THREE
EVERYONE WAS ON high alert the next morning at breakfast. It was the day. The day the competition winners would meet their prize. For them, the island was secondary to the man, as revealed by Alessia’s agitation and that of the others at the breakfast buffet too.
“Sit still,” Thea said, reaching over to lay a hand on her sister’s wrist.
Alessia’s posse from the bar the previous night had joined them. They were as twitchy as her younger sister.
“This is so exciting!” Alana exclaimed so loud that she drew the attention of other tables. “I can’t believe it’s real.”
Thea smiled. Just like Alessia, the other women were in their early twenties. Their over-the-top enthusiasm was sweet. Being so aroused by anticipation was usually reserved for children. In her opinion, every excuse to let loose and embrace happiness should be snatched with both hands.
Lark leaned in and lowered her voice. “You know what I can’t get over?” The women slanted closer, bubbling with anticipation. “He’s somewhere close by. He’s actually on the island right now, he has to be.”
“I can’t believe it,” Alana said. “I still can’t…” She laid both hands on her chest. “God, I think I might die.”
Before they could say more about their joy, a woman came in, clutching a leather binder to her chest. “Hello, everyone!”
Screams, followed by hushes, went around the room as the prize-winners reacted to this incremental progress. A few people said hello back, they weren’t quite a cohesive group, maybe because they were so overwrought.
“My name is Mieux, I’m Roman’s coordinator for this event.” A holler of approval rose, and the woman laughed. Yeah, that was her feeling too only she kept hers in for Alessia’s sake. It was like being on a rollercoaster ride without experiencing it while everyone else went nuts. “I know!” Mieux raised a hand to silence them, though it took another few seconds for the crowd to calm down. “He’s excited to meet all of you too. We have a few pieces of housekeeping to deal with before he joins us. But…” Mieux backed away. “No point being stuck inside when we’re in such a beautiful location. If all of you will follow me, we’ll take this outside!”
People scrambled to leave their seats. She was the only one who didn’t move. Alessia was halfway up before she noticed and rebounded.
“You’re not coming?” Alessia asked and tilted her head. “You want to work?”
She winced. “Do you mind? I’ll come if you need me to.”
Alessia grinned as Keri and Alana caught her arms.
“Come on!” Alana exclaimed. “We don’t want to be last.”
“I’m good,” Alessia said. “I know you won’t enjoy it. I have my peeps.” She pulled away from Keri and Alana to throw her arms around her sister to whisper in her ear. “Besides, while they have to share their time, I’ll get to meet him alone.”
She smacked a kiss on her cheek and grabbed for her new friends. The three of them hurried to catch up with the others pouring out the back. Alessia waved once more before disappearing through the doors that swung shut behind the rabble.
Ah, peace.
Picking up her juice, Thea finished up. She hadn’t read the Roman itinerary too closely the previous day. Roman Lowe was probably a very interesting person and was renowned for his charm. However, knowing herself the way she did, she’d be aware of every second of work lost while meeting the stranger, and obsessing about how she might make it up.
Another set of doors opened, and a couple of servers came in. When they saw her, they hesitated.
She put down her glass. “Sorry. I’m finished.”
Leaving her seat, she respected the schedules of others too. The staff would want to get the dining room cleaned before whatever they had to set up for next. The grand round room had to be used for other events. Even if it wasn’t, lunch would be just around the corner.
Which reminded her of something else. On departing the dining room, she went to reception. No one was there. Hmm. What should she do? Most places had reception manned twenty-four hours, but this island was not a resort open to the world, not at that minute anyway.
She only had to loiter for a few seconds before a guy came hurrying out of a side room.
“Yes, ma’am, can I help you?” From the guy’s expression, she guessed he was torn between his customer relations training and sheer confusion. “You didn’t want to join the group?”
“I have work to do,” she said, laying her hands on the high desk. “I didn’t see the Wi-Fi password anywhere and I can’t get cell coverage.”
“No, you won’t get that here,” he said, doing a terrible job of hiding his amusement.
She exhaled. “But you do have corporate facilities. I read it in your brochure last night.”
Which she’d picked up when trying to check her emails and come up blank on how to access the internet.
He frowned. “Yes, we do, but…”
Her brows rose when he didn’t continue. “But… what?”
“Well, they’re not… serviced at the moment. We have a building on the north shore, but—”
“I can walk,” she said. “If you give me directions.”
“There are carts, but…”
Another but, a smile warmed her lips. “Is there a problem?”
“I… I don’t know.”
Poor guy hadn’t expected this. Given the other activity on offer, her desire to work put her in the minority. She enjoyed what she did, most of the time. It wasn’t easy, but she liked being thorough. Who didn’t want to do things well?
“Guests aren’t allowed… During their stay… Mr. Lowe’s team are the only press allowed. It’s an exclusive event.”
Her mouth opened in understanding. “Let me assure you that I don’t work for any media company. I also have never met Roman Lowe and am passing up that chance to get on with my day job.” The guy didn’t seem convinced. “To be honest, I’m more interested in receiving email than sending anything out. I shouldn’t need to make calls.” Though her boss would just love her being unreachable. “All I need to do is pick up my emails and pull a few things from my cloud… Can I do that?”
“I… don’t know. I have to check with my supervisor.”
“Okay.” What the hell would she do if they denied her access? Her hard drive contained most of what she needed to get started, but the cloud documents would become necessary along the way. “How about I go grab my things and come back? That will give you the chance to talk to whoever you need to talk to.”
And for her to come up with a few arguments if she had to push the issue. It wasn’t like she could just leave. The plane that brought them didn’t appear to belong to any commercial airline.
The guy relaxed a little and nodded. “Yes, that would be great. Thank you.”
“No problem,” she said, pushing away from the desk. “I’ll just be a few minutes.”
She returned to her room to retrieve her laptop and folders. Everything was in the same place in her closet. Killing some time, she sat down to undo the sandals rubbing at the back of her ankle and switched them out for slip-ons. Giving the guy a few extra moments, she reapplied her sunscreen, put some shimmer on her cheeks and swiped on a little gloss.
Earlier that morning, Alessia spent half an hour putting on makeup. Should she make more of an effort? All she’d done was smudge on a little gold eyeshadow. The preened women at breakfast were so glamorous it was difficult not to be aware of her hang-ups. Still, she didn’t mind fading into the background when the others were so eager to be noticed.
When there was nothing else to do, she scooped her work things into an oversized beach-bag and grabbed her sunglasses and hat. If there was time at lunch, she might go for a walk on the beach or lounge in the sun a little. Should she put on a bikini beneath her clothes? No, then the temptation of the water would likely win out. If she wanted to swim later, she’d return to the room and change.
Back at the reception desk, she reconsidered that decision. If she was going to be away from her room to work, it would be nice to have the bikini as an option. The guy from earlier came scurrying out before she could progress beyond the contemplation stage.
“You have to sign these,” he said, putting a stack of papers on the reception desk in front of her.
“What is it?” she asked, scanning the first sheet. “It’s an NDA.”
Thea answered her own question before he could. Glancing at his badge to check his name, she read “Tom.” Her ex’s name was Thom, pronounced the same, spelled differently. That was a shame for this Tom, she wasn’t likely to forget him.
“Yes,” he said. “Everyone else is signing them. It says you can’t talk to anyone about anything that happens here. It includes electronic means too.” His eyes rose like he was searching his thoughts. “Oh, and I was also told to remind you that the Wi-Fi can only be used at the corporate suite, and you’ll be the only one on it other than our staff.”
Reading between the lines, she smiled. “So if any secrets get out, you plan to blame me.”
He shrugged. “Honestly, ma’am, I’m parroting what someone else said. Feel free to read the NDA and sign it at your leisure. Though anyone who doesn’t sign will be transported off the island.”
Did that mean their plane was still there? Interesting, but not really relevant. Not like she was a pilot or would be able to afford so much as the fuel costs, if the staff wanted to charge her for using it to leave.
The NDA seemed standard. Anywhere else, she’d send it to lawyer-ex Thom to check it out. This time, given she had no intention of spilling secrets to anyone and hadn’t even met the big star, it didn’t seem like a big deal to sign it.
The page underneath gave more cause for concern. “This is a release,” she said. “Allowing you to use my image or words in marketing materials and/or press related to the event.” Tom remained blank. She pushed the NDA back to him. “Keep this one. I need a day with the other one.”
“Oh, I…” His color rose as he looked around. For whom? No one else was there. “I’ll have to check.”
She smiled and tucked the release into her beach bag. “You do that. I’ll make my way to the corporate suite… Can you point me in the right direction?”
“There will be a cart waiting for you in the main lot,” he said, picking up the NDA. “Without the release, I don’t know if you can…”
Shame for this guy. Obviously a worrier, his day wasn’t getting off to an easy start.
“I haven’t met your big star. No one has taken my picture, and I haven’t been asked anything. The release is irrelevant until any of that happens.” He thought about it for a few seconds then seemed to calm down. “Okay? Can I go now?” He nodded. “Thank you.”
The hotel faced the beach. The lot where they’d arrived in their carts was tucked in at the side of the building. It wouldn’t do much for the view to have a big, ugly circle of concrete between the serene pools and lush greenery that separated their flagship building from the beach. She got it.
Tom was right. A cart awaited her outside, driver and all.
“Honi,” he said, wearing a broad smile.
“Thea.”
“Good to meet you, ma’am.”
She sat down, and he got moving. There wasn’t really time for small talk. Absorbing the sights and sounds of the tropical place required all her attention. Did people get used to living there? In the city, it was easy to forget the culture and significance of the environment when it was gray and dull, even in the sun, it all seemed dreary. It couldn’t be the same there. Somewhere like that, so lush and green, it had to be a treat every minute.
The track to the corporate suite, at the north of the island, split off the same curving road they’d traveled from the airstrip. Maybe that same road ran around the whole island.
They stopped and she hopped out.
She should’ve been better prepared and fumbled around in her bag for her wallet. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
With a wave, Honi drove off without waiting for a tip.
Huh.
Trees offered some welcome shade in her approach to the back of the corporate suite. At least, she guessed that’s what the building was, Honi hadn’t confirmed it.
Inside, stairs led up left and right from a small foyer. Straight ahead, one of two double doors was open. The view of the ocean beyond that room beckoned.
The crash of the waves lightened her soul. The broad room led out to some kind of wide terrace with loungers. A perfect place to work.
View in her sights, she headed through the doors to—the intrusion of another figure in her peripheral vision stopped her dead.
A person. She hadn’t even considered someone else might be there. Surprised, she stood there, saying nothing.
On his feet, behind a desk with shelves at his back, the guy mirrored her in silence and stance. Maybe he was waiting for an explanation; she had just walked in on him. Wearing board shorts and a casual button-down only partially buttoned over a tee-shirt, he wasn’t like desk jockeys back home. But then, who would be comfortable in a suit or tie in that environment?
“Tom…” she started, pleased to have at least remembered how to talk. “At the desk…” Raising her fist, she jabbed a straight thumb toward the door. “In the hotel said I could…” Her thumb curled in as her forefinger sprang out. “I can go upstairs.”
“You’re the scrappy wanderer.”
Confused, she blinked her wide eyes. “I’m… I’m what?”
“The beach last night… That was you.”
What was he…? Oh wow. Took her a second, but yeah… Words failed her again. The guy in the surf last night. She’d paid more attention to his body because his features were difficult to pick out in the moonlight. Yeah, that was the reason. After he’d made the connection, she got it, his shape, the height, the breadth of his shoulders…
“You’re… the driftwood…”
He smiled. Wow, damn, that was… unfair. Any animosity she held for the guy who’d startled her with his rudeness dwindled in the light of that killer smile.
“Carried in from the sea,” he said, nodding. “Yeah, I guess it probably did look like that.” What should she say? “I see now you were telling the truth.”
She was ten steps behind. “About what?”
“Last night,” he conceded. “I thought you were looking for Roman.”
Oh, her mouth opened, exhaling understanding. So Roman was the enigmatic “ he ” the driftwood referenced.
“Nope,” she said, curling her fingers around the strap of her bag. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“No, I’m not disappointed, just surprised.”
“Because you’re always right?” she asked, finishing the question with a smile, so it didn’t come off too confrontational.
He breathed out a laugh. “It has been known… maybe once or twice.” When he smiled, her own widened. “Why would you come all the way here if not for him?”
“He’s a stranger. Why would I come here for him rather than someone I know?”
“He’s a stranger to all of the winners, as far as I know, but they’re here for him.”
“Then I don’t suppose his ego needs me,” she said. “I came here because my sister is not worldly and I want to support her.”
His eyes narrowed as he considered her for a few seconds. “Your sister?” She nodded. “Doesn’t she have any friends?”
That made her laugh. “Alessia has a lot of friends, but each of them would be as interested in Roman Lowe.” Tipping her head to the side, she crooked a brow. “I’m not competition.”
“Ah,” he said, apparently enjoying that revelation. “Why is that? You’re married?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head.
“Engaged? Involved?”
Again, a head shake. “No. Neither.”
“So you’re not competition because…”
He drew out the last word to prompt her.
“Because I have no interest in throwing myself at a stranger. Because money, for me, doesn’t equal happiness. Because the idea of being plastered across the television and internet is genuinely terrifying… Can you imagine that kind of scrutiny? I don’t envy him it.”
“Your sister doesn’t mind any of that?”
She shrugged. “We’re different. Doesn’t mean we don’t love and care for each other. So she’s happy watching makeup tutorials and trying out different hairstyles? It doesn’t mean she’s not a good person, just that she values looking good and spending time with her friends.”
“And you don’t value those things?”
“I’m more… work-oriented… and much more interested in what a person says than how they look while they’re saying it.” His head bobbed like he was taking it in. “Anyway… Like I said, I can go upstairs.”
“It’s nicer down here,” he said, stalling her before she could retreat. “Up there it’s just boring boardrooms and uncomfortable furniture.” He put down whatever he’d taken from the shelf and turned himself more toward the room. “Here we have couches inside and loungers on the terrace… Could probably even rustle you up a hammock, if you feel like working on the sand.”
She laughed. “Thank you, but my sunscreen’s supposed to be just in case rather than a challenge…”
“Then you should work here,” he said, rounding the desk to come her way. “We got off on the wrong foot… We should start over.” He offered her a hand. “Zane.”
Sharing a workspace didn’t bother her. She worked in an open-plan office most of the time anyway.
Sliding her hand into his, she shivered when his fingers closed around it. “Thea.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” he said. “Wanna get to work?”
She nodded. Having a colleague wouldn’t be so bad. While he did his hotel business stuff, she could get to work on her project. Maybe they’d motivate each other. With the sun glittering off the ocean, it wouldn’t be easy to resist temptation. If he was working, she’d be working, the setup would do just fine.