by Claire Adams
“Hi, Carlos, how's everything down at the sanctuary?”
“We've got problems, Mr. Sinclair, big problems.”
From the tone of his voice I could tell it was serious.
“It's been raining for two days, and the river is rising. Things didn’t look critical until a few hours ago. Now, it's looking like the river is going to flood the visitor's center and possibly destroy some of the offices, probably within the next 12 to 15 hours. Some of the animals in rehab might drown, too. We don't have enough manpower to sandbag everything in time and move them to higher ground as well.”
“Oh no.”
“We need help, Mr. Sinclair, and we need it desperately. If you've got any connections here—”
“No, I can’t say that I do. But this is an emergency, so I'm coming myself. I'll bring reinforcements with me. I'll call up some people I know, and we'll charter a flight immediately. Hang on, Carlos, do what you can. We'll be there as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sinclair. We'll do everything we can until you get here.”
I cut off the call and immediately brought up the contacts menu on the touch screen in the shower. I knew exactly who to call, and what to do. The only question would be whether we could get there in time.
There wasn’t a moment to waste. I had to get on this immediately. Calling Lilah, as much as I wanted to do that, would simply have to wait.
***
It was well after midnight when I finally got some rest. We'd been shoveling, digging, and hauling things around in the mud all day and night. The river had overflowed its banks but, thankfully, the floods hadn’t been as severe as anticipated. We'd managed over the course of the afternoon and evening to get all of the injured animals to safety and to sandbag the buildings on the lower-lying areas to protect them against damage from the rising waters. It had been an incredibly strenuous day, and I found myself whispering a silent thank you to Bryce for keeping me in peak physical condition. Without my fitness and strength, I would have collapsed hours ago.
Sitting there in the aftermath, though, I was on the verge of collapse as were all of the other members of the team I'd brought with me on my private jet. I had no idea how Carlos and the local workers were still conscious. They'd been doing it since the early hours of the morning and were still up, smiling and joking in Spanish as they mopped the sweat from their brows and brushed the mud from their coveralls and boots.
Carlos walked up to me with two bottles of beer in his hands. He offered me one with a grin on his face.
“Cerveza, Mr. Sinclair? You have earned it today, my friend!”
“I'll take that, thanks!”
He popped the cap off and handed me the ice-cold bottle. I wrapped my fingers around the beads of condensation. I could almost taste the refreshment just by looking at it. It would be just the thing I needed to knock the edge off of the jungle humidity that was combined with the sweat from all of the physical exertion of the day.
“Salud!” exclaimed Carlos as he clinked his bottle against mine.
“Salud!” I replied with a grin and drank a mouthful of the cold, refreshing liquid.
“You and your team really saved the day here, Mr. Sinclair,” Carlos said after he downed a mouthful of his beer. “We're grateful that you came here yourself to help.”
“I wouldn't have had it any other way, Carlos. And, don't give us all the credit. You and your team have been working since before sunrise. You guys put in far more effort, with far less manpower, for far longer. I think we all know who the real heroes are here.”
He smiled and drank another swig of his beer.
“Thank you, Mr. Sinclair. I appreciate that,” he said humbly.
“I appreciate everything you guys are doing down here. The ownership papers of this place might be in my name, but it's you guys who run things who have made this place the success it is—and don't you forget that.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sinclair. I'll tell the team.”
“And, tell them they can drink whatever they want tonight: it's on me. They've earned it, many times over.”
“I'll tell them, Mr. Sinclair. Thank you.”
“Just relax and have a good time. Make sure nobody overdoes it, though. We're going to have a lot of work to do tomorrow, on top of what we've already done. I think my team and I will have to stay here until Tuesday to get the cleanup operations done.”
“Should I get the staff to prepare the presidential suite for you then, Mr. Sinclair?”
“No, don't worry about that. I'll just sleep in the regular cabins.”
“All right. See you tomorrow, Mr. Sinclair, bright and early.”
“See you then, Carlos.”
I watched him walk out into the darkness of the jungle, took the last swallow of my beer, crawled into the nearest cot, and practically died.
Chapter Sixteen
Lilah
I woke up with a bit of a hangover. I'd definitely had too much to drink the night before. And that, of course, wasn't the only problem. No, it had merely contributed to the other problem: Asher. Well, Asher and myself. Together. Naked. Doing things that I couldn’t manage to stop thinking about. Things we probably shouldn’t have done.
I guess I wasn't surprised to see that he was gone when I woke up. What was I expecting, anyway? Morning cuddles, or breakfast in bed?
I was feeling a number of things at that moment—a number of conflicting thoughts and emotions, all raging around inside of my mind. For starters, I was upset, but not at Asher. At myself, more than anything, for letting things get that far.
Yet, at the same time, part of me was happy it had happened. I couldn't deny that he had been absolutely amazing in bed. It had been so, so long since I'd experienced such a deep, physical connection with a man. Not even with my ex-fiancé had I felt such an intense tangible attraction.
There had been other men, of course. It wasn't as if I'd been celibate since Jacob and I had parted ways. However, they'd been flings, and they’d been few and far between. I hadn't been willing to let any of them get as close to me, as intimate with me, as Jacob had once been. Because, after all, that would only end with me getting hurt, with me getting my heart broken . . . again. And, I was not about to let that happen.
Yet, there I was, lying naked in bed after a night of passion with my boss, and despite everything, part of me was still craving his presence, still longing for his nude, sculpted body to be alongside mine—and to be inside me.
Somehow, he had made me want him, hunger for him in a way that I hadn't for anyone in years. I couldn’t even say when I last craved a man like I did Asher.
Shaking my head, trying to clear thoughts of him, I walked over to the living room where I'd left my purse and looked through it for my phone. The entire situation was way too confusing to be dealing with in my groggy state of mind. I felt my heart start to beat a little faster as I picked up my purse. Irrational as it was, I couldn't help but hope there'd be a message or missed call from Asher.
There wasn't.
I wasn't sure if I was relieved or upset about the fact that he hadn’t contacted me at all. Especially considering the time—10:00 a.m., way past the hour I usually got up. It really had been quite a night.
Still, seeing if Asher had messaged me hadn't been the primary reason I'd searched for my phone. I needed to make a call. The only way to handle the weirdness of this situation was to talk about it. I needed an unbiased wall to bounce this off of.
I scanned through my contacts and dialed the one I was looking for. She answered after a few short rings.
“Hey, Lilah!”
“Mornin’, Megs, uh . . . How are things?”
“From the sound of your voice, things on my end are better than on yours. What's up?”
“Ugh, I'm a bit hungover, but it'll pass. I had a bit of a, er . . . situation last night. Are you free to meet up? Maybe get some brunch and chat about it?”
“Yeah, of course I am. Crêpes and coffee at the outdoo
r café by the park near your place?”
“That sounds perfect. See you there in an hour?”
“An hour sounds good. See you then!”
***
I walked up to the café and saw Meg sitting at one of the outdoor tables. She waved at me and greeted me with a big smile.
“Good morning, sunshine! How are you feeling?”
“Hey, Megs. I'm all right, I guess.”
“Hmm, that doesn't sound so convincing. Come on over and have a seat. We'll have a chat about whatever it is that's got you all twisted up.”
I sat down and ordered something to eat and a coffee, then leaned back in my chair and shot a glance at Meg.
“So . . . it happened,” I said.
“What happened?”
“Take a guess.”
A grin slowly started to spread across her face. “Holy hell . . . you slept with Asher, didn't you?!”
I nodded.
“Oh my God! And, well, how was it?”
I tried not to, but I couldn't help but grin. “Amazing. Like, this-only-happens-in-the-movies amazing.”
“Lilah! Seriously! Is he . . . as well-endowed physically as he is financially?” she gave me a questioning grin.
“He's got enough,” I replied with a laugh and a blush. “But most importantly, he knows how to use it. And I mean, he really knows how to use it.”
“I can't believe you! You strumpet,” she teased.
I suddenly couldn't believe I was being so candid about the whole thing. And speaking about it almost as if it was an achievement, rather than what it was—a mistake.
Or had it been a mistake?
I wasn't so sure whether it had been or not. Which was precisely why I had needed to talk it out with Meg, although she wasn't being overly very helpful at the moment.
“All right, all right, enough discussing endowments. I've got a real problem here, Meg, and I need to talk about it.”
“Okay, Lilipop. Sorry, it's just not that often my best friend sleeps with a friggin' billionaire, you know. Still, let's forget the novelty aspect and talk about how it's affecting you because it's obviously getting to you in a major way. Am I right?”
“That you are. I mean, I explained the situation before. He’s my boss. You know how I feel about this.”
“I know you said you weren't sure about how to proceed. And that you were concerned getting involved with this guy would have implications on your career, and that's why you were having doubts about getting involved with him. So what changed?”
“Nothing. At least, not on the surface. After that time we kissed, I did make an effort to put a bit of space between us. And it seemed to work, initially at least. But after a while, looking back, we just started getting closer and closer without consciously trying to do so. We ended up working a lot of late nights together, and it’s so effortless to be myself around him . . . We couldn't help but talk and joke. And, it's been so, so easy to talk to him. It's like we've been friends for years and we’re on the same wavelength, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it. It's easy enough to fire small talk back and forth with a guy, but to find one that you can really have a proper, in-depth conversation with. Well, that’s hard.”
“Exactly, right? Guys you can talk to easily with aren't exactly a dime a dozen. In fact, these days, they're pretty darn rare.”
“I can see how, subconsciously, you'd be falling for him, Lilah. I mean, any woman in your shoes—especially if he's making it obvious that he's got feelings for you—it would be damned hard not to reciprocate those feelings.”
“Yes, and then you throw a little alcohol into the mix . . . Maybe a lot of alcohol . . .”
A knowing glint entered her eyes. “Ah, well now it all makes sense. The hangover, the talk now. You guys slept together last night, didn't you?”
“Yep.”
“I figured it had happened recently, just wouldn’t have initially banked on a few hours ago kind of recently.”
“Yeah.”
“All right. So, we're dealing with a very immediate situation. Has he called or messaged you since last night?”
“Nope. He left before I woke up.”
Meg sipped on her coffee and pondered this for a moment.
“Well, I don't mean to be a drag, but generally that's not the best sign.”
I rolled my eyes. “Uh yeah, ya think?”
I paused, immediately regretting my tone.
“Sorry, Meg, I didn't mean to be bitchy. I'm just, you know, in a bit of a state right now.”
“I understand totally, sweetie. There's nothing to be ashamed of or sorry for. I'm just here to support you, and don't worry, I can handle a bit of bitchy! We’ve been friends for a while, remember?” she shot me a knowing grin.
I laughed, relieved at the brief levity. Still, there were a lot of emotions that still needed to be dealt with.
“Have you tried calling him?” Meg asked.
“No.”
“Good. Don't. I think that you should just wait it out, see if he calls you.”
“Yeah, I guess that's the most sensible course of action to take.”
“What's happened has happened, Lilah, and there's nothing you can do to change it. The only things you need to be thinking about now are how will you proceed from here? And, are you going to let this affect me at work?”
I sipped on my coffee while thinking on these two questions. Eventually, I answered.
“I'm not sure how I'm going to proceed long term,” I replied, “but short term, I think that I'm going to try to keep my distance at work. I'll just have to be more determined and focused about it.”
“What if he calls you, like, this afternoon or this evening?”
“I won't answer.”
“And, what if he doesn't call you?”
“It'll just strengthen my resolve even more. There's no way I'm going to let myself get emotionally distraught about this. No. Way.”
“You say that now—”
“And, I mean it.” I insisted.
“Well, if you do start to feel like a bit of a wreck, I'm just saying, if you do—”
“I'll call you. Don't worry, Meg. I know who's in my corner.”
“Always in your corner, Lilipop, always. So, do you wanna take a stroll and go feed the ducks in the pond? And by feed the ducks, I mean watch the hot guys jogging in the park. It's a beautiful day, and it'll get your mind off things—at least temporarily.”
“Yeah,” I said, somewhat absentmindedly. “Take my mind off things. Because hot guys will make me not think of the hot guy.” I smiled.
“You’ll thank me later,” Meg said as she dropped some cash on the table and grabbed my hand to pull me out of the chair. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Seventeen
Asher
I had tried calling Lilah from Costa Rica using the satellite phone the day we’d arrived, but she hadn't picked up. I figured she'd probably felt confused as to why a number from Costa Rica was trying to call her, but it had been the only way I could get hold of her, or anyone else for that matter, since the floods had taken out the area's internet and phone reception.
So, I did the best I could and left her a message to at least explain where I was going to be for a few days. I had even tried to call her again when we headed back on Tuesday and I was back in the land of the living—living communications, that is. But, again, no answer. I left her a message to call me back, but that didn’t happen, either.
I tried to tell myself that she probably just didn’t listen to the message on her cell phone because she didn’t recognize the number. And, it was so late Tuesday night when the plane landed that I wasn’t about to be inconsiderate and call at that hour.
So, when I finally got back to the office on Wednesday, she and I hadn't actually communicated since we'd gotten drunk and slept together.
The whole time I'd been in Costa Rica, I hadn't been able to keep her off my mind. I wondered, however, if she'd been thinking the same
about me. I headed into my office without seeing her in the hallway. I contemplated going to find her, but was informed that she would be in a meeting with two of the Harry Winston executives for most of the morning. So, since there were so many emails piled up from the days I'd been away, I got down to business and started getting on top of everything I'd missed out on—all while thoughts of Lilah ran through my head.
Eventually, I had replied to everything that needed replying to and took care of all the tasks that required immediate action. I looked at the clock to see it was just in time for lunch. I headed out into the hall and over to Lilah's office and knocked on the door.
Nobody answered.
“Lilah?” I called through the closed door. There was still no response.
I gently pushed open the door and found the office was empty. The sight immediately sent a wave of disappointment rushing through me. All morning, I'd been hoping we would have the chance to talk about what had happened over lunch. But at the moment, I was beginning to get the feeling that maybe she was avoiding me, ducking out for lunch five minutes early.
I could only hope I was wrong, but that gut feeling was twisting inside me and I felt like hitting my head against a wall. I forced myself not to text her. The last thing I wanted was to come across as pushy.
I went back out into the hallway and trudged out on my own. We'd run into each other eventually, but I hated letting something like this drag out. I’ve always been a big fan of trying to keep things as simple as possible, in most areas of my life at least. I headed out of the building and onto the street, lost in my thoughts. I was intending to go to my now usual lunch spot at the café around the corner but, at the last minute, I caught a whiff of pizza lingering in the air and I changed my mind.