Maybe she really was ready to let go at last—not just saying the words to win his support and his money.
And if so...hopefully what he had planned for the night would help her make that leap.
* * *
The Library of Celsus might just be her favourite part of Ephesus, Sadie decided as she ran her fingers along the delicately carved stonework. It never ceased to amaze her, just imagining all the learning and history the place must have held once. One of the later buildings, from the Roman period, its magnificence had only lasted one hundred and forty-two years before an earthquake and ensuing fire had destroyed it, leaving only the façade—and even that had perished a couple of hundred years later, in another earthquake.
Strange to think that the beauty she stared at now had been rebuilt by modern hands; that they’d found a way to bring some life back to a pile of rubble. But they had. Maybe she could, too.
Turning, she saw Dylan standing at the bottom of the library steps, staring up at the columns and statues. Smiling, she trotted over to join him. She’d known that Ephesus would be just the distraction they needed—especially after that morning. No business, nothing personal—just ancient history.
‘It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?’ Sadie moved to stand beside him, looking back at the façade again.
‘It’s certainly impressive,’ Dylan agreed.
‘So much history... A whole different world really.’ Just where she wanted to be today.
Dylan turned to her, eyes obscured by his sunglasses. ‘You know, I don’t remember you being so much of a history buff when we were younger.’
Sadie shrugged. ‘Maybe I wasn’t, back when the history around me was so familiar. But here...the history here blows me away. I want to know all of it.’
‘Why?’ Dylan asked, and she frowned at him. She should have known Mr Next Big Thing wouldn’t get the appeal of bygone days. ‘No, seriously, I’m curious. Why does it matter so much to you?’
‘I guess because...well, it shows us where we came from. Where we’ve been and how far there still is to go. There’s a lot of lessons in history.’
‘Perhaps.’ Dylan looked away, back at the library again. ‘But I’m not so sure it can tell us what happens next.’
‘You’ve never heard of history repeating itself?’ she asked.
‘Of course. But I like to think that we’re more than just the sum of what has happened to us.’
Sadie followed his gaze back to the library façade. Suddenly she could see the cracks, the places it had been repaired, and where parts were still missing, in a way she never had before.
She was also pretty sure they weren’t talking about the Ancient Greeks and Romans any more.
Was he right? Were they more than their history?
How could he say that when everything he’d told her that morning—about his dad, his family—had so clearly formed him into exactly the sort of man he was? Of course he didn’t believe he could do commitment, coming from a family like that. It had even explained to her why he was so desperate not to miss chances—how many opportunities must he have given up to look after his mother and sister? It was a miracle he’d ever made it to university to meet Adem in the first place.
‘Come on,’ Dylan said, tugging on her arm. ‘Let’s keep going or we’ll never see everything.’
Side by side, they climbed the paved hill through more terraces and temples and half-reassembled mosaics through the rest of the town.
‘I mean, look at the people who lived here,’ Dylan said suddenly, and Sadie frowned, trying to cast her mind back to the conversation they’d been having.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, they built this fantastic city, survived invasions and slaughters, were Greek, Roman, Byzantine...then the river silted up, the earthquakes hit, and the place started falling apart. And I bet you they never saw it coming—even though it had all happened before—however well they knew their own history.’
‘I guess there are always twists and turns we can’t predict,’ Sadie admitted. ‘And maybe sometimes we just choose to hope for the best instead.’ Like she had, hoping for a long, happy life with her husband.
‘You know that better than most, huh?’ He gave her an apologetic half-smile, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, not really. She just wasn’t meant to live happily ever after, it seemed. Not his fault. ‘It’s just kind of sad to think of all those people watching the harbour silt up, losing their access to the Aegean—the only thing that made this place matter—and realising there was nothing to stay for any more.’
Nothing to stay for... The words pricked at her mind, and she knew she’d been right, back at the library, to think they weren’t really talking history any more.
‘Is this some convoluted way of telling me that you think my harbour is silting up?’ she asked sharply, stopping in the middle of the path and not even caring about the tourists behind who had to swerve suddenly. The anger bubbling up as she reran his words in her head mattered more.
Dylan glanced back at her and stopped walking himself. ‘Your harbour?’ he asked, voice laced with confusion.
‘The Azure,’ Sadie snapped. As if he didn’t know what she was talking about. ‘Look, just lose the metaphor. If you think there’s no future for my hotel, that it can’t be saved, tell me now.’
‘You’re wrong.’ Dylan shook his head.
‘Am I really?’ Folding her arms across her chest, Sadie tapped one foot against the ancient stones and waited for him to deny it again.
If he dared.
* * *
Had the woman actually lost her mind this time?
Dylan grabbed Sadie’s arm and pulled her away from the middle of the path into the shade of a gnarled old tree beside a tumbledown wall. Maybe the heat was getting to her. He fished in his bag for a bottle of water and handed it to her.
‘Drink some of this,’ he said, sighing when she managed to do so without breaking her glare at him. ‘Look, I believe the Azure can be saved, okay? I’m just not sure that you’re the person to do it.’
She lowered the bottle from her lips, her expression crestfallen. ‘You don’t think I can do it.’
He bit back a curse. That was not what he’d meant. God, how many ways could he mess this up? ‘I’m very sure that you can. But I’m still not convinced that you really want to.’
‘We’re back to this?’ She shoved the bottle back into his hands and cool droplets dribbled out onto his fingers. ‘I’ve given you a million reasons—’
‘And none of them are “because it’s the work I know I was born to do”.’
‘Who has that? No one, Dylan. No one else expects that from their job.’
‘You should.’ He took a long drink of water. ‘The difference between you and most people is that this isn’t your only option. And obligation isn’t passion, Sadie.’
‘Fine.’ She shook her head, stepping away from him. The extra distance felt like miles instead of inches. ‘If this is too big a project for you, too big a commitment, just say so. I’ll find some other way to save the Azure.’
She would too, he knew. Sighing, he rubbed a fist across his tired eyes. How had a simple sightseeing trip grown so complicated?
‘I know things have been weird between us this week.’ Her tone was softer now, and it only made him more nervous. ‘But I swear I’m not asking for anything beyond your business and financial support, if that’s what you’re worried about. I... I think that maybe there could be something between us, yes. But I’m not trying to tie you down, or drag you away from your other opportunities.’
Something between us... Wasn’t that the understatement of the year?
‘I never thought you were.’ At least he hadn’t. Until she’d said that.
‘Well...good.’ She shifte
d awkwardly from one foot to the other, and he was pretty sure the faint pink flush on her cheeks wasn’t just to do with the sun. ‘So. Are you in, or not?’
She wanted an answer now. After days of dancing around everything between them—history, business, attraction—suddenly she needed to know. Of course she did.
‘Can we discuss this at dinner?’ he asked. If he’d read things right, tonight would be the perfect time to present his whole proposal in one go. A chance for them to maybe think about the future for once, instead of the past.
And he reckoned the odds on her saying yes were much better there than here at the side of the road through an abandoned city.
But Sadie stood her ground. ‘No. I need to know now. Will you recommend investing in the Azure to your board?’
When had she got so stubborn? Or had she always been this way? Was it one of the things Adem had loved about her? He could hardly remember. The Sadie that had been had almost entirely given way to the new one, the one he’d spent the last week falling for.
He took a deep breath and dived in.
‘I have a proposal for you,’ he said, wishing his heart wasn’t beating so loudly.
‘Another one?’
‘Yes. I’ll help you save the Azure, if that’s what you really want.’
‘It is.’ The words came fast enough, but did he hear a flicker of doubt behind them?
‘You might want to wait and hear me out before you make that decision.’
She shook her head. ‘I’m sure.’
‘Really? Because I think you want something more. And I can give that to you.’ He could see her considering it, the temptation on her face clear.
‘What?’ she finally asked, a little grudgingly.
And here they were. His one chance to win her away from this place. ‘I recently took over a chain of hotels—mostly in the UK. I want to turn them into luxury spa hotels—and I think you’d be the person to help develop the spa aspect of them.’
Temptation gave way to shock as her eyebrows rose, frozen high on her forehead. ‘I don’t... I don’t know what to say.’
Which meant she was considering it, right? Time to press the advantage.
‘You’d be home in Britain, with your family,’ he said, knowing he was sweetening the deal with every word. He’d spent enough time with her that week that he knew what she wanted—even if she wouldn’t admit it. ‘Finn would have your parents close too. You’d have support, help—and a generous, regular salary. If you really wanted, we could bring the Azure under the chain umbrella, put a new manager in charge...but it would still be yours and Finn’s.’ He had no idea how that would even work, or what his lawyers would say about it, but he’d say anything to get her to take the deal.
To have a reason to keep her close, to see her regularly, to have her in his life. However he could get her.
But it was more than that, he insisted silently. It was the right thing for her, too. And an opportunity most people would bite his hand off for.
Not Sadie, though. She still looked torn.
‘Just think about it,’ he said, and she nodded absently, her lower lip caught between her teeth.
He couldn’t resist. The timing was wrong, nothing was as he had planned, they still had business to resolve, but he had to kiss her now. Before he went insane with wanting it.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SHE KNEW WHAT he was going to do a split second before he moved, could see it in his eyes, the way they softened and warmed. And, just like last time, Sadie knew she should pull away, back off, escape.
Except she didn’t.
His hand came up to her waist and she let it, drawing a breath that burned her lungs at the touch. And when he dipped his head, she raised her chin to meet him, her lips aligning perfectly with his, as if they were meant to be kissed.
As if she’d been waiting her whole life for this.
Had that small, contented noise really come from her mouth? From the way Dylan wrapped his other arm around her, hauling her tight against his body as he deepened the kiss, she suspected it had. And she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that their whole week together had been building up to this. She didn’t know if it was history repeating itself, or the future imposing on her determination to cling onto the past, but this, this moment, this kiss, had always been inevitable.
It was what followed that was completely unclear.
After long, long, perfect moments Dylan pulled back, just enough to allow air between their lips again. His face was still so close that she could see every fleck of colour in his eyes, every hint of worry in his expression. He didn’t know what happened next either, and somehow that made her feel a little better.
‘So you’ll think about it?’ Dylan cleared his throat. ‘My business proposal, I mean.’
Her eyes fluttering closed, Sadie let out a low laugh. All business, this man. ‘Yes. I’ll think about it.’
His hands dropped from her waist and she stepped back, sucking in the air that seemed to have disappeared for the length of their kiss.
‘We should get back,’ Dylan said. ‘I have something great planned for tonight, and you’re not going to want to miss it.’
Something more spectacular than that kiss? Sadie doubted it. ‘There’s not much more to see anyway. Just the gift shop. If you think you can live without a magnetic Library of Celsus...’
‘I don’t think I need anything more to remember this day by,’ Dylan said, his gaze fixed on hers. ‘I won’t be forgetting our time in Ephesus in a hurry.’
‘Neither will I,’ Sadie admitted.
They made their way slowly back down the hill, inches separating them. Sadie wondered if she should be holding his hand—back when she’d last kissed someone for the first time, that had been the sort of thing you did afterwards. But, then, Dylan had never struck her as a handholding type.
She had too much to think about to make conversation on the drive back to the Azure, or do more than clench her jaw a little tighter when they passed the spot where they’d stopped earlier. Dylan’s offer, for one, quite apart from that heartstopping kiss.
Why was he offering her this now? He’d come here to help bail out the Azure, but now it seemed he had other plans entirely. And as much as she appreciated him thinking of her...she couldn’t help but wonder if this was just his way of keeping her close without actually having to commit to her in any way.
It was a stupid thought. They’d shared one kiss, that was all. But if they did decide to take things further...what happened next? What could happen, when Dylan had made it very clear that he wasn’t the sort of man who stuck around?
Maybe she needed to separate the business from the personal—except that was impossible when her late husband’s legacy was her business, and his best friend’s job offer might just be a coded message for, ‘Let’s be friends with benefits.’
No, that wasn’t fair. Whatever there was between her and Dylan, it was more than that, she could feel it. What was between them mattered.
But not enough for him to change his whole life philosophy—if she even wanted him to.
She sighed. If she took the job, it would mean abandoning her commitments here. And even if it was what she wanted to do, was it worth the risk to her heart? Dylan Jacobs had held a tiny corner of it for a very long time, she finally admitted to herself, and if she let him take more...well, she might not get it back.
And that was a big risk to take, for anyone.
‘You okay?’ Dylan asked.
She nodded, then realised she was already parked outside the Azure. When had that happened?
‘What’s the plan for tonight?’ she asked unenthusiastically. She needed a long bath and an early night to think about her options, but it was Dylan’s last night.
He flashed her an enigmatic
smile as he climbed out of the car. ‘Just meet me in the lobby at eight. It’s a surprise.’
Just what she needed. More unexpected things happening in her life. ‘Can you at least tell me what I should wear?’
‘Anything you like.’ He leaned back inside the car and pressed a swift kiss to her lips. ‘You always look beautiful to me.’
And then he was gone, skipping up the steps to the Azure Hotel and leaving Sadie feeling more confused than ever.
* * *
Dylan refused to pace the lobby this time. The car was waiting outside, he was suited and booted in his best dinner suit and a crisp, new white shirt. Everything was going to be perfect.
As soon as Sadie showed up.
She didn’t keep him waiting too long. He turned as the elevator let out its familiar ping and watched breathlessly as the doors opened and Sadie stepped out.
‘Wow.’ He’d been aiming for something more eloquent, but from the pink that hit her cheeks, honesty worked just as well. ‘You look spectacular.’
‘Thanks.’ She looked down at her red cocktail dress and swirled her hips a little, making it rise and fall. The movement made every muscle in Dylan’s body tighten.
If he didn’t know better, he’d say that Sadie had plans for tonight, too.
‘I’ve been saving it for a special occasion,’ she said, taking his arm as they walked out of the hotel together. ‘I thought that tonight might fit the bill.’
‘I hope so.’ Now that he was close enough he could feel the slight tremor in her hands, hear the tiny wobble in her voice. Dress aside, she wasn’t as confident as she was making out. It made him feel a little better, actually—because his confidence was giving way to nerves by the second.
‘I, uh, I emailed you the proposal. For the Azure, I mean.’ Had she? He hadn’t checked. And that in itself told him that his priorities were shifting. ‘We could look through it later tonight, if you wanted...’
Dylan shook his head. ‘It can wait until tomorrow.’ Tonight couldn’t be about business, he could sense that. It needed to be about them. But the two were so closely linked...would they really be able to untangle them?
A Proposal Worth Millions Page 13
