Something piercing hit my leg again and this time I realized she was swinging her foot and the sharp part of her heel had just collided with my leg. I reached down and rubbed the sore spot. I was sure it was an accident, and she hadn’t meant to do it. If only her heels weren’t so pointy.
The waiter came to the table and we all ordered. He took our menus and left in a hurry. Suddenly, the air felt stale, and I shifted awkwardly in my seat. No one seemed to know what to say, and we all just sat there for at least a couple of minutes, eyes darting around the restaurant. Lucas stretched like he was tired and then rested both arms on either side of the booth.
He and Hillary chatted about mundane things for a good fifteen minutes or more, and the whole time Hillary kept giving me the evil eye. I was trying to fade into the background so they’d have privacy, but it seemed that wasn’t working. I felt bad for her, but at the same time, if she was a nicer person, Lucas wouldn’t have asked me to join him in the first place.
When the waiter brought out our food, I bit into my sandwich and silently wished this lunch would be over soon.
“Why are you here, anyway?” Hillary asked, looking right at me.
I didn’t have an answer for that, so I glanced at Lucas.
“She’s my assistant, and I asked her to come along. We’ve been over this.”
“But she’s not doing anything.”
“That’s between me and her,” Lucas said, his expression stone-cold and almost scary. It was definitely in her best interest not to contradict him. I wouldn’t have contradicted him at that moment.
She pulled her wavy blonde hair over one shoulder and gave each of us a scrutinizing look. “Is there something going on between the two of you?”
Lucas and I both said no at the same time.
She glanced at me again. “Because he practically has his arm around you.”
“Are you kidding?” Lucas asked. “My arms are resting on top of the booth.” He didn’t move his arms or even budge.
“I’ve been watching your body language the entire time, Lucas,” she said. “You might think I’m an airhead but I’m not. It’s obvious you prefer her over me. Your body language speaks volumes.”
Lucas frowned. “What are you talking about? I’ve been attentive to you this entire time.”
“The way you’ve been leaning in towards her. The glances you steal when you think she’s not looking.” She took a sip of water. “When you and I talk, you’re preoccupied, like you’d rather be somewhere else. I noticed it back in the car. It seemed like you would prefer talking to her.”
“That’s not true,” I said, alarm bells going off in my head. He wasn’t interested in me. He couldn’t be.
Hillary’s gaze swung back to me, and I felt that sharp pain on my leg again, but this time it felt like she was trying to dig a hole in my leg.
“Ouch.” I leaned down to rub the area.
“Something wrong?” she asked innocently, eyes laughing.
“Your heel keeps hitting my leg. Could you please—”
“Lucas, do you want to be here with me?” she asked, bringing her gaze back to him.
“I invited you to spend the day with me, didn’t I?”
“That’s not what I asked.”
He coughed. “I thought we were hanging out, getting reacquainted.”
“I thought so too, but you aren’t up to my expectations this time around.”
My eyes widened. Why did I agree to this? Awkward wouldn’t even begin to describe how I felt right now. Who wanted to be in the middle of a relationship discussion between two other people?
“And what are your expectations?” he asked.
“When you’re out with me, I should be the center of attention. Your eyes should be on me the entire time.”
She had a point. No one wanted to go on a date and feel like the guy was interested in someone else though she had completely misconstrued what was going on here. Lucas was not interested in me, but even the most beautiful women in the world were sometimes insecure under the right circumstances.
“I’m sorry if you feel that way,” he said, removing his arms from the top of the booth and leaning them on the table. “I’ll make more of an effort.”
She stared at him for a long moment. “No, I want something more.”
“The earrings and everything on that list will be delivered to your hotel tomorrow,” he said.
She shook her head slightly. “My daddy will buy those things for me if I ask. I need something else from you.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Proof that you prefer me over her.”
“What kind of proof do you want?” he asked warily.
“Fire her.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Fire her right now, and I’ll know you value your relationship with me more than this . . . employee of yours.” She said the last part with so much venom a shiver ran down my back.
“You’re being ridiculous,” he said. “Aria has nothing to do with you and me. Don’t put her in the middle.”
“I don’t have time for this,” she said with a flick of her hair. Her lips pinched together, and her face was slowly turning red. “Choose right now. Me or her.”
Lucas stilled, and I braced myself for him to choose her. He had to. She was his sole purpose for traveling to Kauai in the first place.
A wave of sadness hit me because I’d come to appreciate him as a boss, and the idea of my stay here coming to a sudden end made me regretful. It was probably for the best though. My crush on him had only gotten worse, and that wasn’t good considering he wanted to marry this woman.
“Lucas, I need an answer. Now.” She gave him a hard look, hands folded on the table, waiting for his response.
He didn’t flinch or even hesitate. “Goodbye, Hillary.”
She seemed stunned at first. Her mouth opened wide like she couldn’t believe he’d just said that. She looked at him and then at me. “You’re making a huge mistake. I am so much better than this—”
“Kind, beautiful, genuine woman,” Lucas said.
Hillary opened her mouth again, her lips twisting with anger. “She’s . . . She’s . . .”
“Don’t say it,” Lucas warned. “I won’t allow you to put her down.”
Her face colored, and without a word, she gathered her purse and walked away, swishing from side-to-side as she went.
I turned to him in shock. What had he just done?
Chapter 18
Lucas
I took cash from my wallet and slapped it on the table. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Aria looked astonished. Almost as astonished as I felt, but, in all honesty, it never felt so good to say goodbye to Hillary.
Every word that came out of her mouth aggravated me. There was no way I would fire Aria. The thought of hurting her . . . An ache settled in my chest just thinking about letting her go. That was non-negotiable. I’d have to figure something else out.
We left in a hurry, and since I hadn’t had time to text Sam to let him know we were done, I led Aria to the parking lot with my hand on the small of her back.
“I’m sorry about what happened in there,” I said. “I didn’t know she’d react like that.”
“She definitely got territorial, but I don’t understand why you didn’t fire me, Lucas.”
We were at the car, so I opened the door and motioned for her to get in. I slid in after her.
“Where to?” Sam asked.
“Ke’e Beach.”
He nodded. “Are we waiting for Hillary?”
“No. She won’t be joining us.” There was a note of finality in my tone, and Sam must have picked up on it because he smiled slightly as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the road.
“Isn’t Ke’e Beach a good distance away?” Aria asked. “I remember the pilot saying it’s on the other side of the island when he was talking about the Na Pali Coast.”
“It’ll take a c
ouple of hours, but it’s worth it. It’s the most beautiful beach on the island.”
“Why are we going there?” she asked.
“I need to get away from everything.”
“Are we going to talk about what happened in there?”
I shrugged. “It’s not important.”
“But your whole purpose in flying out here was to win over Hillary.”
“Plans change.”
“I know it’s not my place to question you, but what are you going to do now?”
That was certainly the question of the day. What was I going to do? I let out a heavy breath. “I’ll have to look into the other women on my father’s list. I don’t know them, so introductions will have to be made first. It’ll be more difficult, but I’ll think about that later. Nothing has to happen right away. I say we take a couple weeks on the island to enjoy ourselves.”
“I’m so sorry. I feel like this is all my fault,” she said.
“Hey.” I reached out and put my hand on her head, ruffling her hair like she was my kid sister though I definitely didn’t see her that way. “Don’t ever think that. I asked you to come. That’s on me.”
“She would have been a difficult woman to be married to, anyway. When she gave you that list of items to buy for her . . . I almost laughed out loud.”
Despite the foul mood I was in, my lips couldn’t help but curl up at the ends. “That was nothing. You should have seen the list she handed me last time.”
“I can’t believe she actually expected you to buy that stuff for her.”
“That’s how she is. She knows I can afford it, and she sees herself as entitled.”
We drove the rest of the way in silence. Aria fell asleep at one point, but I was too restless to sleep. I should have been anxious that I’d turned Hillary away. Dad would be furious when he found out it hadn’t worked out with her.
Still, it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
We stopped at a place that sold bathing suits and snorkel gear on the way so we’d have everything we needed.
When we finally arrived at Ke’e Beach, Sam dropped us off and then circled back to park, while Aria and I headed to the restrooms to change.
My eyes widened when Aria came out of the restroom wearing the modest one-piece bathing suit she’d insisted on getting, even though I’d tried to convince her to choose a bikini instead. She was breathtaking. The red suit with white polka dots had a vintage look, and it was more of a dress than anything else, with a ruffle on the bottom, white straps, and a big white bow at the top. With her black hair, she reminded me of a nineteen fifties pin-up girl. I swallowed hard and looked away.
“Ready?” I asked, feeling shy all of a sudden.
“Yep.” She took me in for a moment, eyes lingering on my arms and chest while a pretty blush swept over her face. Apparently, she did like what she saw even though she’d refused to admit it on the helicopter.
We headed over to the sand, the wind whipping against us as we walked. Ke’e Beach was small, with crystal blue waters surrounded by palm trees and lush vegetation, but it was one of my favorite places in Kauai. There was a coral reef and plenty of colorful fish to observe underwater, and the best part was the atmosphere had a private feel to it. It usually rained every time I came, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky today which was unusual for this side of the island.
We laid out our snorkel gear on the sand and walked down to the ocean, wading in until the water was up to our knees.
“This place is incredible,” Aria said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I feel like I’m in a movie or something.”
I laughed. “How do you figure that?”
“I don’t ever see scenery this amazing unless I’m watching it on a big screen.” She smiled. “This is certainly a trip of a lifetime. I probably won’t get to do this again. I want to soak it all up and file it away in my memories.”
“You’re young. I’m sure you’ll make it back here one day.”
“I hope so. Maybe my brother will be able to come too.”
“By the way, I spoke to my investigator. He’s on it, and he’ll let me know when he has something.”
“Thank you, Lucas. That means a lot to me.”
Her eyes watered, and a protective feeling washed over me like the ocean waves, surprising me with its strength. Aria mattered to me. Being with her right now, standing on this beach . . . meant something. Something I didn’t understand completely. Something I didn’t want to understand because I sensed it would tear me apart if I looked at it too closely.
There was a stirring in my gut, an awareness that hadn’t been there before. This woman . . . I wanted her. At my side. All the time.
The realization was both exhilarating and frightening.
It was everything I longed for and nothing I could have.
Spending time with her was dangerous, but I had never been afraid of danger before. I soaked it up, basked in the explosion of adrenaline that shot through my veins, reckless and wild.
Reaching down, I smoothed a lock of hair behind one ear and then allowed my hand to run down the length of her black tresses. Her eyes widened, but I couldn’t stop myself. Taking a few strands, I wrapped them around my finger, fascinated.
I blinked, needing to come back to earth but not wanting to, and, somehow, I found my voice. “No tears today. Let yourself have fun. I don’t want you worrying about anything.”
Her lips curled up in a slow smile. “Okay, but does that mean I get to go first?”
“Go first for what?”
She stooped down in the water and cupped her hands, splashing water all over me. A small wave lifted up and came crashing down, finishing the job and thoroughly soaking the both of us.
“You did not just do that.”
She shrieked and turned to run away, but I caught her by the waist and flipped her around so fast we were chest-to-chest. The warmth of her breath tickled my neck, and an electrical current traveled between us, running all the way down my body. My heart began to pound furiously, knocking against my chest as if had a will of its own and wanted the freedom to fly.
The breeze blew through us, catching her hair and raising it off her shoulders. The scent of the lilac shampoo I’d stocked in my home lifted to my nose. I wanted to breathe in more . . . breathe in more of her. My eyes fell to her lips as they parted, and without thinking, I leaned in closer and put a hand on the back of her neck. “So beautiful. Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?”
Her eyes widened again, and before I knew what I was doing, my lips hovered over hers, wanting to capture them, to feel them against my own. Her breath caught, forcing my heart into overdrive. “Aria.” I said her name like it was a plea. A plea to save me from the sadness of my life. A plea to let me forget everything else but her in this one moment.
And then my lips were on hers, devouring them like they were the only thing I had left in this life. Like she was the only person who could make me feel this way. She wrapped her arms around my waist and pulled me in closer.
I kissed her with everything I had until she pushed against my shoulders and stepped back, breathing hard.
“Lucas, we can’t.”
I stared at her dazed, blinking. What had I just done? “Aria, I’m—”
“We can’t do that again,” she said, eyes tormented. There was something else there too . . . remorse. “You’re going to marry someone else, and my heart . . .” She trailed off. “My heart belongs to the Lord. When I marry one day, it’ll be to a man who shares my love for Him. I’m sorry if I encouraged this, but we can’t—”
“Got it.” I ran a hand through my wet hair. “I shouldn’t have done it. I lost myself for a second there, but, don’t worry, it won’t happen again.”
And I meant it.
“Please, Lucas. Don’t be upset. I care about you—”
“You don’t have to say anything else. I got caught up in the moment.”
That cou
ld never happen again, because if it did, I wasn’t so sure I could pull away from her next time. I just might rebel against my father’s demands and forge a new life for myself.
But that was only a dream, a fantasy. It wasn’t real life.
In real life, I had responsibilities I needed to attend to.
And I couldn’t let something like this get in the way. Thankfully, Sam appeared a few minutes later on the beach in his swim trunks, and we all snorkeled together. His presence was the buffer I needed.
Later that evening I got a call from Pete Jensen.
“Mr. Armstrong, I wanted to check in with you. I haven’t found Miss Dasher’s brother yet, but I have another lead I plan to follow-up on tomorrow. There’s something else you should know though . . .”
I sensed the hesitation in his voice. Whatever he was about to tell me, it wasn’t good. I headed down the hallway to my bedroom and closed the door. “Go ahead, Pete. What is it?”
“I did some digging in Aria and Chase’s past. It appears your father had some dealings with her family.”
“What? That’s impossible. I would have heard—”
“This was years ago. I believe she was a minor back then, around seventeen years old according to my records. You were still young yourself.”
“What’s going on Pete? Just spit it out.”
“Aria’s father, Charles Dasher, owned an Italian restaurant. Looks like he inherited it from his own father.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that,” I said, goosebumps forming on the back of my neck.
“Your father bought out the restaurant under the pretense that he would be a partner, only he later shut it down and cleared the land to make way for one of his hotels. I know this doesn’t relate to finding Chase, but I thought you should be aware of the connection your families have before I go further.” He hesitated. “I don’t normally give an opinion. You hire me to get information and that’s what I do, but in this case . . .” He paused. “This is the kind of information that could devastate a person. If you care about Aria . . . Miss Dasher . . . at all, then keep this to yourself because if you tell her, there’s no telling how she’ll respond. If her friendship is important to you—don’t risk it.”
The Ruthless Billionaire: A Clean Billionaire Romance (California Elite) Page 14
