Chapter 4
Charlie
It’s a beautiful Vancouver summer evening.
Crowds of students are walking to the beach in their sandals.
My heart squeezes seeing families picnicking and enjoying the sunshine.
People are playing a game of volleyball in their bare feet past the seawall and a hopping waterfront restaurant patio.
As I sit at a coffee shop in English Bay, flipping through emails between looking out at the water, I ponder how Ryder is making out with his decision.
Not my problem. I’ve handed him off to my assistants and put down my phone.
My phone rings when I stand up, about to return to my lonely and stale hotel room to make my confidential calls. I answer it with a smile.
“Hey, girl,” Lee’s bubbling voice rings through. “Why no response to my texts about happy hour?”
I sigh. “It’s been a day. Don’t forget you threw a client on me.”
“I know. Your stress is my bad. That’s why I’m taking you out for drinks. I had my boss reserve us the best table on the patio overlooking the bay. He said to order whatever we want.”
“Sorry, I can’t. I have to get back to my hotel. I have important calls to make. No caesars for me tonight.”
“Caesars? You and I are drinking Veuve and stuffing our faces with lobster and escargot, and Ryder is paying. I love my boss, but he’s not always this generous. Don’t let me down. You must have helped him big time.”
“As much as one can be helped.” I rotate the coffee cup on the table with a pang of guilt in my chest. It never crossed my mind that my advice to Ryder could hurt my friend’s employment, but it was the best advice I could give him.
“I don’t know.” I have tons to do before my flight home tomorrow. Though the vibrant patio on the beach across the street, flaunting lighthearted laughter and fruity cocktails fills me with longing. I never let go and enjoy. It’s summer, for goodness’ sake, and that patio looks delicious.
“Stop being a workaholic. You can’t let your friend down. It’s your last night, and I have a get-out-of-jail-free card.”
My stomach churns, and I realize I haven’t eaten, or maybe that’s the guilt.
Maybe I shouldn’t have told Ryder to resign.
But, honestly, it was the only option. That video would destroy the Lotus Club if it leaked and he was still in charge.
He needed to cut bait before that happened, even if Lee’s happy work environment may end.
Rumor has it that Miles Alexander is grumpier than Ryder.
Though that wasn’t my experience, and people do change. Ryder resigning was the only option.
“All right, I’ll go, but I can only stay for one drink. I need to remain sober for my calls later. My clients, including your boss, are relying on my sound mental state.”
“Yes. That’s more like it. Kiss, kiss.” He hangs up, and I roll my eyes, smiling.
Lee and I used to have so much fun hanging out.
It was what I missed most about Vancouver—my friends, the epic summers, and the laid-back vibe.
Don’t get me wrong, it is its own kind of rat race, but, in my opinion, it was more chill and beautiful than LA.
Though there are aspects of my job I hate, there are also aspects I love.
But mostly, I really need the financial freedom that climbing to the top of the corporate ladder would allow me.
The freedom to help those I care about most. My family had suffered enough, thanks to the Alexanders.
A few minutes later, I’m crossing the street next to beachgoers in shorts. Music is blaring from Bluetooth speakers as I walk past the palm trees and down the block to the hostess stand of the upscale restaurant. I tell the hostess, dressed in a black dress and flats, that I’m with Lee.
“Right this way.” She beams, leading me through the restaurant backing onto the beach and the Pacific Ocean to a prime table out front in the sun, decorated with a black umbrella.
“Can I get you a drink while you’re waiting?”
I’m thirsty from the coffee, and I spot a table of ladies drinking mojitos beside me. “I’ll have one of those.”
“Sure thing.” She scoots off, and I steal a look at the glistening ocean, soaking it up.
My phone pings, and I look at it. It’s a notification about my upcoming flight, and I’m relieved it’s not a client in crisis or my boss.
I swear she has eyes on all corners of the universe.
She can sniff out every moment my nose isn’t to the grind.
I’m supposed to receive my promotion any day and can’t let my guard down now. My life is relying on it.
“Hey! Charlie!” Lee appears with wide arms, squeezes me, and smooches me on the cheeks. “You look dashing.”
“Thanks, so do you.” I don’t tell him I’m wearing the same thing I was earlier, and after all the stress-sweating, I could probably use a shower.
But an ice-cold drink should help. I cross my legs at the table.
Lee orders almost everything off the appetizer menu, steaks and prawns, and a bunch of artesian cocktails.
“Are you expecting more people?” I ask.
“What? No. How would I extract every juicy detail of your life with nosey Nellies around?”
I laugh. “My life is not as exciting as you think.” Other than the parties and the A-list hobnobbing, which is all work.
It’s not like I enjoy myself. It’s my clients’ scandalous lives that shock me.
None of which I can discuss, like so much about my life.
“How about you? Seeing anyone special?” I twist a pomegranate mojito in my hand filled with ice and sip, taking it slow.
“Don’t you dare. Don’t turn the tables on me. I know what you’re doing.”
“You do, do you?”
“You are so secretive, lady,” Lee says, and I wonder if this was a good idea. There’s so much about me I can’t share with him. His eyes pinch, and he looks up.
“What are you doing here, boss?”
Oh God. I look up, and Ryder is standing over us in his bespoke suit, chocolate, melt-in-your-mouth eyes, features chiseled to perfection, a square chin, and that dark hair I remember clawing my hands through for nearly a year of the best sex of my life.
“This is my restaurant,” he says to Lee and turns to me. “Hi, Charlie.” My cheeks are still burning from my last thought when Ryder’s eyes cut to mine, and Lee interrupts the assault. Though I see Ryder Alexander still has an ego.
“That doesn’t give you the right to interrupt girl time,” Lee says.
Ryder pulls out a chair and sits across from me as female servers from every direction rush over to our table to gush all over him. “I think it does.” He smiles.
“So, what were we talking about, girls?” Ryder asks, and my throat closes.
Lee waves a hand. “Don’t even try to fit in, boss. Because you don’t. Sorry.”
“I’m not trying to fit in. I just want to know what you’re talking about.” Ryder is looking at me as he sips on his scotch. What is his game?
“Actually, I was about to leave,” I say. “I promised Lee one drink, and that’s been over for a while. I have client calls to make.”
“I’m your client.” Ryder leans back in his chair, and I try to ignore how attractive he is, which has grown with age.
The finest lines around his soulful eyes and plush lips, and the way his biceps bulge when he crosses his arms over his wide chest in his white shirt are distracting.
He hangs his jacket over the back of the chair with authority.
I divert my gaze. “Please, don’t remind me.”
“Don’t you want to know what I’ve decided or how my calls went?” he asks me.
“I want to know what you’ve decided,” Lee says.
“I bet you do.” Ryder stirs his drink, his eyes trained on mine.
What is his deal? He better not tell Lee about our plan, especially not in a public place.
The way Ryder is looking at me makes my cheeks flush.
It’s like he can see through me, which is disturbing.
It’s even harder to be around him than I thought.
Why won’t the emotions he stirs in me die and leave me alone already?
I squint because I’m curious. “You were supposed to relay that decision to my assistant.”
“Is that how you treat all your clients? Have them reveal classified information to your work dogs?”
“What kind of classified information?” Lee asks, but Ryder ignores him, his fierce gaze on mine.
It’s making my skin heat, and my blood is pumping in places it shouldn’t be, even though this guy destroyed me and his family preyed on mine.
He rimmed a politician’s drink with a dragon’s breath pepper.
A shady politician with zero morals, but still.
“It doesn’t concern you,” Ryder says out of the corner of his mouth to Lee without removing his gaze from mine. It’s July, and I’m wearing all-black, and my skin could be on fire, I’m so hot.
“You didn’t answer my question, Miss Gibbons.” He won’t stop staring me down. Doesn’t he know that’s not allowed? Doesn’t he know how close those eyes bring me to ruining my life all over again?
“What question?” I ask.
“Is that how you treat all your clients?”
“Oh, that question.” I pull my gaze away from his. “No, I turn back to him. Just the ones I dislike.”
“You still hate me?”
If only you knew.
“Hello?” Lee says, “Everyone hates you, Mr. Alexander. You’re a hot and successful real estate—”
“Stifle.” Ryder holds up his hand, never taking his attention away from me.
“You’re the one who crashed my party,” Lee says to him.
“Yeah.” I wrinkle my nose. “Don’t tell my friend to stifle. Apologize,” I say to Ryder, the stiff drink going to my head.
“What?” Ryder frowns.
“I said apologize.”
His mouth stretches into a slow, sexy smile. “Fine. Sorry, Lee.” He’s still refusing to look at his employee as he ignites me. I cough, trying to steady my racing heart. Why must he have such a powerful effect on me?