let
it go.

He would, once he realized what I already knew.
We were from two different worlds, ones that didn't belong together. We got along
great in our roles as boss and assistant, and shouldn't expect any more than
that.

Pushing down a knot of ridiculous pain
that wanted to take over my heart, I set out to find Chris. I had to get to a
store for a suggestion box. I sent her a text, asking her if there was a place
to buy party supplies, and she responded at once with a phone call.

"Hey there! Are we having a
party?"

"Kind of. We're going to put on an
informal meet and greet, for all the employees to visit with me and Nathan. I
need to make a box for comment slips to go into."

"Oh, I know what we can use. I just
got a delivery with a cardboard box, perfect size. We'll buy wrapping paper and
fix it up pretty. I can make it, if you want, and bring it over."

"You're not at the hotel today?"

"I don't have any regular shifts
today. I'm on call for driver."

I looked out the window at sunshine and
blue skies. I could still see Nathan's gaze and worse, that half-grin, directed
at me, turning my insides all melty. Could almost feel his fingers trailing
along my skin, bringing up goosebumps, making me want to run to him. Tell him I
changed my mind. Take him back to my bed and wrap up in his arms.

"I want to get out for a while. How about
you pick me up, we'll go to the store, and I'll buy you an ice cream. So,
is
there a place that sells party supplies on the island? I want to get streamers,
balloons, some decorations."

"Oh no, we'll go to the dollar store.
They've got all that stuff. When do you want me to come by?"

"The sooner the better."

"Okay, give me an hour and a half.
And hey, I'm going to skip the hat and bow tie today, all right? And drive my car
and not the Rolls?"

"No problem."

I printed out the list of employees and
their work schedule for the weekend. I wanted to make sure we were in the Reef
room to catch everyone. I came up with times that Nathan and I would be
available to meet and greet, emailed it to him and put together a cute flyer
for the employees, requesting their presence.

Then, I designed slips for the
suggestions, printed out twenty pages, and was cutting them into strips when
Chris texted me she was out front. Happy to have avoided Nathan for the
afternoon, I climbed into her car and off we went.

"I hope I'm not taking you away from
your school work."

"Are you kidding? I'm so tired of
reading, my eyeballs are about to pop out. I'm glad you called; I need a break.
Sounds like you do too, huh?"

"Maybe a little. I'm having a good
time, getting a lot done, but it's nice to get outside on a gorgeous day. I'll
bet it's hard to work sometimes, with the weather like this."

"It sure is, but that's the goal.
Work hard now, have time and money to play later. And we get enough playtime.
Me and Juan…" she clamped a hand over her mouth.

I laughed. "Tell me about you and
Juan."

"Man, I don't want to get him in
trouble."

"Nathan doesn't care, really, and I
sure don't. How long have you been dating?"

"Almost a year now. I'm so sorry about
that, you catching us all naked. I hope you didn't need to bleach your eyeballs
or anything."

"No, don't be silly. It was
cute." And stimulating, for Nathan, apparently. I kept that to myself.

"We're both so freakin' busy, with
classes and work. He's going to school to be a software engineer. The guy is a
genius. He lives with his family on the mainland, and I've got these roommates
in and out making noise. We can't ever get privacy. We're not always sneaking
around screwing like rabbits, honest. Last night, we hadn't seen each other for
a while, we thought we were pretty well hidden."

"Really, it's no big deal. Tell me,
isn't it awkward working together sometimes? And aren't you afraid of what
might happen if you break up and still have to work with him?"

"We thought about all that, believe
me. We were friends first, before we dated, so we knew everything about each
other. Well, not everything. We're still finding out stuff, and it's fun."
She flashed me a grin. "We swore, standing in the water under a new moon,
if shit didn't work out, we'd still be friends. We'd break up before we hated
each other. But we had to take that chance, you know? There was something
here," she patted her ample chest over her heart, "that told me, he
was the one. I had to go for it."

I sighed. Louder than I meant to.

"You still thinking about doing
Nathan?"

Don't blush, don't blush.

"Hot damn!" She pounded the
steering wheel. "You already
did
Nathan. I knew you looked happy
and well-fucked this morning."

What was with these women, picking up on
my sex life? I'd have to be super careful if I ever wanted to sneak around and
have an honest-to-goodness affair.

"Don't you dare say one word to
anyone. It happened, once, and it won't happen again."

"Oh, come on. Why not?"

"Because he's my boss and didn't we just
have this talk earlier? Sex is sex. A one-night stand doesn't make a
relationship. He was in the mood, so was I, we scratched an itch. That's all."

I couldn't tell her that Nathan wanted me.
Said he wanted me. She'd tell me to go for it. After her success with a guy she
loved, of course that would be her suggestion. But Nathan and I were different
than her and Juan. Nathan was so far out of my league, but she and Juan were a
perfect fit. And I didn't want to make that comparison because I was afraid it would
come out sounding mean.

"Listen, you think guys like Nathan
don't want women like us. And maybe you're right. I don't know the dude. But
I'm telling you, love is wacky. You never know who will steal your heart. If
the guy's interested, at least give him a chance."

"Hey, can we stop at that drugstore
first? I need more of my body lotion. Pretty sure the dollar store doesn't
carry that brand." Time to move the conversation away from the topic of love
and relationships. And far away from Nathan.

We took our time, goofing around in the
drugstore, then the dollar store. I got votive battery-operated candles and
holders, balloons, and a bag of confetti. Most people probably wouldn't sit
long at our little get-together, since they'd be going to their shift, or on
lunch break, or leaving. Nathan worded an invitation to say he would very much like
everyone to stop by for a few minutes. And he'd also told them, they each would
receive an envelope with a raffle ticket, and the prize was a hundred dollars.
Now
that
would draw them for sure if free food and drinks didn't do it.

I still needed to label and stuff those
envelopes today, and decorate the Reef room, so we stopped at the grocery store
where we bought cases of soda and water, then headed back to the resort. Chris
stuck around for a while and we made the suggestion box. She helped me decorate,
avoiding her homework just a bit longer, before she had to leave. Elena's son
delivered the stereo and MP3 player, with a playlist of upbeat, non-trashy
tunes. I'd grabbed frozen dinners and a few more munchies from the grocery
store, so I finished up and headed back to my suite. The weekend would be long,
with more crazy hours, and I still wasn't caught up on my sleep, so I got to
bed early.

Of course, as soon as I lay down,
everything that happened the night before came crashing into my mind. Tomorrow,
I'd have that statue in my hands. What it would tell me, I didn't know, but it would
force me to take the next step. Get the list Chuck Taylor promised to send and
hire a PI with my bonus money from this job.

If I made it to the end of this job. I told
Nathan no and I suspected he didn't hear that too often. He seemed to take my
refusal like a mature adult. So far. And it wasn't easy for me to turn him down.
But I had to. I couldn't let him in my life now, with so much else going on.
Couldn't let myself get distracted, or my heart broken, like I knew would
happen if I spent time with him.

Wouldn't. No matter how much my body
longed to hold him again.

Would. Not.

Friday

Another beautiful day in paradise. I was
getting used to waking to this view and even got up twenty minutes early on
Friday so I could enjoy a cup of coffee and sit outside to gaze at the water. I'd
do this every day, if I lived here.

We scheduled our meet and greet to begin
at noon, and I still had a few things to do. The caterer would deliver food
starting at eleven-thirty and refresh it as needed. Housekeeping would bring
coolers of ice and I'd put cans of soda and water bottles in those. The
suggestion box turned out great, and the balloons, streamers and the confetti
we'd spread around on the tables gave the place a festive feel. I suspected
most people would come in, grab their raffle ticket and food, say hello to me and
Nathan, then take off.

Which was okay. People had little time to
socialize, and I figured they'd be hesitant to talk to their new management
company, anyway. Along with the raffle ticket, Nathan had come up with a "welcome
to Cameron Industries" letter I'd also stuffed in the envelopes. If
nothing else, our efforts would show the employees, Cameron wanted to get to know
them and to make improvements.

When I arrived at the Reef room I saw
Nathan already there, his phone to his ear, pacing. I watched him, my heart
speeding up a notch. Damn it, I wish he didn't affect me this way. He moved so
smooth, so sure, like a leopard prowling his territory. I wanted to hurry to
him, to watch his eyes light up and feel his arms wrap around me. Instead, I
observed him for a minute, waiting for my heart rate to return to normal. How would
he greet me? I'd pissed him off the last time we were together. Would he hold a
grudge? Give me some attitude?

 Having worked with him for this long, I knew
better. He wouldn't act like that; he'd keep his cool. No matter what his personal
feelings, the job came first. This was a business project, one he wanted to
succeed.

I shifted my sparkly notebook to my other
arm. Maybe I should get my laptop. I'd appear more professional. And my hair. I
should put it up on my head, get rid of the ponytail. Wearing this uniform made
me feel casual enough. I could take steps to appear more professional, set the
tone for the day.