Chapter 3
The Fantasy guestswere here.
And some had immediately stripped down and were naked.
Oh God.
Charlotte stood in the center of the villa’s spacious pavilion and glanced toward the ocean, avoiding people, all people, and tapped a nervous hand against her outer thigh. She could look at the pool, the kitchen and dining areas, the bay of luxury casitas, and sitting areas A and B. Anywhere but at the naked people.
She decided to focus on her quickly written checklist and pulled her cell phone from her pocket. She nodded to herself as she went over the list. All twenty guest casitas had clean bedding, towels and necessary supplies. Those supplies included a first aid kit, a dozen water bottles and canned and wrapped food for three days. She’d profusely thanked the two maids who’d outfitted all the rooms and promised them bonuses for their efforts. Taking care of twenty-two was a whole lot different than two.
Stephanie’s delivery of food had also arrived with cartons of fresh produce and enough seafood and meat to feed two-hundred people. Charlotte smiled when she’d read Stephanie’s note to Sam: “I know it’s a lot of food, but I don’t want anyone to go hungry.”
With so many options, Charlotte had decided to make lime-marinated grilled fish, pressure cooker beef carnitas and chicken fajitas along with the traditional Mexican fare of rice, beans, tortillas, guacamole and pico de gallo. It would be simple but tasty, and everyone would enjoy.
That is if all the guests decided to get out of the pool and get dressed.
Sam joined her on the pavilion. “Everything okay so far?”
She raised her brows as high as she could. “Just fine.”
He leaned over to murmur in her ear. “I promise it’s only for a few days.”
A dark-haired woman with big, bare breasts swam up to the edge of the pool. She stood, putting those impressive breasts on full display. “Sam, as soon as we heard you’d be here, we’ve been looking forward to playing with you.” She smiled wide, showing off the whitest teeth. “Come in and join us. We wanted to get in some pool time before the storm.”
Sam chuckled and took a step toward the pool. He offered a wave. “Maybe later. Charlotte and I are getting everybody settled.”
“Charlotte should join us too,” the woman replied.
Charlotte clasped her hands together and offered a friendly nod. “I’d love to, but we’ve got a lot to do.”
She grabbed onto Sam’s arm and led him away from the pool. She scratched at the back of her head, her gaze darting from Sam to the naked people in the water. “You already know these people?”
“I’m acquainted with some,” he said, then glanced down at his phone, his thumb scrolling down what looked like a long message. He turned and faced her. “Let’s take care of the folks ready to check in.”
“You mean the ones wearing clothes?”
The guests not in the pool had congregated around sitting area A, a set of tables and lounge chairs under a shady awning at the back of the pavilion. Pretty woven baskets overflowing with hibiscus and red ginger were nestled between and around the bright white furnishings.
Sam lifted a hand and beckoned the group closer. “Stephanie made some suggestions regarding rooms, and Charlotte took care of everything.” He read off the list of assignments—calling out first names only—and handed out keys. “All the casitas have a fabulous view. There will be a Fantasy ice breaker and cocktails in one hour.”
When Sam finished giving out the keys to the pavilion group, and left keys and room information for the pool people, he put a palm on Charlotte’s shoulder. “Let’s check out the supplies in our rooms to make sure we’ve got what we might need in a hurricane.”
As soon as they stepped off the concrete floor of the pavilion, the wild vines and dense shrubs and trees of the jungle surrounded them. Sam held back the thick foliage with one arm as he created a path. “Watch out,” he cautioned as one palette of palm fronds escaped his reach and slapped back at her.
She blocked the branches with her hands and laughed. “I’m okay—and you say that every time we’re at this spot.”
They traipsed through the thick jungle as small palm trees with long, thick leaves stretched yards and blocked the path.
When they’d arrived at the villa days ago, Charlotte hadn’t wanted to be so far from the pavilion. But now it gave her some nice distance from the larger group.
Sam nodded toward a group of stone steps embedded with soft blue tiles that Charlotte declared the prettiest on the property. They were worn but sturdy, and she’d made him promise to never replace them. Charlotte looked over her shoulder and stared back at the wild brush. This was what a jungle resort was supposed to be.
At the top of the steps, Sam pushed through another thick grove of small palms and landed on a plateau with two cute Adobe-style houses positioned side by side, painted bright pink and capped with turquoise domes. Heavy bamboo railings surrounded the small buildings, providing a protective guard from the jungle floor hundreds of feet below.
“Every time I see this view, I think how amazing it is.” She hurried to the railing and looked over the edge.
“I agree.” Sam opened the wooden door to his room. “Let’s verify both our rooms have all the supplies we’re supposed to have.”
Charlotte strode into her casita and sighed with pleasure. Bright sunlight streamed into the room, kissing the white, sun-washed walls. The four-poster bed was also white with layers of delicate linens and gauzy fabric hanging from the ceiling.
But the best part of all were the large French doors with a panoramic view of the jungle. Palm trees, so many palms, swayed in the gentle breeze.
Charlotte loved this place.
Then she remembered why they’d come back to their rooms and checked for the first aid kit, water bottles and emergency food. “All good here,” she called out to Sam.
Sam strode into her room. “My place is set too.” He lifted his arms to stretch then pulled his cell phone from his back pocket. “I love Stephanie, but she has a list of things for me to do with the group. She just sent over questions I’m to ask during the ice breaker.”
“She’s organized.”
“That she is. You’re going to join us, right?”
“Me? No, no.” She shook her head from side to side. “I have a lot of cooking to do. Cooking for a large group is different from just cooking for you and me.”
“We have staff here who can help.”
She wrinkled her nose. Recruiting inexperienced helpers never worked. “I’d have to spend more time showing them what to do.”
“Okay.” He gave her hand a squeeze and turned toward the door. “I’ll see you out there soon.”
The door closed behind Sam, and Charlotte took several small steps toward the French doors she loved so much. Had she ever seen so much green before? She closed her eyes and sighed.
The last few days had been busy ones. But she’d loved this time with Sam. Now everything had changed.
She knew Sam regularly visited the Fantasy club in New York. It was on his schedule, and he’d done nothing to hide it. But every time a Fantasy date appeared on his calendar, her stomach twisted a little. And sometimes more than a little.
It was stupid, absolutely insane to care. They’d become close during her time working for him, but not that kind of close.
Now she was coming face to face with women he’d met there, women who knew him intimately.
Not surprisingly, these women were gorgeous, and they had the money to purchase the perfect hair, perfect nails, perfect everything. Charlotte had seen the costs of a Fantasy membership and Fantasy adventure. Whoa! Not in a million years could she, a person who lived in the real world not in the stratosphere, afford something like that.
So it was time for her to buck up. The next few days would likely be weird, but she’d dealt with weird plenty of times in her life. If she focused on cooking—and not on Sam or the gorgeous Fantasy guests—it would be fine.