by James, Avery
“Can I ask you a question? If you’re always helping people, did you think I needed your help? Is that why you brought me here?”
“To the water?” he asked.
“To Cuba,” she said. “I told you that I didn’t have enough adventure in my life, and now here I am on an adventure.”
“My reasons were a little more selfish than that,” Harry said.
“How so?” she asked. Harry had been flirtatious since they met, but she got the impression that he was always like that.
“I wanted to spend more time with you, and by you I mean the Maggie I met on the beach, not the crisis manager who worries that I’m going to be her downfall.”
“They’re one and the same,” she said.
“I’ve come to see that,” Harry replied. “I just meant that my attraction to you preceded my knowledge of who you were, and when I did find out who you were, I didn’t care. That came out wrong. For some reason, I get flustered around you. My mind gets mixed up. I’m trying to tell you something, and I don’t want you to misunderstand what I’m trying to say.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I like you,” he said. “I like you a lot, and I want to spend as much time with you as possible. I like the way I feel when I’m around you, and I wanted to hold on to that feeling for a little while longer. I’ve dated a lot of women, and I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. And all I know is that this is my last chance to do this, to do something that feels right.”
“Last chance to do what?” Maggie asked. “You’re inheriting your father’s company, not going to prison.”
“It’s my last chance to have something real.”
“That’s not true,” Maggie said. “You have the entire world at your fingertips.”
“I don’t want the entire world,” Harry said. “I want what we have together.”
“We’ve only had whatever this is for a few days. What will happen in a week, a month, a year?”
“That’s just it,” Harry said. “I don’t know, but I want to find out. And I don’t want anyone to take that away from me, away from us. Forget about everyone else’s plans. What do you want? I would give everything else up for what we have together.”
“You don’t even know what we have together. Neither do I,” Maggie said. “Where do you see this heading? We’re from completely different worlds. What would make this work?” She knew the answer, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe it. This was just an infatuation. In a week, this is all going to be a memory, just some story, and he’ll have moved on. The important thing is that you don’t jeopardize everything for some stupid gut feeling.
“Love,” he said. “A chance at falling in love.”
He looked at her, waiting for some kind of answer, but Maggie didn’t know what to say. What could she say? She felt a panic. Any sense of relaxation or relief had been ripped away in an instant. Her heart was racing. If she told him how she felt, she’d have no way of taking it back.
Would he throw everything away? Of course he would. He was brash and confident, and always got his way. Of course he didn’t see the downside. That was her job. She made her living assessing risk and diffusing situations. She should have seen this coming from the start. She should have never agreed to go along with him. She had responsibilities to her coworkers and friends. She couldn’t let them down because her heart beat a little faster whenever she looked at Harry. It wasn’t just her heart, though. Maggie’s whole chest ached as she wondered what to do next.
“Harry,” she called. She watched him turn back. Even in the darkness, she could see as clear as day. The real question wasn’t whether he’d throw everything away for her; it was whether she could afford to risk everything for him. As she looked into Harry’s eyes, she knew the answer.
Chapter 12
Abby paced in the hallway while she waited for her call to connect. When it finally did, she didn’t waste a second. “Hello, my name is Abigail Hardigan and I’m trying to reach one of your guests. It is an emergency.” As she passed the entrance to Haven Communications, she caught a glimpse of Stanton Howard wildly gesticulating to Amy and Callie. He’d arrived five minutes earlier while Abby was out grabbing food before another all-nighter. Abby had a good idea of why he was upset.
Gavin Howard should have been in D.C. two days earlier, and instead he’d hopped on a plane to Cuba and taken Abby’s best friend along with him. As she listened to the concierge explain that he couldn’t give out the personal information of guests, she thought of what she would do to Gavin Howard if he let anything happen to Maggie. She tried to remind herself that Maggie was smart and resilient, and that she didn’t exactly have easy access to communications in Cuba.
Still, she had started to worry when she hadn’t heard back from her. That worry turned to panic when Stanton Howard arrived looking like he wanted to strangle someone. The truth was, Stanton Howard’s crisis had had been put on the backburner when a new scandal erupted on Capitol Hill. Fourteen members of Congress were under investigation for allegedly accepting kickbacks for political favors. The story had everything—sex, drugs, cash, and interns doing some very immoral things in one of Stanton Howard’s hotels. Six of the fourteen congressmen had come to Haven Communications for help with the scandal.
As soon as the news broke, almost everyone had forgotten about Stanton Howard’s run-of-the-mill sex scandal. Now, it was much more than that. Stanton’s hotel chain was just one of the pieces of a much larger train wreck of greed, lust and audacious arrogance. Even the chairman of the board of Stanton’s company was embroiled in the scandal.
“It’s an emergency,” Abby repeated to the concierge. She could tell she wasn’t getting anywhere with the truth, so she decided to fall back on the next best thing. A lie. In fairness, it was a lie she’d worked out with Maggie shortly after she’d joined the company. Maggie was an only child, so whenever Abby needed her, she’d make up a lie about Maggie’s imaginary brother. “Maggie’s brother is in the hospital. He’s in rough shape. I really need to reach her,” she said. “Please, it’s important.”
“Your friend has not been back since this morning,” the man said. “She and her friends left early. I do not think they will return tonight.”
Friends? Abby wondered. Who else was she with besides Gavin?
“Thank you,” she said before hanging up. Something was off, and she needed to tell someone. She slid her phone into her purse and headed back into the office. She could hear Stanton Howard yelling. “Then why the hell isn’t he here?”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Mr. Howard, but I thought you would like to know that I’ve just received word from my associate that your son is currently having one last bash before coming back. Don’t worry, though, she has everything under control.”
“We were under the impression that your son was going to be a willing participant in this process,” Amy said. “If he isn’t, I’m afraid we’ll have to change plans.”
Stanton sighed and placed his hands on his hips. “I should have anticipated this. My son does not make the best decisions. In fact, he has a history of making just about the worst choices he can. My son is going to do something stupid, and when he does slip up, make sure your associate is able to contain the situation. I’ll take care of the rest. If we handle this right, he should fall in line. Was anyone here planning on letting me know that my son was in Cuba, or that he dropped off the grid this morning? I wouldn’t believe that line about R&R. He’s up to something,” Stanton said. “And if you don’t know what, I’m not sure why I’m paying you.”
How the hell does he know that we haven’t been in touch since the morning? Abby wondered.
“We assumed you were in communication with him,” Amy said. “And apparently you didn’t need our help in knowing his whereabouts. Your company is now in the middle of a scandal much larger than your own, and I wish my employee were here instead of tracking your son across the Caribbean. With all due respect, you’re no
t paying us to babysit. You’re paying us to make sure you retain control of your company. I can assure you we are on top of that. You said your son would cooperate with this plan. Do you still think that’s the case?”
“I was planning on giving him a financial inducement to cooperate. If he causes enough trouble, we might not even need that. Just make sure he doesn’t get himself arrested and I’ll take care of the rest.” There was something callous and cold in Stanton’s voice.
Who talks about their son that way? Abby wondered. There’s something he isn’t telling us. What does he know that we don’t? That question was impossible to answer, but her next question had an immediate answer. What does he think we don’t know about? The money.
“In order for us to help you, we need to know everything,” Amy said. She cleared her throat and locked her eyes on Stanton. “Is there something we need to know?”
Stanton shook his head. “Soon enough, my son will be back here. See to it that everything else is in order.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked something. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting with the chairman of my board. If a blood vessel doesn’t burst in my head while I deal with him, I’ll be in touch shortly.”
Abby stood back while Amy escorted Stanton to the hallway.
“What didn’t you say?” Amy asked once she returned. “Obviously it was something you didn’t want Stanton to know. So what is it?”
“I was supposed to hear from Maggie today, but I haven’t heard from her. I’m sure it’s nothing, but Maggie said that he has money.”
“Money?” Amy asked.
“Cash—a lot of it,” Abby said. “She said she was getting to the bottom of it. She asked me to give her time until she knew more. What do we do?”
“For now?” Amy asked. “Nothing. I have eight other clients with more pressing needs at the moment, and I’m not going to get sucked into whatever problems Stanton has with his son. What did Maggie tell you about Gavin?”
You mean besides the sexy parts? “She thinks he’s well intentioned.”
Amy looked at her for a second with a penetrating gaze. Then she nodded and turned toward her office. “If you hear from Maggie, tell her she has our full confidence. Oh, and tell her to be careful. There’s clearly more going on than we know.”
“Isn’t that always the case? Wouldn’t it be easier if the clients just told us the truth from the start?” Abby said. She wondered what Amy would do if she knew how much more was going on between Maggie and Gavin Howard.
“We always figure out the truth,” Amy said. “The hard part is deciding what to do with it once you know.”
Chapter 13
“We have to have rules,” Maggie said as she made her way out of the water. She was holding Harry’s hand, and the night air felt cool against her wet skin. She was tugging him out of the water. “I know we have something together, but that doesn’t mean we can just do whatever we want.”
Harry stepped ahead of her and got down on one knee at the water’s edge. “I have a proposal,” he said. “If I promise that whatever happens between us will stay here on this island, will you agree to see where this goes? Even if it’s a few days, I don’t care. A few days with you, really with you, beats spending the next few thousand wondering what could have been. Stop worrying about the future and live for the moment with me.”
The surf lapped against Maggie’s calves as she tried to figure out a response. Harry kept his hands around hers as he looked up into her eyes. He was perfect. He was everything she could have asked for in a guy except for the fact that she couldn’t have a future with him. She felt dizzy as her emotions swirled inside.
“Get up,” she said, “and kiss me before I change my mind.”
As Harry got up, he placed his hands on her hips, pulling her body tight against his as he rose to plant a searing kiss on her lips, stealing her breath as his tongue slid into her mouth. She sighed as she met his kiss and slipped her tongue against his. She just wanted to melt into his arms.
Each movement of his tongue against hers stoked the flames of her passion even higher. He ran his hands up her side as he nibbled on her lip and moved to kiss her neck. The rasp of his stubble against her cheek drove her wild, but the soft heat of his lips against her neck made her want him even more. He brushed one hand through her hair as he traced the other over the curve of her breast.
He looked at her with more tenderness than she’d ever seen in his eyes and whispered that she was beautiful. Then he kissed her neck again, sucking gently on her skin as he moved his lips lower. It felt so good that Maggie curled her toes in the sand and dug her fingers into his back. Then he kissed her collarbone and her breast as he started to lower himself. He placed a hand back on her hip, sliding his fingers beneath the strap of her bikini. There was something so thrilling about his touch.
Then he kissed her stomach, and she realized what he was doing, or what he was about to do. He slid her bikini an inch lower and kissed her hipbone, sending a new thrill through her body. She never let guys do anything like this, and yet she was completely turned on. Her heart was racing, and she could feel his lips sealed against her skin. She gasped for air as he moved closer to her core.
“Wait,” she said. “Inside. No more until we’re inside.” Her voice wavered as Harry slid his lips just a little bit further. She looked down at him, waiting for him to agree or to decide he couldn’t go another moment without having her. Either would work for her.
She felt the heat of his breath on her skin as he looked up at her. He raised a brow and then kissed her stomach, slowly inching his way back up her body, following the motions of his lips by sliding his hands along her curves. Each kiss was slower than the last, teasing her more and more, driving her wild. She slid her fingers through his hair and tugged at him, hoping to pull him back up. By the time he reached her chest, she was wondering if maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to let him have his way with her right there on the beach.
“You’ll have to forgive me for not wanting to stop,” he said. He kissed her neck again, and warmth rolled through her. Maggie felt a rush, like the world had been pulled out from under her, and it took her a moment to realize Harry had swung his arms around her and lifted her into the air. When she turned to look up at him, he pressed his lips against hers in a long, slow kiss before he set off towards the house.
Usually Maggie hated the whole alpha male thing, but being scooped up in Harry’s arms and carried off? That she liked. She liked it very much. Halfway to the house, he stopped for a moment and bit his lip as he looked at her.
“Is everything okay?” Maggie asked.
“I decided I needed another kiss,” he said.
“Is that so?” she asked. She sealed her lips against his shoulder and slid her tongue against his skin. She tasted the salt on his skin, and she smiled as she looked up at him. She reached around and gave him a light tap on the ass. “Now carry me inside.”
“What’s so funny?” he asked as he started walking again.
“You’re salty.”
“I prefer roguish,” he replied. A second later he added, “Or it’s from the ocean. I can never remember which.” He lifted Maggie a little higher as she kissed his shoulder again. When they reached the house, Harry walked right past the door.
“You missed the—” Maggie said, reaching an arm out toward the door.
“We’re making another stop.” He put her down and opened a small door.
“An outdoor shower?” Maggie asked as Harry turned on the water.
“I can’t have our first time being all salt and sand.”
“No?” Maggie asked.
Harry turned around and placed his hands on her hips, lowering her bathing suit, sliding it down between her knees. Then he wrapped his arms under her thighs and pulled her up against his body. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he pulled her into the shower and pressed her against the back wall. She felt a surge of excitement as he kissed her again and warm
water cascaded over their bodies.
He kissed her neck again and smiled as he turned his head to the side. “You’ll have to tell me if I’m still salty,” he said.
She kissed his neck slowly, gently sucking on his skin. “No salt,” she said. He reached one hand up her back and untied her top. She loved the way his hand felt against her skin, and she couldn’t wait until she felt her breasts against his bare chest. Harry ground his hips against her as she pulled her top off. She could feel his excitement, and she wanted to feel more.
Maggie rolled her hips against him as Harry kissed her neck again and cupped his hand over her breast. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen,” he whispered as he nibbled on her earlobe.
“Keep talking,” she said. She rocked her hips harder against him. To her delight, he pushed back with wonderful force, sending another thrill through her body.
“I’ve wanted you since the first moment I saw you,” he said.
“Then take me,” she said between hurried breaths. She could feel how hard he was, and she knew he wanted her as badly as she wanted him.
“Not yet,” he replied. “I want to take my time.”
She wanted him more than she had known was possible. She felt breathless and wonderful, and she needed more. She wanted him to strip down and push himself inside her. She ached for him, and when he leaned down and sealed his lips against her breast, she couldn’t help but cry out in delight. She trembled as he slid his tongue across her nipple. Mind-blanking pleasure rocked through her. She couldn’t remember the last time she was turned on.this much.
