Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
J ade hummed as she opened the box of books that had just been delivered. As per Daisy’s instructions, she set about checking and logging the order. Flo was due any minute and she wondered what her boss would think to the display she’d spent the morning putting together, in between the customers she’d served. She’d gone rainbow crazy, and the colourful theme didn’t just flow through the book stacks on the coffee table and display shelves, it extended to the balloons she’d bought and hung this morning (maybe that did look a bit like a kids party?) and the cushions on the sofa (some found, some borrowed from the resort).
If running a shop was all about making it look impactful, she had this nailed.
‘Hello!’
Jade jumped to her feet, and smiled when she caught sight of the person stepping into the shop. ‘Oh wow, I was just thinking about you, and here you are.’
Flo, looking funky and elegant in a flowing, brightly patterned jumpsuit, smiled back. ‘Here I am.’
‘It’s so fab to finally see you in person after all those frigging Zoom calls.’ Jade rushed up to her, then halted, letting out an embarrassed laugh. ‘I was going to hug you, but then I realised that’s probably not appropriate as you’re my boss.’
Something flashed across the older lady’s face, but before Jade could wonder what was wrong, Flo put her arms round her. ‘We can hug.’
‘I’m so grateful you gave me this opportunity,’ Jade babbled, unable to stop the words flowing. ‘It’s totally awesome to be here. The shop is about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen, and I promise I’m going to do you proud and keep it looking amazing.’ A deep sigh echoed from Flo and as she drew back from the hug, Jade felt a jolt of panic at the expression on her boss’s face. ‘Oh, God, have I mucked up already? I thought it would be okay to rearrange things a bit but?—’
‘Good Lord, you’ve done nothing wrong.’ Flo clasped her hands, ‘It’s me who’s mucked up.’ With a tight nod, she indicated to the squishy sofa. ‘Shall we take a seat?’
‘Um, okay.’ There was something about the pinched way Flo smiled, the stiff way she walked, that spread alarm through Jade as she followed her.
‘There’s no easy way for me to say this,’ Flo began the moment she sat down. ‘I’ve sold the wharf to the resort.’
‘Oh.’ Jade wasn’t sure how to react.
‘It means the bookstore belongs to the new owners, too.’
‘So you’re not going to be my boss anymore?’
‘No.’
The door chime sounded, indicating another customer. They both turned to see who had walked in, and Jade sucked in a breath. She was dimly aware of Flo saying something but she was too distracted by the sight of the man striding in to hear what she said.
Liam, all business in chinos and an expensive-looking blue linen jacket, slid off his shades and headed towards them with a purposeful air. He knows you work here. This isn’t a coincidence. With her heart hammering, she took a moment to remind herself to breathe, another to smile in greeting.
‘Hi. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.’ Had he come to ask her out again? She could barely speak past the wild fluttering in her chest. ‘I didn’t think you liked books.’
‘I don’t.’
His face was guarded, his eyes blank. As if they’d never met. ‘Oh, you don’t have to worry about talking to me in front of Flo. She’s not a customer. Or even my boss, which she would have been if you’d come in five minutes earlier, but apparently she’s sold the shop and now I’ve got a new boss.’
His expression tightened and she wanted to ask why he was acting so weird, but Flo was talking to her and demanding her attention instead. ‘Sorry Flo, what did you say?’
Flo cleared her throat. ‘I said Liam is your new boss.’
‘He… What?’
‘He’s your new boss.’
Confused, she swivelled to face Liam again. ‘ You’ve taken over the bookstore?’ This had to be a joke. ‘But you don’t even like books.’
A muscle flexed in his jaw and though his eyes met hers, they didn’t linger, shifting instead to look at Flo. ‘I’m the new owner of the wharf and this building, yes. It’s going to be absorbed into the resort.’
‘Oh.’ She’d slept with her boss. Her stomach rolled. Yeah, that wasn’t good, not good at all. She hadn’t known he’d be her boss, though, so surely she could give herself a break. But… the queasy feeling returned. ‘Did you know? When we…’ She trailed off as she realised Flo was watching them with obvious interest. ‘Er, when we met, did you know you were going to be my boss?’
That muscle jumped again. ‘When we first met, no.’
First? Did that mean he knew later? But she couldn’t ask, not with Flo there. ‘Okay, so this is a bit, er, unexpected. And awkward,’ she tagged on, aware of a heavy tension in the air. Bad enough in a usual place of work, but in this place of calm, bibliophilic beauty, it felt blasphemous.
‘I’m sure Flo will want to discuss this further with you. I just came to… introduce myself.’
A slight flush crept over his cheeks and if she’d hadn’t felt so off-balanced, she might have found it interesting, even a little endearing, to see him so uncomfortable. ‘Pretty sure we’ve already moved past the introduction phase, boss .’
The flush deepened and he looked as if he was about to say something but then gave a little shake of his head. ‘Perhaps when you’ve finished talking to Flo you can come to my office in the resort.’
So business-like, impersonal. No trace of the man who’d walked her back last night. Who’d had his hands, and his mouth, on every part of her body. Don’t think about it . She straightened her back, looked him in the eye. ‘Is that an order?’
He let out a heavy exhale. ‘It’s a polite request.’
With an abrupt nod, he turned and strode out, leaving in his wake a lingering hint of very male cologne and a heavily charged atmosphere.
‘I’m sorry to do this to you,’ Flo broke the silence, her expression full of apology. ‘When I hired you, I fully intended to let the contract run and then sell, but a few weeks ago my sons announced their business had taken another hit and they were going to become bankrupt if they didn’t get a loan now. Of course, you’d already booked your flight and organised the time off work. Plus you were so excited about coming here.’ She let out a deep sigh. ‘Call me an old fool but I thought if I kept putting off the sale, things would work out and my sons would find the money another way.’ She gave Jade a sad smile. ‘I love my children, would do anything for them, but sometimes they drive me crazy.’
‘It’s okay. I understand. My parents would do the same for me and my sister.’ Well, they definitely would for Lauren and they probably would for Jade, too, because they loved her– they’d just be less certain of ever getting the money back.
‘He has promised you’ll still be able to stay for the full three months, but I only have his word on that. His lawyers refused to put anything into the contract, and frankly they had me over a barrel because the wharf isn’t worth the money he’s paying to anyone else.’ She smiled sadly, covering one of Jade’s hands with her own. ‘I want you to know I still have faith that you’ll be a real asset to Little Bay Book Shack. I’m sure you’ll be able to convince Liam Haven of that, too.’
Liam Haven . Holy shit, it was slowly sinking in. The yacht’s name, Ocean Haven , which was the same name as that of the resort. She hadn’t just slept with her new boss. She’d slept with a man who owned the whole frigging resort.
Flo coughed. ‘It’s none of my business, but I get the sense you two already know each other?’
‘Sort of. At least, I thought I knew him a little bit. Now I’m not sure.’
Flo slowly climbed to her feet, bangles jangling. ‘Well, I’m afraid this is goodbye, dear. Remember I’m always at the end of the phone if you want any advice.’ She gave Jade a tight hug and started walking towards the door. When she opened it, she halted and glanced back at her. ‘I know it’s none of my business, but I’d be very wary of climbing into bed with Liam Haven. He has a reputation of being ruthless, both in business and his personal life.’ She smiled, as if trying to soften her words. ‘Good luck, dear.’
Ruthless. Yeah, she wasn’t kidding. As Jade watched the woman she’d managed to convince to hire her disappear out of her life, anger mixed with a massive swell of self-disgust. Only a few days into her supposed life-altering three months, and already she’d fallen back into old habits, showing herself to be utterly stupid when it came to men.
* * *
At the tap on his door, Liam’s pulse kicked up a gear, only to settle immediately when he saw his deputy’s face.
‘Jeremy.’
The man’s ginger eyebrows flew up to his hairline. ‘You don’t sound happy. And there was me thinking that now you’ve secured the deal on the wharf, you’d be in a sunny mood this morning.’ He waved a hand in Liam’s direction. ‘Let me rephrase that, because sunny is most certainly not a mood I could ever associate with you. How about instead I ask who pissed you off this morning?’
‘Nobody.’ It was himself Liam was annoyed at. He was accustomed to taking tough decisions, having difficult conversations, but the one he was about to have with Jade was causing his stomach to churn. ‘What do you want?’
Ignoring his abruptness, Jeremy sauntered into the office and dropped elegantly into the chair opposite. ‘I bring good news. The supply issue from yesterday is resolved, so we’re running on full menus again and the shower in the presidential suite has been fixed. The couple moved back this morning and graciously accepted our offer of free food and drink for the rest of their stay.’
Liam baulked. ‘Who agreed that?’
‘I did. Better to be in the red with happy guests than in the black with angry ones. Happy guests will come back, spend lots of money on their return, and sing your praises to their rich friends who will then book their own holiday here and spend lots of money?—’
‘I get the picture,’ Liam interrupted. He didn’t like giving anything away free to people rich enough to squander ten-thousand dollars on a night in a hotel, but this was why he employed Jeremy. To be the light to his dark.
‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ They both turned to find Jade standing in the doorway, cheeks flushed. ‘I knocked, and I thought I heard someone say come in, but obviously I just heard a voice, and assumed it said come in.’ Her gaze jumped to Jeremy and back to Liam, before giving him a smile he knew to be forced because he’d seen her real one. ‘I’ll just turn right round and wait outside. Pretend I wasn’t here.’
That, Liam thought with a flare of annoyance, was damn near impossible. As if he could read his mind, and Liam hoped to Christ he couldn’t, Jeremy let out a low whistle the moment the door clicked shut. ‘And who is that?’
If Jeremy wasn’t a gay, engaged man, Liam had an unnerving feeling he’d have been annoyed at his interest. ‘Jade. She arrived a couple of days ago to run the bookstore.’
‘Ah, another of Flo’s band of super-keen temps eager to leave their stamp on the Little Bay Book Shack.’ Jeremy studied him a moment. ‘Does she know you plan on bulldozing the place she’s spent the last few months in a state of giddy excitement about running?’
Annoyance bubbled. ‘Not yet, but it’s hardly my issue. Flo employed her.’
‘Yes, but now you’re about to throw her dream onto a bonfire and light the match.’
‘Was there anything else?’ he snapped.
Jeremy rose to his feet. ‘Nope, at least nothing more important than the conversation you’re about to have.’ He walked towards the door but instead of opening it, he turned back to Liam. ‘Be kind.’
Jesus. Like he was some sort of big bad wolf? ‘I’ll be fair.’
‘You always are.’ Jeremy met his eyes. ‘But that isn’t the same thing.’
He ducked out of the room and Liam slumped back against his chair. Fuck. For the first time in years, he didn’t feel ready for the conversation he was about to have. He’d asked Jade to come to the office in the hope the business environment would enable him to forget his attraction, forget all memories of the last two nights, and see her as another issue to be handled.
He looked up at the light tap on the door, and instantly knew it didn’t matter where he met her. He wouldn’t be able to look at her without thinking of sex. Heart thumping, sweaty, can’t-get-enough-of-it sex. Mixed with bouts of laughter.
She wasn’t laughing now. In fact, she looked as uncomfortable as he felt.
‘So, apparently I slept with my boss,’ she said.
‘Apparently.’
She swallowed and glanced away from him. ‘You said you didn’t know the first time.’
‘How could I? We didn’t talk about anything personal.’
Bold blue eyes clashed with his. ‘I told you something about me I’d never admitted to anyone.’ She let out a pained laugh. ‘To think I thought you were sweet.’
His skin felt it was too tight a fit for his body. ‘I told you I wasn’t.’
‘And you were right. Because a sweet guy– heck, just a decent one– would have told me who he was after he knew I was working at the bookstore for three months.’
Guilt slithered into his gut. ‘You had your hand on my dick. I couldn’t fucking help myself.’
Her cheeks reddened. ‘And I’m supposed to be flattered?’
Shit. He let out a rough exhale, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. ‘Look, what is done, is done.’ Except that it didn’t feel done. She was technically now his employee, in his place of work, and wearing a simple short-sleeved blouse and Capri pants that should not scream sex. Yet he wanted to leap over his desk and crash his mouth down on hers. Then pin her against the wall, or to his desk and…
‘Flo said you promised her I could stay the full three months.’
He dragged his mind out of the gutter. ‘You can. I’ll pay whatever Flo agreed with you, and you can stay in a room here at the resort.’
‘Thanks but I don’t need a room. I’m sleeping in a cute studio above the bookstore.’
He worked to make his tone flat, dispassionate. ‘Little Bay Book Shack is being knocked down.’
Her mouth hung open, blonde brows coming together in a frown. ‘You’re getting rid of the bookstore?’
‘Yes.’
‘So I’ll be selling books from a place in the main resort?’
Why did his stomach feel like it was weighed down with a week’s worth of undigested, congealed take-out? ‘There’ll be no bookselling. You have three months on the resort with nothing to do but enjoy yourself.’
‘ Enjoy myself?’ Her skin paled, her hands twisting as she stared back at him. ‘Do you remember me telling you that running the bookstore for the next three months was the most exciting adventure of my life?’
That weight in his stomach doubled. ‘Yes.’
Her face hardened, blue eyes spitting fire at him. ‘So you didn’t just have sex with me while being fully aware I had no clue you were my boss. You also had sex with me knowing you were going to stomp on my adventure before it had begun?’
Now it felt like acid was burning through the lining of his stomach. ‘Yes.’
She let out a choked laugh. ‘And I thought I’d reached rock bottom with the last two guys I slept with.’ Her eyes glistened. ‘Way to go, Jade. You really know how to pick them.’
A band tightened round Liam’s chest and he didn’t know how to deal with the sensation. He knew all about being hurt, being betrayed, but somehow he’d managed to be the one doing the hurting. ‘I’m paying you, you won’t lose out.’ He tried to smile. ‘And you can have whatever books you want, for free,’
She snorted dismissively. ‘It’s not about money.’
‘It’s always about money.’
‘Maybe in your world.’
He wasn’t a stranger to being looked at with disdain, yet it had never felt this uncomfortable. ‘What is it about, then?’
‘For starters, it’s about you treating me with the respect I deserve.’
It was his turn to be angry. ‘I have. I am .’
‘Are you?’
A tear began to creep down her cheek and that feeling that his skin was too tight? It was magnified, leaving him feeling itchy all over, unable to breathe properly.
‘If you respected me,’ she continued, her voice lacking the warmth, the vitality he was used to. ‘You would have been upfront with me as soon as you knew I was working in the bookstore. You wouldn’t have gone on to sleep with me again.’ She laughed humourlessly. ‘I think we can both agree you well and truly fucked me over in more ways than one.’
With a final, searing glance at him, she swivelled round and marched out of the room.
Rooted to the spot, Liam stared back at the open door. The scent of coconut lingered in the air, yet all he could taste was the acid that inched up his throat.
It felt like he’d ruined something special, trampled on something important.