Boss With Benefits (A Lantana Island Romance Book 1)

by Talia Hunter

  She kicked the side of his knee, just like she’d practiced. Only her foot flashed out faster and harder than it ever had in training. Otto dropped like a stone. He lay moaning, doubled up on the ground, legs pulled up.

  This was the man who’d terrorized her for months. Who’d gone after Carin, when she’d done absolutely nothing to deserve it. He was the reason she’d triple-checked her door locks, had stopped running, and hadn’t liked going out at night. The boogeyman who’d given her nightmares.

  Rosa’s rage was white-hot, too strong to be contained. She shoved Carin’s phone into her pocket, then bent and grabbed the front of his hoodie, screaming into his face. She wanted to haul him to his feet, to pummel him senseless. But he was so heavy, she couldn’t do more than lift his torso off the ground.

  “Stop,” he groaned, trying to cringe away from her. “Please. Stop.”

  His eye was puffy and bruised. Did she do that? No, she couldn’t have. He must have already had a black eye.

  He was too heavy to keep holding, but she shook him as hard as she could, feeling the strain in her back. “Leave. My. Sister. Alone.” She was panting, the pulsing adrenaline leaving her breathless.

  “Rosa? Oh my God!” Carin’s voice came from behind her. “What are you doing?”

  “I wasn’t going to follow her,” Otto said in a high, nervous voice. “In my backpack are all the photos I took of both of you. I was going to leave it all in her letterbox and never bother you again. I swear.”

  “You expect me to believe that?” Rosa grabbed his ear and twisted it, ignoring his squeal of pain.

  Carin bent to pick up Otto’s backpack. “There are a whole lot of USB sticks in here.”

  “They’re for you,” whimpered Otto. “I promised the man I’d bring all the photos, then leave you alone. I meant it. That’s why I waited until your sister left, because I didn’t want her to see me. I was going to leave them and go.”

  “What are you talking about? What man?”

  Carin touched her arm. “Let him go. He’s spent.”

  “What?’ Rosa straightened and turned on her sister, breathing heavily. “You want me to let him get away with everything he’s done to us?”

  “Like I told the man with the scar, I’m not going to bother you again. I was keeping my promise.” Otto turned his face up to her. His eyes looked damp and his voice trembled. “Please believe me. I’m sorry. I haven’t kept a single picture, and I’ll stay away from you and your sister.”

  Rosa’s anger and fear were draining away. “The man with the scar,” she repeated slowly. No, he couldn’t mean Dalton. Could he? “The scar wasn’t through his eyebrow, was it?”

  Otto nodded. He was lying still, curled up and clutching his crotch. “Tell him I didn’t break my promise. I was going to leave the photos and go.”

  “Does he mean Dalton?” asked Carin.

  “I think he must. But when? And how did he find you?” The thought of Dalton tracking Otto down to warn him off made her heart ache with longing. But that made no sense. This was another example of Dalton trying to control things, rather than letting her deal with Otto her own way. But instead of making her mad with him, it was giving her the warm fuzzies. It proved he’d been thinking of her. Dalton was fiercely protective of the people he cared about, so did that now include her?

  “Did Dalton give you that black eye?” asked Carin. “Is that why you agreed to leave us alone?”

  Otto looked from Rosa to Carin and back again. “I’m sorry,” he whined. “Please, let me go.”

  Rosa shook her head. “Call the police,” she said to her sister. Then she realized Carin’s phone was in her pocket and tugged it out. “Never mind, I’ll do it. You watch him, okay? Make sure he doesn’t get away.”

  Carin grimaced. “What will I do if he tries to get up? You’re the one who’s channeling Xena. You watch him and I’ll call the police.” She grabbed her phone from Rosa and dialed.

  Rosa stared down at Otto, her fists clenched. She was still angry, though it was getting harder by the minute to feel anything but contempt for the man at her feet. “You liked sneaking around, doing nasty things behind our backs,” she snarled. “I had no idea you were such a coward. Why was I ever afraid of you?” She bent to stab his chest with one finger. “If you come near me or Carin, or anyone I know ever again, I’ll hunt you down. If I catch one more glimpse of you anywhere, I’ll kick you a whole lot harder.”

  Carin shot her a sideways glance. Then someone got on the line with her, and she described what was happening and where they were. When she hung up, she turned to Rosa. “You’re so bad ass all of a sudden. Who even are you?”

  Rosa frowned. What did her sister mean? Was she talking about the adrenaline burning through Rosa’s veins that was still making her pace around Otto, ready for him to make any move to escape? Or did she mean the way she’d managed to drop him in the first place, wearing nothing but her cheeky monkey sleep set?

  “I’m Rosa Roughknuckles,” she said. Surely that explained everything?

  25

  Rosa pressed the buzzer at the front entrance to Dalton’s apartment building. This time, she held it down for a good couple of minutes. It was pointless, of course. If Dalton were home, he would have answered the first dozen times she’d pressed it.

  She officially hated this building. She loathed the doors that wouldn’t open for her, and the buzzer he didn’t answer. Last night she’d spent almost two hours here, pushing that damn buzzer. Where was Dalton? Why wasn’t Tiny here? Could something have happened? She should have called the nearest hospitals to check Tiny hadn’t been admitted. Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier?

  Carin put her hand on Rosa’s arm. “Come on. I’d better get you to the airport or you’re going to miss your plane.”

  “Let me just try him one more time. Rosa tugged her phone out of her pocket and dialed Dalton’s number. It rang twice, then clicked.

  “You’ve reached Dalton Knight. Leave a message after the tone.”

  “Hi again,” she said. “It’s me. Again. Where are you? Did you get my other message? Why aren’t you calling me back?” She hung up with a sigh, hating how desperate and needy she sounded.

  But the fact he was gone, not answering his phone, had brought a couple of things home to her. First, she sounded needy because she did need him. Not to take care of her, or beat up bad guys, or anything like that. She needed him because she loved him. Because she was in love with him. And because without him, her heart felt like an echoing chasm she could yell into and hear her cries repeated back. It was an unbearably lonely sound. And the thought that there was a very good chance she could be like this, Dalton-free, for the rest of her life… well, that made her feel desperate.

  “I don’t know what to do.” She said to Carin, in a pathetic, un-Rosa Roughknuckles tone that she regretted the instant it was out of her mouth.

  “Catch your plane.” Her sister tugged her away from the door. “Go back to your job and your life.”

  “But—”

  “He’s not here, so there’s no point staying. He might have moved away or gone overseas, or anything. You can’t give everything up to stand outside an empty apartment.”

  “Okay. You’re right.” Rosa resisted the urge to rush back and push the buzzer one more time. “I can ring around all the hospitals from the airport. If Tiny’s not in hospital, she could be in a stroke rehab center. Or she might be somewhere else I haven’t thought of, which means I might never find her. The best plan will be to keep trying Dalton’s mobile. Okay, that’s the best plan. I’ll do that.”

  “And you can do that from Lantana.”

  Rosa nodded slowly. “Will you be okay?” she asked Carin.

  “Now that Otto’s in custody? Of course I will.”

  “Good.” At least coming here had achieved that much. More than she could have dared hope for, really.

  And she now knew what else she wanted. The last couple of days had helped her finally see
things clearly. Dalton could be stubborn, especially when it came to the people he cared about. So could she. That wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, it was one of the things she respected about him.

  Rosa Roughknuckles wouldn’t fall in love with a weakling, or someone who wasn’t a match for her in every way. And that’s what Dalton was. Her perfect match. And if he needed her to track him down and prove it to him, well, that’s what she’d do.

  She’d go back to Lantana to hand in her notice. Time to take control of her life, and find a way to have what she wanted most. Even if she had to let go of everything else she’d wanted to get it.

  26

  “Then we have an agreement,” said Dalton. “I’ll have the paperwork sent to your lawyer right away.”

  Smythe put out his hand. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”

  “What will you do now?” Dalton asked. Not that he much cared, but it was polite to ask. He’d had just made a loss buying Lantana back from Smythe, but that was the way things went sometimes. He was happy with the price they’d settled on. In fact, he would have paid a lot more.

  “I don’t think I’ll look for another resort,” said Smythe thoughtfully. “There wasn’t as much fat to trim from the operation here as I’d hoped. I’m used to working with larger businesses, where there’s more opportunity to cut costs and increase profits.”

  “That’s more or less the line of work I used to be in,” said Dalton. “Purchasing companies in trouble, and either turning them around, or stripping them down.”

  “The business you used to be in?”

  “I’m going to put that on hold and focus on expanding Lantana to make it profitable. Part of the problem here is that there isn’t enough guest capacity. Adding more bures should make things more interesting.”

  “I thought about that myself. Will you tell me what you’re considering? I’m curious.”

  The two men walked outside and Dalton pointed out where the new bures would go. Of course, he’d need to discuss his plans with both Tiny and Rosa before going ahead with it. But he could imagine the new bures, and how they’d fit in with the natural environment. In fact, the more he talked about it, the more he liked the idea. There was always a thrill in creating something new, whether it was working on a carving or erecting a building. For the next few months, he’d like to do more of both.

  “Hearing you talk about it with such enthusiasm makes me a little envious,” said Smythe. “I should have looked at doing something similar.” He glanced at his watch. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should start making new plans of my own. It’s a good thing my house hasn’t sold yet. I’d better have the realtor take it off the market.”

  Smythe headed back to the office that was no longer his, and Dalton walked along the beach, smiling to himself. Who would have thought he’d be excited about building on Lantana, of all places? Just a few short weeks ago, he wouldn’t have been able to walk past this part of the beach without thinking of his parents. Now it had become the place where he and Rosa had trained. The pictures in his head were all of her. And they were good ones. Very good ones.

  And the reception building? His terrible memories of the storm and its aftermath had faded. Now it was the place he and Rosa had made love for the first time. And that memory made him smile even wider.

  All the old pain he used to associate with this place now felt like a faded photograph in an album full of color. And he was ready to add new pages to that album. To make more memories.

  He walked to the end of the wharf and sat down, dangling his feet over the side. The fish were nibbling the weed that grew on the side of the piles. They darted around, seemingly excited. Or maybe he was the one who was excited. For the first time, everything seemed perfectly clear. Everything would be right. He was going to make it that way.

  Pulling his phone out of his pocket, and keeping one eye on the horizon to watch for the ferry, Dalton called the animal shelter in Nadi. He explained who he was to the woman who answered the phone.

  “I want to bring Crusoe home,” he said simply. “I’ll pick him up first thing tomorrow.”

  “That’s great news,” said the woman, sounding cheerful. “We were worried about him. He was thin to start with, and now he’s worse than ever.”

  “I’ll fatten him up,” promised Dalton. “He’ll be a big, sleepy old lap-cat in no time.” And with lots of food on hand, plenty of attention, and a bell on his collar, the local birdlife would hopefully be safe.

  “I can picture it,” said the woman with a laugh. “Oh, I do love a happy ending.”

  “So do I.” The ferry was on the horizon now, and Dalton’s heart beat faster. He could only hope Rosa would be happy to see him. When he arrived on Lantana last night, Smythe had informed him she was in Sydney for a flying visit. Something to do with her sister, he’d said. At least they didn’t have to worry about Otto anymore, or he would have been a lot more concerned about her.

  This morning he’d discovered a couple of cellphone messages from her, which she must have left while he was on the flight. When he tried to call her back, her phone was off. Probably because she was on a flight herself.

  Anyway, it would be better this way, seeing her in person rather than talking on the phone. Except for the fact his nerves were starting to get the better of him. He was a grown man, and yet he felt like an anxious teenager waiting for his date to arrive. What if she was still angry with him over the way he’d acted? What if she couldn’t forgive him?

  Dalton took a deep breath. This was ridiculous. His palms were damp and his heart was racing. He’d never been this nervous in his life, not even doing deals worth millions of dollars. But nothing had ever mattered so much to him as the reaction of the woman who should be on the boat that was motoring toward the wharf.

  As the ferry docked, he craned his neck to find her. There she was. Her hair was blowing in the wind, and she wore a white sundress that accentuated her long, tanned limbs. Was there another woman in the world that beautiful? Not a chance. There could only be one Rosa.

  Her eyes widened when she saw him and her mouth dropped open. He’d surprised her, but it wasn’t the expression he’d hoped for. She wasn’t pleased to see him? Maybe she hadn’t forgiven him. He’d have to work on that, and do whatever it took to…

  Rosa smiled. It was a slow smile, like the gradual rise of the sun over the horizon. But it grew wide enough to light up his world.

  The sight made his heart jolt back into life and thawed his body. Now he could walk forward to meet her. If there were other passengers on the ferry, Dalton didn’t know or care. All that mattered was the woman in front of him.

  He put his arms around Rosa and held her close. Her lips tasted like peppermint, and her body fit perfectly against his.

  “Dalton, why you here?” she said. “I’ve been trying to call you. Did you get my messages?”

  “Not until this morning. I wanted to see you. I have something to ask you.” He pulled away from her reluctantly, wanting to keep kissing her. But he hoped they’d have plenty of time for that. All the time in the world.

  “Ask me what?”

  He kept both hands on her arms, stroking her warm skin. Her hands were on his hips, resting above his jeans.

  “Will you stay with me on Lantana?” he asked. “Keep running the place? I’m going to expand it so there’ll be more to do, and you might need Tiny’s help to handle everything. At least, when she’s well enough to help.”

  Rosa’s brow crinkled. “You and Tiny are coming back to Lantana? But doesn’t she need to stay in Sydney for her treatment?”

  “I have the best specialist in Sydney coming to Lantana. He’s taking a year off to write a book about his work, and I convinced him that Lantana would be the ideal place to write in peace and quiet. Tiny will be his only patient, and if anything happens to her, he’ll be right here to treat her.”

  “Really? That sounds perfect. Where will he stay?”

  “I thought he and Tiny
could live in her house, and I’ll build another place for us at the far end of the bay.” He nodded toward the spot he meant. “What do you think? It’ll be private there, and if we build on that rise, we should get a great view over the water.”

  “Build our own house?”

  “Rosa.” He smoothed her hair back and rested his forehead against hers. “I love you.”

  “That sounds… complicated.”

  “Complicated,” he agreed. “Inconvenient. Crazy. Wonderful. Incredible.” He kissed her. “Beautiful.”

  Her laugh was a little breathless. “All of those things?”

  “And more. So, what do you think? Will you stay here and build a house with me?”

  “That sounds like fun. Can we still walk down to the beach and train in the mornings? I’ve missed that so much.”

  “I’ve missed it too.”

  Her smile faded, and she suddenly looked serious. “Now it’s my turn to tell you something.”

  Studying her face, he was tempted to lift off her sunglasses to see the green of her eyes. But it was bright out here, and he could wait until they got inside. “What is it?” he asked.

  “I love you too. More than anything.” She put both hands on his cheeks and kissed him deeply, making the rest of the world slide away. He put his arms around her, pressing her close. It might have been a long kiss, he couldn’t tell. And until that moment, he’d had no idea that he’d been waiting his entire life for a kiss just like it.

  It lasted long enough to drive away every last trace of the darkness Lantana had once held. Long enough that when they finally came up for air, everything had changed for him. It was a forever kiss. And he wanted many more of them.

  He took her hand, threading his fingers through hers. “Come on. Lantana’s ours now. Let me walk you home.”

  Epilogue

  Rosa twisted the cork off the bottle of champagne, and laughed as it popped. She poured it into four glasses, and gave Dalton and Zac theirs. Then she picked up her glass and handed the last one to Tiny so they could share their traditional toast.