by Hazel Kelly
Finally, I counted to three, jumped as high as I could, and threw the kite straight into the air.
And like magic, it took off.
When the string went taut, he turned but kept running backwards, a huge smile spreading across his face. “Thanks!” he shouted.
The wind brought his gratitude drifting past my ears.
When he tripped on some driftwood a moment later, I saw the panic in his face that the kite might fall, too, but he held fast to the reel and stood up, dusting off his sandy bottom as I jogged down the beach to make sure he could take it from there.
And from that moment on, our friendship- like the kite- had wings.
Chapter 4: Adam
I was used to being the boss, but I’d never attempted what I could only assume would be interpreted as a hostile takeover before.
I didn’t want to be the bad guy, but to some extent, I knew there would be little I could do to avoid that. And while I wasn’t normally one to rule with an iron fist, making the right first impression would be imperative if I was going to get these people to trust me and follow my lead.
After all, my dad was a venture capitalist, and I’d seen him flip enough companies to know that there was no point in trying to be everyone’s best friend when there was money at stake.
My only option was to come in strong without giving off a whiff of weakness. Then, once my authority was established and I’d earned everyone’s respect, I could loosen the reigns and start handing out smiles and attaboys.
Of course, there was one person I was prepared to make an exception for, and as the staff gathered in the conference room, I watched from a corner table, sipped my coffee, and waited for her arrival.
When she walked in, I felt my whole body tighten.
She was as striking as I remembered. Her long, sun kissed brown hair swung behind her as she walked in, her tan legs sticking out of her figure hugging skirt. It was too long for my liking as the memory of her legs flashed through my mind, but she looked good in her professional attire. Unwrappable.
She was another reason I’d bought the place.
Because while I’d tried to convince myself otherwise, I knew deep down that the summer I finally had her was the best summer of my life.
Sure, I was well aware that buying a failing hotel was an extreme action to take just to satisfy my curiosity about a young woman I’d been unable to forget, but if I was going to come down and see what she was like all these years later, I didn’t see why I shouldn’t mix business with pleasure.
That way, at least if I didn’t get the girl, I’d have some money to show for my efforts.
Not that I was about to admit any of that out loud.
I couldn’t. The whole idea was ridiculous.
What self-respecting man falls in love with the first girl he sleeps with?
She didn’t know she was my first, of course. I didn’t dare tell her. I liked the way she looked at me, as if she trusted that I was more experienced than she was. I got the sense she wanted me to be, and I wanted to be exactly what she wanted.
When we bumped into each other as kids, I always considered her a jovial playmate, but that last summer everything changed. It had been a few years since I’d seen her and in that time, we’d both grown up and changed shape.
And I knew when I gave her that first kiss that one would never be enough.
She was also the second woman I ever slept with. And the third, fourth, fifth, and who knew how many times after that. There were too many romps to count, though I remembered each stolen moment vividly.
I liked her because she was different than anyone I knew back home, and when you mix an exotic, beautiful girl with a summer of carnal pleasures, what young man isn’t going to become intoxicated?
Back then I assumed she would eventually be nothing more than a fond memory. I assumed the sound of her laugh and the image of her face would blur around the edges and then in the middle, like all my other memories seemed to do in the end.
But that hadn’t happened.
My sense of her stayed sharp, and my longing for her never went away.
She made me understand what that expression “to get under someone’s skin” meant, for she was very much under mine.
After some quick research, it was easy enough to confirm that her parents still owned the place, and after speaking with her mother, it was obvious that she’d become overwhelmed with the task of running it. She volunteered that Jolie had pretty much taken over.
I felt sick when I heard her dad had passed away. I remembered his face from when we were young and he used to call her in from the beach while we were in the middle of digging a hole or collecting sand crabs.
I had this awful feeling over the fact that she’d had to go through his death without me, that I hadn’t been there to lend my support.
Which was absurd.
I didn’t even know her that well.
That’s when I realized I wished I did. And I knew if I didn’t come down to Harmony Bay immediately, I might miss my chance to know her better.
Or know her again… at least once or twice.
Because a girl like Jolie wasn’t going to be single forever, and her mom had let it slip that she currently was when she’d mentioned that she’d become a bit of a workaholic.
All through college, I dated women from my own social circles, women from big cities or upstate, women who were perfectly lovely and educated.
I’d hoped one of them might get under my skin.
But it never happened.
And sleeping with them had never matched the thrill I got from being with Jolie that summer. On the beach. In her car. In the woods by the 18th hole.
She was the only girl I wanted to see more of, the only girl I ever regretted not calling.
Still, coming down here had been a leap of faith.
Not only was I taking a chance on the hotel, but I was gambling big on the fact that she would remember me.
And if she did, would she even be happy to see me?
Only time would tell.
I waited a few minutes past the scheduled meeting time to accommodate a few late arrivals before clearing my throat and walking up to the front of the room.
“Hello everyone,” I said. “Thanks for coming on such short notice. I know you run a tight ship here so I won’t take much of your time.”
The quiet murmurs of the staff stopped and people grew still in their seats while those standing around the perimeter of the room- Jolie included- stopped rocking on their heels.
“My name is Adam Darling, and I am the proud new owner of the Harmony Bay Resort Hotel.” I stood with my feet shoulder width apart and moved my hands deliberately while I spoke. “I’m delighted to say I recognize a lot of you as my family spent many summer vacations here when I was growing up. In fact, some of my fondest memories were made on the grounds of this hotel.” It took everything I had not to look at her. “So it’s a place that’s very dear to my heart.”
Everyone’s eyes were on me.
“I know it was also very dear to Mr. Monroe- may he rest in peace- and after my conversations with his wife, I feel well versed on what his original mission was for this place, what his values were, and how highly he regarded each and every one of you. Yes, I plan to make some big changes around here, but rest assured, it is his original dream for this place that will inform every decision I make.”
I took a deep breath. “That being said, I look forward to getting to know each of you while making it a great summer for the hotel and our guests.”
Chapter 5: Jolie
How dare he come in here and act like he knew what my father stood for.
So what if he liked the beach and our chicken fingers and our complimentary boogie boards, he didn’t know what we were about and he sure as hell wasn’t part of our family.
And he didn’t even look at me once! What an unbelievable prick?!
My dad always said people with too much money were inhumane, and it see
med Adam’s upbringing had finally spoilt him like the rest. And the fact that my mom would sell the place to a soulless rich guy sickened me at her decision all over again.
Worst of all, the fact that I was still attracted to him felt like an extreme betrayal. I felt ashamed that I hadn’t worked harder to forget him, to get over him, to forget the ridiculous hyperbolic compliments I’d paid him as we laid in the back of the golf cart and under the stars and behind the pool house.
Ugh.
How could I have been so stupid? He wasn’t god’s gift to me. He was more like the devil incarnate, and now I had to pretend to like him when all I really liked was his square jaw and dark eyes and the way he looked in his cobalt suit. Damn it.
When he was finally done speaking, I stepped back and lingered at the edge of the room, trying to gauge the morale of the staff as they returned to their regular duties.
Some of them seemed relieved, as if they were looking forward to having him onboard. As if they actually believed a word that came out of his mouth.
Meanwhile, others seemed skeptical, as if they inherently sensed that there was nothing he wouldn’t have said to get us onside. After all, how else could he get us to lower our guard so he could bulldoze over us with the vision he had for the place?
“Is it possible that he doesn’t remember you?” Gia asked under her breath as she folded her arms.
I forced a smile at the staff trickling by. “It feels that way, doesn’t it?”
“He didn’t even look over here once,” she said. “That’s pretty cold.”
“Yeah.”
“I know it was just a summer fling, but-”
“Not a word of that to anyone,” I said, raising a finger at her. “Promise me.”
She lifted her palms between us. “I promise. Obviously. I’m just saying I’m surprised.”
“Me too.”
“Maybe he just didn’t see you.”
I cocked my head at her.
She shrugged. “You have a better explanation?”
“No. But he’s going to fucking see me alright.” I turned my eyes back to the far end of the room where he was talking to an attractive blonde I’d never seen before.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I’m going to tell him that he might have bought this place, but he doesn’t own it.”
“I don’t think breaking the ice with blatant inaccuracies is going to earn his respect or attention.”
“I don’t want his attention,” I lied, recalling the first time he caused a spark to shoot up my spine. He’d wrapped his fingers around the base of my neck and pressed his thumb against my racing pulse. No one had ever touched me like that. No one had ever looked me in the eyes as they felt my heart beating. It made me feel possessed and attractive and aroused and a bunch of other things I didn’t even have the words for then.
“What do you want then?” Gia asked.
“I want him to go away and never come back.”
She laughed.
I shot her a look. “What’s so funny?”
She smiled. “You’re too much.”
I craned my neck back. “Excuse me?”
“You spend every spare second for the last six years doodling this guy’s name in the sand and thinking about him while you touch yourself at night-”
“Remind me to never confide in you again.”
She dropped her chin. “And then he shows up and you want to ring his neck.”
“I’m just as surprised as you are.”
“If I had to guess,” she said, “I’d say your hots for him haven’t cooled a bit, and you’re only digging your heels in because he’s the new boss.”
“Wrong.”
“Really?” she asked. “Because I think if he showed up at Castaways and tried to buy you a drink, you’d slide off your fricking bar stool.”
“I would not.”
“You so would,” she said. “And I bet he’d catch you, too, because he seems like the kind of guy whose hands are never too full.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means he’s hot.”
“Gia!”
“What? I’m not saying I’m happy to see him or anything. I’m just stating the obvious.”
I winced.
“Surely you can at least admit that he’s even better looking than he was when he was seventeen.”
I glared across the room. “His shoulders might be a little broader, but that’s it.”
“If I remember your eye witness accounts correctly, it wasn’t just the breadth of his shoulders that impressed you.”
“Stop it,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “You’re not helping.”
“Fine,” she said, her mouth curling into a smile. “So you don’t see it. No biggie.”
“Thanks.”
“Does that mean you’re cool with me making a pass because he makes Carlos look like a White Castle Slider.”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
“Whereas he’s a filet mignon.”
I groaned. “First of all, no to your analogy. Second of all, no to you sleeping with the boss. And finally, no to you even making a pass. It’s not appropriate.”
“That’s what I thought,” she said, smirking. “Once your dream guy, always your dream guy.”
I sighed. “Please don’t torment me. I’m under enough pressure to act like this isn’t the worst day of my life.”
“Fine. I’ll back off,” she said. “But I can’t say the same for her.”
I looked back towards Adam and watched as the pretty blonde girl held his attention, laying out what appeared to be swatches of fabric that didn’t match a single room in the hotel.
“He’s going to change everything,” I whispered.
“Except your mind apparently.”
I turned back around. “What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re not going to sleep with him no matter what? Not for old time’s sake? Or to confirm whether or not he’s as good as you remembered him to be?”
“Of course not.”
She nodded. “Okay. Just checking.”
“Do you really think I would sink that low?”
She pressed her lips together.
My mouth fell open.
“All I know is that twenty four hours ago, you would’ve cried happy tears if you thought that guy was coming to town.”
I crossed my arms. “That was yesterday.”
“Then maybe you were right,” she said, turning towards the door.
“About what?” I asked, furrowing my brow.
“About the fact that your love life is obviously cursed.”
Chapter 6: Adam
“That wasn’t exactly the warm reception I was hoping for,” I said, heading for the nearest chair.
“Don’t worry about it,” Carrie said, laying fabric swatches on the table beside me like she was putting together a puzzle. “It’s not your fault. The previous owner clearly didn’t give anyone a heads up that she was going to sell the place.”
“Maybe that’s why I feel so unsettled. Everyone just looked shocked.”
“It will take some time getting them to warm to you, but that’s true of any takeover situation. Once we fix up the first room and they see that you’ve actually come to help as opposed to suck them dry-”
“Suck who dry?”
I looked up towards the familiar voice. Jolie was standing on the opposite side of the table with her arms crossed and her hip cocked.
Carrie’s warm smile failed to melt Jolie’s icy expression. “I was just saying that once you all see the nice improvements we make aesthetically, you’ll realize that Adam means you no harm.”
I stood up. “Carrie, this is Mrs. Monroe’s daughter. She’s the general manager.”
“Oh.” Carrie walked around the table and extended a hand. “I’m Carrie. Adam brought me down to help update the hotel’s décor.”
Jolie took her hand reluctantly. “Jolie,” she said. “
And I’m not sure what Adam’s told you, but this is my hotel, and I’m the one that needs to okay any changes you plan to make. Not him.”
Carrie raised her eyebrows at me and forced a smile. “Of course.”
I nodded. “Jolie’s right. She knows this place inside out and the customers better than anyone- some more than others,” I said, fixing my eyes on her until she blushed. “So when it comes time to choose flower arrangements and curtains, please consider her the boss.”
“I do a lot more than pick the flowers around here,” Jolie snapped. “Which you’d know if you hadn’t just barged in like you own the place.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I do own the place.”
Carrie’s eyes bounced back and forth between us. “I can see that you two have some catching up to do,” she said, opening her purse and sweeping the piled swatches into it. “I’ll go find Ben and catch up with you later, Adam. Nice to meet you, Jolie.” She nodded as she took off, looking back at me with wide eyes after she’d passed Jolie.
“Who’s Ben?” Jolie asked. “Someone else that doesn’t know the place and feels compelled to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong?”
I rested my fingers on the table. “Actually, Ben’s a friend of mine.”
She scoffed.
“He’s in the hospitality business himself, and his father owns the most successful luxury hotel chain in the world.”
She swallowed.
“I thought he might come in handy.”
She looked over her shoulder at the empty conference room behind her.
I used the moment to scan her from head to toe, letting myself wonder if her body was as sensitive as it once was, as tight all over- yet soft in all the right places.
Unfortunately, by the time I was done checking her out, her eyes were back on me, and the face she was making suggested I’d been caught in the act.
“What are you doing here, Adam?” she asked, resting her shiny nails on the opposite side of the table.
“Have a seat,” I said, pulling out a chair.
“I’d rather stand.”
