by Alice Gaines
“Savvy,” she announced. “On a pirate island off the coast of South Carolina.”
Just then, the door in the back of the room opened, and a man stepped in. If her knees had been shaky before, they almost buckled now. Adam Morrow glanced at her briefly and then walked down the center aisle in her direction.
Holy crap, this was not happening. He’d come to finalize his plan with Vivian to take her down. And he was going to do it in front of the stockholders, some of them her father’s friends. Not satisfied he’d broken her heart—twice—he now was going to take the very last thing she could call her own away from her. Her company, her name, the last gift she’d have from her father.
How could he hate her enough to do that? She’d given him her body, her heart, and even a piece of her soul. And now, he’d even rob her of that.
She clutched the podium, willing herself to stand upright and not crumple to the floor in front of the people she had to convince to put their confidence in her. What a laugh. She didn’t belong here. She wasn’t up to this job, and Adam had come here to prove that.
What would she do if he came right up to her? Call security? Maybe just faint dead away. He had to be a stockholder to get into the meeting, so she couldn’t kick him out unless he started a disruption. He didn’t, though. He simply took a seat toward the middle of the room. A tiny voice in her mind pointed out that he hadn’t joined Vivian.
A throat cleared nearby. It was Peter, reminding her to get on with her presentation. How could she with Adam looking on? He’d been to some of these places with her. They’d had sex in some of them. She had to take a few breaths before she could find her voice.
She’d have to do this on autopilot. She’d rehearsed her spiel dozens of times in case anything catastrophic came up. She glanced down at the script she’d memorized so she wouldn’t have to shuffle papers, got her bearings, and proceeded through the rest of the presentation.
Her own voice seemed to come from the PA system, not her mouth, as she showed off the safety features—all the precautions she’d taken to protect the guests in the event of a hurricane. They got no reaction whatsoever from the crowd—another failure to impress them. Could this get any worse?
So, she switched to the food. The mention of her head chef’s name got a few “ah”s, as did the slides of some of the food. The pools—indoor and outdoor—had the audience sitting up in their seats a bit straighter. Some even craned their heads for a better view. The rooms seemed to go over well, especially the suite with a panoramic view of the ocean.
She got through it all, her voice steady for the most part, by keeping her gaze away from where Adam sat. And there was no way she could look at Vivian. No matter what, she’d done a good job of presenting Savvy to her shareholders. Now, she just had to count on them giving her a chance to let it fly.
At the end, she received some applause. It wasn’t exactly raucous, but it was respectable. When she glanced at Peter, he gave her an encouraging smile. Maybe all wasn’t lost after all.
That was, until Adam got up and approached the audience microphone. He even took it from its stand and turned to address the crowd. Here it came. The ultimate betrayal. He was really going to do this. Kill the only thing that mattered to her, the only thing she had left. During her presentation, she might have harbored a bit of hope he’d sit quietly and not go for her jugular. Now, he crushed even that. She wavered, leaning into the podium, before she could catch herself. Peter started to rise, but she warned him off with a tiny shake of her head. This was her execution, and she’d take it without a blindfold.
“I think you all know me,” Adam said. “I’m Adam Morrow of Morrow Properties, and it turns out I’m also a shareholder in Westmore Hotels…with a rather large minority of the holdings.”
He appeared totally at ease, the consummate businessman, as if the love they’d professed hadn’t existed. Their time together had meant nothing to him, and he was going to ruin her company. And if she called security, she’d create a scene and destroy what little success she’d managed to pull from this disaster.
“I have to say Ms. Westmore is an intelligent and competent woman, but she isn’t the showman her father was,” Adam continued.
Nicole stood there. Nothing in the world she could do would stop him. She had to remain calm while he took her world apart. So she gritted her teeth and did exactly that.
“You see, I’ve visited Savvy,” Adam said. “And I can tell you this presentation doesn’t do it justice.”
He paused for a moment, apparently for effect. “In my not-so-humble opinion, Savvy is going to become iconic—a completely new approach to luxury hospitality that will set our industry on its ear.”
Speech completely escaped her, and she could only stare at him—at his back, to be precise. The audience seemed fascinated by what he had to say. And for the life of her, she couldn’t have guessed what would come out of his mouth next.
“For example, the cove. If we could go back a few slides.” He turned toward her. “Do you mind if I take over a bit here?”
“Please,” she managed to get out past a tight throat.
Someone…Peter…clicked back a few slides, and the picture of the cove appeared on the screen.
Lord, the cove. She’d almost not included that slide in the presentation because it brought up so many memories of their time together. In the end, she’d had to include it, but now, she had to look at it as Adam went on and on about its glamor.
“…total privacy for people who need it, like celebrities,” he was saying. “There even might be a bit of skinny-dipping in that water.”
That got laughter from the stockholders, and by now, Adam was holding them in the palm of his hand. He’d been right about her not being a showman, but clearly he was. And he was doing her job for her—selling her resort.
She hazarded a glance at Vivian, who now looked as if she’d swallowed something rotten. The woman was losing and knew it. And the longer Adam went on, the more Vivian’s displeasure grew.
He continued going through slide after slide, giving her presentation again, but this time with excitement. He showed the pools again. The rooms. The outdoor concert area.
“What Ms. Westmore forgot to mention is she has lined up the most popular entertainers for her concert and nightclub venues,” he said.
How did he know that? Right. He must have read it on Savvy’s website. Why in hell hadn’t she included that herself?
“So, she ends up with the perfect combination of old-school luxury and excitement to appeal to a younger crowd,” he said. “This is the place for people who want to play hard during the day and party hard at night. It can’t miss.” He turned toward her again. “Was that what you wanted to convey?”
“Perfect,” she answered. Absolutely perfect.
“And let me add that I have so much confidence in this company that I’m willing to buy up shares at above market value,” Adam said. “If anyone’s foolish enough to sell.” He gave Nicole his self-assured smile—sexy enough to send a shiver through her. “And you can all guess what my vote is on the motion at hand. It’s for Ms. Westmore.”
Suddenly, two tons of worry and sadness lifted right off her shoulders. Strength returned to her limbs, and she could finally breathe. Adam wasn’t going to take her down. He’d come here to support her, and he’d done a hell of a job of it. So she had only one task left before she closed this meeting.
“Unless there are more questions, we’ll conclude.” She waited just a few seconds, and, thank heaven, no one headed toward the microphone. “Good. If you’ll all fill in your ballots on the motion and turn them in to Mr. Baxter, the meeting is adjourned.”
And that was that. Adam returned to his seat, filled in his ballot, and walked to the front to hand it in. His posture spoke of support of her and her company. No one could have missed how he’d voted. A few people followed his lead, and then more and more until the room emptied of everyone but Peter, Adam, and Nicole. At the back, Vivian
stood alone.
“Excuse me for a second,” Adam said and then took off in Vivian’s direction. They held a private conversation, their voices low enough that they didn’t carry all the way to Nicole. Vivian was obviously angry, waving her arms around. Adam said something, and Vivian went absolutely still. Even from this distance, you could make out the color draining from her face. Then, she turned, and after one more sour glance around the room, Vivian let herself out. And Adam came back to Nicole, his smile firmly in place.
Peter picked up the box with the ballots. “I’ll have the referees we hired count these, but I think we already know the results.”
“I certainly hope so,” Adam said.
“Thank you, young man.” Peter left, and now only Nicole and Adam remained.
She walked away from the podium and approached him. “Why?”
He smiled and shrugged. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”
“No, seriously, Adam. Why did you do that?”
“Several reasons.” His expression turned serious. “It was about time I put my anger at your father behind me.”
“And?”
“I didn’t really want to hurt you.” He stood in silence for a moment, his arms at his side. They stared at each other, and the years dissolved. He was once again the brash but insecure young guy she’d fallen in love with, and she was the innocent girl who knew nothing about sex and love.
“You were right about everything. I was behind the effort to ruin Westmore Hotels, and Vivian was in on it. You knew about her involvement, didn’t you?”
“Only recently.”
“She’s been my partner since the beginning. She financed my first big resort. I loved that I was using your father’s money to put him out of business.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “It sounds pretty awful now.”
He kept standing there, looking vulnerable, as if she might judge him. He’d only been acting out of his own hurt from the past. Maurice Westmore had caused a lot of pain for both of them. As much as he had to let go of his anger toward her father, she had to put her father’s memory behind her and become her own woman. Maybe she’d taken a few steps in that direction today with Adam’s help.
“That’s all of it,” he said. “It’s a lot to forgive.”
“You did a lot for me just now.”
“Nah. You just needed a little help.”
“It was more.” She got closer to him—near enough to catch the scent of his shaving cream and bask in the blue of his eyes. “Having you stand up for me was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Look, Nicole, we have a lot of things to put behind us, but we have the right foundation—love.”
The ground beneath Nicole’s feet seemed to move, and she might have swayed a little. He’d saved her company, and now he was throwing love into the mix.
“I thought it was just the sex between us,” he said. “That you had some kind of magic that made it better than with anyone else.”
“I do.” She rested her hand on his chest. “Love.”
“I’ve only been so angry with you because I loved you so much. Do love you so much,” he said. “Can you forgive me for everything I’ve done?”
Her vision blurred. “Oh, Adam, I already have.”
He closed his arms around her, holding her, and for a moment, she simply rested against his chest. She belonged here, with him. Warmed by his body. His love.
She pulled back for a moment. “What did you say to Vivian just now?”
He laughed. “I threw out a little threat, just in case she ever decides to go after you again.”
She pushed at his chest. “What?”
“Well, you see, she’s been engaging in insider trading for some time now. I told her I’d let the SEC and the police know about it if she ever stuck her head up again.”
“Oh my God, really?”
“Really.” He pulled her against him again.
Imagine. After everything they’d been through, the spark between them had never extinguished, and their bodies had retained enough wisdom to bring them back together. Now nothing would ever separate them again.
When she tipped her head up for a kiss, his mouth took hers with a hunger built of separation, loss, and reunion. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on as he caressed her.
“I thought I’d lost you again,” she whispered against his lips.
“Never.” He tugged her closer and laid a path of kisses along her jaw to her ear. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Joy bubbled up in her, and she had to laugh. “Nowhere?”
“Not unless you come along.” He took her face between his hands and stared into her eyes. His expression was full of hunger. But there was more. Heat. The incredible passion that flared between them as soon as they touched.
“Marry me,” he said. “I need you in my bed every night.”
She pretended to ponder that. “So it’s only for the sex?”
“You know better.” He kissed her forehead and then the tip of her nose. “I’ve never loved anyone but you. I have to have you in my life, twenty-four seven.”
The more he said it, the more her heart filled with happiness.
“It was always you, Adam,” she said. “No one else.”
“Then, you’ll be my wife?”
“I will.”
He let out a whoop, picked her up, and spun the two of them around. Her feet didn’t touch the floor for seconds, and her head went dizzy. He’d taken her world and turned it upside down within the last hour. There’d be no more dread and sadness. Just Adam’s love and the promise of a life together.
Finally, he set her down.
After a moment, Peter reentered with a big smile on his face.
“The ballots are counted. You won the day,” Peter said. “It wasn’t even close.”
Nicole could have jumped up and down at that news.
“Congratulations, baby.” Adam bent and kissed her, then immediately put an arm around her and pulled her against him. “Now we have another announcement to make.”
Epilogue
They were at another wedding—this time his own. Adam had gotten through the service without embarrassing himself. Although every time he looked at Nicole in her gown, the English language flew right out of his head. Luckily, he’d written his vows out on index cards, which he’d stuck in his pocket in case he’d forgotten anything he’d wanted to say. After the service, not to mention dozens and dozens of pictures, his wife had disappeared somewhere, surrounded by a flock of women, no doubt. Some were friends from college; her assistant, who’d acted as bridesmaid; as well as some of the shareholders who’d been close to Nicole’s family—they’d all appeared out of somewhere, even though the crowd had been relatively small.
Her resort—Savvy—had pulled out all the stops, with the ceremony on the terrace, overlooking the ocean. It was the place they’d found each other again. He smiled. And the place they’d spend a lot of time at, if he had anything to say about it.
Grant wasn’t smiling when he and Ryan joined Adam. But Grant did have two martinis in his hands.
He gave one to Adam. “I thought you’d need this.”
Adam set his champagne flute on a nearby table and sipped the martini.
Ryan nudged Grant with his elbow. “You need it more than Adam does.
Grant looked just a tad green around the edges, which wasn’t surprising, given the number of drinks he’d had the night before. The three of them had had a bachelor party of sorts.
“I did my best to warn the man about the evils of marriage,” Grant said. “But it didn’t do any good.”
Adam laughed. “I would have made Nicole my wife even if the Supreme Court and the Pope had forbidden it.”
“I felt the same way before I got married, too.” Grant took another swig of his drink. “Don’t worry. We’ll be here for you, man.”
“Cynic,” Ryan said. “Maybe it’ll work out.”
“Maybe?” Adam repe
ated. “You two clowns aren’t going to ruin this day.”
“Or this night,” Ryan said.
“Especially this night,” Adam said. Tonight, he’d be making love with his wife with no barrier whatsoever between them. Nicole was on the pill until she wanted to have a baby.
God, a baby. The mere thought of her having his child was enough to make his heart swell until it might burst.
“Well, I plan to enjoy myself tonight, and I won’t wake up tied to someone in the morning,” Grant said.
“You found a likely partner?”
Grant’s eyes sparkled. He’d perked up a bit since the morning. “One of the bride’s friends. She really loves pro football, and she says I’m fascinating.”
“You?” Ryan hooted. “Does she know you have a playbook where other people have brains?”
“You don’t have to be insulting, son,” Grant said. “Just because you don’t have any prospects on the horizon.”
Competitive to the end. How he loved these bozos. “Cut it out, you two. These are Nicole’s guests you’re talking about.”
“We’re just looking for a little fun with like-minded women,” Grant said. “She has to be just as enthusiastic as I am. And I think she is.”
“You’d be doing the same thing, if it wasn’t your wedding,” Ryan said to Adam.
That was absolutely true. But he didn’t have to look for gratification any longer. He had that beyond measure.
The band started up a song. A waltz.
“There’s my cue to go find my new friend,” Grant said. “I don’t want her to be without me for too long.”
“I’m sure she’s heartbroken without you,” Ryan said.
Grant waved a hand at Ryan and disappeared into the crowd.
In the meantime, Adam looked around for his new wife. Nicole would have the first dance reserved for Peter Baxter, her father’s long-time assistant and her mentor. Sure enough, the two of them went to the center of the dance floor. Baxter beamed with almost paternal pride, and Nicole simply glowed. Adam could hardly breathe as he watched them. That vision—that brilliant woman, the most sensual creature on earth—had chosen him. He ought to pinch himself to make sure it was true.
