by Ivy Banks
Pearl chuckled and squeezed his hand this time, her bones crushing into his and Lincoln knew he was trying her patience.
“Because, darling, when Erik Hanover wants something, he will stop at nothing to get it.”
The words chilled Lincoln to his already frigid core.
There will be no end to this until Erik Hanover is ready to give Pearl up. And if it hasn’t happened yet, it isn’t likely to occur.
Chapter 2
“Did you hear that Lincoln Pembroke is staying at the resort?”
Charlotte turned to look at her co-worker, her brown eyes wide with surprise.
“The rock star?” she asked and Joy nodded eagerly.
“Yep. He’s got the Palatial Cottage booked to himself with instructions not to be disturbed during daytime hours at any cost.”
Charlotte laughed incredulously and turned back to look at the rest of the roster for the week.
“What a diva,” she muttered, her eyes scrolling through the computer. Her chocolate irises widened further.
“Oh my, and Erik Hanover is staying here also! What brings the filthy rich here during the strictly filthy rich season?” Charlotte mocked and Joy laughed.
Charlotte had been the general manager of Great Abaco Resort and Spa for five years, but before that, she had worked in various parts of the exclusive hideaway for the ultra-wealthy.
She had mixed feelings about the job. She marvelled that she—a girl who had grown up in abject poverty in Puerto Rico—would now be rubbing elbows with so many rich and famous people. But she knew that as nice as they may treat her, they certainly did not consider her an equal.
Nonetheless, she was always friendly with the guests and they often invited her to socialize or come out with them, which she enjoyed.
Why not? They’re paying for it, she joked to herself.
But the job was also stressful, and at times physically and emotionally exhausting.
Their guests could be very demanding, and expected everything to be perfect.
The raven-haired beauty could not complain, however, not truly. She was paid a decent salary, got free room and board, and loved swimming in the crystal turquoise waters just outside her door.
Could I go back to Puerto Rico now? Or even the States? I would be an idiot to give this up.
Still, there was a longing in Charlotte, a yearning for something she could not identify, as if it was constantly a craving at the tip of her tongue.
“You need to get laid,” Joy told her once when she had tried to explain her strange yearning and Charlotte had laughed.
Like everything else on the exclusive island, there was no shortage of sex either. It seemed that men fell in love with her once a week and she entertained them accordingly. There had been fleeting flings, momentary flirtations, even heat infused illusions of love, but when the time came for the guests to leave, so did the feelings…until the next one arrived.
It is not sex; I am looking for love, Charlotte realized one day. God help me. Is my biological clock ticking?
Of course, there was no room for any of that silliness. She simply didn’t have time for married life or children. She was much too busy and she liked her job. She truly did.
“Uh…Char…” Joy whispered. “Incoming.”
Charlotte glanced up from the phone where she had been trying to contact the kitchen staff and her breath caught slightly in her throat. She slowly replaced the receiver, her heart hammering ferociously in her chest as she took in the vision walking toward her. Striding through the doors was a devastatingly handsome man.
He was tall – too tall, almost six-foot-five it seemed, with the broad shoulders of a football player and a healthy, bronze glow. His thick chestnut hair stopped just above his white shirt collar – a color that complimented his golden tan wonderfully.
Slowly, he lowered his sunglasses, looking about with inky eyes, apparently adjusting to the light change. His gaze fell upon Charlotte and he offered her a smile so brilliant, she forgot to breathe.
“Fuck me; he is better looking in person,” Joy gasped, shaking her head in disbelief that those words could be true, and yet she was right.
Charlotte and Joy had spent the wee hours of the morning pouring over his ruggedly attractive face online, but those pictures did no justice to the man who stood in the lobby of the hotel.
Erik Hanover strode toward Charlotte, digging through his breast pocket as he approached.
“Good morning,” he said pleasantly. “I apologize for such an early arrival but our plane arrived in good time. I’m here to check in.”
“Yes, Mr. Hanover,” Charlotte breathed, finally finding her voice. Erik’s smile widened and he nodded approvingly. He leaned across the desk to peer at her, and Charlotte felt as if he was looking into her soul.
“I have only been here once previously, but I do not think I remember you,” he told her, studying her face inquisitively. “It was many years ago and I do not think you are old enough to have worked here then.”
“No, sir,” she replied, punching into the keyboard to avoid staring into his hypnotic eyes. “We have never met, but I recognize your picture.”
“Ah,” Erik replied. “I see. That is a relief; I would be very worried about my memory if I had forgotten a woman as stunning as you…”
He paused and glanced at her brass name-tag.
“Charlotte.”
The way he said her name sent shivers through her spine and Charlotte suddenly realized he had not paid any mind to Joy who stood less than two feet away from her.
If he was a womanizer, he would be an equal opportunity flirt, waiting to see which one of us bit, she thought. Joy was equally as beautiful, with her waist-length platinum hair and aqua eyes. Men found her irresistible, and yet, Erik Hanover continued to stare at Charlotte as if they were alone in the open foyer.
“I have your cabin ready, sir,” she told him, handing him his key fob with shaky hands. If he noticed, he did not comment but he deliberately placed his entire palm over hers as he removed it from her hand. His touch was remarkably cool, something for which Charlotte was grateful when she suddenly realized she was about ten degrees warmer than usual.
“I will require another fob, Charlotte,” he told her. “I have someone else staying with me.”
She nodded quickly and jumped to oblige, returning with the spare.
“Thank you, Charlotte,” he told her again and the manager wished he would simply sit there all day and say her name over and over.
“If you need anything, Mr. Hanover, please don’t hesitate to call,” she told him as he backed away from the desk.
“I need you to call me Erik,” he replied with a wink before pivoting on his heel and disappearing into the pre-dawn dark.
Joy could not contain herself and bolted around the side of the desk to watch him walk away, her jaw almost on the floor.
“Unbelievable!” she exclaimed. “Did you see that man? I almost turned into a pillar of salt! He’s so—” Joy cut her sentence short before sighing with a defeated, “Oh…”
Charlotte glanced up questioningly at her friend who stood scowling by the glass, her arms suddenly folded.
“Oh what?”
“He’s here with a woman,” she sighed, turning away dejectedly.
To Charlotte’s shock, she felt a stab of jealousy and she hurried over to look but as she approached, she only saw the taillights of a red car disappear around a corner toward the beach road.
“Really?” she demanded. “Who is it?”
“I couldn’t see. It’s still too dark out. She was blonde though.”
Charlotte’s mouth formed into a tight line.
Shame on him for flirting with me when he’s got a girlfriend fifty feet away…and shame on me for falling for it.
Chapter 3
“Erik, I don’t want to stay here,” Pearl protested. “I should stay with Lincoln in our cottage.”
“This is not open for discussion. You already
did a very foolish thing in changing him into a vampire when you should have left well enough alone, Pearl. I am trying to protect you!”
Pearl felt herself bristle.
“Protect me?” she demanded. “You left my lover naked and dying at the bottom of my stairs. How would that be protecting me? I had no choice but to change him. I love him. I would have had to uproot my life – again, and after finally getting settled. That was not your protection! That was you acting irrationally and impulsively!”
Erik glowered at her words, whirling to confront her head on instead of simply through the hazy reflection of the glass.
“This is not open for discussion, Pearl. If Lincoln sleeps the day away, no one will think anything of it, but if you are unseen also, it will raise questions. People will come snooping. They cannot resist good gossip.”
Pearl gritted her teeth together.
He is trying my patience, she thought.
Something had changed in her since bringing Lincoln over. Pearl was not as meek or accepting as she had been, but she was still not strong enough to battle Erik. He was thousands of years older than her.
One day, when Lincoln has better bearings on his surroundings, we will leave. Until then, I must act the role of the dutiful sister and shut my mouth. I don’t want to burn bridges with him. I just want him to let us live our lives without being so overbearing.
Pearl wondered if eternity would pass before that happened.
“This morning we will go to the beach and perhaps go for a sail. You have always liked the water, Pearl. Do not fight with me. This is a vacation.”
Pearl opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say a word, a knock sounded on the front door.
“Ah,” Erik announced, smiling. “Champagne!”
“Champagne? Erik the sun is barely starting to rise!” Pearl protested, folding her arms under her ample breasts.
He shrugged, his grin broadening.
“And what better way to start the day,” he laughed, striding toward the door. He flung it open, his smile freezing on his face as he saw a stunning black-haired woman standing with a bottle of Krug Clos D’Ambonnay in her tanned hands.
“Charlotte!” he cried and something about the way Erik spoke made Pearl perk up with interest. The look on Erik’s face was something she had never seen before; a vivid interest in the woman who stood at the threshold.
“Hello, Mr. Hanover,” the woman replied coldly, thrusting the bottle into his hands.
“It’s Erik.” He tried to answer boyishly, but he was not expecting her sudden move.
Erik fumbled and tried to catch the sparkling wine, but in his apparently nervous haste, the bottle fell with a thud onto the teak floor.
The trio watched in silence as it harmlessly rolled beneath a small chair without smashing.
Charlotte looked up in shocked embarrassment.
“I am so sorry, sir,” she muttered, rushing to retrieve the fallen item, and to Pearl’s absolute delight, Erik did not react angrily.
He likes her! Pearl realized with genuine excitement. If she were anyone else, he would have lost his temper with her.
“Please,” he boomed cordially, dropping to his knees to assist her. “No need for apologies. These things happen.”
Charlotte did not respond, swallowing deeply as her fingers closed in around the champagne and pulled it back.
Pearl was sure that if Charlotte’s skin was not such a lovely shade of tan, she would have been a humiliated scarlet.
Again, apologizing, Charlotte placed the bottle on the coffee table and backed out of the room, muttering something incoherent and disappearing before either Erik or she could respond.
As Pearl watched her retreat, she slowly turned to watch her vampire brother who watched after her with a small smile on his face.
Oh…could Charlotte be the answer to my and Lincoln’s problem? She wondered hopefully.
She intended to find out.
Did you see the way he was looking at you, with his girlfriend right there? I thought she was going to kill us both the way she stared at me.
Charlotte stormed back towards the front desk, trying to maintain her anger, but she could not. She was not sure what made Erik Hanover so different than any other married man who had chased her over the years. Charlotte had a strict rule about engaging with attached men, but she had never felt the level of ire she was experiencing toward any other man. She had always brushed off their flirting and gone about her life.
Yet she could not stop thinking about Erik Hanover.
Just let it go, she told herself, following the beach toward the entrance. Charlotte realized she was far too furious to show her face back at the desk. She needed to calm down first.
Pausing on a rock to collect herself, Charlotte glanced into the Atlantic. Some of the early-rising guests were starting to set sail for the day, and watching them glide across the glistening sea calmed her. In minutes, she had regained her composure and was ready to return to work, but as she rose, she saw a figure running out in her peripheral vision.
As Charlotte turned to look, she realized it was Erik Hanover’s girlfriend, who then paused to glance behind her shoulder furtively as if she was worried about being followed.
What is she doing? Charlotte wondered and before she could stop herself, she followed her to the far side of the beach where the five-thousand square-foot Palatial Cabin sat.
The blonde pulled a fob from the depth of her small purse and used it to enter the cottage.
That is where Lincoln Pembroke is staying.
Charlotte ran toward the cottage, knowing that there was no way Erik’s girlfriend would have a fob unless someone had given her one, but she had to know what was going on
She pressed herself low to the base of the cabin and crept along the side until the blonde came into view. She watched as the woman eagerly hurried toward the bedroom, but as Charlotte tried to look into the sleeping area, heavy shades had been placed over the wispy curtains that typically graced the rectangular windows. The manager could not see inside the bedroom, but it didn’t take much imagination to know what was going on.
No wonder Pembroke doesn’t want to be disturbed all day. He’s got company.
Her heart racing, Charlotte sat back against the house and wondered what to do next.
What you should do is mind your own business, she told herself firmly, turning away. You should not even be here.
Stealthily, Charlotte made her way back to reception, willing herself to forget what she had seen.
What did you see? Charlotte asked herself. You saw nothing. You have no idea if the mistress of one of the wealthiest men in the world is cheating with a rock star, even if that is exactly what it looks like.
But she could not shake the sense that she should forewarn Erik Hanover about the woman with whom he had connected himself.
And if you do, will you be doing it because it’s the right thing to do or because you are hoping that it will open him up to being with you?
“Where were you?” Erik demanded as Pearl joined him at the lunch table. She shrugged indifferently.
“I went to check on Lincoln,” she replied and Erik felt himself growing angry.
“Pearl, why are you ignoring my instructions?” he demanded. “You’re only endangering Lincoln.”
“No one saw me,” she snapped. “Anyway, Lincoln is my problem. Why don’t you try to enjoy your vacation since you wanted it so badly?”
“I’m trying, Pearl, dear, but if I am constantly worrying about you.”
Her dark blue eyes narrowed and she sat back, staring at him pensively. “I would have thought that you would be focussing your attention on that beautiful girl who brought the champagne this morning.”
Erik felt a tingle rise through him and his immediate reaction to deny it dissipated as he suddenly caught a glimpse of Charlotte enter the seaside restaurant.
“She is something, isn’t she,” he murmured, his dark eyes following the m
anager’s every move. “It has been a long time since I felt anything like this.”
“You should not let it pass you by, Erik. Who knows how long it will be until you feel it again?” Pearl replied, and he found himself nodding in agreement.
“Yes,” he agreed, rising. “You are right.”
Before he could make his move, Charlotte seemed to sense him and the two locked eyes from across the restaurant. He offered her a small wave and a smile, but to his surprise, her mouth pursed into a scowl, her gaze shifting to Pearl.
She spun on her heel and stormed from the establishment, leaving both the Hanovers staring after her.
“She’s not very friendly, is she?” Pearl commented. “Just your type.”
She is just my type, Erik thought, his eyes boring into the spot where Charlotte had stood. And I will have her.
Chapter 4
Charlotte had the longest day of her life, a constant struggle between wanting to march up to Erik Hanover and tell him about his cheating girlfriend, and trying to hide away from seeing either of them. It seemed that no matter where she went, she ran into the two, and every time she did, she resisted the urge to scream at them both.
You have got to get it together! This is not how you act. Maybe this job is finally getting to you.
Yet Charlotte knew that was not what it was. She was harboring an attraction to Erik Hanover so deep, she could not believe it had manifested in mere hours, as if it was a virus that could not be contained.
At dinner that night, she checked the reservations for Erik Hanover. He did not have any listed, but she noticed that Lincoln Pembroke had reserved a table at Délicieux, the French bistro. She vowed to pass by the establishment and see if he was dining alone that night.
This is becoming an obsession. Are you going to last ten days with these people here?
But no amount of rationale could stop her, and at eight-thirty that night, she found herself standing inside Délicieux, looking for the famous musician.