Chapter 9
There’s nothing worse than realizing you were wrong.
Terri
My assistant peeks into my office. “I have a question.”
“Please tell me it’s not how to get egg stains out of tablecloths.”
Nadia giggles. “I didn’t expect women in cocktail dresses to have a food fight.”
It wasn’t a little food fight either. The women completely destroyed the buffet of food.
I tried stopping them, but when I ended up with a yogurt parfait in my face, I phoned Hudson.
By the time he arrived five minutes later, the women were lounging on the floor drinking mimosas and laughing like hyenas.
And when they were escorted out by the police? They started betting on whose husband would arrive first to bail them out.
“You never know what the super rich will do. They think normal rules of behavior don’t apply to them. I once had to send a courier on a private plane to fetch a baby monitor from California because the mom couldn’t live without it.”
Her nose wrinkles. “She couldn’t buy a new one?”
“Nope. And, trust me, I offered.”
“Rich people are crazy.” Her eyes widen, and she slaps her hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she mumbles.
I wave away her apology. “You’re fine. But don’t let them hear you calling them crazy pants. No matter if they ask you to delay the sunrise. Or ask you to import ice from Antarctica. Or request bottled air. Or want the sand removed from the beach. Or demand you lower the humidity in the air.”
She giggles. “This job is totally different than the one I had at Sirens & Saddles. The craziest thing to happen there was a bunch of bridesmaids drinking prosecco at ten in the morning and crying because they felt the horse judged their pink cowboy hats.”
“You gotta love Smuggler’s Hideaway.”
“You’re so lucky you grew up here.”
“Yep,” I agree despite not moving here until I was twelve after my mom died. My youth was no picnic party at Prohibition Beach. But everything turned out all right in the end. “What was your question?”
She bites her lip. “Do you mind reviewing the setup for the retirement party this evening? I don’t know if I captured the boats, booze, and bad decisions theme. The cake is a whiskey barrel. It’s supposed to pour actual whiskey but it’s leaking everywhere.”
I stand with a sigh. “I knew when he requested the moonshine fountain, we were in trouble.”
“I’m glad you refused.”
“I should have refused a cake that pours whiskey,” I mutter as I start to follow her down the hallway toward the room reserved for the retirement party tonight.
“I’m worried about tonight.”
Tonight is the first event Nadia is handling all on her own. She was supposed to handle a birthday party last Saturday on her own. But she freaked when the generator for the bouncy castle failed and a dad and his kid got trapped.
I came to rescue them but ended up staying when the goat decided to steal all the cupcakes. Three adults chased the poor animal around the resort until some kid got trapped in a restroom stall with the goat. Everyone panicked, but the kid declared the goat was his best friend.
Things did not improve from then on.
I really need to speak to Hudson about banning birthday parties for anyone under thirty from the resort. He won’t. But at least I can bitch to him about a goat for thirty minutes.
Hudson gets all constipated looking when I complain. Which is why I do it as often as possible.
The door to the physical therapy suite opens and Nolan steps into the hallway.
“Thanks for the help, Hazel.” He waggles his eyebrows. “You can rub me down anytime.”
A pit forms in my stomach. What the hell? Nolan has been flirting with me, begging for my attention, for weeks now.
I’m such an idiot. It’s not about me. It never was.
The star quarterback is a player. He wants another notch on his bedpost. Not a partner. I should have known.
“We don’t have to tell your boyfriend,” Nolan says.
A haze of red covers my vision. What a pirate prick! It’s bad enough he’s a player, but Hazel has a boyfriend. A man she spent nearly a decade pining for.
I march to him. “What in the name of blazing pirates are you doing?”
He grins at me. “Terri. I’m happy to see you.”
“Happy. Right.” I snort. “You were literally flirting with Hazel five seconds ago.”
“It was all in good fun.”
I ignore him. “You have no idea. Zero. Zilch. None. Hazel moped around this island for years because Miles broke her heart. They’re finally back together and in love and you’re ruining it.”
“I’m not… I didn’t mean… It’s only a bit of fun.”
I fist my hands on my hips. “A bit of fun? Is that what I am? A bit of fun? You chased after me. You made me think you might actually care.”
He reaches for me but I retreat. “I do care.”
I motion toward Hazel’s treatment room. “The way you care about Hazel.”
He grimaces. “We were joking around.”
“Does Hazel know you were joking around?”
Hazel peeks into the hallway. “I do. Most of my patients use humor to mask their pain. And, trust me, I would never cheat on Miles.”
“I know. I’m not accusing you of being a cheat. Your brothers, on the other hand…”
She giggles. “Thomas and Ian are too busy causing mayhem to have time for romantic relationships that last longer than a night.”
“Are the sheep still pink?”
“Yep, and my brothers refuse to believe it’s their fault. If I hear Ian claim it was temporary dye one more time...” She trails off.
“At least they gave up their illegal sheep race betting ring.”
She rolls her eyes. “They didn’t have a choice. Mayor Lana lost her mind when the bridge to the island was closed for two hours while they rounded up the sheep.”
“In retrospect, using the bridge for an illegal sheep race was not the best idea.”
“I think I’d like these brothers. I’d love to meet them,” Nolan says and I whirl toward him.
“Uh oh,” Hazel mutters. “The vein on Terri’s forehead is about to explode. I’m out of here. If you need me to phone an ambulance, let me know.”
She shuts her door but I holler after her. “The police are more likely.”
“I’d never narc on you!”
Nolan smiles at me. “This island is fun.”
His words set me off. Fun? All we are to him is a bit of entertainment. Nothing serious.
“You aren’t a pirate prick. You’re the leader of the pirate pricks.”
“I am the quarterback.”
The quarterback? As if being the quarterback gives him the right to mess with people’s feelings. I stomp toward him and poke him in the shoulder. He flinches.
“You— Hold on. Did you flinch?”
He motions to the treatment room. “Why do you think I was visiting Hazel?”
“To flirt with her.”
He grunts. “I wish.”
My brow wrinkles. “You wish? You aren’t making any sense.”
He nudges me toward an alcove. “I prefer not to talk about this in the open.”
“Talk about what?” I groan. “Oh god. Please don’t tell me you’re seeing a physical therapist for some weird side effect of an STD.”
He rears back. “What kind of weird side effect?”
I throw my arms in the air. “I don’t know. You’re the one with an STD.”
“I don’t have an STD. I have a fucked up shoulder.”
“A fucked up shoulder? But you’re the quarterback. You need your shoulder.”
He purses his lips. “I’m painfully aware.”
“And you lifted me up and pressed me…” I trail off. I don’t need to give him a step-by-step reminder of what happened in the closet. He was there. “Did what we did aggravate your injury? Sweet suffering seahorses. Did I hurt you?”
I gulp. He’s not the selfish one. I am. Here I’ve been yelling at him for only thinking about himself when I’m the one who’s only concerned with myself.
He grasps my hands and I let him. It feels too good to have his skin touching mine again to pull away.
“You didn’t hurt me. Trust me. I was feeling no pain in the closet. Only pleasure. Unbelievable pleasure. Pleasure I’ve never experienced before.”
I gasp. Is he serious?
“Why do you think I’ve been trailing after you like a lost puppy? I want what only you can give me.”
My mouth gapes open, but I manage to ask, “What only I can give you?”
“Relief from worrying about this injury. A break from the stress of being the quarterback on a team determined to win the Super Bowl this season.”
My brow wrinkles. “I’m a distraction?”
He drops my hands to cup my chin. “No. You’re the bright star in an otherwise bleak life.”
“Bleak life? Your life isn’t bleak.”
“My shoulder’s injured, and I’m a quarterback.” He shrugs.
“I’m sorry. I’m being a bitch. I see the car and the money and the fame. I should have looked beyond the surface.”
“You’re looking now.” He kisses my nose. “How about that date?”
I growl.
“I can speak to Hudson. Clear it with him.”
“Terri!” Nadia shouts. “Where are you?”
In all the chaos of discovering Nolan was flirting and injured, I forgot I’m supposed to be working.
“We’ll discuss this later,” I say before rushing off.
We shouldn’t discuss it. What sense is there in dating Nolan for the summer? He’ll be gone at the end of the summer when the NFL season starts.
And I’ll still be here. I won’t leave this island as long as Dad is alive. I won’t leave him on his own. Not the way my mom left me.