Riley grunted and went to help himself to the coffee. “I had a weird dream that woke me up.”
“Weird? What was it about?”
“I dreamt I was sleeping and someone—who clearly got lucky last night—came home whistling.” He glared at Hugh. “Why do I get the stink eye when I whistle, but you’re allowed to do it?”
Hugh grinned. “My house. My rules.”
“Yeah, well…screw you.”
It would have been easy to gloat, but Hugh was in too good a mood and decided to take pity on his little brother. “What time are you out of here today?”
“Anxious to get rid of me?”
“Dude, stop being so sensitive. I’m just asking about your schedule. Thought maybe we could have breakfast together before you left.”
Riley looked at the clock on the wall and then his brother. “Isn’t this a little late for you to still be hanging around the house? Aren’t you usually in your office by now?”
“Light schedule today,” Hugh said easily, sitting down. “C’mon. I’ll order us some breakfast and we’ll hang out until you have to go. What do you say?”
Riley looked at him suspiciously.
“What? What’s the matter? Do you not remember what breakfast is because you sleep until noon most days?”
“Ha-ha. Very funny.” He took a sip of his coffee. “You’re being nice.”
“I’m a nice guy.”
“No,” Riley said, coming to join him at the table. “You’re being weird nice. You never skip time at the office. You’re always working. Why are you suddenly so willing to play hooky this morning?”
“Are we really having this conversation? Do you want breakfast or not? Because, personally, I’m starving.”
And then Riley relaxed and grinned knowingly. “I bet you are.” He took a sip of his coffee. “So I take it things went well with Aubrey and she didn’t kick you in the nuts or something because you were a jackass yesterday?”
“Yes, things went well and no, she didn’t kick me.” Hugh felt the sappy grin coming on and there wasn’t a thing he could do to stop it.
“Oh, for the love of it,” Riley moaned. “You’re one of those.”
Hugh looked at him oddly. “One of what?”
“You’re one of those guys who gets all girly and emotional and…and…whistles and sighs after sex. Damn. I thought you were a little manlier than that.”
“Excuse me, there is nothing wrong with my…manliness. And I’m not getting all girly. It was a good night and…and that’s it. It just made me smile.”
“So…what? Now you’re dating? You’re sex buddies? I mean…what?”
Rather than answer, Hugh called the restaurant and ordered their breakfast. He knew waiting for his answer was killing Riley, but it was just a perk now. When he was seated again, he took a long sip of his coffee before looking at his brother.
“Seriously, dude,” Riley snapped.
“Breakfast will be here in twenty minutes,” Hugh said with a grin.
“Okay, fine. Be that way. Don’t tell me what’s going on with Aubrey, but remember this—if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have that stupid grin on your face. You’d be moping around here all frustrated and uptight, worrying about your stupid schedule.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to argue, but Hugh knew he’d be lying. “Okay, fine.” He relented. “You were right. You’re the reason all is right with the world. Happy?”
Riley grinned. “I’m getting there.” He finished off his coffee. “But seriously, things are good with the two of you? You apologized for being an ass?”
“I did.” Hugh nodded.
“Good.” They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. “So…was it crazy monkey sex or boring, normal sex?”
Hugh stood up, smacking him in the head as he walked by. “None of your damn business.”
With a roar of laughter, Riley got up and helped himself to another cup of coffee.
* * *
“Knock, knock.” Aubrey peeked her head inside Hugh’s office with a smile. “Is this a bad time?”
He couldn’t help but smile back. “It’s the perfect time. Come on in.”
She stepped in and closed the door behind her, walking toward Hugh’s desk. He met her halfway and immediately took her into his arms and kissed her breathless. “Oh my,” she said when they broke apart. “That’s quite a greeting.”
“Get used to it.” He took her by the hand and led her over to the sofa. “How was your morning?”
“It was good. Jacques was amazing. He was very open to my menu suggestions. He’s going to work on it and we’ll keep in touch via email to finalize everything. He’s very sweet.”
Hugh knew he was blessed with some of the finest chefs, but he’d never heard anyone describe Jacques as being sweet. He was moody, temperamental, and could be out and out indignant at times. But clearly, Aubrey knew exactly how to handle him. “I’m glad. I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
“How about you? Are you okay?”
He looked at her quizzically. “Yeah. Why?”
“Well, Riley left. I know the two of you don’t get to spend a lot of time together and this was a really short visit. I wanted to make sure you were all right.”
He leaned in and kissed her again. “I’m fine. This is how it normally goes. Out of all of us, Riley’s schedule is the hardest to work with. The fact that he took the few days he had and came here was great. I think he just needed the rest more than anything. It isn’t often he gets to step out of the spotlight and just chill out.”
Aubrey squeezed his hand. “It’s pretty awesome you can do that for him. He’s lucky to have you.”
“Would you mind telling him that the next time you see him? Because he seems to think we’re all lucky to have him.”
“I’m sure you all feel you’re the MVP of the family at one time or another.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “Not that I would know, but it would be my guess.”
“You’re pretty much spot-on there.” He turned and simply inhaled. Damn, he even liked the way she smelled—like clean clothes and sunshine. Maybe sex did make him act a bit girly.
“So, ready for lunch?” he asked.
“I’m famished. Jacques may have been open to talking with me and sharing ideas, but he would not let me taste anything.”
“He’s like that. Don’t take it personally.”
“Oh, I didn’t. I’m not normally a big breakfast person. I had some yogurt before I went over there, but I am definitely ready for something better now.”
Hugh stood and helped Aubrey to her feet. “So what are you in the mood for? We can eat here or if you want we can go into town or we can…”
“Do you have the ability to special order whatever you want for lunch like you do for dinner?”
He nodded. “Of course.”
She considered it for a moment. “What do you normally have?”
“Well…” Friday was normally a turkey club, but again, he wasn’t going to lock her into his crazy food OCD. “You know, a sandwich. Nothing major. Why? What were you thinking?”
“Quiche.”
“Quiche?”
She nodded.
“Those take a while to make, don’t they?”
Again, she nodded.
“Um…sure. We can call over to Jacques and ask him to get started on it, and we’ll be in there in around…what? Thirty minutes? Forty-five?”
Aubrey stepped in close to him and took his hands in hers. “Or…” she began, “we can give him the order and have it delivered to your room.” She closed the distance between them and looked up innocently. “Your choice.”
“You really do come up with the best ideas,” Hugh replied. Reaching over to his desk, he grabbed his cell phone and quickly led Aubrey from the room
. “I’ll call him on the way and tell him to take his time.”
Chapter 7
They left West Palm Beach early Saturday morning and made their way up the coast to Hilton Head Island. It was the weekend, and the weather was beautiful. They found a bed-and-breakfast just outside of St. Augustine and impulsively decided to stop.
The decision had been prompted by a fairly innocent comment while they were driving. She’d mentioned her dancing schedule had left very little free time when she was growing up. Then she’d dealt with the cancer and chemo that dictated just about every part of her life. After she’d gone into remission, it was all about school and graduation, then college.
“The day we met, when I climbed out the window? That was the most impulsive thing I’d ever done.” Then she laughed and smiled. “And it felt great!”
Hugh had laughed with her. They’d shared their compulsion for living fairly regimented lives and that’s when it hit her—she was tired of playing it safe. Of always being cautious. She wanted to experience all the things she was too timid to try out of fear of disapproval from her parents.
With her upcoming travel schedule, Aubrey knew she had been essentially handed the opportunity of a lifetime.
When they arrived at Hilton Head, Hugh took her around and introduced her to the staff before heading to his office and his meetings. Lisa McKay was the on-site event person assigned to show Aubrey around.
“Mr. Shaughnessy sent over a packet for me to look at with all the information regarding your project,” Lisa began, “so I think I’m up to speed on what you’ll be doing. I want to start by giving you a tour of the resort. Feel free to ask me anything that comes to mind to help you.”
“I appreciate that,” Aubrey replied, already excited at the possibilities the new resort represented. “Tell me, what kind of activities do you offer here?”
“We offer some amazing pools for swimming, tennis courts, spas…”
“What about something for the people who are a little more…active?”
Lisa smiled. “Ah, the adventure seekers who really don’t want to relax.”
“Exactly.”
“We have a nice variety of offerings right here on the property, and there are also a lot more to choose from in town. What were you thinking of?”
For a minute, Aubrey felt shy—and a little silly—about mentioning her desire to try some of those activities out for herself. But if she was ever going to break out of her rut, now was the time to do it. “I was thinking along the lines of parasailing or zip-lining. Does the resort offer either of those?”
Lisa’s smile grew. “They are two of my favorite activities! And yes, we have them both. Would you like to check them out?”
“Oh…um… Well, I haven’t ever tried either of them before. I just thought…maybe…”
Reaching out, Lisa placed a hand on Aubrey’s arm. “Not to worry. We’ll walk around and check out the property, and then we’ll go down by the water and see if we can get you a lesson or two at either the zip course or with our parasailing team. How does that sound?”
Aubrey’s heart did a little happy dance. “Absolutely perfect!”
Two hours later, she wasn’t so sure.
Standing on a platform much higher off the ground than Aubrey had thought it would be, she looked nervously from the ground to Lisa to the operator who was getting her harness secured.
“You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,” Lisa said.
“No, no, no… I want to.” Maybe, she thought. No, definitely. Aubrey felt she had to do it.
“We can do a tandem harness if you want,” Lisa suggested. “It just means we do it together if it makes you feel a little more confident.”
Aubrey shook her head and took a steadying breath. “Thanks, but I really need to do this on my own. I knew it would be a little intimidating, but I can do it.” She looked around and felt a wave of uncertainty. “How high up are we again?”
“Seventy-five feet,” the operator said, tugging on her harness to make sure it was secured.
“And…” she gulped, “how far is it to the other side?”
“This one is a straight run of twelve hundred feet,” he said. “Once you hit the other platform you can either move on to the next line or you can get down. The choice is yours.”
“How many lines are there?”
“We have a total of six. They’re all of varying heights and offer a couple of different views. We’re small compared to some of the major zip-line parks, but the guests really enjoy it.” When he noticed Aubrey was still looking a little green, he placed a reassuring hand on her arm. “It goes pretty fast. You’ll be at the next platform in no time and you can be on the ground not long after that.”
With a nod, Aubrey slowly turned and got into position. “I can do this,” she said more to herself than anyone else. “I can totally do this.”
“Are you ready?” Lisa asked.
Her mouth was suddenly too dry to speak, so she nodded again and looked over at the operator. He gave her the final instructions, and before she could have another round of second thoughts, she was soaring across the line.
With her heart racing and the wind in her hair, Aubrey screamed. Quickly enough, she realized it wasn’t fear she was feeling, but joy. Pure, unadulterated joy! She let out a squeal of delight and let go of the harness with one hand to feel the wind blowing by. It was the most exhilarating feeling of her life! And it was over way too soon. Her feet hit the platform and she felt the operator of the next line steadying her.
“That was amazing!” she cried. “Can I go on the next line?”
The young man chuckled. “Absolutely, miss,” he said with a smile. “Step over this way and we’ll get you hooked up.”
When she stepped off the platform, she knew she would never forget this day or this feeling for the rest of her life.
* * *
Four days later, Hugh was feeling a little insecure.
In the last week, he had thrown caution to the wind more times than he had in the last seventeen years. It wasn’t bad, per se, but it was a bit unnerving. Aubrey had a way of making him forget about his schedules and his plans. She must have sensed his unease, because she had teased him about it.
At the time, he’d laughed with her, but he was starting to see a pattern develop. When they’d arrived at Hilton Head, he had a schedule and thought she did as well. Next thing he knew, she was calling him to say she was going zip-lining and parasailing.
She was doing her job, but since she was superefficient, she didn’t require an eight-hour day to get it done. And in all fairness, she wasn’t asking him to foot the bill for her excursions; she was just going out and trying things she had never done before.
But she was doing it all without a plan.
Whenever he’d ask her what her plan was for the morning, the afternoon, or whatever, she would shrug and say something like, “I’m waiting to see where the day takes me.”
She was killing him.
Several times he had attempted to get her to schedule these excursions, so he’d know where she was and he could make sure she had the most experienced guides with her, but she had balked at the idea.
“I don’t know what I’ll feel like doing today,” she told him with an impish grin. “I’ll just see how it goes.”
Yeah, she was killing him.
His staff loved her. By the end of the first day, she’d pretty much mapped out her entire plan for the launch gala, and it was magnificent. Now she was simply getting a feel for the local activities and offerings to put together packages for their VIP guests. Apparently experiencing it all for herself was part of her plan.
Again, nothing wrong with it.
Except he never knew where to find her or what she was doing.
They were scheduled to leave the island tomorrow and Hugh had y
et to get an answer out of her about whether she was going to fly home as originally planned or if she wanted to spend a couple of work-free days with him.
Of course, it could be because he hadn’t asked her yet.
Normally, Hugh wasn’t an indecisive man, but trying to keep up with Aubrey these last few days had him feeling a little out of his element. When he finally got her alone, they were almost frantic to be together. He blushed at some of the images running through his mind—Aubrey in the shower, in his bed, on his desk…
“I’m seriously losing my mind,” he muttered and looked at the clock. He was done for the day and their time together was running out. True, they could cancel her flight reservations, but then what? He was scheduled to go home and see his family. And as much as he was ready on some level to bring her home to meet them all, he wasn’t sure if Aubrey was ready for that.
The only thing that made the idea of letting her go home tolerable was the fact that she only lived three hours away. Even if he went home for a couple of days, he could easily make the drive to see her in Raleigh.
There hadn’t been any formal talks about where she was traveling with him next. If it were up to him, he’d take her with him on all of his stops. He could easily fit in each of the resorts within the next month and then…well, then he wouldn’t have to miss her. She’d get to know him and how he worked, and he’d get to know her better. It was the perfect plan.
Reaching for the phone, he called Dorothy. She was based in California, but she was his go-to person for all of his travel and scheduling needs.
“Hey, boss!” she said cheerily when she answered the phone. “What can I do for you today?”
“I know we had me down for a certain schedule with the resorts, but…” He paused, knowing his assistant was going to think he was crazy. “But…I think we need to change things around.”
Silence.
“Dotty? You there?”
“What? Oh, yes. Sorry. I just… I just thought I misheard you. It sounded like you wanted to change your travel plans.”
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