Seven Nights

by Jess Michaels

  She shook her head. “You’re damn straight it isn’t, Sean. When you were working at Jones and Sellars, you had that project that took all night, remember?”

  He looked utterly confused. “Yeah, so?”

  “I asked if you wanted me to come in. I offered to help file or pick up food for everyone. You blew me off and told me you had it taken care of. Well, Sean, I talked to some of the other wives and girlfriends. At least three or four of them came in that night to do exactly what I said I’d do. But you wouldn’t take me up on my offer.”

  Now he made no attempt to stop her. In fact, he stared at her, eyes wide and all the anger drained from his face. He looked pained and it pained Leah, but she pushed on.

  “You even kept me out of things that directly involved me.” She sighed as more and more heat left her voice. “Like when you met my parents that weekend at the shore. I found out later what my father said to you.”

  Sean turned his face. “That I’d never be good enough for you, whatever I did.”

  “Exactly. But did I hear it from you?” She shook her head. “No. I heard it from him long after you and I broke up and I started working at the magazine. Sean, if you’d told me, we could have fought him together. Or at least I could have told you he was a blustering old fool. Which, by the way, is what I told him when he informed me of your little conversation.”

  That elicited a small, sad smile from Sean.

  “The thing is, you want to pretend like I just left without any reason, without any cause.” She paused in order to gather her composure. Her throat was constricted with tears. Tears she was determined he wouldn’t see. Taking a long breath, she whispered, “But I left because I realized we wouldn’t have made it.”

  He jerked back. “What?”

  “A marriage is a partnership. It’s in the handbook, for God’s sake. ‘For better or worse. For richer or poorer. Through sickness and in health’.” She shook her head. “You didn’t want me in the worse, the poorer or the sickness. You didn’t want my support or my love in the times when you needed it most. And you know what, Sean? Even now, when I can feel the connection growing between us, you still don’t want that. Not from me.”

  “I do want it, Leah. I do more than anything,” he insisted as he took a step toward her.

  She warded him off with a warning hand. “No. You don’t. When you started having business trouble a couple days ago, I offered you my input. More than once. And you either ignored me or bit my head off. I’m in the same damn industry as you are, but you acted like I’d be in the way.”

  He shook his head. “Leah, I have to prove I can do this on my own.”

  She threw up her hands in exasperation. “And you think I’m going to swoop in and take it away from you? You have very little faith in me at all. Do you want to know why I called my father last night?”

  He nodded slowly. “Yes.”

  “I called him because I had a sneaking suspicion he was behind Midler’s pullout. After a few really awful minutes, he confirmed that was true. I told him if he hopes to maintain a relationship with me, he’d best not interfere with your business again. Could you have made that threat to him?”

  He dropped his gaze to the tarmac in silence.

  “Then I spent the whole night online gathering this information.” She dug into her bag and pulled out the file she’d created for Sean and Will. “You’ll see it’s just a list of names and numbers. People I’ve dealt with in the industry in the last few years. People who won’t be influenced by my father, but will be influenced by your financials. And the only last ‘interference’ I’ll be making is a few introductory phone calls. Calls I’ll still make for you while I’m on my way to Jamaica to pick up Danny and go back to Philly.”

  He stiffened and his eyes lifted back to hers in a panic. “On the plane?” he repeated, a little louder than he probably intended.

  “Yes.”

  She sighed. How could this be happening again? How could she be saying goodbye again?

  She cleared her throat so she wouldn’t speak through tears. “I love you, Sean Dalton. I love you with all my heart and soul. I never stopped loving you. Leaving you the first time broke my heart. Leaving you this time is going to be worse. But until you’re really ready to have me in your life as a partner, as a sounding board and as a friend as well as a lover, we have nothing left to say to each other.” She stepped forward and touched Sean’s cheek. The tears stung her eyes now, as well as stole her breath, but she willed them not to fall, at least not for a few more painful moments. “You know where to find me if you ever really want a wife.”

  With that, she leaned up and kissed him. He seemed too shocked to respond, which was just as well. Her heart was already wavering. If he’d crushed her into his arms, she wouldn’t have been able to turn away.

  Which she had to do, and she did. With tears beginning to fall, she turned and climbed onto the jet. Vinnie followed behind and the staircase did its slow, mechanical lift. She didn’t take a seat by the window. She didn’t want to see Sean when she taxied away from him. Away from the life she’d almost had for a second time. That she’d walked away from a second time.

  And as the plane moved down the runway and took off toward Jamaica, she put her head down and finally began to sob.

  ***

  Sean couldn’t speak as he watched the jet’s engines fire up and the plane taxied away from him and back toward the United States. Back to Leah’s life that was so very separate from his.

  Sean sank down on his haunches as the plane gained speed and finally altitude, then turned toward Jamaica and away from him. His eyes stung with tears that he refused to shed. As he stood back up again, he realized he was still holding Leah’s list. It was mangled in his iron grip and his fingers actually hurt when he unclenched them to open the twisted folder.

  As she’d stated, all that was inside were a few sheets of paper with a list of names and Leah’s even handwritten notes about each option. Some of the notes were actually cute and funny, proof she’d been thinking only of him when she’d written them.

  And what had he done?

  Sent her off after accusing her of some pretty vile things.

  “Fuck,” he said low. Then he repeated it over and over until the curse echoed off the tarmac and vanished into the jungle around him.

  “Uh, sir?”

  He turned to find the two bellboys still standing behind him with looks of confusion and concern.

  “Look, you two take the jeep and go back to the resort and your duties,” he said. He held out the file. “Take this up to Mr. Todd as soon as you’re back and tell him Miss Prescott compiled this list of possible investors. He’ll know what to do with it.”

  “What about you, sir? Aren’t you coming with us?”

  “No.” He sighed as he looked out at the ocean. “No, I’ll walk back up. Tell Mr. Todd I’ll be there within the hour to help him with the details. He can call me on my cell if there’s an emergency.”

  “Yes, sir.” The boys looked at him with concern, but then headed toward the jeep that was parked next to the tower in the distance.

  Sean headed toward the beach. It was only a short distance back to the resort, but it was going to be the longest walk of his life. He had a lot of thinking to do.

  And a lot of making up to plan if he had any hope of ever getting Leah back.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Leah stared at her computer screen, but hardly saw the cursor blinking in front of her. Blinking and blinking, waiting for her to have some kind of inspiration.

  Well, her muse had left the building. After twelve hours back in Philadelphia, she wasn’t sure it would ever come home again. Not the way she was feeling.

  That didn’t change the fact she had two documents open at once, both waiting to be finished. Her article on Sean’s island was the one with the blinking cursor.

  How was she supposed to write some cold review about what she’d experienced while at Escapades? How could she desc
ribe the food when all she could think about was Sean feeding her mangos her first night on the island or the feel of his body pressed against hers when they were at the picnic by the private waterfall?

  And the amenities she normally would have gone over in succinct detail?

  Well, how about the pool? She could easily describe each and every inch of the cabanas, including the way a moan of pleasure echoed off their walls. Or the spa? Well, the tables weren’t totally comfortable for making love, but the wall sure worked.

  Yeah. She was sure those little tidbits would bring the customers down in droves.

  “Hey, Leah.”

  She looked up to find Danny standing at her door. He smiled at her, but it was a pitying expression rather than his usual friendly one. Since he’d listened to her cry for an hour after the private jet had picked him up in Jamaica, he’d been especially gentle with her. She hadn’t been able to tell him the whole awful story and he hadn’t asked yet. A fact she was eternally grateful for. Everything was far too raw and painful to discuss over coffee like office gossip.

  She somehow managed a weak smile. “Hi, Danny. Did you pick out any pictures from the island to go with the story?”

  He wrinkled his brow. “Usually we do that after you write the article.”

  She nodded as her eyes drifted to the blank page before her. “I know. But I was hoping they’d provide some inspiration.”

  “Having trouble getting started?” he asked as he sat down across from her glass-topped desk.

  “Yes. Every time I start to do a basic review, it seems so stupid and inadequate. My words aren’t really describing what I encountered at Escapades.” She covered her face with her hands. “And I certainly can’t write an article that portrays what did happen to me there.”

  “Why can’t you?” Danny asked with a smile. “Tell your readers what happened. Be your usual honest, straight-forward self.”

  She peeked at him through the web of her fingers. “And just what am I supposed to say? The owner will hold you hostage and make love to you until your senses are singing? That you’ll fall in love with the island and the man behind it all, but you’ll leave with a broken heart?” She gave an empty laugh. “I’m pissed off at Sean, but I’m not trying to destroy him. That’s my father’s M.O.”

  Danny cocked his head. “What prompted you to write the article on the false promise of fantasy resorts that started all this?”

  She searched her memory for the moment that had inspired her caustic piece. “Uh, that place in the Poconos, I guess. Mountain Castles or something equally stupid.”

  “So why can’t Escapades inspire you to write a more sweeping article like that?” Danny shrugged. “Why can’t it make you write a piece about falling in love again? How an island, a hotel, a resort can open your eyes to what you have? That would be more truthful than a boring old review, wouldn’t it?”

  Leah looked up at Danny. He held her stare evenly with a gaze that told her he was there for her if she needed a friend. She did, but for the first time in years Danny Anderson wasn’t going to cut it.

  She covered her eyes. “Oh, Danny Boy. What the hell am I going to do?”

  He stood up and reached over to ruffle her hair, back in its tight ponytail where it belonged. “I don’t know, sweetie. Only you can figure that out. I’ll email you some pictures for inspiration. Though I think the photo that will inspire you most is in your top drawer under your files.”

  With that, he left her office. Leah looked around her, feeling like a thief in her own space. She hadn’t realized Danny knew her little secret.

  She opened her drawer and reached under the files. What she produced was a four by six picture frame with a photo of Sean staring out at her. She set it on her desk and examined at it for a long time. He was different now than when she’d taken this snapshot at a University of Pennsylvania football game so many years before. His face had grown more angled, his body more muscular and tanned. He had matured and grown more refined as he honed his business skills.

  But his smile was the same. And the love in his eyes hadn’t changed either.

  Despite all that, if he didn’t want her as a full partner in his life, she couldn’t give him less. Or settle for less herself, no matter how tempting the prospect was.

  “Sean,” she whispered as she leaned her head forward until it clunked against the flat screen monitor. She let it rest like that for a while, just thinking about everything that had happened and wondering what would happen next. Only she couldn’t control that. The ball was in Sean’s court. She could only wait and see how he chose to play it.

  ***

  Sean straightened his tie and tried to look like he belonged. He didn’t. Roger Prescott had made that clear more than once, but it wasn’t going to stop him. Leah was in this building and he was going to find her. Even if he had to bulldoze through Prescott and twenty of his bodyguards to do it.

  “May I help you?”

  Sean looked at the receptionist with a start and forced the bouquet of island flowers behind his back on instinct.

  “Sir?” She looked at him with a blank, yet friendly expression. It didn’t seem like she’d been put on guard for him. At least, not yet. If he played his cards right, he could be upstairs with Leah before someone alerted the Pennsylvania National Guard to his intrusion.

  “I’m here to see Leah Prescott. Can you tell me which office is hers?” He hated the slight squeak to his voice. He needed to be tough on Roger Prescott’s turf if he was going to pull this off under his very nose.

  The secretary blinked and adjusted her trendy glasses to examine him closer. “Is Miss Prescott expecting you?”

  He thought briefly about their parting the day before. Expecting him? Hell, he didn’t know if she’d throw something at him.

  “Uh, not exactly.” He winced when the woman’s friendliness began to fade.

  “I’ll have to call up to let her know you’re coming, sir.” She picked up the phone. “Your name?”

  Sean flinched. He didn’t want to set an appointment with Leah’s secretary. He didn’t want to give her the chance to turn down a meeting request via email. He wanted to waltz into her office like he was in a Cary Grant movie and tell her everything he’d rehearsed on the plane ride to Philadelphia. He had notes. He had a plan. Now he just needed the love of his life.

  “Look, I just want to surprise the woman. I’m in a suit, I have flowers, can’t you tell that-”

  The secretary’s face finished its transformation from blank and friendly to hard and cautious in the blink of an eye. “Sir, I can’t tell anything about you except that you don’t have an appointment. This is a business, a publishing company with deadlines to meet and articles to be written. We can’t just have anyone off the street dropping by uninvited. Miss Prescott has a lot of fans of her editorials and reviews. I’m sure she’d be very happy to hear from you, as all our columnists are. We simply ask that you go through the proper channels. You can write to her at traveleditor at-”

  Sean flinched. “You’re trying to give me her public email address?”

  She pursed her lips, a sure sign of a woman who knew the receptionist had all the power. “Sir, I really have to insist-”

  The woman’s hand hung over the phone. Sean knew what was coming next. She’d buzz security and he’d be removed, no probably banned from the building. Leah would get wind of it, as would her father. He might never get his chance to tell her what he’d come all the way here to say.

  “Maddie, it’s okay. I know this guy.”

  Sean looked over to the elevators to see Danny Anderson coming across the marble floor toward him. His face was unreadable, but at that moment, Sean would have called him his best friend.

  “Mr. Anderson?” The woman still regarded Sean with unmasked suspicion.

  “This is the owner of the resort Leah and I just came back from,” Danny explained without taking his eyes off Sean. “I’m sure Leah will be more than happy to see him without an a
ppointment. In fact, I’d be glad to escort him upstairs to her office personally.”

  The woman’s face shifted back to the open friendship she’d first offered. “Oh, I’m so sorry, sir. You should have mentioned who you were. We certainly always welcome industry professionals at Get-Aways.”

  “Not a problem. My mistake.” Sean followed Danny to the elevators.

  The second the elevator door shut, Danny turned on Sean with a frown that told him he wasn’t getting anywhere unless Leah’s best friend approved of his motives.

  “I don’t know what happened on the island after I left.” Danny leaned against the elevator wall with folded arms. “Leah won’t tell me much, but she’s been pretty upset since I got on the plane in Jamaica. If you’re coming here to mess with her head, you’re going to have to deal with me.”

  Sean couldn’t help but smile. Leah had loyal friends. People who loved and took care of her. Even her parents, misguided as they were, only wanted their own twisted version of the best for her. She just brought that out in people. All people. Most of all, him.

  “Danny, I love her,” he said softly. He was willing to declare that from the rooftops if it gave him just five minutes with Leah, the person he needed to tell most. “I don’t know if coming here is going to hurt her, but I know if I stay back on the island it’s going to hurt her more. And it just might kill me. If you have to beat the hell out of me in order for me to get to her, I suggest you start now. Because the second this elevator stops, I’m going to find her. With you or through you is your choice.”

  Danny stared at him for a long moment and Sean began to wonder if he really was going to get to Leah with a busted jaw. Then the other man smiled.

  “She’s in office 350. Go left when you exit the elevator and right at the end of the hall. Whatever you do, don’t go left at the end of the hall.”

  “Why?” Sean asked as the elevator doors opened and he stepped out.

  “That’s where her father’s office is located.” Danny laughed as the elevator doors slipped shut again and left Sean alone on the busy magazine floor.