by Krista Lakes
She quickly smoothed her hair, put on some lipgloss, and headed up the elevator. She was trembling, but she was also determined to put on a good face. She was a professional. She could handle this. She knocked smartly on his door, trying not to think about what she was doing. If she thought too much, she knew she'd panic.
“Come in.”
She took a deep breath and opened the door.
Wyatt stood by the small bar, the sunlight streaming in through the big open windows. His bodyguards were nowhere to be seen, but she had a feeling they were nearby.
She froze, once again frozen by his handsome looks. He had taken off his suit jacket but still wore the dress shirt and tie. It looked good on him. It didn't match his easy-going smile as well as the t-shirt and swim trunks did, but it still looked absolutely amazing on him.
“Hi.” She wished she had something smarter to say, but at least “hi” was better than telling him about the credit card rewards club.
“Hi, Cassie.” He smiled as he said her name, his lips caressing the sound of her. The back of her neck went hot, and her knees threatened to give out. “And here's my room.”
She remembered saying something similar the night he'd come to her hotel room.
“What are you doing here?” She didn't mean to be so blunt, but she didn't have any other ideas.
“I came to see you.”
Her heart sang, and her chest tightened at the same time. He set down his drink and walked across the room, standing before her. He was close enough to touch, yet he made sure to give her some space.
“I hated the way we left things on the island,” he continued. His voice was low and soothing. His green eyes watched her face like she was a work of art. “I couldn't leave it like that. You said to come to Arizona, so I did.”
“I didn't mean quite like this,” she said without thinking. “I mean, this isn't what I expected.”
“I'm sorry if I've made things difficult for you,” he said. “I can find another hotel if you'd like.”
“My boss is thrilled. You've gotten me some serious brownie points,” she replied. “I just... I'm not sure what your plan is.”
He reached out to touch her, but she stepped back. She wasn't sure enough of her emotions to be touched. Part of her wanted to tackle him into the bed and show him how much she ached for him, but another part was angry.
“You lied to me,” she said softly, her eyes on his outstretched hands. “You didn't tell me this was who you really are.”
He dropped his hand. “This isn't who I really am. The bartender on a tropical island who is happy with his life is who I really am. This is what I left behind. This isn't me.”
“You could have told me.”
“Would you have believed me?” he asked her. “Would you have done things differently? I don't tell people who I am for exactly that reason. People change when they know you have money.”
Cassie wasn't sure she could honestly say he wasn't right. She probably would have dismissed him telling her he was rich as little lies to impress her.
“Would you have stayed if you had known?” His eyes went to hers, and she felt her core tighten. When he looked at her, she was the only thing in the world that existed.
“I don't know,” she said honestly. “Maybe. It would have been a very different conversation.”
He nodded and looked away.
“What do you want?” she asked. “Why are you here?”
His eyes came back to her. “I'm here for you, Cassie.”
“You shouldn't be,” she told him. Her thoughts were so jumbled, and she could smell his aftershave. She wanted to kiss him so badly it hurt. She needed to take a step back. She needed to be careful and cautious. She needed to evaluate and plan. Jumping into things too quickly was what got her into this mess. “I should go.”
“Please, don't.” He reached out and grabbed her arm. When she froze, he released it. “At least get dinner with me. I did travel all the way here to see you.”
Cassie chewed on her lower lip. It had all the markings of a bad idea. He'd lied to her about who he was. What else was he lying about? What other secrets and surprises were in store?
She couldn't trust him.
Yet, she couldn't say no to him either. Her heart and her body wouldn't let her brain form the words.
“Fine,” she mumbled. “Dinner. I'll make a reservation.”
He smiled, and her heart leaped with joy. His smile brightened the room better than the sun. “Anywhere you want. My treat.”
She made a noncommittal noise and turned from the room.
Cassie made it back to her office and locked the door. Then she collapsed on the floor and forced herself to remember how to breathe.
Chapter Twenty-One
Wyatt
Wyatt expected Cassie to pick a safe location. He thought she'd pick the hotel restaurant or perhaps even the sandwich shop across the street. He was sure she would want something with lots of people and plenty of easy exits. So he was a bit surprised when he walked into Mangia Ristorante to find that it was an intimate and cozy Italian restaurant. For the first time since arriving on the mainland, he felt hope spring up in his chest again.
He made his way to the back of the restaurant to a small booth. It would be intimate, but still public enough to make her feel comfortable. He ordered two glasses of wine and sat watching the front door. She arrived right on time.
His tongue felt thick, and his heart sped up. She hadn't seen him yet, but just watching her made his whole body tingle with anticipation. She was so beautiful.
The simple burgundy dress she wore was classy and elegant. But, just like with her bikini, it looked sexy as hell without meaning too. It was just the way Cassie wore it. She was sexy and anything she wore looked good to him.
She wore her dark hair pulled back into a low bun at the nape of her neck, and he thought she was wearing lipstick. It was hard to see by the candlelight of the restaurant, but if she was, it definitely boded well for him.
“Mind if I join you?” she asked, catching his eye as he approached. She smiled, but it felt formal instead of playful.
He quickly stood, motioning her to the seat opposite of him.
“Thank you for coming,” he said, settling back into his chair once she was seated. “I was worried you would change your mind.”
“I almost did,” she informed him. Her voice was cool, and she kept her posture perfect as she sat. “But I figured I might as well give you a chance. You did travel thousands of miles just to see me.”
She crossed her arms, and her chin rose as if she was appraising him and not liking what she saw.
“You're angry,” he said. The hope from earlier flickered like a candle in a strong wind.
“Yes.” Her mouth tightened, her eyes and face serious. “You lied to me.”
“I didn't lie,” he quickly countered. “I never said I wasn't a billionaire.”
She snorted a laugh. “Right. Because that makes this all better.” She narrowed her eyes. “You lied by omission.”
She was beautiful when she was angry, but there was no way Wyatt was going to tell her that right now.
“I didn't mean to hurt you,” he said honestly.
She leaned back in her seat, arms still crossed. “When you said you couldn't come back to Arizona with me, I thought maybe you were running from the law. Or that you had a wife and three kids waiting for child support. Every reason not to come back was negative. It made me doubt who you were and my choice of being with you in the first place.”
“I was afraid,” he told her, guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders. “But I don't want to lose you.”
“You kept a huge part of who you are a secret.” She glared at him. “Yet you expected me just to drop my life and everything I know to be with you. To be with someone who doesn't feel the need to tell me the truth.”
He sighed. Where was that wine?
“I should have told you,” he admitted. “But, I was afrai
d of what would happen. Would you have stayed for me? Or for the money?”
She fidgeted slightly. “You should have told me.”
“You're right. I should have.” He looked up at her, his heart pounding in his chest. “I made a mistake. I'm asking you to give me a second chance. Let me make things right.”
Her mouth pursed and he felt like he might be sick. He needed her in his life. Just these past few days had made him miss her terribly. It didn't feel right to be in a world without her.
“Fine. But no more secrets. No more lies of omission,” she told him. “You tell me everything, and I'll do the same.”
He sighed with relief. The world no longer felt like it was going to spin out of control. He had a chance to make things right with the most amazing woman he'd ever met, and he wasn't going to screw it up again.
“What do you want to know?” he asked. “I'll tell you anything. Everything.”
A flicker of a smile crossed her face. “Start with why you were bar-tending. You're a billionaire. You don't need to work.”
“But I like to work,” he told her. “I like to feel useful.”
“So, why not work for a charity or something?” she asked.
“I have a charity. It's through the company. But I wanted something for myself. All my life, I've just been my father's heir. The company has dominated everything I do. I never had a real childhood. I never got to be a rebellious teen, and my wild twenties, and thirties, were all spent making sure the company was taken care of,” he explained. “I wanted some of my life to be just for me. To have something, a job, that was purely my own. Not my father's, or my company, or even a friend's. Something that was only mine.”
The wine arrived, and he gratefully took a sip. Cassie sipped gingerly on hers.
“I tried just doing nothing for a while,” he told her. “But it was boring. I was so used to doing something all the time; I couldn't relax. I fell into tending bar by accident and ended up loving it. It felt enough like work to keep me busy but fun enough that it wasn't work. Plus, no one ever suspected who I was. It would be absurd for a billionaire to sling drinks.”
“That's definitely true,” she agreed. Again, there was almost a hint of a smile. “I certainly never guessed.”
He ignored the jab, spinning the wine glass slowly in his fingers.
“After working for the company all my life, I was burned out. I needed a break.” He took another sip of wine, the memories floating past him like ships on a river. “The freedom was intoxicating. I could be anyone. Do anything. For the first time in my life, no one bothered me for a business opportunity. No one asked for a raise. I didn't have to wonder if people liked me, or if they just liked my bank account.”
He looked up at her. Her dark eyes were focused on him. The candlelight danced across her face, making her neutral expression hard to read. He wasn't sure if she was still angry or if she were warming to him.
“I loved my life on the island,” he told her. “I loved the freedom I had there. I loved the structure of my simple job. I was happy there. Or, at least I thought I was. And then I met you.”
Her eyes flickered up to his.
“And suddenly, I needed you to be happy,” he said, his voice soft and full of emotion. His palms were sweating with nerves. He felt a little sick to his stomach.
If she left him now, he'd be heartbroken.
“Me?”
“Yes. You make me feel complete. You make me happy,” he answered simply. “I want you to be in my life. If I can't be a bartender anymore, then so be it. I'll be anything you want, just as long as it's me you want. Not what I have.”
Cassie took a slow sip of her wine. “I think we can try again. We have to take things slow. I'm not jumping into something this big without some planning.” She set her glass down, and a slow smile crept across her face. “But, you make me happy, too.”
Wyatt thought his heart might burst. The anxiety, joy, worry, and relief of this conversation were rough on a man. Now that he knew where they stood, he could start to relax and enjoy the evening.
“I hope I'm not causing you too much trouble at the hotel,” he told her. “I know my presence at places can cause problems.”
“Oh, no. You're fine.” She grinned. “Actually, I'm probably going to get a raise or a promotion because of you. My boss is super pleased. But, if Lenny asks, tell him I really sold you on the rewards credit card.”
Wyatt laughed, feeling the tension leak out of him. With her smiling at him, it felt like they were back on the island.
“You won't get in trouble for dating a guest?” he asked, thinking of how he didn't have a job anymore for that very reason.
“Well, we aren't dating. We're taking it slow, remember?” She played with the stem of her wine glass. “It's frowned upon by corporate, but there's no official policy against it. It's one of the very few things corporate doesn't have specific rules about.”
“At least that means I've got a chance,” he told her.
She smiled and then quickly hid it again. “So, what are your plans while you're in town?” she asked him, changing the subject. “I hope you're not just going to hang out at the hotel all day. The bar isn't nearly as nice as the one at the resort, and we aren't hiring.”
He chuckled. “I have some business to attend to since I'm stateside,” he told her. “There's always paperwork and charity fundraising. I have plenty to do, although I'd rather work for you.”
The waitress arrived then to take their order. He had the lobster ravioli. She ordered eggplant parmigiana. He had half expected her to choose the most expensive item on the menu, as most people did when dining with a billionaire. Yet, she didn't.
Their conversation flowed comfortably. Wyatt could almost pretend they'd never left the island or been apart. If not for the occasional glance, he would have thought that nothing had changed.
She told him of her family, how her father was out of the picture, and her mother currently between men.
“If you ever meet my parents, don't tell them how much you're worth,” she told him. “They'd just take it to the casino and blow it all. Luckily, they don't live here. It's one of the reason's I moved to Arizona.”
She told him about her first marriage. She told him about how her ex-husband had changed when she'd had a pregnancy scare. She'd been excited, her ex had been terrified. After that, he changed and started blaming her for everything wrong in his life.
“I started just staying at work,” she explained. “I didn't want to go home. I didn't want to be yelled at for things I couldn't control. I didn't want the blame anymore. He didn't want me. I guess it was good that we didn't have any kids.”
She kept things vague, yet there was a hurt to her words that cut him to the core. The people she had trusted most had hurt her. Her parents had gambled everything away. Her ex-husband had broken her joy.
It made him regret not being honest with her even more. He could see how her parents' bad decisions guided her current ones. Her ex had marked her even more. She was cautious now. She didn't let surprises change her decisions. She wasn't going to take a risk that she wasn't sure was going to pay off.
He loved watching her talk. She used her hands, and she smiled when she spoke. She would ask him questions and wait with an interested look for him to answer. The conversation flowed into the night.
Dinner was good and the dessert excellent. Wyatt ate slowly, trying to make the meal last. He was afraid that if they left this restaurant, the magic of being together would vanish. He knew she was still unsure of him, and to be honest, he was slightly unsure of her now as well.
He was a billionaire again. People wanted money and power from him. He hoped she wasn't one of those people. He thought she wasn't back on the island, but now...
She'd turned him down when he was a broke bartender. What was different about him being a billionaire now?
“I should head back to the hotel,” he said long after they finished dessert and the bottle of wi
ne emptied. The restaurant was nearly deserted, and he had a feeling the manager would be coming soon to kick them out for closing time.
“I'll head over there with you,” she said, reaching for her purse. “I have to grab a couple of things from the office. I have an important guest, you know. Corporate needs things to be perfect.”
He smiled, knowing that he'd at least get a few more minutes with her.
He typed a command into his phone, and thirty seconds later, the SUV with his bodyguards was at the front door.
“Well, that's certainly convenient,” Cassie said, looking impressed. “Way better than a cab.”
He chuckled. “I have to get used to having someone watch me all the time. I'd gotten used to being alone. It's strange to know men in suits are following my every move.”
She chuckled, and he helped her into the comfortable SUV. She didn't say much on the short drive over. He didn't blame her. Thor and Odin were somewhat intimidating, and he wasn't sure what to say in front of them either.
The SUV came to a stop at the front of the hotel. Thor hopped out, scouted, and then motioned for Wyatt and Cassie to exit the vehicle. Wyatt sighed. He missed the days of just driving himself to the beach. He missed not worrying about being kidnapped and held for ransom. Being anonymous had been nice.
Flashbulbs went off around them. Two men with cameras ran off after taking a picture of Wyatt and Cassie getting out of the car. Wyatt sighed. He'd known it was only a matter of time before news of his return to the states would come out, but he'd hoped to avoid a lot of publicity.
Thor and Odin escorted Cassie and Wyatt up to the penthouse suite. Cassie tried to break away in the lobby, but the bodyguards shepherded her into the elevator with them. She kept a smile on her face, although her body language became tenser the closer they came to the penthouse door.
Once at the suite door, Odin and Thor vanished inside. They came out a moment later, and suddenly Wyatt and Cassie were alone in the hallway. The room was secure. The floor was secure. For now, Wyatt was safe to be on his own.