by Sara Fawkes
Table of Contents
Title Page
Queen’s Knight (Invitation to Eden)
Queen’s Knight: An Invitation to Eden story
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
AUTHOR’S NOTE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Evan McQueen had his entire life planned out. Poised to potentially take over a multi-billion dollar corporation, this trip to the island resort of Eden is Evan’s chance to make a good impression on the billionaire CEO. He thought he knew where his life was going...until a blonde vision stomping across the hotel lobby wearing dirt bike boots shattered all his preconceived notions.
~*~
Serving temporarily as the island’s tour guide and resident mechanic, Dani has seen countless guests come and go from Eden. She should be focusing on her upcoming ‘round-the-world journey and the day-to-day life of the island, not the man who sets her heart on fire. As much as she knows it’s temporary—they both have their own lives to lead—Dani can’t get Evan out of her head...or her heart.
~*~
Dani Knight is unlike anybody Evan’s ever encountered, a woman unafraid to defy convention. She immediately fascinates Evan, and he can’t seem to get enough of her. The more he reveals, the more she sees a kindred spirit in need of guidance, but she can’t make his decisions for him. She’s seen the island work miracles before, but can it bring together two souls going down vastly different paths?
Queen’s Knight: An Invitation to Eden story
By Sara Fawkes
Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.
CHAPTER ONE
Evan tugged on his tie, rubbing the material through his fingers. He peered around the cabin of the plane at the other occupants, then back at the tablet in his hand. Showing nervousness wouldn’t do, most definitely not now in the confines of the private plane. They’d been in the air for only an hour; there was no reason for him to fidget.
Easier said than done.
Logging into the satellite wifi available on the company plane, Evan quickly checked his emails, the newest being a short note from his father.
Don’t screw up this opportunity.—Dad
The corner of Evan’s mouth turned down. Gee, no pressure right?
“Ooh, I see the island!”
The blonde woman’s voice across from Evan jarred him from his reverie and he glanced at her before looking out the window. Sure enough, a lone island broke the endless ocean they’d been flying over. While the plane wasn’t close enough to make out features, the castle and its grounds were visible from even this distance.
Evan leaned into the glass, impressed. Wow. The island rose behind the castle, as if providing a backdrop only to further showcase the man-made areas. He could see the landing strip right next to the jungle, and felt the plane bank toward it. The line of trees on one side looked as though they were ready to engulf the roadway and take back their island.
It really was spectacular, and Evan wondered how it would look from the ground.
"I think I see a golf course down there." A spectacled face peeked around the chair in front of Evan. "Are you a golfer, Mr. Hamilton?"
"I am," the large man replied simply. Evan had found out quickly that the CEO of Hamilton Industries was not prone to socializing, or talking. Or smiling.
"Perfect!" Preston Maas gave the billionaire a wide smile, undeterred. "We'll have to tee off sometime this week." His eyes slid to Evan and, though the smile didn't waver, he thought he saw a hint of a smirk on the other man's face before it disappeared around the chair.
The condescension he saw there was a stark reminder of why he was here. He finally stopped fiddling with his tie and sat up straighter in the chair. He had been given a chance at the opportunity of a lifetime, and he'd be damned if he let it slip through his fingers.
Housed inside the plane were the final three candidates for CEO of Hamilton Industries, a multi-billion dollar firm whose current leader was stepping down. Evan’s eyes travelled to the blonde woman still staring out the window. Lucy Delacourt was the fiancé of Jeremiah Hamilton, and the two couldn't be more dissimilar. However, it was obvious to anyone who had eyes that they loved one another; Jeremiah kept a possessive hand on her thigh, which she covered with hers.
Evan didn't know their story; their private lives had been very hush-hush. He’d done his homework however, as well as listened. She had accompanied her fiancé to scout out the location as a wedding venue, both of them having received individual invitations.
Speaking of invites... Evan turned over the square card in his lap, then lifted the tab to peek inside. The gold leaf reflected in the midday sun, briefly dazzling Evan.
He hadn’t known what to think when he’d received the invitation. In fact, he’d almost thrown it away, thinking it was junk mail, before deciding to research it first. Thank goodness he’d kept it, because the next day at work he’d received a call from Jeremiah Hamilton’s office.
Apparently, the invitation was worth a whole lot, and also meant that he was one of the final candidates for the position of CEO. The invite hadn’t come from Jeremiah however–Evan had no idea how it worked, but the island’s owner had issued the invite personally.
He’d tried to find out about the man but hadn’t managed to get much, other than that he was secretive and rich as Midas. Evan slanted a glance at Jeremiah. He had a feeling the two billionaires knew one another, although he wasn’t sure how.
With a snort, the older man across from him came awake. A thick hand smoothed over his bald head as Griffin Sinclair peeked out the window, blinking slowly. “Ah, we’re almost there,” he said cheerfully, sitting up straighter in the chair. One hand clinked the half-dozen or so tiny single-serve bottles of liquor on the table next to him.
He gave Evan a grin, his red nose shining. “You might not want to walk in front of me when we exit.”
Evan turned toward the window again, grinning to himself. While Preston annoyed him, Griffin was actually pretty amusing. The man honestly didn’t care what others thought of him. The first thing he’d done upon entering the plane was raid the liquor cabinet, then settle himself in surrounded by the tiny bottles. He and Jeremiah had bantered back and forth, the CEO’s demeanor as close to humorous as Evan had ever seen.
Part of him envied the man, but Evan couldn’t afford at that moment to slip up and say the wrong thing. So he stayed silent as the island grew to encompass the windows, and the plane touched down.
Griffin was the first to stand, although he swayed in place for a moment. “Unless you’re willing to catch me, kid,” he said to Evan, giving him a wink, “you might want to give me wide berth.”
Ahead of them, Preston gave a derisive snort and jockeyed into position right behind Jeremiah. Evan glared at the other man’s head. What an asshole.
Maashole.
The name fit almost too perfectly, and Evan grinned.
When he stepped off the plane, the first thing to hit him was the heat and humidity, a reminder that they were in the Caribbean. Truthfully, it wasn’t as bad as Evan had feared, but he still saw Griffin pull out a handkerchief and dab at his forehead.
A large cart was positioned nearby the steps to take them up to the castle itself. Two men in white uniforms waited patiently for their luggage, and loaded up the bags as the plane’s inhabitants found seats. Griffin was already looking red, as if the heat didn’t agr
ee with him.
“Water, sir?” one of the drivers said to Evan, holding out a bottle that was already growing dew-soaked in the humidity. Evan shook his head, then gave a short jerk of the chin toward Griffin, who happily accepted it.
“Serves me right for commandeering all that booze,” the older man lamented, but Evan didn’t think he sounded all that apologetic.
The island was incredible. Thick-leaved trees and fern lined the runway, right up to the edge of the tarmac. While Evan had been in the Caribbean before, he’d never seen it quite as wild as this. A line of brilliantly colored birds flew across their path, their calls dancing on the wind.
If the castle had seemed majestic from a distance, it was utterly breathtaking up close. The architecture was decidedly European, as if somebody had transplanted a medieval kingdom to the middle of the Caribbean. All else however was definitely the island, from the palm and banana trees to the ferns and bright tropical flowers.
Evan’s stress melted away as he gazed at the surroundings. It was difficult to think of this as a business trip and not a vacation. He had no idea what the week would bring, but maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as he feared.
That’s when she walked through the door.
The clomp of heavy boots were what caught Evan’s attention, and then he couldn’t take his eyes off her. She carried a motorcycle helmet and wore brightly colored clothing with thick bulges around her knees and elbows. Strawberry blonde hair was all akimbo, her face red from either the sun or the wind.
The woman walked right up to the lobby clerk and spoke quietly to him, then laughed. The sound flowed to him, echoing around the large room. Evan felt as if it flowed right through him, and his heart beat faster.
He couldn’t take his eyes away. She was magnificent.
She said something else then turned away, and paused when she caught sight of him. His heartbeat quickened as they stared at one another across the room.
“Evan?”
The familiar voice jarred him back to the present. It felt like tearing himself away from something precious to look away and into the face of the expectant Jeremiah. “Yes, sir.”
The CEO’s eyes narrowed and he followed where Evan’s gaze had been. When the younger man looked again, he saw a fleeting glimpse of red-blonde hair disappear out the side door, then the telltale sound of a motorcycle engine. Disappointment arced through him.
Jeremiah gave Evan a bemused glance. “For this week at least, you don’t need to refer to me as sir.”
“Yes...” Evan choked on the word. For a moment, he thought he saw amusement flit through Jeremiah’s eyes although the other man’s mouth didn’t twitch. When the larger man turned away, Evan felt himself deflate.
So much for impressing the CEO.
“Cheer up, buddy.” Preston smacked Evan hard across the shoulders, a big grin on his face. “Not everyone’s cut out for the business life. Why don’t you go enjoy the spa and let the big dogs play?”
The condescending smirk on the other man’s face made Evan’s blood boil. He watched Preston trail after Jeremiah, carrying on a conversation with the CEO and his fiancé.
Evan sighed. All he wanted to do was find his room, unpack, and figure out how he was going to do this week.
Or, go find the motorcycle-riding vision that had started this whole mess. If he was honest with himself, that was higher on his current list of priorities.
But for now, he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and marched inside.
CHAPTER TWO
Hello everyone!! Sorry I’ve been away for so long, it’s been an amazing two months!
First off, I need to thank everyone who’s donated so far to the crowd-funding kicker – YOU GUYS ROCK!! I’ve also made a ton of contacts, and picked up a few more sponsors. The more the merrier!
Currently, I’m sitting in my hotel room, overlooking the most beautiful ocean view I’ve ever seen. I’ve already told you about how I got here, but I still can’t quite believe it myself. I mean, I even got it all on video, but it feels like it happened to someone else.
I’ve been working as a guide here on the island, mostly chaperoning the folks around on their various adventures. Eden is awesome, and you get such a wide variety of folks. Since I’ve been here, we’ve had rock stars, CEOs, and everything in between. We got another bunch of suits today, one of whom wouldn’t stop looking at me.
It was like he’d never seen a girl in motocross boots. Go figure, right?!
A knock on the door startled Dani. She looked up from the blog post she was writing on her computer, then pushed back the chair and stood up. The marble floors felt deliciously cool beneath her bare feet as she padded across the room and peeked around the door.
“Oh good, you haven’t left already!”
Rose had never been one to recognize personal space. The older woman slipped past Dani, peering around the room. “I always worry that one of these days, you’ll get on that bike of yours, tear off into the wilds and not look back.”
“Hey, I’d at least say goodbye to you first,” Dani protested, aiming a mock kick at her friend’s backside, which Rose easily eluded.
“Ah yes, the perks of working HR. I’d hold your last paycheck hostage forever if you didn’t let me send you off right.”
Dani just grinned. Rose Primm wasn’t exactly the most tactful of personalities, but she and Dani got along well. A person always knew where they stood with Rose. She looked matronly, and had a great way with the guests, but there was a reason she usually stayed in the office: she wasn’t afraid to say if she didn’t like someone, even to their face.
“So, are you just here to bug me, or do you have someone looking for adventure tours?”
“As a matter of fact, I might have a bite for you.” She grabbed an open bag of trail mix from the desk and plopped down on Dani’s couch. “Mostly though, I’m here to bug you.”
“I figured as much.” Blog post momentarily forgotten, Dani plopped down beside her friend, taking a handful of mix from the proffered bag. “Don’t you have work to do?”
“Girl, this is Eden. Things always get done eventually.” She shoveled another handful of trail mix into her mouth. “And anyway, most of us employees are as much guests here as everyone else, as you well know.”
“Yeah,” Dani mused, looking around her room, “it’s gonna suck to leave here.”
“You know you don’t have to.”
Dani looked over at her friend, but Rose wouldn’t meet her eyes. One corner of Dani’s mouth tipped up. She didn’t say anything but laid her head on the other lady’s shoulder.
Rose didn’t have too many friends, mainly because she had little to no brain-to-mouth filters. The trait that Dani appreciated in her friend tended to turn off most other people. “You can still come with me, you know. I’d love some company.”
But Rose snorted and shook her head. “This place would go to pot if I left. Besides, why the hell would I give up the perfect job to get Malaria in some foreign country?”
“Technically, they have pills that help prevent that.”
“You’re living proof they don’t always work.”
Dani winced, remembering her time in Mexico. “Yeah, that part of the trip kind of sucked. I thought it was Montezuma’s revenge until an African backpacker made me go to the doctor. Ended up being laid up in the hostel for two weeks because of it.”
“And you really want me to come along with you?”
“Oh, it’s not so bad most of the time.” But travelling like that wasn’t for everyone, and Dani knew it. True, it got lonely sometimes, and having a companion would make certain aspects easier.
“So when do you leave?” Rose asked after a moment of silence.
Dani shrugged a shoulder. “I was thinking in four to five weeks. The crowd-funding campaign is going well and I’ve gotten quite a few sponsors.”
“I still think you’re an idiot,” Rose said bluntly, but there was affection in her tone. The older lady bumped
Dani with her shoulder. “Want to go down by the pool? Payroll’s done for the day and I need a drink.”
Dani looked back at her computer wistfully. She needed to update her blog, let folks know plans. For many friends and family she’d left behind, her blog and email was their only connection to her life. She’d been having such a blast lately that she’d fallen behind on updates.
But one look at Rose’s sardonic expression reminded her she had a friend here. “Yeah, sure. Let me grab my bathing suit.”
*
Calling the water feature toward the rear of the castle a “pool” was an understatement, but there was no single word to describe it. Maybe “lake”, or a large pond, but it was all man made and one of the most gorgeous parts of an already phenomenal location. Sunlight danced across the top of the clear water, bright lines dancing around the ripples. Palm trees and cabanas lined the edges, giving shade from the warm Caribbean sun.
Rose quickly ditched her sarong on a nearby bench and moved to the water eagerly. The curvier woman never seemed self-conscious about her body, a trait Dani envied. She’d been given one of the long wraps early on by Rose but didn’t get to use it much. For a while, Dani had been busy running adventure tours for the island until the weather grew too warm. Nowadays, she more enjoyed soaking up the indoor air conditioning and planned her trip.
There weren’t too many people out at the pools, which made her feel a bit more open. Untying the red sarong from her shoulder, she slid it off her body, revealing a white bikini bathing suit she’d rarely worn. It felt strange to reveal so much skin; she’d never been a bikini kind of girl before Eden.
She laid the thin cloth and towel next to Rose’s green sarong on a nearby chair. The other lady was already in the water, floating on her back and staring up at the bright sky. Dani dipped one foot in the pool, and found it pleasantly cool. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d actually been in the pool. There was no reason why she wasn’t enjoying this place more, except that she felt like someone had made a mistake, that she didn’t belong here.