Blake mulled over the idea of retirement, not because he had any intention of doing so in the next forty years, at least, but because he knew there was a thriving community of snowbirds here. They could potentially be Magnolia customers, if he ensured the resort catered to more than just tourists.
They turned a corner and the heart of the island fell away, so they were driving across a more natural landscape, framed by rolling dunes and seagrasses. It took longer than Blake had expected to get to the development, which raised concerns in his mind. He wanted the place to be exclusive, and somewhat set back from what was sort of Element Island’s Vegas-style “Strip,” but at the same time, it couldn’t be so far that people wouldn’t visit it.
“Here we are.”
Blake turned his gaze from the ocean, and stared at basically nothing. “What is this?”
“Magnolia development,” the cabbie replied, looking at him sympathetically as Blake stared at what was basically an empty lot. Hawk had been in charge of following up on the development …
“No fucking way,” Blake said in disbelief, as he climbed out of the cab, staring at the property, or lack thereof. This was a building that was supposed to be half complete. There was no possible way for him to micromanage every single aspect of Parker Industries, but how the fuck had this happened?!
“Want me to wait?” the cabbie offered, and Blake nodded, walking in somewhat of a daze toward a shack that looked like it might hold some possibilities. But when he got to it, he found the door locked.
Leaning his head back, Blake cursed a long blue streak before pulling out his phone. Cole answered on the third ring.
“Yo.”
“Did you know?”
“Huh?”
“Did you know?” Blake repeated, jaw so tense his teeth ached. “That there’d been almost no work at all done on the property.”
He could almost hear Cole wince down the line. “I had an idea. I mean, you put Hawk in charge.”
It was all Blake could do not to hurl the phone into the nearest sand dune. “What the fuck does that mean? I can’t be everywhere and do everything! Goddammit, Cole. If you and Hawk want out so badly, then get out. I can’t keep doing this shit. I can’t!”
He sagged against a lonely, wind-battered palm tree, so angry that he was almost shaking. “You realize that we can’t take another financial hit. If this property tanks, we’re done. And while you and Hawk may have other lives to run off to, I don’t. This is it, Cole. This is my whole fucking life you’re pissing all over. There’s nothing built. Nothing!”
He dropped the phone and cursed and cursed and cursed some more before finally retrieving the device.
“Got it out of your system now?” Cole inquired, his mellow tone almost enough to set Blake off again. “I messed up. You asked me to watch Hawk, and I got distracted by my new wife. I own that. But this doesn’t have to be as bad as you’re thinking, Blake. You and I both agreed that we should’ve done way more research into the property before deciding to build. If Hawk hadn’t been up to his ears in his mess, we probably would’ve been more diligent. This is a chance to do things right. We weren’t planning on opening till next year anyway. If you straighten things out, there’s a chance we still might, without losing revenue.”
“I’m not God,” Blake said bitterly. “If I were, maybe you might occasionally listen to me.” It wasn’t a fair assessment, because Cole had invested plenty of his own sweat in the company, even if he wasn’t nearly as invested as Blake in it. Nevertheless, the realization that both his brothers had very nearly torpedoed the family business—again—left a foul taste in his mouth.
“Stay down there as long as you need to, to make sure things get really underway,” Cole said. “I’ll take care of things over here. I swear I will. Yeah, Dana might be pregnant, but it’s not like she needs me at her side 24/7. I’ve got this end, Blake. I’ll follow up on all the other properties. You just focus on the island. You’ve been split in so many different directions lately, it might even be good for you.”
“Good for me,” Blake repeated wearily, staring blankly at a whole lot of nothing beside some half-assed rebar seemingly just stuck randomly in the ground. “Yeah. This is just great for me. The vacation I’ve always needed.” He ended the call without saying goodbye and slowly made his way back to the cabbie.
Chapter Six
Kelly
She took extra care with her appearance that evening. No point in denying it. If she usually spent 30 to 45 minutes glamming up for her clients, holed up in one of the bathrooms at the hotel, this time she went straight home from her shift and spent an hour shaving, curling her hair into loose, gleaming dark waves that she knew nicely framed her face, and doing her makeup over and over obsessively until she was happy with the contouring.
She spent just as much time obsessing about her heels and dress, finally picking out a black lacy number that went nicely with three-inch heels. It highlighted her best assets, but left plenty to the imagination.
But in spite of all that work, Kelly’s giddiness died away as Blake approached her in front of the hotel at the agreed time, looking like someone had killed a family member, his expression was so grim.
“Uh … hi …” she said uncertainly, shocked by the change in his appearance from that morning. Then he’d been friendly, open, confident, exuding masculinity that made her knees weak. Now his jaw was set in a tight, hard line—admittedly sexy—his full lips were thinned till they were almost white, and his green eyes were shuttered, without a hint of warmth. Even his incredible body was held rigidly, as if he might shatter if he took a deep breath.
“I take it business didn’t go well today?” Kelly said quietly, when he stopped in front of her, fists clenched.
“You could say that.” His voice was blank, devoid of any kind of inflection, and Kelly made a spur of the moment decision.
“Don’t cancel this date.” She met his gaze squarely, in spite of how empty the hollowness in her eyes made him feel. “I know you probably want to just get completely wasted, but I can make your day at least marginally better. I promise.”
He laughed coldly, sending shivers down her spine. “Doubtful. No offense, but what I found out today isn’t going to be dispelled with some cute local wildlife or tropical drink.”
“It also isn’t going to be dispelled by moping in your room, getting angrier by the minute.” She’d never been one to pull her punches, and was gratified when it seemed to shock him. “Come on. You don’t look like a guy who backs down from a challenge. I dare you to give me a chance.”
His hard gaze held hers for a long moment, before slowly, he nodded. “Fine. I honestly have nothing left to lose.”
“That’s the attitude,” Kelly said wryly, kicking off her heels and picking them up by the straps. “But what I’m wearing won’t work at all for what I have in mind. Follow me.”
He walked beside her as they started down the footpath, in the direction of her home. “I’m sorry to make you change,” he said after they’d walked in silence for a quarter of a mile. “You look beautiful.”
“Did you really notice?” Kelly teased. “Or are you just being polite.”
To her relief, he chuckled slightly. “Oh, I noticed. As screwed up as my life currently is, there would be no way not to notice.”
“I’m sorry things are rough for you right now.” She touched his shoulder lightly and dodged one of the island’s massive wolf spiders as it attempted to climb her bare foot.
“Shit!” Blake exclaimed as the three-inch insect scurried off the boardwalk and back to wherever it had come from. “That’s enough to trigger nightmares, and I’m not even afraid of spiders. But you didn’t even blink.”
Kelly laughed. “You get used to them around here. They’re not poisonous. We have some rattlers. But the snails are more dangerous than the wolf spiders, if you can believe it.” She stopped to lift a letter olive snail from a nearby flower, holding it up for Blake to inspect. “They�
�re carnivorous. They live on local clams.”
“Well, shit,” he muttered, taking the critter from her and examining it curiously before putting it back on its plumeria blossom. “What are these flowers, by the way?”
“They’re Hawaiian,” she replied, stroking a silky peach petal. “The island’s a little confused about what image it wants to portray. Caribbean, Hawaiian, or South Carolinian.”
Blake smiled faintly. “I get that. I’m in so many states lately that I’m a little confused about what image I want to portray, frankly.”
They resumed their walk toward her small one-bedroom home.
“Why so many states? The image you portray is just fine, by the way,” Kelly commented. “That suit is amazing.”
He glanced down at himself. “Enjoy it. It’s the last one I have, and it’s far from my best.”
If this wasn’t his best look, she’d melt on the spot at whatever was, Kelly mused, enjoying the slightly disheveled look to his hair that made him look less buttoned-up billionaire and more boyish.
She grimaced. “Airport theft?”
He nodded.
“Sorry. I know a good dry cleaner’s,” she offered, stopping at the door to her place. “Come on in. I’ll only be a sec.”
Chapter Seven
Blake
As he waited for the woman—realizing yet again that he didn’t know her name—Blake wandered around and looked at the various paintings on the walls of her little home. “These are incredible,” he called, touching one particularly vivid sea scene that seemed to leap off the canvas.
“Thanks,” she yelled from behind the bathroom door and, abruptly, the thought of her changing send a surge of arousal through Blake. The idea of that lacy dress sliding from her gorgeous body, dipping toward the floor as her soft, full breasts were fully revealed—
The door opened and she walked back out, wearing cut-offs and a nicely fitted dark blue tank top that only served to accent the sheen of her hair. Unbidden, Blake’s eyes wandered to her legs and arousal hit even harder at the sight of those long, golden gams. He yanked his eyes away quickly when he realized he’d been staring, and gestured dumbly at the paintings.
“Where’d you get these?”
Seemingly amused, she shrugged. “Just here and there. Friends of friends. Hey, that suit may look great, but it seriously sucks for what I have in mind. I have some shorts and a T-shirt you can borrow. Old boyfriend’s that I use for house painting and stuff. They look like crap, but you’d be more comfortable.”
For some bizarre reason, the notion that she’d had boyfriends send a tug of jealousy spinning through Blake. He shoved it away. “Nah. I’m good, no worries. I live in these things.”
She shrugged. “Suit yourself. Literally.”
Her easy, comfortable way set Blake’s frayed nerves at ease. She wasn’t cowed, even in spite of his obvious mood. That impressed him.
“What’s your name?” he asked sheepishly, and her burst of laughter hit him low in the gut.
“Kelly,” she replied, not offering a last name. “And you’re Blake, the hotel rumors have told me.”
He arched an eyebrow. “There are hotel rumors about me?”
“There are hotel rumors about everyone,” she said ruefully, then started for the front door. “Come on.”
He lingered behind for just a second, pretty much outright gawking at her perfect backside before following her back outside.
She locked the door and they started out again, but this time Kelly reached out and tucked her arm in his as she began to point out the various sights around them. The minute she placed her arm in his, the heat within Blake soared again, and he sensed Kelly reacting in a similar way. So the attraction was mutual. He filed that for future reference.
As a salt breeze drifted over to them from the nearby ocean, Kelly walked him through her home, drawing Blake out of his usual shell as she told him all about the island. She knew the history as much as the culture and shared everything from the ghost stories to the tales about builders who had gone crazy or broke in mid-project, responsible for some of the half-built properties scattered around.
At that, Blake stiffened slightly, but again, she seemed to easily read him and changed the subject quickly, on to the wildlife and the weather.
“Your turn,” she finally said, as they walked into a grove of some kind of tree, the soft buzzing of insects intermingling with brown pelicans making a ruckus nearby. “Come on. Give me something personal. Anything.”
And just like that, he opened up to her. It all came pouring out, the whole damn story about the whole fucked up business and his brothers’ contributions to the whole mess. He couldn’t believe the torrent of words that came from him, but they wouldn’t stop after they started, so Blake talked and talked and then talked some more, and all the while Kelly walked beside him quietly, her hand now tucked into his.
When he finally ran out of words, he anticipated an awkward silence, but instead Kelly looked over at him and the look of understanding took his breath completely away. “That’s shitty,” she said bluntly. “No two ways around it. I’m sorry, Blake. The only thing I can say is that I guarantee you’ll figure it out. You love your company too much not to.”
“Yeah. I will,” he admitted. “And it could be worse, I guess. Being stranded in an island paradise with a gorgeous woman while I figure things out … yeah. Could definitely be worse.”
She flashed him an impish smile and just then they turned a corner and arrived at an unbroken stretch of sand dunes.
“This is the whole point of the evening,” she informed him, letting go of his hand and leaving Blake feeling oddly bereft.
Walking away momentarily, she returned with what looked like two huge cookie sheets. He stared at them in confusion. “Uh … where’s the flour and sugar?”
Kelly laughed. “The dunes are the sugar. And you and I are going to be the cookies, if you really want to mix metaphors. Here’s how it’s done.”
Before he knew what was happening, she’d darted away from him and was scrambling nimbly up the side of the dune. No sooner had she reached the top than she was flying back down again, this time riding the cookie sheet, or whatever it was. She sailed to a halt a few feet from Blake and looked up at him with a huge smile.
“Your turn. I dare you not to fall …”
An hour ago, he would’ve hurled the cookie tin like a frisbee across the ocean, he’d been so angry. But Kelly was having some sort of an effect on Blake that he couldn’t begin to figure out, an effect that led him to grab the sheet she extended, trek up the dune—which turned out to be way harder than she’d made it look—and to attempt to ride the cookie sheet down the dune, only to end up flat on his ass halfway down.
Her laughter reached him from far below and he found himself laughing too, cradled in the lingering warmth of the sand, still holding some of the sun’s earlier rays. “Okay … I’ve got sand in places sand has definitely never been …”
“Like a virgin,” Kelly singsonged, appearing on the neighboring dune and waving her cookie sheet in challenge. “See you at the bottom …”
She raced away and Blake scrambled to follow, an unfamiliar smile crossing his face from ear to ear.
***
Somehow, the evening just vanished. One minute, Blake was riding sand waves with Kelly, the next they were back outside her house, covered in sand, still laughing. All his tension had evaporated, and he couldn’t believe the change this beautiful woman had wrought in him. He still had a disaster of a project on his hands, but somehow, he had hope again.
“Hey. Thanks,” he said, reaching out and brushing some sand from her hair, unable to keep his fingers from lingering in the softness of the thick curls. “You were right. I needed that.”
She smiled that melting, honest smile. “I’m always right, Blake Parker. Stick around long enough and you’ll learn that. So maybe being stuck here for at least a few weeks won’t be so bad?”
“Not enti
rely,” he conceded. “You’re kind of a miracle worker, the way you knew exactly what to do to get my mind off all the shit. What do I owe you?”
The smile vanished from Kelly’s face like a massive wave had washed it away, erasing any trace. “Nothing.”
Confused, Blake frowned. “No, I said I’d pay you before, when I first asked to hire you.”
A steel glint replaced the previous warmth in her eyes. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
“But …” he almost stammered in confusion. “But, I took your evening. You missed out on a whole night’s pay. I can afford to pay, Kelly, obviously—”
He trailed off as he saw the steel in her eyes switch to a deep, bewildering hurt before Kelly unlocked the front door and stepped inside. “Good luck with your hotel, Mr. Parker,” she said stiffly, and slammed the door between them, leaving Blake standing on her doorstep, feeling like he’d just wiped out on concrete, instead of soft, silken sand.
Chapter Eight
Blake
He didn’t sleep the whole damn night, and it wasn’t thoughts of the hotel that kept him tossing and turning. Still completely confused at the turn the amazing evening had taken, Blake finally got up before the sun and slipped into a suit. By now it was obvious he wasn’t getting his luggage back, and he’d need a dry cleaner. But he’d have to ask the concierge, since Kelly apparently was seething at him.
Why? he wondered over and over as he grabbed a fast breakfast downstairs and then walked out to the taxi stand.
On his way out of the hotel, he kept his gaze firmly ahead, not looking at anyone or anything, trying to force the previous evening before out of his mind. There was something about the situation that had left him feeling scummy, but he had no idea why.
I did the right thing, obviously. You don’t take someone’s work time without offering compensation. So why do I feel like I somehow disrespected her?
Dared to Love (The Billionaire Parker Brothers Book 3) Page 3