Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
T ears blurred her vision as Jade dashed past the reception, avoiding the gaze of the receptionist. She’d come out here to prove she was better than everyone thought, yet she’d ended up sleeping with her boss, losing her job and shredding any lingering self-respect she may have arrived with.
Sod staying here for another three months, she wanted to go home now .
She swerved around a couple who were clearly so besotted they couldn’t walk to the restaurant without stopping to kiss, and a pang of acute longing arrowed through her. What it must feel like to be that in love you couldn’t go a minute without needing to touch, to kiss.
‘Jade, wait.’
At the sound of Liam’s voice, her heart lurched. No she couldn’t face him again. Not until she’d calmed, found her balance.
Head down, she kept half walking, half running. He owned the resort, for God’s sake. He wasn’t going to be caught chasing some stupid blonde who’d been dumb enough to have sex with him.
‘Please.’
That was harder to ignore. Her pace slowed and a few seconds later he appeared beside her.
‘I’m sorry.’
He sounded genuine, but she was too hurt to accept it and too angry. And not just with him. She was livid with herself for being weak enough to sleep with him. ‘Which part are you sorry for? Sleeping with me? Sleeping with me knowing you were my boss, or sleeping with me knowing the next day you were going to crush me?’
His tall frame stiffened, tension rippling through it. ‘Not for sleeping with you.’
‘Yeah, well I’m gutted about all of it.’ Unwilling to look at him, she kept her gaze ahead, her chest pinching when she caught sight of the wooden pontoon, and the grey tiled roof of Little Bay Book Shack beyond it. ‘Having sex with the first guy I met out here was unbelievably cheap, even by my standards.’
He reached for her arm, his touch burning her skin. ‘Don’t.’
She shook his hand off. ‘Don’t what?’
‘Demean yourself, or what we did.’ His gaze pinned hers. ‘We had a rare chemistry, which lead to some phenomenal sex. I was wrong not to stop it as soon as I realised you were working in the bookstore, but I figured as I was going to pay you and let you stay, you wouldn’t be too upset.’
She forced her gaze away from his, determined not to be swayed by those beautiful eyes. ‘Of course you thought that. I was some blonde happy to go back to your boat and have sex with you even though we’d only just met. Why wouldn’t I also be happy lazing about by the pool all day and taking your money?’
He let out a coarse oath, showing that rough edge again, at odds with his expensive good looks. ‘Stop twisting what I say.’
‘Am I twisting it? Or am I just saying what you really thought?’ Once more, she felt the sting of tears. She needed to get away from him, to lick her wounds and regroup. ‘Look, thanks for the offer to let me stay. It’s decent of you. I mean, three months of paid holiday isn’t something I should be grumbling about, right? So let me think about it, and meanwhile I presume there’s stuff I need to do to close the shop, so I’ll see if Flo can help me with that. Or Daisy.’ Crap, she could feel the tears overflowing and made a desperate swipe with her hand. ‘We spent the last few days pinging ideas back and forth for how to grow the business, but I guess learning how to wind it down is just as useful.’ A sob squeezed past her throat, and she turned away, embarrassed. ‘Anyway, I’ll catch you later.’
Not giving him a chance to reply, she set off towards the wharf, praying he didn’t follow her. The next time she talked to him, she needed to have her emotions under control.
The further she walked away from the resort, the quieter everything became. She knew he wasn’t following her because she couldn’t hear any footsteps. Couldn’t hear anything at all but for the creak of the wharf as she walked across it.
Her heart melted at the sight of the grey-shingled building as it came fully into view. She’d arrived with such high hopes, a nervous bundle of anticipation and excitement, and now… now she felt hollowed out. Sure, she could stay, but what was the point? Being paid to do nothing wouldn’t help her confidence, it would make her feel like a scrounger.
With a sigh she unlocked the shop and stepped inside. As she walked across the wooden floor, her eyes drank in the driftwood shelves, the rainbow book displays she’d agonised over, and her heart twisted at the wasted opportunity, the utter disappointment of it all.
A buzz in her pocket alerted her to her phone ringing.
‘Mum.’ She swallowed down the boulder of emotion and forced her voice to sound calm as she answered the call. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Hello love, everything is just fine, but how are things with you? I can’t stop thinking about you and wondering how you’re getting on.’
Shame flooded her, followed by a pang of regret. She should have phoned home yesterday. That way she’d have given herself a few days before she had this awkward conversation. ‘Sorry, I meant to phone, but there’s so much going on.’ I’ve been shagging my boss and losing my job. God, she felt sick. How could she explain this to her parents, to Lauren? To the team at work who’d been rooting for her?
It’s not your fault Liam’s closing the shop.
‘Of course, you’re busy,’ her mum replied. ‘Running a business, especially when you’ve not done it before, and it’s in a foreign country, is not for the faint-hearted. We’re so proud of you, Jade.’
Bollocks. Tears crept down Jade’s cheeks and it was hard, so frigging hard, not to start blubbering. ‘Thank you.’
‘Well, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to hear your voice and check everything was okay. I can’t wait to hear more about the shop and how you’re doing when you’ve got the time.’
Jade ended the call and slumped to the floor, hit by a wave of acute sadness. She wasn’t the only one who was going to be disappointed when she went home without having achieved anything.
No. Not happening .
Reaching for the hem of her blouse, she wiped away the crappy tears. She was done disappointing her family. More than that, she was done being underestimated by everyone… including herself.
She was smart, capable. Maybe she didn’t totally believe that yet, but the thing about faking it till you made it? She could fake the hell out of this.
Smart, capable women didn’t take the money and go quietly.
They made things happen.
Settling onto the ocean-blue sofa, she scrolled through her contacts and found Flo’s number.
* * *
Liam’s gaze skimmed across the wharf, and the bay frontage beyond. Now it was all his, he could start to picture the cottages his architect had designed, in consultation with the HDC (Historic District Commission) who oversaw every build, preserving Nantucket’s historic character. High-class buildings, each with a large upper balcony and lower terrace.
Luxury holiday accommodation for those prepared to pay top dollar for a little exclusivity, a lot of high-end furnishings and a private wharf to moor their yacht. Years in the making, it was a critical addition to his portfolio.
With an inward nod of satisfaction, he strode towards the bookstore. Tension, or was it anticipation, skated down his spine as he neared. He’d been surprised to get the message from Jade, via May, asking if he’d meet her in the shop after it closed. ‘Wonder what that can be about,’ the front-desk manager had mused, giving him a calculated look. ‘When she left your office earlier, she didn’t look like a woman who’d want to see you again for a long while.’
Liam had narrowed his eyes, waited until she looked away, then changed the subject. He actively discouraged talk about anything that wasn’t work related. He wanted people to be a little afraid of him. That way they stayed away. It was why he couldn’t understand how he’d blurted so much about his childhood to Jade. He made a mental note to avoid picking up women when shattered, and under the influence of whisky.
His pace slowed as he pushed open the bookstore door.
Christ, he’d forgotten the place looked like a unicorn had vomited up rainbows.
‘Hi.’ Jade came into view at the back of the shop, giving him a guarded look. He immediately mourned her smile. ‘Thanks for coming.’
‘No problem.’ His gaze drifted over the shop again, noticing things he hadn’t before because he’d been too focused on Jade. ‘Don’t some of those cushions belong in the resort?’
‘I borrowed them from the housekeeping lady.’ Her left hand flew to cover her mouth. ‘Crap, please don’t be cross with her. I put her in an awkward position by asking for them. I promised I’d get them back by the end of today, which I totally will. I just wanted to create something different, you know, to try to impress Flo.’ She gave him a stony look. ‘Only it turns out she was too busy telling me she’d sold up, to notice.’
He’d let staff go without a ripple of unease. Why did this feel so difficult? ‘The look is certainly… eye-catching.’
‘It is, isn’t it?’ She seemed to have put her dislike of him aside for a moment as she stared back at the shelves. ‘I see loads of rainbow stacks on Instagram and I love them, so I thought I’d try it out here. I got carried away though and ended up continuing it in everything I could.’ Her gaze swung towards the white-washed walls. ‘You’re lucky I didn’t have any paint or there would be rainbows all over the walls.’
He shrugged. ‘It would make no difference to me. We’ll be ripping it down as soon as we bring a construction company on board.’
Wrong thing to say .
‘So you said.’ She turned back to him, more than a hint of challenge in her eyes. ‘I asked you to meet me here to remind you how special this place is. How many bookstores are there on Nantucket?’
‘Not many, because they don’t make money.’
She pulled a face. ‘This place makes money. Otherwise Flo wouldn’t have been able to run it for so long.’
‘Luxury cottages will make a lot more money,’ he countered flatly.
‘And that’s all you care about? I’ve been talking to Flo and she says the bookstore could be a real asset to the resort. She has loads of examples of how we’ve worked together to help give your guests a brilliant holiday experience.’
‘If guests are that bothered about reading, they’ll bring their own books.’ He wasn’t used to being questioned, and he let his frustration show. ‘I’m running a business here, not an Instagram photo opportunity. A business that keeps hundreds of staff in employment. I need to maximise profitability.’
She looked less than impressed. ‘Your boat, oh, sorry, your luxury yacht , tells me you’re already making a heck of a lot of money out of the resort as it is. Do you really need to demolish a building with character, a place islanders and holidaymakers can enjoy, just to make even more?’
‘Making money is what I do,’ he answered baldly, angry that he sounded defensive. Fuck what people said, money was king. To anyone who didn’t believe that, he’d say, try being poor. Better still, try being poor, surrounded by rich, spoilt brats who enjoyed reminding you how unimportant you were.
Disgust flashed across her face. ‘Fine, if it’s all about money, at least give me a chance to prove the bookstore could be an effective money-earning option. You’ve agreed to pay me for the next three months, anyway.’
‘You think I haven’t already done the math?’ He knew, to the last decimal place, how much the resort would be worth with the addition of the harbourfront cottages. ‘Keeping the bookstore is a non-starter.’ She flinched, and the way she stared back at him, like he’d not just let her down, he’d totally wrecked her opinion of him, caused another wave of intense, skin-itchy discomfort. ‘Look, nothing’s going to happen in the next two weeks. Use the time to sort out the stock. Take what you want, sell off what you don’t. You can keep anything you make.’ She gave a little shake of her head, the gesture almost pitying. ‘What?’
Her eyes blinked at his sharp tone. ‘Nothing.’
He huffed out a breath. ‘You didn’t seem to have a problem telling me what you were thinking last night. Or the night before.’
‘No, but then I thought I was having a hot fling with a rich guy. A sweet , rich guy. Turns out he was a ruthless resort owner.’
He recoiled, stung. Being called ruthless wasn’t new, but coming from a woman he’d kissed every inch of, laid under the stars with , enjoyed , it hurt more than he expected.
‘It’s funny,’ she added, though there was no humour in her voice. ‘I joked to myself it was a bit like one of those romance novels, you know the ones featuring the sexy billionaires? Only I was happily using you for sex, too. But in the books, the heroine resists the billionaire hero because he’s a bastard, then finds out he’s a good guy. I slept with you thinking you were a good guy. It turns out you’re a bastard.’
You don’t know the half of it. Frustration fizzed through him, regret fast on its heels. ‘I’m not a billionaire. Not yet.’ He took a couple of steps towards her, his pulse scrambling as he looked into her eyes. Fuck, she was gorgeous. ‘I messed up, and I’m sorry. I should have told you who I was the moment I realised you were involved in the bookstore.’
‘You should.’
Unbelievably drawn to her, he trailed a finger down the soft curve of her cheek. ‘It doesn’t have to stop us enjoying each other while you’re here.’
She gave a sharp inhale and he felt a stab of satisfaction. But then she swallowed and shifted away from him. ‘Thanks for the offer, but no. I can have sex without love, but not without like.’
‘You liked me well enough yesterday,’ he pointed out gruffly, feeling as if someone was standing on his chest. ‘Nothing’s changed.’
Her mouth gaped open. ‘Seriously? You think lying about who you were, having sex with me knowing you were going to shaft me, and destroying a place I clearly think is incredible, is nothing ? Never mind that you’ve just had the gall to offer me sex as some sort of consolation prize.’ She pulled up to her full five-foot-and-a-smidgen height and jutted out her chin. ‘Thanks for the generous offer to keep the sales from the books, but I didn’t come out here for the money.’
Pocket-size, yet she was the one making him feel small. ‘What did you come here for?’
For a brief moment she looked crestfallen, but then she squared up to him. ‘I told you when we were on Galley Beach, but probably all that interest you showed in me was just a way of making sure you got the sex you’d been deprived of the day before.’ Her voice trembled a little, but her gaze was unflinching. ‘Funny thing is, you didn’t have to pretend to be interested. I’d have slept with you anyway.’
He felt like he’d been punched in the chest. ‘I wasn’t pretending.’
‘Then you should remember what I said.’ Her watery blue gaze pierced his. ‘I came here to work with books.’
He gave her a curt nod. Message received. Then he turned away and marched back towards the resort– his resort, the place he’d created from nothing. A defiant statement to those who’d fucked him over. They’d not managed to cower him, to break him. The new waterfront would cement the statement, make it even more powerful. Not only had they failed to break him, it would say– he had won.
Yet even as he increased the distance between himself and the bookstore, the image of Jade wouldn’t budge from his mind. Beneath the anger, she’d looked heartbroken, like he’d not just put an end to her little adventure. He’d ruined something vitally important to her.
It took a bag of mints and an evening with his grandma before the bad taste left his mouth.