11. Grant
11
GRANT
Grant
O n the way out of the museum, I dropped a few large bills into the donation jar to make up for how Elise and I almost crashed into a stand with artifacts. That was how easy it was to lose myself in her. A kiss, her sexy, needy sounds, and the grip of her arms clinging around me.
Elise put a spell on me every time she looked at me with that sultriness she’d never revealed before. She had the ability to make my mind go to the gutter with just a simple glance.
It aggravated me, though, that she could be so clueless about how much she was coming to matter to me. Yes, we were supposed to be pretending that we were engaged. It was all a ploy to dupe the Newmans. That was no damn excuse for her to insist that she didn’t want to interfere or get in the way between me and Samantha, though. And Elise wouldn’t have much ground to stand on after making out with me among the pirate exhibits.
That kiss was real. I meant it when I pressed my lips to her. I wasn’t faking my desire when I held her close and wished I could devour her and sizzle in this chemistry linking us.
Riding back to the resort afterward, I sat next to her and considered how she’d be struggling between the two concepts. She had to pretend to be mine with the caveat that it was founded on lies. But at the same time, she had to deal with this raw and tangible desire we shared.
Once again, I realized how damn stupid my idea was. At first, I almost dismissed the plan to have her be my fiancée because it was a lie. And lying was bad and always bit me in the ass. Now, after having a sample of how great it could be to consider Elise mine, I was stuck in the predicament of lying to myself.
Elise wasn’t just my assistant.
She never had been.
Since the day Derek introduced her to me as another potential candidate, I saw her and knew she’d last. Something about her confident smile, the slight lift of her chin, indicated she wouldn’t take crap from anyone. After trying and failing to find a decent assistant for weeks, she proved to be the one who’d stick. She stuck so well that she seemed more like a friend, an ally, a sounding board, a voice of reason, and an acquaintance who stayed with me when the going got tough, no matter what.
And… she was quite possibly the hottest and sexiest woman I’d ever had the privilege to kiss.
The lines were blurred. They were messy and merging into a confusing mixture of desire and forbidden attraction, so I had no clue what to think or do now.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to scheme how to behave around her after the museum trip.
The Newmans suggested we go kayaking, and it was enough of a preoccupation that I could avoid dwelling on how to act around Elise. The rain from the morning was long gone, and after several hours of kayaking—where I couldn’t kiss Elise because she was in her own boat—we had lunch with the others. Then later, we all headed out for a cruise to watch the dolphins.
Even though we were together, staying in a group helped to keep us from staying all over each other. Elise was genuinely interested in the vacation-like parts of this day, and I wasn’t so greedy as to deprive her from the experiences. It didn’t hurt that Ginny and Elise got along so well. While they chatted and teamed up, I had more chances to talk with Vince. Every conversation seemed to solidify his positive opinion of me, and I knew that being here with Elise and at least looking like I was a lighthearted man in love, not a stiff, formal businessman in an office, had to improve my image.
Eventually, as the day turned to night and we said our goodbyes after dinner, Elise and I headed back to my room. The hotel staff had left us messages that Elise’s room was still closed, so we were stuck together in mine.
With every floor that the elevator lifted us, the tension returned and simmered between us. I watched her as she avoided eye contact, but I couldn’t think of what to say, how to begin to explain that… I wanted this to be real between us, for however long she wanted.
When she did glance up at me, it was a brief glimpse that she didn’t hold for long. “So… it’s just the two of us,” she said shyly when the elevator car stopped and opened to our floor.
“Yeah.” And I like that more than I should.
“No need to put on an act.”
I wasn’t. When I kissed her, upset that she could be so blind to think she wasn’t my type, I wasn’t acting. I kissed her because I wanted to. Because I couldn’t imagine not doing so. Because when she claimed that she had no hold or right to me, I wanted to prove how wrong she was.
She captivated me. I was under a spell of desire—only for her.
“Right.” I refused to show a hint of how much I hated agreeing with that.
I opened the door and let her in first.
“No one is watching us in here,” she said, almost with that breathy, rushed tone she got when she had to ramble when she was nervous. “No need to pretend.”
I wish we didn’t have a reason to pretend anymore. Saying that would be too big of a truth. Too huge of a bombshell. I couldn’t risk making things more awkward between us now.
“I’m going to take the bathroom first, if that’s okay.” She didn’t give me a chance to reply. Grabbing her things, she damn near ran into the bathroom and closed the door.
“Sure,” I muttered to the empty room.
The next morning, I was spared having to address the elephant in the room. Elise slept in, and I sighed in relief. Figuring out how to tell her that my feelings were shifting was impossible, but I knew that something would have to give sooner or later. We’d started down a path of destruction, but I was convinced a compromise had to be waiting for us.
I couldn’t sit here and wait for her to get up, though, so after my morning run—where no grand ideas or solutions came to me about this pesky desire we couldn’t shut off for each other—I showered and grabbed my phone.
Elise was still sleeping in, no doubt more tired than usual with all the sun and fun from the day before. Instead of bothering her, I stepped out onto the balcony and called my brother.
I hadn’t checked in with him yet, and I was slightly surprised he hadn’t called me, either. He was aware of my dumb idea for this fake engagement, but he hadn’t checked in to see if it was working.
It was. With Elise’s charm around the Newmans and how well we just clicked as a pretend couple who knew everything about each other, my efforts weren’t done in vain. Vince had to be appreciating this settled perspective of me to the point he’d be ready to sell the company today.
“Hello? Oh, wait. No, it’s just—” Shuffles sounded from Derek’s line when he answered. Then a woman’s quiet “Sorry” filled in from the background.
I frowned, alarmed that he’d have a woman over. “Derek?”
“Hey, bro. How’s it going?” He sounded chipper and relaxed, but the yawn that followed his greeting suggested he was still getting out of bed.
“Do you have a woman over?”
“Uh, no?”
“You’re supposed to be lying low, not sleeping around.”
“I’m not. I don’t have a woman over. But I stayed over with a, um, a friend.”
I closed my eyes tight, annoyed. “Derek.”
“I know. I know , Grant.”
He always said that. For as much as my brother claimed to know he was screwing up, he never corrected his behavior. “The last thing we need right now is you acting like a player again, sleeping around and?—”
“I’m not.”
He was up to something. I could tell from the tone of his voice. He was hiding something that he figured I wouldn’t want to hear about. Here I was, trying to save our image and make us not look like immature young idiot brothers but dependable men.
“When are you going to grow up?” I sighed and shook my head. After the way our father succumbed to drinking and gambling with our fortunes before handing us the company he brought to such success, I counted on Derek and myself to show extreme opposites. I was the overachieving rule follower while he was the reckless rebel. We were poster children of alcoholics, and I worried that he’d start down a bad spiral he couldn’t climb out of.
“Man.” Derek blew out a long gust of a sigh. “I’m not that bad. I’m telling you, half the shit you see online and hear about is blown out of proportion. I know it looks bad. I won’t deny that. But you know me . You know I’m not the irresponsible idiot everyone makes me out to be.”
I frowned, staring absently at the horizon. “I do know what kind of a person you are. I do, Derek.” As much as he was a partying, fun-loving charmer, he was a wickedly smart and driven man. If he wasn’t, he would’ve brought the company to ruins in the last eight years.
“You’re so stressed about our reputation and how we look. How attractive of a buyer we can be for Newman.”
“Because it matters.”
Shuffles sounded from his end, like he was walking through his apartment. “It does. I get that.”
If we didn’t buy Newman Inc., our competitors would and we’d be facing tough times.
“But you have got to learn to live a little, too.” He grunted. “Life is too damn short to only focus on work.”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see it. His words held merit, but I was already aware of what he wanted to explain. Being here with Elise was emphasizing that point. She represented my work life. She was an important part of it, as my assistant and always at the office. But seeing her here in a different light, she showed me that things didn’t always have to be the same. That I could open up more.
“Life is too damn short,” Derek repeated. “Some days, I can’t believe Julie’s been gone for nine years already. It feels like it was just yesterday at the same time it feels like a lifetime ago.”
I hung my head, saddened by the reminder of Derek’s first wife. He married his high school sweetheart so young, but she didn’t survive from a mistake made during a routine outpatient surgery. Medical errors happened, but it shouldn’t have taken his wife. Not then. Not ever. He persevered through therapy, and I truly believed that our taking over the company from our drunk dad helped give him a sense of purpose at first. Lately, though, it seemed he needed something more from life.
“I met someone?—”
I jerked my face up and frowned. “Since… two days ago?”
“No. But… she’s changing me.”
“That soon?”
He laughed lightly. “I met her a while back, but we never really clicked. Over this weekend, I’m starting to see how she’s the kind of woman every man needs to meet at least once.”
That’s fast. I tried not to be a negative ass and doubt where his intentions came from. Getting some from an old friend wasn’t a horrible idea. But he seemed serious.
“What, like she’s the one ?” I asked carefully. Julie had been his one, and he lost her.
“Just someone worth changing for. To encourage me to ‘grow up’ and be this responsible adult you’re hoping I’ll turn into someday.”
I chuckled with him. I remained skeptical, but hope blossomed.
Strangely enough, I felt like I could understand exactly what he was saying. Being on this island with Elise had been a good change for me, too. She was already a familiar person, a source of comfort and companionship in the office. Here, as we loosened up to enjoy the beach and look like a couple, I knew that she was the kind of woman Derek was talking about.
I could lean on Elise. I had for a long time, and I was floored with how desperately I wanted her to know she could lean on me too.
She inspired me to bicker and argue, but she also motivated me to impress her, however I could.
“Just…” I sighed, at a loss for what to tell my brother. “Just be careful.”
I cringed, realizing I should apply that to myself as I considered how Elise and I could ever try to go from boss and employee to something much more lasting.