Boss With Benefits (A Lantana Island Romance Book 1)

by Talia Hunter

  Rosa was looking at his door when it opened and Dalton came in. His hair was damp, so he must have had a shower, and he was wearing a T-shirt and worn jeans. His gorgeous smile made her heart beat faster. Not to mention that he was carrying a steaming cup of coffee that smelled incredible.

  “Wow,” she said. “You have no idea how good you look right now. On a scale of one to ten, I’d give you at least a nine.”

  He grinned and held out the coffee. “And if I’d come in without this?”

  “You might still have cracked a five.” She took the cup from him and sipped from it gratefully.

  “I need you to do something for me today,” he said, sitting on the side of the bed. From his tone, she guessed it wasn’t more of what they’d spent last night doing. That was a definite shame. She hadn’t felt that good in a long time. Maybe never.

  “Why are you dressed?” she asked, hoping it was a mistake he planned to correct, and that the thing he wanted her to do involved being naked.

  “I’m taking Crusoe to the shelter this morning.”

  She hated that they had to give the cat up, especially when he was getting so much friendlier. “You got the speedboat working properly?” she asked. Yesterday when Dalton had removed the plastic around the propeller and restarted the engine, it had been making a funny noise. They’d had to abandon their search for the yacht and limp back to Lantana.

  “All fixed,” he said. “And if I’m not back from the mainland in time, I need you to welcome Mr. Smythe to the island and show him around.”

  Rosa’s stomach clenched. She sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. “The guy who wants to buy the resort?”

  “He just called, and he’s arrived a day early. He’s getting a water taxi and should be here around one. I’ll try to be back by then, but chances are I’ll be later than that.”

  Maybe it was unreasonable for Rosa to feel like he’d punched her in the gut. But after the night they’d just spent together, she couldn’t help it. Had nothing changed for him?

  “You’re still selling Lantana?” The question slipped out of her mouth, although she knew too well what his reaction would be.

  Sure enough, he frowned. “You know why I need to.”

  “Does Tiny know the buyer’s coming today?”

  He shook his head. “Tiny’s been shaky the last couple of days. Better not to upset her.”

  “Lantana belongs to her. You can’t do this without—”

  “Rosa, stop fighting me. I’m going to make it as easy on her as I can.”

  “But—”

  He leaned forward and kissed her.

  She didn’t want to kiss him back. Or to feel the rush of lust that seared through her. But when he gently pulled away, she couldn’t stop herself from wanting to grab him and hold on. Maybe she should drag him into bed and keep him busy until the buyer left and Dalton had changed his mind about selling the place.

  “I still think you need to tell Tiny,” she said when he shifted as though to get up and leave.

  He shook his head. “She’s sleeping soundly. In about an hour, Celina will bring her breakfast and sit with her while she eats. Could you check on her around ten thirty? She’s still shaky and emotional, so be gentle and don’t bring up anything that will upset her. That includes Smythe arriving. Don’t say a word.” He fixed her with a stern look, then stood up. “Mere will stop in at midday to check on her, and again at two.”

  “What about Nate and Suzie?” she asked.

  “The coastguard’s checking on the yacht this morning, and If Nate hasn’t got the engine restarted yet, they’ll tow him to Denarau.”

  “Okay, good. Do you know if Suzie’s still on board?” Maybe it was stupid to think that if those two could make it work, there was still hope for her and Dalton. Especially because it was unlikely she’d ever find out.

  Sure enough, he shrugged. “If she is, she should finally get to fly home today.”

  He moved to the door. “I need to leave now, or I won’t make it back until late.”

  “Wait.” Rosa caught her breath, a deep sadness crushing her chest. This felt like the beginning of the end, both for Tiny and for her. “Will you say goodbye to Crusoe for me? Tell him…” She hesitated, not knowing how to put all her complicated emotions into words.

  “Tell him what?” Dalton paused with his hand on the knob.

  “That I wish things were different.”

  Dalton gave her a serious nod, as though he really would pass that message on to the cat. And knowing the way he talked to Crusoe, he probably would.

  Rosa got up slowly, hating the way reality had crashed into her, turning her perfect night into a painful reminder of everything she and Tiny were about to lose. There’d be a lot more pain to come, unless she did something to stop it.

  With Smythe arriving today, Dalton had left her the perfect opportunity to sabotage the sale of the resort. All she had to do was point out all the reasons he shouldn’t buy the place. She pulled on her clothes from last night, thinking hard. Maybe she could pretend they had vermin problems in the kitchen. And there was the water damage from the burst pipe in Bure Twelve. That was the one she’d take him through when she was showing him around. But first, she’d go in and make sure it looked disheveled and unappealing.

  Beside the bed were a stack of books, and the top one caught her eye. She picked it up. Living With Stroke. It was a thick hardback, and leafing through it, she saw Dalton had highlighted various passages and scribbled notes in the margins. He’d obviously read it carefully. The book underneath it was about stroke recovery too. And the one under that. All of them had highlighted sections. There were eight books in total, and it looked like he’d read them all.

  “Dammit,” she said aloud. “Why are you making this so hard, Dalton?”

  How could she conspire to keep Tiny on Lantana when Dalton had such good reasons to take her away?

  She tiptoed out of Dalton’s room and put her head into Tiny’s room to check her friend was sleeping, before heading back to her cabin to shower and change. It was the first morning she and Dalton hadn’t trained together, and she thought about going down to the beach for a solo session to practice her moves, but after taking yesterday off, she had a lot to do. She ate breakfast, then went to her office and fired up her computer.

  In her personal email was a weird message from Carin. It was completely blank. There was no subject, and nothing written in the body of the email. The only thing the email contained was an image.

  She opened the picture. Staring at it, her stomach dropped away. It was a photograph of Carin in front of her house. Carin was walking down her front steps, looking down at her feet. She didn’t seem to know the photo was being taken.

  Rosa grabbed the phone and punched in Carin’s number. When her sister answered, her voice was sleepy.

  “Have you forgotten what the time difference is—?”

  “Did you send me a photo?” Rosa’s voice shook, because she already knew what the answer would be. “A picture of yourself?”

  “What?”

  Rosa closed her eyes. She felt like she was going to throw up. “I got a photograph. It’s just like the ones he used to send me all the time. Only it’s of you.”

  “Otto, you mean? Really? What am I doing in the picture?”

  “You’re leaving your place. You’re wearing jeans and a dark grey sweatshirt.”

  “That’s what I wore yesterday. I didn’t see him anywhere.”

  “He’s careful, and he always moves around. The next one will probably be of you getting to work, or at lunch.”

  “The next one? You think there’ll be more?”

  Rosa couldn’t answer. She swallowed bile, trying to control her churning stomach.

  “How did you get the picture?” asked Carin. “He didn’t post it to Fiji?”

  “Email.”

  “But I thought you’d blocked him from being able to send you—?”

  “Carin, it came from your email
address.”

  There was a long silence. Then, “What?” The word was loud enough in her ear that Rosa winced.

  “He must have hacked into your email. He hacked mine too.”

  Carin cursed. “Let me go and sign in. If it came from me, it’ll be in my Sent folder, right?” Her voice went muffled. “Just give me a minute, I’ve just got to… okay, I’m signing in.” A pause. “Holy crap. There it is.”

  “Call the police right away.”

  “Damn right, I’m calling the police. That creep isn’t going to get away with this.”

  Rosa swallowed again. She’d said the same thing herself so many times, and Otto always had got away with it. Only this time was different. This time she had a solution.

  “Carin, you need to get on a plane and come to Lantana. Dalton said you could stay until the resort is sold and it won’t cost you anything other than the plane fare.” Her sister was silent and Rosa couldn’t tell whether that was a good sign or a bad one, so she kept talking. “Come right away, okay? You’ll love it here, I promise. You’ll be safe, and we can figure out what to do.”

  “I can’t take time off work,” Carin said finally. “Besides, the play starts next Saturday. I’m Mrs. Windermere, remember?”

  “This is more important. You have to come.”

  “All Otto does is send photos though, right? I mean, that’s all he did to you. I’ll be careful and make sure I don’t go anywhere alone. But I’m sure I’ll be fine. It’s creepy as hell, but I don’t think I’m in any actual danger.”

  “We don’t know he’s not going to do something worse. You can’t take the risk.”

  “Rosa, I’m not going to run away.”

  Rosa blew out her breath, wishing she was with her sister so she could shake some sense into her. “Be sensible. Your safety matters more than missing work or performing in a play.” As she spoke, she heard an echo of the words Dalton had said to her. Was this how he felt when Tiny refused to leave Lantana?

  If only she could force Carin to go. But she couldn’t control her sister, any more than Dalton could make Tiny do what he wanted. As hard as that was to accept, she had to let her sister make her own decisions. “At least think about it,” she said reluctantly. “Promise me you will.”

  “Sure,” said Carin, in a tone that told Rosa she’d never convince her.

  “You’re still staying with Jake, right?”

  “I am. Stop worrying about me. I need to go so I can report this to the police. I’ll call you a bit later, okay? And try not to stress. I’m going to be fine.”

  Rosa hung up feeling shaky. Her stomach was still clenching. She got up and paced for a while, then sat back down. She had a lot to do, and working would help take her mind off Otto.

  Taking a deep breath, she reached for her pad to write down a to-do list for the day.

  But her pad had a page torn out of it. Rosa ran her finger down the scrap of torn paper that was left in the pad’s binding, and frowned. She hadn’t torn anything out. What page was it, anyway?

  The Dalton Project.

  She double-checked to be sure, then leaned back in her chair. The missing page was definitely where she’d written her notes on The Dalton Project. The pad had probably been open on that page, because yesterday morning, she’d been looking at it while she waited for her sister to answer her phone, and she’d written her own name under the Like column.

  What if Dalton had seen it? It had to be him who’d ripped that page out. Who else?

  Groaning, Rosa sunk her head in her hands. Why had she written in her own name? Now it would look like she’d seduced him as part of the project. He was going to get the wrong idea.

  When she checked on Tiny later that morning, she’d have to admit that her cover was blown, and let her friend know that she wasn’t willing to do this anymore. The Dalton Project had been a bad idea, doomed from the start, and Rosa never should have gone along with it.

  And should she really not tell Tiny the buyer was arriving today? It wasn’t fair of Dalton not to be straight with his sister. Shaky or not, Tiny deserved to know. If Rosa was in Tiny’s place she’d want to be told, and she’d be pissed off with anyone who tried to keep it from her.

  Rosa nodded to herself. No more half-truths or schemes. Pinky promise or not, it was time to be one hundred percent honest with both of them.

  19

  Dalton drove the speedboat to Denarau with Crusoe in his cage next to him. Although he’d draped a blanket over the cage in the hopes it would keep Crusoe calm, the cat hadn’t been happy about being loaded into the boat. At least the engine noise meant he couldn’t hear his pitiful meows.

  In Dalton’s pocket was the piece of paper he’d found in Rosa’s office when he was looking for the address of the shelter. He couldn’t stop thinking about the fact she’d turned him into a project, recording his likes and dislikes.

  Why would she analyze him like that? He could only think of one reason. Had she been trying to manipulate him, to try to force him not to sell the resort?

  She’d even written her own name in as something he liked. That was what really stuck in his gut. Sleeping with him had been part of her project. Was what they had shared even real, or just a cold-blooded attempt to influence him?

  The entire way to the mainland, he thought about nothing else. From the wharf, he got a taxi to the veterinary center, and by the time he reached it, he still didn’t have any answers. At least Crusoe had quietened down, although when he peeked under the blanket, the poor cat still looked frightened.

  The vet who called him into an examination room looked barely old enough to be out of veterinary school, but she worked deftly and seemed to know what she was doing. “Good news,” she said, once she’d checked Crusoe over. “Your kitty’s in okay shape. A little skinny, and some bumps and scrapes. But other than giving him some shots and treating him for worms, a few good meals is all he needs.”

  “I can’t keep him,” said Dalton, stroking the cat’s head. Crusoe looked miserable. He was terrified of the vet and kept trying to crawl into Dalton’s arms. He’d obviously decided Dalton was his protector, just in time to make letting him go even more difficult.

  “I’m afraid you can’t leave him here,” the vet said. “Our adoption center’s already full.”

  Dalton tugged his wallet out of his pocket. “I’m planning to make a donation.” He pulled out several hundred-dollar bills. “A thousand dollars seem fair to you?”

  The vet hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Okay. We can squeeze one more in.” She sat down in front of her computer. “Difficult to find new homes for older ones, but we’ll do our best. Put him back in his cage for now, while I get you the paperwork.”

  Dalton hated the way the damn cat nuzzled against his hand, making him feel terrible about abandoning him. Was this how his father had felt when he’d sent Tiny and Dalton away from Lantana?

  No, that was ridiculous. Their father had been more interested in drowning his sorrows than raising two kids.

  And Dalton was making the right choice by taking Tiny away from this place for good, even if the number who objected kept rising. First he’d only had to argue with Tiny. Then Rosa. And now Crusoe was giving him the guilts.

  He held Crusoe for a moment longer, then told himself not to be stupid. Made himself lower the animal into the cat cage and shut him in. He couldn’t afford to be sentimental. This was just the way it had to be.

  The vet pressed a button that made the printer on her desk whir into life. She stood, checked it was spitting out the right forms, then turned and gave him a sympathetic look. “Hard to let them go, isn’t it?”

  For some reason, her words brought an image of the day he and Tiny had left Lantana, all those years ago. Even now, all these years later, the memory brought up feelings he didn’t want. Worse was when his aunt and uncle had sent him to boarding school, and he’d had to leave Tiny behind. As long as he lived, he’d never be able to make that up to her. Sometimes in the middle of
the night, he woke up remembering the way she’d cried.

  To hide his face from the vet, he crouched next to Crusoe’s cage and put his hand against it, saying a silent goodbye. It wasn’t like Dalton could take the cat to the Sydney with him. There’d probably be months of quarantine, and the penthouse apartment he’d bought for Tiny had a view of the harbor but no outdoor space. Crusoe would hate it. He’d be a lot happier if a Fijian family adopted him.

  “We’ll do our best for him,” said the vet. “I’ll call and let you know if someone takes him.”

  “And if they don’t?”

  “We hold the animals for as long as we can, but we can’t keep them indefinitely, I’m afraid. We just don’t have the room.”

  Dalton caught his breath, but didn’t object. If Crusoe didn’t find a home, Dalton would never know. He’d be in Australia by then, and could choose to believe whatever he wanted. He could picture the cat safely with a new family, and it would most likely be true.

  He forced himself to walk out without looking back, and took the taxi back to the wharf, then headed back to Lantana Island. By the time he got there, it was almost two-thirty in the afternoon, well after the time he’d thought he’d be back. He found Smythe in Rosa’s office, looking through folders of paperwork he must have pulled out of the bookcase. Smythe was a short man with glasses, with a briefcase by his side. He looked like he’d be more at home in a business suit than in the shorts and polo-shirt he had on.

  “A pleasure,” said Smythe with a polite smile, when Dalton introduced himself. “A little short staffed, are you? Well, your staff records are one of the things I’m here to review, so we’ll soon find out.”