Tap. Tap.
“Yes?” Gia called out.
The door opened, and Gin barked before running over to Ric. He smiled and bent to pet the puppy. It gave Gia a moment to study him. Wasn’t that the same shirt he’d had on the night before? And his hair, it was unusually scattered. What was up with that?
When Ric straightened, there were shadows beneath his eyes. “I was wondering if you had a couple of minutes to talk.”
That sounded serious. “Should I be worried?”
He shook his head. “Nothing for you to worry about. I just have a proposal for you.”
Proposal? Suddenly her thoughts went in the wrong direction. Flowers. Candlelight. Ric down on one knee—
She screeched her thoughts to a halt. Where in the world had that come from? She wasn’t ready to settle down. Not with Ric. Not with anyone.
She swallowed hard, trying to calm her nervousness. “A proposal?”
He nodded. “It’d be easier if we did this in my study.”
Without waiting for her response, he turned to walk away. Gin was hot on his heels. Gia stood there for a moment, wondering what was up with him. And then curiosity had her following.
When she reached his study, she came to a complete halt. Her gaze took in the scene before her. Ric’s usually clean study, where everything was in its place, was in complete disarray. There were papers scattered across the desktop with his oversize monitor and keyboard in the center. There were coffee mugs, not just one or two but many of them here and there. Empty dinner dishes were stacked on an end table. And the curtains were drawn. There was no indication that it was a beautiful sunny day outside.
“What in the world happened in here?” Gia moved to the windows and drew back the heavy curtains to let the sunshine stream in. It didn’t help the state of the office. “Have you been living in here?”
“Sort of.”
“Aren’t those the same clothes you had on yesterday?”
He glanced down and then ran a hand over the wrinkled shirt as though it might actually improve his appearance in some small way. “They might be.”
She arched a brow. “Might be?”
“Okay. They are.” He sat down behind the desk in a red-and-white gaming chair. “But you have to understand, this is the way I get when I’m involved in a project.”
“So nothing is wrong?”
He shook his head. “For once, I think something is right.”
Her heart seemed to pause. She’d been working so hard to keep herself distracted, but with each day that passed, she grew more anxious.
“Is it my biological father? Is there news?”
Ric shook his head. “I’m sorry for being so cryptic. There’s no news yet, but don’t give up hope. These things take time.”
Her heart sunk down to her new work boots. She didn’t want Ric to see how disappointed she was, so she sucked down her disappointment. “What’s had you so preoccupied?”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’ve been working on modifications and scaling down the program. It’s taken a lot of work, but I think it was worth it—”
“Whoa! Slow down. You lost me.”
He visibly drew in a breath and blew it out. “Sorry. I think I need some sleep. You gave me the idea the other day when we were talking. And I thought we could help each other. My program needs a practical application and your hotel business needs people directed to it, so I’ve been working to marry the two.”
“You have?” She hadn’t been expecting this. She sank down on the armchair near his desk.
“Well, not exactly. I’ve been working on modifications to my program to see if it was even possible. And now I think it is. I need your permission so I can access your hotel files.”
“Wait. But I thought your program was to streamline transportation of goods?”
“It is. But I modified it so that instead of goods, it’s moving people to your hotel. So it will access public transportation, airlines, boats, whatever to make the trip to your hotel expedient and economical.”
“I... I don’t know what to say.”
“Say yes. I think it can help both of us.” He paused. His gaze searching hers. “Will you let me access your system?”
“I... I don’t know.” She seemed to be saying that a lot lately. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to fine-tune things. I’ll guarantee that your business won’t decline when I’m done.”
“You can’t promise something like that.”
He sent her a self-assured smile. “Sure, I can. Trust me.”
She wanted to trust him. It’d be so easy to trust him. But she had the feeling they were talking about totally different things. While he wanted her to trust him with her business, she was daydreaming about something a lot more personal.
How could she turn him down when he was pleading with his eyes? He wanted this. He needed this to prove that his program worked in the real world. And her hotel really needed more business now that her sister—the almost-princess of Patazonia—was no longer running the wedding portion of the business.
“Okay. But on one condition—make that two conditions.”
“Which would be?”
“You take a shower and get some sleep. And I want to be a part of this. I want to know what you’re changing.”
He frowned at her. “That’s three conditions.”
She thought about it. “So it is. What do you say?”
“Sleep is overrated.”
She pressed her hands to her hips. “But showers aren’t.”
“Point taken. And I suppose a nap wouldn’t hurt. Coffee only goes so far.”
“Good. We can start when I get back. We’re starting to put the kitchen together.” She checked the time. “And I’m late. Get some rest.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He sent her a tired smile.
“I knew there was something I liked about you—you listen to me. Unlike someone else.” Her gaze moved to the puppy. “Come, Gin.”
The puppy didn’t move from Ric’s side.
“Gin.” She tried again to get the puppy to come to her, but she was having no luck. She definitely saw some puppy obedience classes in Gin’s future.
“Don’t worry,” Ric said. “He can stay with me.”
“Are you sure? He might keep you awake.”
“Between you and me, I’m so tired right now that I don’t think anything could wake me once I’m out.” His gaze moved to the puppy. He ran his hand over the pup’s back. “And he’s a good snuggler.”
“Aw... I was wondering where he snuck off to at night.”
“He climbs in my bed and steals a pillow.”
She smiled. So Mr. Independent, Mr. I-Don’t-Need-Anyone was hooked on the puppy. “Okay. You two be good. I’ve got to go.”
And out the door she went, anxious to see the beginning of her vision for the villa’s kitchen. But as excited as she was about the remodel, she couldn’t help thinking of Ric. Every day she saw a little more of the man behind the CEO persona, and she was drawn in a little more.
She told herself not to get attached because soon she’d be leaving.
But what would it hurt to enjoy the time she had left here in Lapri? And to enjoy the time she spent with Ric as they worked on marrying his program with her business?
* * *
This wasn’t good.
He couldn’t concentrate.
Ric told himself that his inability to focus was because he hadn’t taken a long enough nap like Gia had insisted upon. But the truth was, he was distracted by her closeness as they huddled around his computer.
She’d showered as soon as she’d returned from the villa. And now, as she leaned in close to read something on the screen, he inhaled the gentle floral scent of her perfume. Her short hair was still damp, and she hadn’t
slowed down to put on any makeup. Even without primping, she was the most beautiful woman that he’d ever seen. In fact, he preferred the natural look on her.
He’d caught himself more than once staring at her and thinking he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and kiss her. Thankfully, she hadn’t seemed to notice he was distracted or that he’d hit the wrong key repeatedly, which wasn’t like him at all.
He told himself to think of her as a client he was working with on a way to help her boutique hotel. And it worked for a little, but then she’d tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and now he was thinking about combing his fingers through the short, silky strands that accentuated her heart-shaped face.
His fingers paused on the keyboard, having lost his train of thought. “What’s your password?”
“Sunflower01.”
“That’s it? No special characters?”
She shook her head. “I only added the numbers because the system insisted on it.”
Concern filled him. “Do you know how easily hackers could crack such a simple password?”
She shrugged. “Who would want to break into our reservations system?”
“It’s more than reserving rooms. There’s payments and identities.”
Gia frowned. “Okay. I get it. I have to be more careful.”
Together they came up with a more elaborate password. And then she phoned Michael to inform him about the changes.
“And you need to set up a three-factor authentication,” he said.
“Now you’re being over the top with security.”
“Actually, I’m not. Hackers are good. Very good. They just haven’t found you yet, but when they do find your site, you’ll have big problems. It could ruin the hotel’s reputation.”
“Are you serious?” When he nodded, she added, “Hackers really need to get a life instead of making everyone else’s so difficult.”
They went about setting up the three-factor authentication. He could tell Gia wasn’t happy about all of the extra steps, but he assured her that in the end, she would appreciate her business being secure. She merely nodded and continued to frown. He couldn’t help but smile. The little frown lines between her brows were adorable.
And he knew the more adorable she became, the more hooked on her he became. That was dangerous. Once her biological father was located, she’d be gone. He’d once more be alone.
* * *
The evening flew by.
Gia did her best to walk Ric through her online system, but she didn’t always know what he was asking. It seemed he knew more about the program without having to work on it than she did after using it for months. But then again, computer programs were his thing, not hers.
She ordered a pizza and insisted Ric take a break to eat. She even persuaded him to join her on the couch with Gin taking his usual spot between them, waiting for a scrap of food to fall so he could scarf it up.
“You know, you don’t have to go to all of the extra trouble with my website,” Gia said, feeling guilty that he was spending time fixing her security and search engine optimization.
“I don’t mind. In fact, I enjoy this type of work.”
“Have you always been good at computers?” She’d seen another side of him while they’d been working on her website—a side that was nothing like the man in the movie or the headlines posted about him on the internet. A wickedly smart, funny and caring man—a man any woman would be foolish not to fall for.
He finished his last bite of pizza, wiped his mouth and then set aside the empty plate. “I started messing around with computers when my uncle gave me one for my eighth birthday.”
“Your uncle? Not your mother?”
He was quiet for a moment. “My mother wasn’t in my life much as a kid.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Nobody knows because I don’t talk about it.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything. Sometimes my mouth gets ahead of me.”
“It’s okay. It’d be natural to assume I’d have grown up with my mother, but she wasn’t the maternal kind most people have. I’m sure your mother baked you cookies, helped with your homework and tucked you in at night.”
It was true. She’d always thought she’d had the best mother in the entire world. And then she and her siblings had read their mother’s journal. Those cherished memories grew tarnished. Sometimes she wished they’d just burned her journal and let the fire consume her mother’s secret. And other times, she was excited about the future and meeting this mystery man who was her biological father.
“But you have to remember,” Gia said, “my mother lied to me my entire life. So she wasn’t perfect.”
Ric reached out and took her hand in his. He gave it a squeeze. “No one is perfect. But your mother loved you.”
“I’m sure your mother loves you too.”
He shook his head. “I was always a bother—a mistake.”
This time Gia squeezed his hand and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry. Looks like both of our mothers let us down.”
“I guess.”
“At least you had your uncle. Was he always there for you?”
“He was. I took his quietness for aloofness, but thanks to you finding all those papers he’d saved from my youth, I realize that I misjudged him. And for that I’m really sorry. I remember one time he threw me a surprise birthday party. It wasn’t really my thing, but he made sure all of my classmates were there—”
As Ric regaled her with stories of his childhood, she felt the walls between them coming down. Beneath his cool, business exterior there was a really warm, passionate man. And she was utterly falling for him—falling for his deep soothing voice; falling for the gentle rumble of his laugh; falling for him.
“I really should get back to work,” Ric said.
That was her cue to release his hand even though it felt so natural to have his fingers laced with hers. And it was time to sit upright, instead of letting her shoulder lean into his. It was with great reluctance that she did those things. Once they were no longer touching, she missed the warmth of his touch—the coziness they’d shared.
She turned to him to say how much this time had meant to her at the same moment he turned to her. Their faces were so close. If she were just to lean forward ever so slightly, her lips would press to his. And what would be the problem with that? After all they’d shared this evening, a kiss was the perfect way to end it. Or would it just be the beginning?
Without thinking of the consequences, Gia leaned forward. Her lips pressed to his. He didn’t move at first, as though unsure what to do about this new situation. Gia was more than willing to show him what she had in mind.
He continued to sit perfectly still. Was he shocked by her actions? How was that possible? She was certain plenty of women had thrown themselves at him. Not that she was throwing herself at him.
She was—she thought for a moment—sampling him. Her lips moved over his smooth ones. Definitely sampling—like he was the finest, most decadent tiramisu dessert. And she loved desserts!
Then there was a groan—or was it a moan? Had the sound come from him? Or her? But then it didn’t matter because he’d reached out to her, stroking her cheek. He met her kiss for kiss. She was getting lost in the moment.
Why exactly had she waited all this time? Kissing Ric was something that should be done often—as in twice in the morning, at least three times at lunch and definitely all evening long.
His tongue touched her lips, seeking access. She opened herself up to him, anxious to take this to the next level. She couldn’t get enough of him. He was so addictive.
As his tongue probed and stroked her, a moan swelled in the back of her throat. No kiss had ever been quite like this one—
Buzz. Buzz.
No. No. No. Just ignore it. I
t’ll stop.
Not the kissing. Definitely not the kissing. She never wanted it to end. Apparently Ric felt the same way as he reached out and pulled her closer—her soft curves aligning with his hard planes. At some unknown point Gin had discreetly disappeared, leaving the couch all theirs. Mmm...
Buzz. Buzz.
It was Ric who pulled back. “You should get that. It might be important.”
“Me? Isn’t it your phone?”
They both reached for their phones on their respective end tables. Ric was right. It was her phone. And it was the contractor.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s work.”
Ric nodded in understanding. While she pressed the phone to her ear, Ric returned to his desk and started running his fingers over the keyboard once more.
Upon answering the phone, she heard shouting in the background. She dispensed with pleasantries. “What’s wrong?”
“We have a water leak in the kitchen,” the contractor said.
“The kitchen?” She didn’t even want to think of what the water would ruin. “I’ll be right there.” Once she ended the call, she looked at Ric. He was already absorbed in marrying his algorithm with her business’s website. “I’ve got to run out.”
“No problem. I’ll be here when you get back.”
Gia got to her feet. She couldn’t leave quite yet. She stepped up to the desk. Not sure what to say or how to say it. Still, she had to know where they stood. His fingers stopped typing, and his gaze lifted to meet hers.
Her heart pounded in her chest. “About what happened—”
“Don’t worry. We can talk about it later. Go deal with your problem.”
“You’re sure?” She felt weird kissing him one moment and running out the door the next.
“Positive. We’re good. Now go.”
So she did as he said. But she couldn’t help but wonder where it would have led them if they hadn’t been interrupted. Was Ric falling for her too?
CHAPTER TEN
THINGS WERE DEFINITELY coming along.
The walls were painted.
The counters were in.
The CEO, the Puppy and Me Page 9