Chapter 16
Carly glanced around the office of Cyree Hue, the woman who hired her years ago. The letters etched into the glass door said she was one of The Royal Palms’ chief operators now.
Carly glanced at her watch and sighed. Gwen, Cyree’s receptionist, had told Carly to step on into her office and Ms. Hue would join her shortly, but it felt a little odd to be in here without the woman herself. She guessed her discomfort had more to do with the unknown purpose of the meeting.
“Thanks for coming in so early, Carly,” Cyree said as she hurried into the room. She rested a manila envelope on her glass desktop and sank into the white leather office chair. “How are things going this season?”
Carly shifted in her seat. Most people at the resort knew about her and Gage by now.
They’d shown up at the entertainment together to watch Christian enchant the guests with a fresh routine, complete with two very beautiful students, no less.
Beyond that, she and Gage had spent day after day together on the beach, at The Mini Palm, and picking up odds and ends in the gift shop as well.
Of course, they’d done less hand-holding while on the resort, and they’d also been keeping their kisses—as Gage suggested—behind closed doors.
“Things are good,” she managed.
Cyree nodded, a smile tugging at one side of her lips.
“Glad to hear it.” She inched away from her desk and steepled her fingers.
The shift in posture, along with the look in the woman’s light blue eyes, told Carly she was just about to get to business.
“I appreciate you being willing to train our special guest this summer. I’m glad the two of you have…
warmed up to each other.” She stopped there.
Her eyes widened as she seemed to notice something behind Carly.
Or someone, she realized as she looked over her shoulder.
A man in a suit stepped inside as if he hadn’t noticed the meeting taking place at all.
“Mr. Chase. Can I help you?” Cyree’s voice held an edge.
Carly had seen the guy around the resort, but she’d never learned his name.
“I thought I was going to be a part of this meeting,” he said, his face void of emotion.
Cyree arched a blonde brow. “And I thought we agreed that I would handle this myself.”
The word awkward screamed in Carly’s head. As professional as The Royal Palm was, it seemed to have its flaws like any other place run by humans.
The attractive man held the woman’s gaze before turning his steely blue eyes on her. “Devin Chase,” he said, reaching to shake her hand. “I apologize for being late.” He pulled the chair beside Carly back a foot or two and took a seat.
The two looked like they’d just stepped off a movie set. Cyree, playing the role of a woman who’d run her own company since the age of seventeen, and Devin playing the role of some heartless billionaire who’d stepped in to snatch the business away.
Cyree dragged her gaze off Devin and set it back on her. “Here at The Royal Palm, we like to make every one of our patrons feel safe. We go to great lengths to protect their information and, as you know, enforce several very strict policies in that regard.”
Great. Here it came. The meeting with Cyree would have been enough to embarrass Carly for days. But with Mr. Emotionless by her side to hear—or maybe even take part in—the lecture, that would be enough to keep her cringing for years.
The man cleared his throat to gain the floor. “That being said,” he started, “we have a strict policy against dating patrons.”
“I wouldn’t say strict,” Cyree said. She straightened her shoulders, keeping a trained gaze on Carly and not the man who’d barged into the meeting.
“There’s been a lot of confusion where the policy is concerned, mainly because it gets changed from year-to-year, and sometimes we fail to have our staff members look over the edited parts of the contract before signing.
For that reason, we’re sure you weren’t aware of this.
” Her eyes shot to Devin Chase for a seething blink.
It was in that moment Carly recalled what Christian had said; something about Cyree having a love/hate relationship with one of the men on staff. This had to be him.
“The fact is,” Devin said, “we’ve had a number of calls come in asking us if a woman by the name of Carly Bridger works here.”
Hearing her name aloud—knowing it’d been on the lips of complete strangers—made her heart clunk out of beat.
“Our staff knows better than to confirm personal details; anyone of importance who wishes to get hold of you can do so through private means.” He angled his chin down, a silent prompt for her to agree.
“Right.” Carly managed a nod in return, but her mind was racing.
She couldn’t exactly guess at what they planned to do with her.
Write her up? Fire her? Make her come out with a statement denying the whole thing?
She hated the idea of losing her job, but it was nothing compared to gaining Gage Craven.
If that was her punishment, she’d take it.
Of course, that would mean their time together would be cut short.
“We’re not saying this is your fault,” Cyree said. “We don’t believe you breached the privacy policy, which is of upmost importance, but the tabloids are hungry. Already, they know who you are, and they want to get as much information about you as they can.”
“Which will inevitably lead to unwanted paparazzi trying to sneak onto our shore,” the man added.
Carly silently wished that Devin would stand up, turn around, and walk himself right out of the meeting. She couldn’t help but think his idea of disciplinary action would be stricter than Cyree’s. “So what do you think we should do?” she asked, anxious to get this over with.
“Well, to determine that, we reached out to the other resorts around town and asked if they, too, had been getting phone calls. They confirmed that they had.”
“So that means, what? That they don’t actually know which resort we’re at yet?” Carly asked.
“Right,” Cyree said.
Devin Chase shifted in his seat. “Or that they didn’t at the time. They may know by now.”
Cyree shook her head. “They don’t know. And for the sake of privacy for our patrons and staff members alike, we’d like to keep it that way.
We understand that Gage will catch a flight to Maui next week to start filming.
We think it’d be best, considering the circumstances, that he finish out his training with Marcus. ”
Carly’s shoulders dropped.
“It’s not what it sounds like,” Cyree said.
“We’ll compensate you for your flight back home, or pay for you to stay in a nearby hotel if you’d like to stay close.
Once Mr. Craven is gone, we’ll bring you back on and you’ll pick up the training appointments we have scheduled for you.
And of course, we’ll pay you for the week you’re gone as well. ”
She hated the idea of saying goodbye to Gage a week early. But if she stayed nearby, they could sneak and see each other after his lessons each day. “Okay,” she said. “I’d like to stay at a place nearby. And thank you. That’s generous.”
The man cleared his throat as if he was about to speak up once more, but Cyree shot to her feet. “And thank you for being so understanding. Situations like this can get a little sticky, so we appreciate your cooperation.”
“Yeah,” Carly said, coming to a stand as well. She reached out and shook the woman’s hand. Mr. Chase stood up in time to offer a firm handshake of his own.
“If we can take care of this in a timely manner, it’d be much appreciated. Say, by noon?”
Wow. Perhaps he’d like to sic a team of bodyguards to escort her off the property.
Cyree snatched a small card off her desk. “Here. Call this number and let Gwen know once you’re ready to leave. She’ll be making the arrangements for you. We only ask that you don’t return to the property until after Mr. Craven’s departure.”
“Okay.” Carly forced a smile on her face and pulled her eyes off the card. “I’ll call this number once I’m ready.”
Her exit was paced, Carly had seen to that. But as soon as she rounded the corridor, she picked up speed and hurried to the double doors.
She pushed the exit door wide open and marched through, wishing she had a pair of sunglasses to cover her eyes. It was bright out, but she wanted them more to cover the tears welling in her eyes.
Carly couldn’t even be sure what caused the tears. Humiliation? Maybe. Having a huge chunk of her time with Gage snatched away from her? That was more likely. She dreaded even telling him.
She’d been walking so quickly that Carly nearly missed the sight of Christian sitting on a nearby bench, hunched forward, elbows resting on his knees. She sighed, already comforted by his presence.
Christian slipped the reflective sunglasses off his face as he stood, offering them to her as she neared.
“When Olympic Skier Olivia Melbourne stayed here,” Christian said as Carly slid the sunglasses onto her face.
“she and I got a little cozy during our private lessons. Not that most women could resist,” he said with a grin.
“They had to take action with me too. They shipped me off to a place across town, asked that I didn’t come back until Olivia was gone.
Of course, I did have to come back for the entertainment one evening… ”
Carly had heard the rumor a while back; she’d always wondered if it was true.
“You doing all right?” he asked, bumping his arm against hers.
“I’m a little better knowing they did this to you. You’re like royalty around here. I just don’t want this to mess up what I have with Gage.” Her lip trembled on the words.
“Yeah,” Christian said. “I’m sorry. I came as soon as I caught wind of the meeting.” He shrugged. “Wanted you to know I’m here for you.”
“Thanks,” she said. “I appreciate that.”
“Was Devin in on the meeting too?”
Carly groaned. “Yes. Not that he added anything to it.” She tapped him on the arm. “Hey, is that the guy you were talking about? The whole love/hate thing?”
Christian chuckled under his breath. “Maybe.”
Carly considered that. “Hmm. They look like a match, I can tell you that much.” But as she considered how the pairing between Carly and Gage lined up, she couldn’t help but cringe.
She probably didn’t look like a good match for him at all.
The tabloids would have all sorts of mean things to say about this average woman who’d captured one of Hollywood’s elite, especially when compared to the likes of Diana McCarthy.
“I’m going to miss Gage,” she said next, a new sting settling over her heart. “I thought we had another week.”
“Hey, hey,” Christian said, wrapping an arm around her back. “You’ve got as much time with the guy as you’d like. You just can’t be seen here together right now.”
“You’re right,” she said with a nod.
He tossed an arm around her. “Want to go over to his place? I’ll walk you there.”
“That’s probably against the rules at this point.”
“True. How about I walk you back to the bungalow, you can pack up your things, and I’ll bring Gage over in the ATV.”
Carly shot him a look. “You’ve replaced the golf cart?”
He gave her a shrug. “Life guards drive them right on the beach. Gives me a little more freedom.”
She sighed. Christian really was a good friend.
“Thank you. That would be perfect.” In reality, things were far from perfect.
In less than a week, Gage would be thrust into a whole new world, one that didn’t involve her.
He may have confessed his love for her—heck, he’d even declared it to his own fickle father—but Carly couldn’t get past the sense of foreboding that hung over the cloudless sky like an invisible threat.
The fact was, everything they’d spent the last month building between them could come crashing down as the winds set in.
Rough waves were definitely heading their way; Carly only hoped their budding romance would survive the storm.