by Sara Fawkes
“Ah, this is the life,” Rose murmured, taking a few backstrokes through the water. “A nice breeze, cool water, and the thrill of knowing I’m done for the day. All that’s missing is a drink in my hand.”
“Perhaps I can help with that.”
A large man with a big smile had materialized near Rose, holding a drink in each hand. Rose gave him a sharp glance and rolled her eyes. “Buzz off weirdo, she’s too young for you.”
“I can only see the vision before me.” Indeed, the newcomer’s attention seemed focused on Rose. He was a larger man, balding on top and with a paunch to rival Santa Claus and a red nose that belied his current sobriety. He did, however, seem fascinated by the prickly woman. “My name’s Griffin,” he said, sounding fairly sober at least, “and I’d really like to buy you a drink.”
Rose threw Dani a bemused look, then her eyes narrowed as she addressed the other man. “What the hell have you been smoking?” she demanded, and Dani winced.
If anything, however, her reply only made the man’s grin grow larger. “If I can buy you a drink,” he said, winking, “maybe I’ll even share.”
This made Rose’s eyebrows rise, momentarily rendering her speechless. “Well,” she said after a moment, shooting looks between Griffin and Dani, “I won’t say no to a free drink.”
Dani managed to hold her giggles in somehow, then caught sight of another person watching her from across the pool.
The suit from the lobby. He was sitting under the shaded awning at the nearby cafe, but she could tell he was watching her. In the same way prey knows it was being hunted, she felt his gaze on her body.
Well, honey, she thought, blatantly zeroing in on him as well, two can play at that game.
Even from a distance, she could tell he was handsome. The contrast in light from the dark cafe and the sunny pool area made it so she couldn’t tell his coloring, but she remembered the brown hair from the lobby. He was wearing a suit and tie again, an older look that made her wonder again at his age. She’d seen an almost yearning in his eye in the lobby, but they were too far apart now to tell what he was thinking.
“Dani, you coming?”
She looked back at Rose, who was standing suspiciously close to Griffin. The man’s hand was on the other woman’s lower back almost possessively, but the real miracle was that Rose didn’t seem to mind. “I’ll follow you in a minute.”
She let the water buoy her up, skipping along the bottom of the pool. The couple swam for the bar that sat in the center of the pool as Dani hung back. A sneaking glance at the man nearby told her he was still watching her, although a bit more surreptitiously this time.
Dani stopped, then openly turned and stared. She was being a wuss, flaking out on adventure. What had happened to YOLO, trying out new and different things?
She swam sideways, straight toward the cafe. Behind her, Rose called her name but, for the moment, Dani ignored her. The other woman would want a full report of all that happened, so might as well make it interesting.
He’d looked away when she first approached, as if realizing he’d been caught staring. Up close like this, he was even more handsome, with blond hair and tanned skin. He was younger than she thought, given his attire, and as she got to the edge of the pool, she cocked her head to the side.
“Why would someone under thirty in today’s day and age want to wear a tie, unless they were Christian Grey?”
CHAPTER THREE
It was the white bikini, Evan decided. He’d always been a sucker for white bikinis.
There was no getting away from it now; he’d been caught. Ignoring her question was unthinkable, so he just grinned and shrugged. “Maybe I’m here for the Christian Grey convention?”
That got a laugh out of her, the same infectious chuckle he’d heard in the lobby. Her breasts bobbed with her laughter, and he had to work hard not to let his gaze slip south. The water hid most of her curves but he’d watched her get into the water, watched her slip off that yellow cover.
God, he felt like a pervert who’d been caught snooping. But she was smiling up at him, and he couldn’t help but return the expression. The stress of the last few days—really, since he’d gotten word he’d been chosen as one of Jeremiah Hamilton’s candidates for replacement—melted under that look.
“So, what are you here for?” she asked, crossing her arms on the edge of the pool and resting her chin on them.
“Job interview.”
Her brow furrowed. “For here?”
He shook his head. “No, this job is far, far away from here, although working in a place like this would be less stressful.”
“Gotta admit, it’s pretty stinking awesome here. I run the island tours, at least the kind you can do on the ground. Most folks just do the hikes but we do ATVs and dirt bike tours too.”
“Yeah, I saw you in your motorcycle getup.”
She cocked her head at him. “Do you ride?”
“I did as a kid. Mostly dirt bikes around my grandfather’s property in Pennsylvania.” He stood up and walked over, squatting next to the pool and holding out his hand. “Evan McQueen.”
“Dani Knight. Pleased to meet you.”
She had gorgeous eyes, a light brown that looked hazel in the sun. The small line of freckles peppered across her nose charmed him. There wasn’t a bit of makeup on her face, and for someone used to such things in every woman he’d met, the lack of artifice was refreshing.
From this angle, Evan was getting an eyeful, but he was enraptured by the whole package. “So,” he asked, shifting his weight to sit on his heels, “how did you manage to get a job in paradise?”
“Now, there’s a story. It involves a broken down bike, a Costa Rican hellhole, and what I’m guessing are hacked spy satellites to find me.” Her eyes danced with humor. “You have a few minutes?”
Right as Evan was about to say Hell yeah, out of the corner of his eye he saw a large man enter the cafe area and sit down alone. Evan shut his mouth with an audible click, quickly assessing the situation. The Maashole was nowhere to be found, nor was Jeremiah’s fiancé. It was the perfect opportunity to have some one-on-one face time with the billionaire, and hopefully make a good impression.
“I take it that’s your boss?”
Dani’s voice brought him back to the present. She’d followed his gaze, and Evan could hear the disappointment in her tone. It was on the tip of his tongue to lie, to say no he had all the time in the world to listen to her stories of Central American hellholes and adventure.
Don’t screw up this opportunity. His father’s advice rolled through his mind like a cleansing tide. “Yeah,” he finally answered, as disappointed by the opportunity as she seemed.
“Well, I don’t want to screw things up for you.” She pushed off from the edge, floating in the water. “Maybe I’ll see you around?”
Evan desperately wanted her to stay and talk to him more, but forced himself to stand upright. “I’d really like that.”
She turned away first, swimming toward the bar that sat in the middle of the giant pool. Evan watcher her go, his heart growing heavier with the increasing distance, then took a deep breath and turned toward Jeremiah’s location.
The CEO acknowledged Evan almost immediately. “How are you enjoying the island?”
“It’s fantastic.” Dani’s face immediately flashed through Evan’s mind. “Full of pleasant surprises. If you’re not busy, I’d...”
“Jeremiah, so sorry I’m late!”
The boisterous, over-loud voice of Preston Maas filled the small space. Evan winced as the volume of the other man’s voice boomed around the covered patio. His interruption was unsubtle and as transparent as the over-bright, false smile plastered across his face.
Even Jeremiah’s lips thinned at the intrusion, but he still acknowledged the new arrival. “Mr. Maas here and I were set to play some golf. Care to join us?”
Behind Jeremiah, the smile disappeared from Preston’s face. Evan was sorely tempted to take up
the offer just to annoy the other man. Unfortunately, Preston’s stormy expression promised that the annoyances would be all on Evan’s end. He wasn’t in the mood to put up with an afternoon full of snide digs and passive aggressive putdowns. He got enough of that at home.
“You two have fun,” he said instead, and then added as an aside to Jeremiah, “hopefully we can meet up and speak privately in the next few days.”
“Our tee time is in fifteen minutes,” Preston interjected before Jeremiah could respond. “Maybe you can find Griffin and hang out with him. He said something about using the spa today, probably getting a massage or pedicure by now.”
The derision in Preston’s voice was evidence in more his tone than the words, but it was the disappointed expression in Jeremiah’s eyes that hit home. As the two men walked off, Evan sat down heavily on a nearby chair. Line by line, he went over the entire conversation in his mind and came up with answers far better than the nothing that had left his lips.
Why couldn’t he come up with those quips on the spot? Why only after the fact?
He ran a hand over his face, suddenly tired, and glanced back toward the pool. The bar in the middle of the water had several people, but he didn’t see the woman in the white bikini.
Regret tore through him. Dammit. He’d made the wrong choice.
Evan’s phone buzzed with another email, and he checked it absently. He deflated when he saw it was from his father, and pocketed the phone without reading the note. Gideon McQueen likely wanted a detailed update on how things were going, and wouldn’t be pleased with his son’s apparent lack of progress.
He wasn’t in the mood to deal with his father. Flagging down a waiter in khaki shorts, he asked, “Where would I inquire about the island tours?”
CHAPTER FOUR
Dani hated removing stripped bolts, ones that wouldn’t come out with any kind of tool but a drill. They always made the supposedly simple jobs like changing a leaky gasket much harder than they should have been.
The handheld impact driver should be turning the bolt, but no matter how much she whaled on the tool it wouldn’t budge. She’d already drained the oil, removed the plastics and carburetor, but she couldn’t get the rusted bolts loose from the frame. The four-wheeler wasn’t giving up its engine without a fight, and Dani was ready to take a hacksaw to the whole thing. Stubbornly resisting the impulse, she almost cried in relief when she finally succeeded in turning the offending bolt a fraction.
Only to pull the tool away and find she’d instead twisted off the entire head of the bolt.
The urge to throw the impact driver across the shop overwhelmed her, but at that moment her cell phone rang. She knew it was a probably a bad idea to talk to anyone right then, but Dani grabbed the phone out of her pocket and answered with a flat, “What.”
Silence rang on the other end for a moment. “Baby, did I catch you at a bad time?”
Dani’s shoulder slumped, and she stared up at the metal roof of the shop. “Hi mom,” she said, plopping down on a nearby work stool. Of all the people to call at that moment, why did it have to be the one Dani needed to be the most careful with?
“You haven’t called in a while.” Her mother’s voice sounded brittle, hurt, and Dani’s heart squeezed. “If you’re busy, maybe I can call back at a better time.”
“No, mama, you just caught me at a bad time.” If Dani had known the caller was her mother, she wouldn’t have answered. As much as she loved her mother, Ava Knight didn’t always see eye to eye with her daughter. Dani wasn’t in the mood for lectures, but having answered the phone like that guaranteed at least a few minutes of regular conversation. Yay, the power of guilt. “So, what’s new with you?”
“Well, yesterday I got a wedding invitation in the mail from David. I guess he’s finally getting married to that girlfriend of his.”
Silence fell over the line as Ava awaited her daughter’s response, but Dani didn’t know what to say, let alone feel. She took a ragged breath as her mother continued. “They’ve been together almost two years, probably met not long after you...well, afterwards. They look really happy in the pictures.” Another pause. “I’m sorry, baby.”
Ah, there it was. The old familiar pain. “I’m happy for him,” she murmured, but the words rang hollow. David Blake had been Dani’s friend for as far back as she could remember, the son of family friends. They’d grown up together, dated all through middle and high school. He’d been her brother James’ best friend; everyone had assumed that the two of them would get married.
Then that dream had shattered in a million pieces and everything had gone to pot.
“Your father’s out working on the boat,” Ava continued quickly, as if only just realizing she probably shouldn’t have opened with that tidbit of news. “I can go get him if you’d like, he’d love to talk to you.”
“No, I, I need to get back to work.” She swallowed thickly, and then took a deep breath. “If you see David, can you please tell him I’m happy for him? Really, I am.”
“You know, it’s not too late for college.”
Dani’s shoulders slumped. “Mom...” she started, already knowing where the conversation was going.
“Plenty of folks start later these days. I know you missed out on the whole college experience...”
“Mom, you do remember I did almost two years of college. Believe me, I didn’t miss out on anything.”
“I’m just saying that, baby, you’re not too old to go back to school.”
Dani blinked. “I’m twenty-four years old, ma,” she said, frowning at the phone. Had her own mother just called her old? “And I’ve already decided college isn’t for me, you know this.”
“Oh honey, I just wish you lived closer. I miss seeing you, and your grandmother is getting older.”
From somewhere behind her mother’s words, Dani heard an older voice squawk, “I’m fit as a fiddle, and you can tell her I said that too.”
Dani grinned, recognizing her grandmother’s voice, but Ava wasn’t finished. “I just worry about you. All those dangerous countries on that motorcycle of yours.” Her voice grew more distressed with each word. “I don’t hear from you for weeks at a time, and I worry that, that...”
“Mom.” Dani readied herself for a battle, but surprisingly her mother immediately subsided. Dani thought a moment about what to say, then sighed. “I love you.”
Silence fell on the other end, and Dani knew her mother had finally gotten the hint. “I love you too, honey. Please, please stay safe.”
“I will, promise.”
Dani knew her mother never believed those promises, but they were all she could give. She hung up the phone, and looked around the garage.
Ten years ago—heck, even just five—she never would have believed she’d be here. This kind of scene had been James’ territory; he’d been the mechanic in the family, the daredevil, the adventurous one. Dani had been the good girl, the one who did what was expected, the one who’d hung on her brother’s every word when he recounted his adventures. She wondered again what he would think of her now.
He’d probably want to give me a high-five. That thought of her brother made her smile.
Sighing, Dani took a step backwards...
...right into the container of oil she’d drained only moments before.
Rose stuck her head in through the door right then before Dani could even get a curse out. “Hey, looks like we’ve got company.”
Kicking and screaming were out then, but she was so not in the mood to entertain guests. She hadn’t even realized Rose was in the other room. The other woman sometimes liked to come down here to do her work, said it gave her a change of pace.
“Give me a minute,” Dani called, pushing back the errant strands of hair with the back of her hand and hopping on one foot, trying to keep her now-oily boot over the container.
Conceding defeat for the moment, she grabbed a nearby shop towel and wiped off her boot, then quickly began putting tools in their rightf
ul places. She’d learned the hard way years ago that tools had a way of disappearing if they weren’t put away immediately.
Oil and grime coated her fingers, and she didn’t think customers would appreciate her getting their hands dirty. Usually Eugene, the concierge, sent word ahead of time if anyone wanted to take a ride or hike, so they didn’t have many unexpected visitors to the garage.
“Need a hand with anything?”
Dani’s head shot up at the familiar voice. Evan stood at the entranced, watched her in bemusement. “Oh, hey,” she said, fighting to keep the silly grin that threatened to burst forth off her face. “Well, unless you can magically remove a sheered bolt from this cylinder head, I think we’re both SOL.”
“If you have a decent power tool with the right sized bits, maybe I can drill and tap you a new threaded hole.”
Dani blinked at him. “Whoa.” Talk about underestimating someone. “Where’d you learn how to do that?”
“My grandfather used to be a mechanic, did most of the work on his old cars and motorcycles.” He walked into the garage and looked around the garage, his face tinged with almost nostalgia. “He taught me a few things the summers I spent down there with him.”
“Huh. You may come in handy after all.” She continued wiping her hands, studying him as he looked around the small shop. “Decided to take one of the island tours?”
“What can I say?” He grinned, flashing perfect teeth, and Dani’s heart skipped a beat. “You made a compelling case at the pool. Although, I’m not quite dressed for the occasion.”
God, he’s handsome when he smiles. Even in the low light of the garage, his blue eyes sparkled, and she could tell he was excited.
She blew out a breath, trying to keep her response to him hidden. Business, Dani, this is all business. “We have gear you can rent, ranging from gloves to full-body armor.” She looked him over, liking what she saw. He was over six feet tall, which, as a tall girl herself, suited her just fine.
Stop it. He’s a customer, not a date. Get your head on straight.
