Coleman waited until the two of them met and shook hands. They paired off immediately and left the room. I guess Greg had the list.
Never in my life had a list of names being called felt like forever.
Finally, Coleman called my name. There were only two people left on the other side of the table, James and a beautiful woman with a long, dark braid.
“Okay, Marika, you’re with Sylvie, head of guest relations.”
My heart stopped for a moment. I gazed at James, who wouldn’t look at me. Was this why he was upset? Was I wrong in thinking he wanted nothing to do with me?
That made me smile. James was disappointed because he wasn’t picked to be my partner. I felt relief and disappointment all at once.
Sylvie rose from her chair, and I noticed her thick braid fell all the way down her back. Wow, that took dedication.
I jumped up from my chair and ran over to her side, throwing my arms around her. My disappointment faded the more I realized it would be better if James and I didn’t partner up. It was too risky. Besides, I was utterly ecstatic that he still wanted to see me. I had yet to see his cock and dreamed of how it would feel inside of me.
“I’m happy to be paired with you, too,” Sylvie said with hesitation.
I pulled away from her and felt heat crawl up my neck. “I’m sorry. I’m just so happy to be a finalist. I guess I got carried away.”
She guided me out of the conference room. “It’s okay. I secretly wanted to be your partner anyway.”
“Really? Why?”
She glanced around to make sure we were alone as we left the room. “Coleman let it slip that James Diaz had a thing for you. I always wondered what the woman who captured James’s heart would be like.”
“Oh, no. That doesn’t sound good.”
“I’m supposed to be showing you to your room. Come on.”
We walked to the elevator, which was one of those old-fashioned ones where you had to close the door yourself in order for it to go up.
I was on the third floor in a corner room, which according to Sylvie, was one of the better rooms.
“I didn’t want to say too much in the hallway, just in case,” Sylvie said as she shut the door to my room. I walked inside with my mouth open. It was huge and gorgeous.
No wonder this place was for the elite. I couldn’t imagine anyone who wasn’t wealthy staying here. One of the walls was painted gold, and there were gold and white accents throughout the room. An enormous set of French doors led to a big balcony with a table and two navy lounge chairs.
I wanted to live here. Except, where would I sleep? I didn’t see a bed, just a white leather couch, light wood coffee table, some navy chairs, and what looked like a marble wet bar. Off in the corner was a desk with a sleek white leather office chair. A gold and crystal chandelier hung above me.
For a moment I wanted to be wealthy and live like this every day. Never have to worry if I would need to fire people because of money or wonder if I would need to give up my business because there weren’t any customers.
But to think that money solved everything was shallow. It helped a lot, but it could never mend a broken heart. My mom knew that, and she ran toward it anyway.
“You know James never dates a woman longer than a few weeks.”
And just like that, all my excitement of this room and happiness that James still wanted me vanished in a puff of billionaire smoke.
Chapter 14
JAMES
“I can do a split...naked,” Belle said in the middle of Blue Bean.
A few people at the tables around us turned their heads. I swallowed and tried to focus on the task at hand, the last item we had to collect for the scavenger hunt.
“It says we need to find a blue bean. Now I know the coffee beans they use here aren’t actually blue—”
“Wouldn’t it be fun to pour coffee beans on ourselves...naked?”
My jaw tightened. This was some sort of evil hell that Coleman cooked up just so I could suffer. Belle was touched, and I didn’t mean by the hand of God.
I turned toward her and plastered on the biggest grin I could muster. “Look, we only have one more thing to find. Let’s focus on that. Since you only have one more night here, I’d think you’d want this to end so you can go enjoy the perks of the resort.”
Like the five-star restaurant where you could stuff your face, and I wouldn’t have to hear you talk anymore.
She pressed her finger to my shoulder and slowly traced a line down my arm. I shuddered with fear and revulsion.
“I thought you were the perk.”
As my eyes widened and traveled the room, glancing at tables filled with white coffee cups and saucers, I prayed for a miracle. And it happened. The table next to where we stood had a man and woman enjoying their coffee. There, on the edge of that small wooden table, a square white napkin shone like an angel emerging from the dark clouds.
I reached over and snatched the napkin up so quickly, the woman only had time to gasp. They glared, but I didn’t care. Yes, it was rude of me to take what wasn’t mine. They didn’t realize it was life and death. While Belle may not have been pointing a gun at me, I wondered sometimes if she would. She had a way about her that screamed unstable and possibly deadly.
“Oh, look. There’s a blue bean on the napkin. We found the last item.” I held it up as proof that our relationship had officially ended.
“But I—”
I shook my head and cut her off, making sure to place the napkin in her hand as I guided her toward the exit of Blue Bean. “It’s okay that I found it. I won’t tell anyone. It’s yours, and you have it. Go and enjoy the rest of the time you have here. I have to go meet with someone about a very important matter.”
We left the café and were entering the lobby when I turned to her. “Please. Let us not say goodbye. Let us leave knowing we always have this napkin.”
I backed away to make sure she didn’t follow. My little speech worked. She stood there waving and not following. Thank goodness.
Once I left the lobby, I picked up my pace and turned a few corners until I was reaching for the door to the man who made all this possible.
“Thanks for Belle.” I marched into Coleman’s office, not bothering to knock.
It didn’t matter; the man looked up with the biggest shit-eating grin I had ever seen. I had to spend the last six days with that crazy contestant and six days avoiding Marika. I was not in a good mood.
“You’re welcome. Belle told me what a fan she was. I had to pair her with you. It’s kismet.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing he was mocking me. What tipped me off? Besides his tone dripping with sarcasm, it was his laughter. The man was chuckling so hard, his face turned pink. I thought he might succumb to an aneurysm from the blood rushing to his head.
Well, two could play at that game. “What you’re telling me is you purposely put me with a contestant because you knew she had feelings for me.”
His laughter slowly died.
“And, not only that, but then I would possibly be biased with her. Whether or not I liked her, which I don’t. Belle has, uh . . . issues.” I shuddered even now remembering what she told me about her third husband, the lion tamer. “That’s a conflict of interest. I don’t think Rock, your boss, would like that.”
“Then why did I suggest it?” A deep voice that was all too familiar came from behind.
I didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was. “It was your idea, Rock?”
My brother strolled up beside me and threw his arm over my shoulder. “Hey, I thought you loved jokes. Isn’t that what you do for a living?”
“Technically, yes, but I’ve got something else in mind for the future—”
“Hold that thought.” Rock pushed his finger into my chest as he breathed into my face.
My eyes burned, and I turned my head to cough into my elbow. “Oh man, have you been drinking?”
My brother’s eyes widened in shock,
and he swayed before stumbling sideways. I grabbed him before he fell. “Yes, a little.” He put his finger and thumb up, pinching the air.
“It’s eleven in the morning,” Coleman commented before pushing out from behind his desk and going over to his office door to shut it.
Rock snorted and held up a ring. “Laura and I had our first fight today.”
I groaned and moved Rock to a chair by Coleman’s desk. “Did she turn you down?”
That’s all we needed, another chef leaving The Blue Spot. When the last chef left, it caused chaos as it was right in the middle of the wedding of the year. It also just so happened to be The Blue Spot’s first big event, and it almost ruined this place until Laura stepped in to save the day.
“Turn me down for what?” Rock shifted in the chair to look up at me, thrusting his top half so much the chair rocked.
“The ring. Why else would you have a ring in your pocket? And you came in here drunk, telling us you had a fight with Laura.”
I glanced at Coleman, and he nodded. For once, we agreed that Rock made it sound like he proposed.
“Oh, I see where you thought that, but you’d be wrong. I keep this in my pocket for luck sometimes. It was Mom’s. I considered selling it once to get enough money for The Blue Spot, but then Hamish said he’d invest, and all was good.”
“What?”
My perfect big brother, who never did anything wrong, was telling me he would sell one of the few things we had left of our mother.
“I didn’t do it, obviously.” Rock straightened, but then leaned forward again while rolling his eyes. “Stop getting your panties in a twist, Joke’in James. Lighten up.”
A knock came at Coleman’s door, and it opened a crack. “There you are,” Monty said and pushed the door open farther.
“Did you know about this?” I pointed to Rock.
“Yes, Rock visited me just before heading here. He slipped away when I had a call from New York.”
“Did Laura leave you?”
Rock rarely drank—none of us drank alcohol much. With an alcoholic in the family, it turned us off to it. Most people liked to say my mom died of a broken heart, but since she had more empty bottles of wine in the trash than food, I’d say she drank herself to death.
But what did I know? I was only fifteen at the time. Rock wouldn’t talk about it, and Monty was too nice. He made excuses.
She was grieving. Let her have another glass. She’s not as young as she used to be, that’s why she fell. It’s the stress of losing her husband that’s affecting her memory . . .
All excuses that painted over the surface of the genuine pain.
“Yes.” Rock’s jaw tightened, making the word sound harsh.
“I’m sorry. But why, if you didn’t propose?”
They had just moved in together. Rock was having a house built nearby for the past year, and it was finally completed. He asked her to move in, and she kept putting him off.
His head fell forward into his hands. “Her sister.”
“The one who has the baby?” I asked.
“Laura has a sister?” Monty asked.
“We’ve only lived together for a week, and already she wants to move back. Says she wants to help her sister with the baby. I think that’s an excuse because, well . . . me.”
I arched a brow. “As someone who grew up with you, I have to say I see where Laura is coming from.”
Monty shook his head. “Not right now, James.”
I held up my hands. “What? All I’m saying is if I had the choice to live with a beautiful woman and her adorable little baby or this . . ..” I pointed at Rock. “I’d choose the mother and child.”
“Never mind him, Rock. You know how James is.” Monty came over to Rock and put his hand on his shoulder as I glared. “Why don’t I talk to Laura for you? Find out what’s really going on.”
There he went again, Monty swooping in to save the day. It was time I stepped up to help. No wonder no one took me seriously. I needed to be more like Monty.
“I could do it. I’ve known Laura longer. I think she’d be more likely to confide in me.” I moved closer until both Monty and I were hovering over our brother.
Rock gazed up with confused and helpless golden-brown eyes. His head turned between us both a few times before he pointed to me and said, “I think Monty should do it.”
Monty pointed to himself. “I’m Monty.”
“Oh.” Rock moved his hand until he was pointing at Monty.
“Really? I’m the one in love, not Monty. He only understands love if it involves RAM, am I right?” I smiled and looked at both my brothers. No one got the joke. “I understand better than him how important this is to you.”
I blinked, a little surprised at myself. I couldn’t believe I was mad because my brother didn’t want me to help him. Usually, I groaned when he reached out to me and asked for anything.
Puffing out my chest, I added, “Love has made me grow as a person.”
Everyone in the room laughed, and my chest slowly deflated.
“I have. When have you known me to want to help Rock?”
The chuckles faded, and Coleman added, “You know, he’s right. James only ever cared about himself before. Complaining when I offered him a position here a year ago.”
Holding up my hand, I said, “I wouldn’t say I only ever cared for myself—”
“Right. He’d whine if I asked him to come down here for an investment meeting, and God forbid I wanted to see him for the holidays,” Rock added.
“That’s not entirely true, Rock, and you know it—”
“James is always coming to me moaning about how everyone just wants a piece of him when all he wants is to be left alone,” Monty exaggerated the last few words, much to the amusement of the other guys.
They laughed and swapped stories about what a dick I was and about my conceit. It was as if I was the thing that brought them together.
I was tired of it. That was the thing about being the baby of the family: I was the human punching bag. Well, no more.
“If I’m such a terrible person, then why does Marika like me so much? A smart woman, who’s beautiful and runs her own business, wants me!” I threw my thumb up to my chest.
They all stopped talking. That shut them up. Good. I gave them all a smug smile until I noticed Monty and Coleman frown, while Rock’s usual hard expression made an appearance as he rose from his chair.
“What was her name?” Rock asked.
Oh, no. Rock didn’t know the woman I had feelings for was Marika, or he’d kick her out of the contest.
“Shit,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Is that the same Marika who’s a contestant?” Rock asked and then hiccupped.
I thought up a thousand lies I could tell him to get out of it. I could tell him “It’s pronounced Marika, but spelled Mereekaa, so there’s a difference.” Also, that I contracted malaria while walking in the mountains and might be hallucinating. Maybe I was sleepwalking and pretending to wake up right at that moment.
Rock wouldn’t believe me. No one would. It was time for the truth.
“Yes. The same one.”
Chapter 15
MARIKA
“Was that a buzzing sound?” I ducked. With a quick glance around the area, I confirmed nothing was flying around me.
I let out a deep breath and straightened.
I was back at the place where James took me for our failed picnic last week. The last remaining item I had to get on the scavenger hunt list was a scenic picture from the local area. I instantly thought of the view from the cliff.
They had filmed a few of our scavenger hunt adventures, like finding a hot stone at the spa or locating a pink rose in the greenhouse. This contest was just one big, expensive advertisement for The Blue Spot.
I should have brought Sylvie with me, but as sweet as she had been, I needed a break. It was my day off from Hard Grind, and I wanted to get outdoors.
With the attention f
rom the contest, I was able to hire another part-time barista. Hard Grind had more customers, and I hoped they didn’t go away once the contest was over. Our new barista began a few days ago, and Susannah took her under her press-on nail wings.
Now that I had a little more free time, I had hoped to run into James. Even coming here, I wondered if he might be here digging prickers out of his legs.
I giggled at the thought. He was wonderful but didn’t understand the first thing about the outdoors.
There was buzzing again, and I jumped. I didn’t want another bee episode.
When I came here the “keep out” sign was still there, but there was also a new gate to keep people out. Thankfully, whoever put up the gate hadn’t yet erected a fence, so I simply walked around it.
Someone probably found out they had trespassers and was tightening security. This would most likely be my last time to enjoy the view. I made a mental note to take a lot of pictures so I could remember the breathtaking view.
No more cliff and no more waterfall.
My cheeks warmed at the memories of James’s lips and fingers made at the waterfall. Would that be weird if I took some pictures of that, too? Probably, but I didn’t care. Only James and I would know what that waterfall meant.
I sighed. I missed him. It had been almost a week since I had seen him. I had hoped I’d run into him at The Blue Spot since I was temporarily living there, but every time I thought I found him, it turned out to be Monty or Rock. The tip off should have been those men wore suits, and James never did.
I guess I was just so desperate to see him that a man standing in a suit who looked like James from behind made my heart trip over itself in hope.
I took a few steps, and as I moved to the top of a small hill, what I witnessed shocked me. There were people in hardhats everywhere. About fifteen of them. This had been turned into a construction site.
Damn, there goes my picture taking.
I wondered if there was another way to the cliff? Perhaps a detour where these guys wouldn’t notice me.
Dating Disaster with a Billionaire (Blue Ridge Mountain Billionaires, #1) Page 9
