The CEO's Dilemma ; Undeniable Passion

by Lindsay Evans

  “I see.”

  “If you have others you’d like to join you, I can fit them in. Ten to twelve is a good number.”

  “It’ll just be me,” Rita told him.

  Mike nodded. “That’s fine. You’ll make friends.”

  Rita wasn’t so sure about that. She wanted a secluded spot on the boat to let the view of nature take her thoughts away.

  “Should I pay now, or tomorrow?” Rita asked.

  “You pay now, and I’ll print you out a ticket for tomorrow. I’ll give you all of the information as to where you need to go. Now, just so you know, you likely won’t see me there. I have a few partners. We all own boats and depending on our schedules, either of us will be the one taking you out.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “The meeting spot will be the same either way.”

  Rita shrugged. “As long as someone is there at one.”

  Mike rang up the order on the till, and Rita paid. He then gave her a receipt and a printout of the location of where she would be boarding the boat.

  “Thanks so much,” Rita said, folding the paper into a square. “I’m looking forward to this.”

  “Oh, one more thing,” Mike quickly said.

  “Hmm?”

  “Don’t forget your bathing suit. If tomorrow is going to be as hot as today, there’s a perfect spot to stop the boat for a swim. There’s nothing like it.”

  “Sounds lovely,” Rita said. “Will do.”

  * * *

  Keith was exiting Molly’s Café when he spotted Rita walking down the street. He paused, a smile spreading on his face as she headed in his direction.

  She was wearing denim shorts that exposed her luscious thighs and a frilly white blouse that scooped low over her bosom. He couldn’t see her eyes behind her large dark sunglasses, but it didn’t take him long to realize that she hadn’t seen him. She was on a mission.

  Keith quickly shuffled in her direction when he saw that she was heading to her vehicle. “Rita,” he called.

  Stopping near the back of her car, she glanced around, then saw him. Her lips parted. “Keith.”

  He trotted over to her. “Hey. What’s up?”

  “I was just...checking out the town,” she answered. “And you?”

  Keith lifted his cup of coffee. “Had to get another cup. It’s that kind of day.”

  “Ahh.” Rita walked around from the back of her car to meet Keith on the sidewalk. “I know the feeling.”

  “Everything okay?” he asked, looking at her with curiosity.

  “I took your advice,” she said. “My father. I’m going to meet with him tomorrow. See if we can’t hash things out.”

  Keith nodded. “I see. Well, that’s good. It’s a start.”

  “I guess, but I’m...scared.” Rita’s chest rose and fell.

  As illogical as it was at that moment, Keith’s eyes averted to her cleavage for a nanosecond. Every time he looked at her, all he could see was her beauty. Her incredible sex appeal. His body responded to her no matter the topic of discussion.

  “It’s okay to be scared,” Keith told her.

  Rita frowned, then bit down on her bottom lip. And that’s where his gaze went, to that full mouth scrunched up in a frown. She hadn’t been frowning after he’d kissed her. No, her eyes had been alive with excitement, and her lips had been parted, almost begging for more.

  “Are you listening to me?”

  Her question permeated his brain. “Sorry.” Keith cleared his throat. “Yes.”

  Rita looked at him with an odd expression. “What is it?”

  “Hmm?”

  “What are you not telling me?”

  Keith’s brain scrambled to come up with an explanation. He certainly couldn’t tell her that his mind had wandered to the memory of kissing her...

  “It’ll all go well,” he assured her. “Just...try to be gentle with your father. He’s had a lot to deal with. The death of his wife, the bankruptcy...”

  Even behind the dark sunglasses, he could see her eyes narrow. “Bankruptcy?”

  “Right after his wife died, he had to file,” Keith said. “You don’t know?”

  “My mother probably does, but she didn’t say anything to me.”

  “The situation was resolved,” Keith said. “The townspeople came together to help him out. He was able to keep the house, get back on his feet.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Probably no one told you because it’s not an issue anymore,” Keith said. He hoped he hadn’t said the wrong thing. “Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m just trying to impress upon you that your father has been through a lot. Keep that in mind.”

  “Sure.”

  She smiled, but Keith wasn’t sure if it was genuine. Was she wondering if Lance’s interest in her mother was financially motivated?

  “If you’re worried that Lance is interested in your mother for money, I highly doubt it. The man I know would only marry her for love.”

  “But how well can a person know anyone?” Rita countered. “Anyway,” she quickly continued, “I see him in the morning. And we’ll see how it goes.”

  She seemed okay, so Keith didn’t push the issue. “I’m heading back to the office,” he said. “But if you need me, give me call. Anytime.”

  Rita started for the driver’s side door. “Okay.”

  Keith stared at her as she got into the vehicle, wondering if he’d just opened a proverbial can of worms.

  Chapter 10

  All night, Rita had stewed over what she should do with the information Keith had given her. Talk to her father about it first in order to ascertain his true motives, or talk to her mother?

  Maybe she ought to only speak to her mother about this. Her father’s affairs weren’t directly her business, but her mother had a right to know. And if her father’s motives where her mother was concerned were at all opportunistic, then that was Rita’s business.

  But even as she got ready to leave her place, she wasn’t quite sure what she would do. All she knew was that the information needed to be brought to her mother’s attention. And she wasn’t sure that if she spoke to her father about it privately, that she could trust him to tell her mother on his own.

  As Rita’s coffee brewed, her phone buzzed. She made her way to the kitchen table, where she’d rested her phone, and pressed the home button to refresh the screen. She wasn’t surprised to find another message from Keith.

  Hoping everything’s okay. Haven’t heard back from you.

  Rita wandered back over to the coffeemaker. Keith had already called earlier, then sent a message asking her not to take what he’d told her negatively. Apparently he had realized too late that his news had affected her in the opposite way from what he’d hoped. He hadn’t considered that his words would be ammunition for her to use against her father, but that’s exactly what they were.

  And with good reason. It wasn’t that she wanted something negative to bring to her mother about her father, but he had not been honest. Her mother had said nothing about a bankruptcy, and Rita was betting that she had no clue. The one thing Rita couldn’t stand more than anything was when people weren’t honest.

  Rita spooned two teaspoons of sugar into her coffee. So much more made sense now. This engagement was sudden because her father had an agenda. A monetary one.

  If he was having financial troubles, marrying someone could help alleviate that problem. Her mother thought she could trust her father’s love, but he was likely in this relationship for the cash.

  Rita didn’t even know all of the details about how her parents had reconnected, but perhaps her mother had shared with him the truth about the severance package she’d received from her job. When the insurance company she had worked for downsized, she’d been let go as a manager and received a fairly decent package. It wasn’t eno
ugh to have her buying lavish homes in exotic places in the world, but it was certainly enough to make her comfortable. That kind of money would probably go a long way in a town like this.

  Rita bit down on her bottom lip as she went to the fridge for cream. What she needed to do was obvious. She had to talk to her mother first. Her mother needed to know.

  Better yet, why not bring up her father’s financial problems to the both of them at the same time? That way her mother could see her father’s reaction...and so could she.

  Rita added cream to her coffee, then lifted the mug to her lips for a sip. Yes, she knew now exactly what she was going to do.

  * * *

  Just over an hour later, when Rita arrived at her father’s place, she was determined. A sense of calm came with her resolve, and she felt no anxiety. If her father had not been honest with her mother, then he would have to deal with the consequences. Rita would put the truth out in the open, because her mother needed to see the full scope of the situation and know exactly what was going on. Then she could decide for herself what she would do.

  Rita was fairly certain that her mother would make the right choice. Staying with her father, knowing that his motives might not be pure, would be massively foolish.

  Rita rang the doorbell. Only seconds later, her mother answered the door and looked at her with a guarded expression.

  Rita offered her mother a warm smile. “Hi, Mom.”

  “Hello.” Her shoulders visibly relaxed. “I’m glad you came.”

  “Of course I came. What you said—it makes sense. We need to talk.”

  Her mother opened the door fully, her eyes brightening. “Your father is waiting in the sunroom. I don’t know if you want me there—”

  “Oh, I want you there. Yes. Definitely. We should all be a part of this conversation.”

  “Okay, then.” Her mother nodded. “I think that’s the best thing. It will be good for all of us to discuss the situation.”

  “Fantastic, actually,” Rita said.

  Her mother gave her the oddest of looks, as though she seemed surprised by Rita’s new position. No doubt she was. Rita had done a one-eighty and wanted this talk; she was no longer the reserved and anxious person she had been when she first discussed this idea with her mother.

  Rita stepped into the house. “You can lead the way.”

  They walked through the house into the sunroom. Rita noticed that the gift bag her father had given her sat on the coffee table. In that instant, she couldn’t help swallowing. The memory of that gift, and what it allegedly signified...

  She stiffened her spine. No, she wouldn’t let herself be swayed by anything sentimental. Especially not with a man who had not been in her life. Her first obligation was to her mother. If there was any chance that her father was being dishonest and using her mother, the truth needed to come out.

  Her father rose from the sofa. “Hello, Rita.”

  “Hi,” Rita said. She saw a little bit of contrition on his face, and for a moment felt a slight niggling of guilt. But why should she? If her father was withholding information, was that not the most important thing right now?

  She thought of Keith’s words, that he had not told her this information for her to hold it against her father, but rather for her to understand him better. Was she making a mistake?

  No. She wasn’t. Being soft in the past had gotten her walked over. And being soft had gotten her mother hurt, hadn’t it? Besides, the truth always had a way of coming out, and wasn’t it better that it came out now as opposed to later?

  “Please, have a seat here.” Her father patted the spot beside him on the sofa.

  Rita walked over there and sat. Her mother sat in the armchair beside the sofa.

  “I just want to say,” her father began, “nothing about what I’m going to tell you was easy. I made decisions, and I have to live with them. But nothing is black-and-white. I want you to understand that from the outset.”

  Rita nodded, then drew in a deep breath.

  “First of all—”

  “Wait,” Rita said, cutting her father off. “I have something to say before you begin.” She glanced at her mother before meeting her father’s eyes again. “It’s come to my attention that you filed for bankruptcy after your wife died. If not for the community coming together, you would have lost this house.”

  Her father’s eyes widened in shock. His lips parted, but he said nothing.

  “Did you tell my mother this?” Rita asked.

  Rita shot a look at her mother, whose own eyes were filled with confusion. Her gaze flitted between her future husband and between Rita, and the answer was clear. Her mother hadn’t known.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” her father asked.

  “My mother came into a sizable amount of money after she was let go from her job. But I’m sure you already know that, don’t you? My mother isn’t good at keeping info like that to herself.”

  Her father’s eyes registered even more shock. “Yes, but—”

  “Mom, did you know about the bankruptcy?”

  “What is she talking about, Lance?”

  His Adam’s apple rose and fell. He seemed embarrassed, but spoke. “It wasn’t important to tell you.”

  “It wasn’t important?” Rita challenged. “You lured my mother into this relationship, making her believe that it was all about her and the fact that you never forgot her. But it’s really about what she’s bringing to the table—and your bank account—isn’t it?”

  “That is not the truth.”

  “Lance,” Rita’s mother said. “Why would you keep this from me?”

  “Everything is fine now,” Lance told her.

  “I’ve told you everything, Lance,” Lynn said. “Why would you keep this from me?”

  “Exactly,” Rita agreed.

  Her father’s eyes flew to hers. Disappointment mixed with something else on his face.

  Rita got up from the sofa. Her stomach twisted, but she felt a sense of relief. Her mother needed to know the truth. “Mom, I can’t have any conversation about the past when my father is not even being honest with you. I know you believed that I was simply thinking the worst about him, but that’s not the truth. I was concerned, just as you would be if it were me in this situation. You’re my mother, and I’m always going to look out for you. And if he never told you about this, doesn’t that worry you?”

  The look of confusion in her mother’s eyes caused a wave of pain to wash over Rita. Knowing that this news hurt her mother also hurt her.

  “I’ll leave the two of you to talk,” Rita said. “Mom, call me later.”

  “Nothing is as simple as it seems,” Lance said.

  “Or maybe sometimes it is,” Rita countered.

  “I wish you had spoken to me about this privately,” her father said.

  “I wish you’d told my mother the truth.” And with that, Rita turned and left the house.

  Chapter 11

  At 12:50 p.m., Rita was arriving on the dock. She was looking forward to this excursion on the water. After the meeting at her father’s house, she needed the cool breeze flowing through her hair and taking her thoughts away.

  As she made her way toward the designated area, her heart stopped when she saw that familiar body. And then her legs stopped, too. She blinked a few times, her pulse pounding as that face came into clearer view.

  Keith!

  How could it be?

  It made no sense, and yet that was undoubtedly Keith standing in front of the sign that read Private Tours.

  What was going on? Was he joining her? He didn’t even know she was going to be here. So why was he here?

  And where was Mike?

  Keith started toward her. Rita sucked in a breath. “Hello, lovely lady.”

  “Keith... What are you doing here?” She h
ated that she sounded breathless. Almost wispy and sexy.

  But she didn’t understand why Keith was wearing swim trunks and a T-shirt, almost as if he were about to go out for a sail. Surely he needed to be working at this time of the day.

  “I heard you needed a boat tour,” Keith said.

  Rita frowned. “How could you possibly know that?” she asked.

  “I’m an avid boater. If Mike himself isn’t able to take people out for a tour, I’m one of the guys who works as his replacement.”

  “What?”

  “I work with Mike. I’ll take his boat out if he can’t, or if there are a lot of tours booked—which is unlikely—then I’ll use my boat to take people on tours.”

  Oh, that’s right. Mike had told her that. Rita just hadn’t expected Keith to be the one here. “So you’re operating the tour. Where are the other people? Mike said something about a group of five from Indiana.”

  “Actually, they’ve rescheduled. There’s an accident on I-90 and they couldn’t make it back from Buffalo in time.”

  “Oh, no. So do you need me to reschedule?” Rita asked.

  “No, definitely not.”

  “But it’s not economically feasible to take one person out.”

  Keith waved a dismissive hand. “That’s not an issue.”

  “And what about you? Don’t you have to work?” Rita asked.

  “I was able to reschedule some appointments. And I’m happy to do it. Remember, I told you that if you needed a tour guide, I could show you around. So it’s fitting I’ve gotten the job of doing that today. And I’m actually happier that it’s just me and you. I can do the tour my way, with my boat.”

  Rita blew out a harried breath. What could she say? If she kept asking questions, she’d give Keith the impression that she was afraid to be alone with him.

  “All right,” she said.

  “It’ll be fun,” Keith assured her.

  Rita tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “All right, then.”