Chapter 3 #2
“You don’t have to tell me. It’s none of my business.”
“No. It’s okay.” He raised his head. “I… I needed a fresh start. Something happened and I just needed to take some time to reassess. Jenn was sort of, I don’t know…collateral damage, I’d guess you’d say. Anyway, she seems to have bounced back without a problem.”
Raleigh reached across the island and touched his shoulder. “I know this is awkward with Jenn and everything, but everyone thinks you’re my boyfriend. Think you can still fake it?”
He smiled slowly and his eyes twinkled as he gave her the once over. “I think I can manage that.”
Her cheeks warmed suddenly. She was going to have to watch out for this man.
He was too hot by half. If she wasn’t careful, he’d have her tied up in knots by the end of the weekend.
An image of Dylan tied to the bedposts with a silk scarf popped into her head and she shot off the stool like it was two minutes to New Year’s and she was out of champagne.
She busied herself with pouring a cup of coffee, but she could have sworn she heard him chuckle. She kept her back to him when she asked, “Want coffee?”
“No, I’m good.”
She picked up her coffee cup and said, “We should get ready for the dinner. We don’t have to stay long, just long enough for me to see and be seen with the right crowd.”
Dylan grimaced. “Okay. No problem.”
Yeah, right, it was no problem. She felt for him, she really did, but she needed this to go well.
Her future at the PR company really hung in the balance.
Her boss would kill her if she screwed up this account.
And if she got fired it would be harder to make the switch from PR writer to investigative journalist, her ultimate goal.
No one likes to hire someone who was previously fired for sucking at their job.
“Good.” She nodded and left the kitchen. Then poked her head back around the corner. “Wait, Dylan who was that guy you were speaking with on the path here?”
“His name is Gabriel Risk.”
“Gabriel Risk. Why do I know that name?”
“Don’t know. He’s in the security business.”
Raleigh cocked and eyebrow. “How do you know him?”
“My old partner, Paul, knows him. I met him last year at Paul’s retirement party. We catch up now and again. I think Paul asked him to keep an eye on me before he moved to Florida last year.”
“Oh, I see. Okay.” She gave Dylan a quick smile and then went back to the foyer. Now she just had to survive this weekend with diva Lydia Harris and her minions.
Raleigh paused in the foyer to grab one of her bags, and then went down the hallway toward the bedrooms.
There was a large master on the end and a smaller bedroom off to the right. She walked into the master. It was beautiful but slightly over the top, even by her standards, which was saying something. A lifetime as Bree Ross’s daughter had seen to that.
The room was painted a soft gray-blue and had a king-size bed covered with a puffy, white duvet and pillows that matched the wall color.
The floor was marble with a gray rug next to the bed.
A vase filled with white flowers, calla lilies and hibiscus, stood on the dresser.
She went over and touched them. Real, of course, and they smelled wonderful.
The full bath off to the right had a glassed-in shower with white marble tile and a huge tub that was made for two. Wouldn’t that be fun?
Dylan covered in bubbles, or better yet, Dylan not covered at all. She fanned herself.
Mind out of the gutter, woman.
She pushed open a set of French doors that were beside the bed. They led to a beautiful verandah. “Wow, this is amazing,” she muttered. “What a view!”
The sun was almost gone. The sky was a deep purple, and the stars were just beginning to come out.
A burning bush on the right, blocking the next cabin from view.
Its leaves had already started turning for fall.
They seemed to turn much earlier outside the city.
The cheery red leaves stood out against the darkening sky.
The golf course that the resort was built around stretched out into the hills, just visible in the warm light from the cabin and the illumination from the half-moon above.
There were small cabins scattered on the hillside.
They would have an incredible view. She had forgotten how different it was out here.
Only about an hour north of New York City, but it was a world away.
“You’re right. It is amazing,” Dylan said.
She jumped when he spoke. She hadn’t realized he’d followed her onto the verandah.
When she turned toward him, he was looking up at the sky, his arms resting across his chest, showing off his bulging biceps.
Her eyes strayed in the direction of another bulge, but she stopped herself.
Girl, get a grip. Maybe she’d been under stress for too long, and that’s why she was getting all hot and bothered by this guy.
Maybe it was the first step on the ladder to a total meltdown.
“Living in the city, I forget how bright the stars can be. I miss it.”
She cleared her throat. “You didn’t grow up in the city?”
“No. I grew up all over the state. My mom wasn’t much for settling down.
” Something about the way he said it indicated there was a story there, but chances were good he wasn’t going to tell her.
She’d just yelled at him and now she was making him attend his ex’s wedding.
Not to mention the whole was she a whack-a-doodle or not question.
She was shocked he was still here let alone sharing his life’s history with her. Besides, they had to get to dinner.
“Well, I guess we should get ready.”
“Right,” he said and turned on his heel. He was gone before she’d even stepped back into the bedroom. “At least you don’t have to tell him twice,” she mumbled.
He’d brought her other bag to the room—a nice gesture. Time to unpack. After setting her bag on the bed, she started pulling out her stuff, and hanging it up. She was only there for the weekend, so she’d packed light.
She texted Phillip about the photographs they would need for the event book. He responded immediately. They quickly hashed out a game plan and agreed to meet later at the dinner.
A few minutes later she went into the bathroom, brushed her hair, and touched up her make-up.
Then she changed into a soft green designer cocktail dress that hugged her figure and hit just above the knee.
Her mother had given it to her at the beginning of summer.
Raleigh could never afford it on her salary, but Bree was determined no daughter of hers should be seen in public without being properly attired.
She turned to go back into the bathroom and froze.
Her heart pounded against her ribcage. Movement.
She was sure of it. The space between the curtains on the terrace doors.
She slowly turned to look, her palms slick with sweat.
She’d thought she’d seen a face there, but it was just inky blackness now.
It couldn’t be. She was mistaken. Her lungs chose that moment to function, and she sucked in air like the oxygen-deprived diver she’d seen on Shark Week.
She must have seen herself reflected in the glass, right?
Her stalker wasn’t here. How could he know where to find her?
She wanted to call out to Dylan, but what was the point?
There was nothing there now. He’d been good enough to stick it out this far, but she didn’t want to push her luck.
She stumbled over to the bed and sat down.
Breathe. Slowly, in and out. It was just leaves blowing in the breeze.
“It was not a face. You are just super stressed about this weekend,” she said aloud.
“You’re not losing it.” She closed her eyes and, taking a few deep breaths, managed to get her heart to stop thudding so hard in her chest.
Finally, she stood up and approached the terrace doors.
She examined the lock, making sure it was secure and then pulled the curtains all the way closed.
She would have Dylan check everything before she went to sleep just to be on the safe side.
Maybe she would even move the chair in front of the door.
With that decided, she went back into the bathroom to make sure her make-up hadn’t smeared. She looked at her reflection. The dress really brought out her eyes. She took another deep breath, and the tension in her shoulders eased slightly.
She tried to focus on work. The damage was already done with Lydia Harris.
The ex-fiancée was at the wedding weekend, and it was Raleigh’s fault.
She was going to have to fix it somehow.
Maybe she could get one of the influencers she knew to do a special mention of Lydia and her friends.
Highlight them in some way. That could work.
Lydia loved being the center of attention.
She made a mental note to ask a couple of the better known social media darlings to do her the favor.
She could always offer them exclusive access to a future event.
Raleigh gave herself one last look in the mirror.
She could do this. Stalker or not, nothing was going to stop her from making this weekend a success.
Then maybe, just maybe, she could convince Lydia or one of her high-powered cronies to let her write a story about them.
A real story, not a puff piece. Something that she could sink her teeth into.
Something that she could use to show that she had what it took to be an investigative reporter. She sighed.
She left the bathroom and slipped on silver heels. She added some earrings to match. Then she threw a matching green scarf shot through with silver threads over her shoulders. After giving herself one final look in the mirror, she walked out of her room to the living room.
Dylan turned around at the sound of her heels. He looked surprised when he saw her and then another expression passed over his face.
She wasn’t sure what it meant. “Is everything okay? Am I presentable?”
“Ah, yeah.” His voice was low and husky. He cleared his throat. “Sorry, I should’ve said you look beautiful.”
She smiled. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
He was wearing gray, summer-weight suit pants with a crisp white shirt that contrasted nicely with the navy blazer he wore over it.
He must have taken a shower because his hair was damp and curling over his forehead.
His scent wafted over to her. Something wholly male, spicy and smoky.
Her pulse picked up. Their eyes locked, and his irises darkened to a deep blue.
Oh. Heat crept up her cheeks again, and this time it unfurled in her belly.
“We should go,” he said gruffly.
He put down the water glass he had in his hand and walked across the room toward her.
Once again, she couldn’t help but notice how large he was, but how easily he moved.
She swallowed as she turned toward the door.
He came up behind her and placed his hand on the small of her back, the contact sending a shiver down her spine.
“Are you cold?” he asked. “Maybe we should turn the AC down. It’ll naturally get cooler in here after sunset.”
The shiver had nothing to do with the temperature, but she let him fiddle with the AC.