by Desiree Holt
Yeah, right, Bailey. Fool yourself much?
So there she’d be, alone in the romantic villa with the man she’d cut out of her life without ever telling him why, knowing she was still as much in love with him as she’d ever been. And he wasn’t going to stop pushing her until he had answers.
Oh, god. What did I let myself in for?
Chapter Four
“Bailey?”
Bailey turned to Neil Rothbart seated to her left. “Yes, Neil?”
“Nothing, really. You just looked like you were deep in thought.” He studied her with keen eyes. “Everything okay? Any problems at the firm I should know about?”
“No.” She shook her head. “None at all. In fact, everything’s great.”
“We were pleased to see you’d snagged Hyerdahl Industries as a client.” Neil’s voice broke into her mental conversation with herself. “That’s a big one.”
She certainly knew that. She’d worked for a year to get Evan Hyerdahl to agree to switch to Blake, Rothbart and Padilla as his corporate counsel. She’d spent a lot of hours on his boat when he came to Naples, chatting with him and members of his board. She knew they figured in every major decision he made, so it was worth the investment of time. She also was aware he’d checked with two other conglomerates she handled and had done an intense study of the firm itself. That was okay. A man didn’t grow a billion dollar enterprise without crossing every T and dotting every I.
“I’m rather excited about it myself,” she told Neil. “It took me a long time to reel him in, but it was time well spent. I got an inside look at the man, his board, and his company. I feel even more confident, now, that I can handle whatever he needs.”
“I was telling Blake the other day what a stroke of luck it was meeting you when you were here visiting that time.”
“For me, too,” she assured him. “So thank you for making me a part of the firm.”
“I should be thanking you,” he told her. “You never know when I might find just the way to do that.”
Bailey let it ride, not feeling the need to comment. Maybe they’d up her compensation package. Whatever. She made a damn good living, and she loved being part of the firm.
Trying not to be obvious about it, she glanced at her watch for what was probably the hundredth time since they’d sat down to dinner.
“Hot date?” Neil asked.
Her cheeks heated, and she was afraid she was blushing. Damn. At her age and in front of one of her bosses.
“Nothing that can’t wait.”
Liar!
“I’d say we’re about done here anyway.” He looked around the small room where they’d had their private dinner. “My guess is everyone’s planning to hit the bar and relax.”
“Probably.” She grinned at him. “As long as they don’t show up for the morning session half in the bag.”
“I think we can ride herd on them enough so that doesn’t happen.” Neil winked, pushed his chair away from the table, and rose. “If I can have everyone’s attention for a moment? I think we’re about done here. Blake, Evan, and I want to invite any of you who are interested to join us in the bar here. Drinks on the firm for tonight. But before we leave, I think we owe a round of applause to Bailey George for arranging this retreat. This dinner was a great kickoff.”
Bailey gave a tiny nod. “I hope you all think so after I’ve worked your brains to death this weekend.”
Laughter skittered over the crowd. Then people began drifting out of the room toward the lobby.
“You coming?” Neil asked.
“In a little bit. I have something personal I have to take care of first.”
“I hope it’s nothing bad. You know we’re a family, Bailey. If you ever need help, you can come to us.”
“I appreciate that.” And she did. “And I promise if that ever became necessary, that’s exactly what I’ll do. Count on it. But no, nothing drastic.”
Neil studied her face for a moment then nodded. “Okay, then. See you after a while.” He paused. “If you’re sure there’s no problem.”
“Positive.”
Unless she counted the thought of six feet of pure masculine sex who would be coming to her villa in a very short while. She alternated between eager anticipation and wondering if she’d made a huge mistake. How could she tell him about all the years since they’d been together without letting something slip about Michael? She was liable to end up with both of them hating her if she wasn’t careful.
She could still call it off. All she had to do was text him she’d changed her mind. Of course, knowing Zack, that would just mean he’d be pounding at her door, wanting to know why and insisting they talk. Worse yet, she had a feeling if Zack had his way, talking was the least of what they’d do.
She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss. It zapped through her, touching every part of her body inside and out and bringing back memories she’d tried to bury all these years. She’d needed every bit of discipline to keep from touching her fingers to her lips throughout dinner. Damn. She was in a world of trouble.
Swallowing a sigh, Bailey hunted up someone from the event staff to tell them the dinner had been great and check again on the arrangements for the morning. She’d decided to contain everyone during the day, so meals would be served buffet style in the room they’d be using. At last, when she couldn’t put it off any longer, she texted Zack.
Twenty minutes. My villa. The last one on the pathway.
Did that sound too much like she was giving orders? Too late now. She hurried along the pathway from the main building to the exquisite villa Lacey had put her up in. For whatever reason, she wanted to shower before Zack got there. Take off her public lawyer personality and put on the comfy jeans and T-shirt she’d brought with her for alone times. That way, she would be just plain Bailey George, not Bailey George, Doctor of Law.
Back at the villa, she showered, scrubbed off all her makeup, and spritzed a little cologne on her pulse points. She was going to give him just plain Bailey tonight. No frills, no war paint. This wasn’t a seduction, after all. Was it? Okay, then why had she invited him to the villa, where the two of them would be alone? She could tell herself all she wanted to that she preferred not to have a conversation with him in the middle of a crowd, but was that the real reason?
It’s dangerous being alone with him like this.
No. I’m a grown woman. I can handle this.
Yeah, right.
Sighing, she finished brushing out her hair. She had just pulled it back into a ponytail when the doorbell chimed. Bailey hauled in a breath and let it out slowly.
Okay. Here goes nothing.
When she opened the door and saw Zack standing there, the outdoor light shining on him, the blue shirt he now wore the exact color of his eyes, for a moment, she simply could not breathe. Her pulse ratcheted up so much she was sure she could hear it pounding in her head. She was afraid she’d actually lick her lips.
Big mistake, Bailey. The last thing you need is to be alone with him.
“Okay if I come in?” he teased.
“Oh. Of course. Yes.” Idiot.
She opened the door wider and stepped back to let him inside. He stopped right in front of her and dipped his head, inhaling.
“Still wearing the same scent of jasmine that always knocked me out.”
“I can’t believe you remember it after all this time.”
He cupped her chin and tilted her face up so he could look directly into her eyes.
“There’s not a damn thing I’ve forgotten about you, Bailey. Not one single thing.” He dropped his hand and looked around the living room. “Quite a place, this resort. Must have cost them a bundle to build.”
“I think they have investors. Lacey Walker, who owns the resort with her husband Clay, already owned some of the land. The house she had on it was destroyed by a hurricane, and they moved on from there.”
“They’ve done a great job.” He stood for a moment, watching h
er with that intense gaze of his.
Okay, now what, Bailey?
“Would you like a drink? Or something?”
“I’d rather have the ‘or something,’ but, sure, a drink would be great. Maybe some wine?”
“Of course.”
Now, why had she done that? She needed to have a clear head for this. No, she needed to calm her nerves a lot better. There was a fully stocked wine cooler Bailey had discovered earlier. She pulled a bottle of white from its holder and found a corkscrew in one of the kitchen drawers.
“I’ll do that.” The deep voice reverberated through her, and Zack’s warm hand nearly singed her skin as it closed over hers.
“Okay.” She jerked her hand away, electrified by just that little bit of contact. And, of course, the memory of the kiss hopped out front and center.
She found wine glasses in the cupboards, and Zack filled each of them. Then he touched his to hers.
“To an interesting evening.” He took a long swallow.
Bailey stared at him. “What does that mean exactly?”
“It means I hope we’re going to learn a lot about what we’ve both been doing for the past—how long is it?—oh, yeah, twenty-four years.”
Bailey sipped her wine, although she really wanted to slug it down. “Want to sit out by the pool? It’s really nice out there. Besides, what’s the sense of having your own private pool if you don’t at least sit by it?” And there were no couches.
“Sure. Lead the way.”
They ended up sitting at the umbrella table, but so close their knees were touching. Zack stared at her, as if waiting for her to start the conversation.
“So, in the beginning, was Alaska all you thought it would be?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t we already discuss that?”
“You mean on the beach? Sort of. But I want to know if you were glad you took Nate’s offer.”
He shrugged. “In the beginning, and for a long time after that.”
“Tell me about it.” That was pretty safe territory. Right? “You didn’t give me many details before.”
He swallowed some of his wine then sat back in his chair. As she listened to him describe the three-plane flying service Nate had bought with just one pilot besides himself, she could hear the excitement in his voice. The moment Zack arrived, Nate handed him a big book with all the maps and previous flight plans, told him to study it, then stuck him in a plane and said, “Go.” There was no missing the energy that crackled from him as he talked about what he did. And as she listened, she was more convinced than ever she’d done the right thing.
“I’d have to say, there’s scarcely a place in Alaska I haven’t flown,” he told her. “But that’s not what I—”
“And are you happy in Atlanta? Are you doing well there?”
“Yes.” He frowned. “Why are you—”
“So we both have been successful,” she interrupted, not sure if she was ready—or ever would be—to discuss their last days together and her silence since then.
“Okay, if you want to play twenty questions, was law school everything you thought it would be? I’ll bet you aced every class.”
She shrugged. “I did well. I guess because I loved what I was studying.”
“I hope you didn’t lock yourself up with your books until graduation. All work and no play…you know what that does.”
“I was fine. I had a life outside of law school.” With Michael.
“And you ended up down here?” He studied her face carefully. “I’m surprised you didn’t want something in North Carolina, where your folks are. Were you seeing someone living here?”
She did her best to make her laugh sound light and offhand.
“A friend, but not male. This was a lucky break for me, getting the offer to join this firm in Naples. It was too good an offer to pass up. Like I told you on the beach, I was visiting my friend, spending some downtime before lining up interviews. I went to a dinner party with her and her family and met Warren Blake. He said they were looking for new young blood and invited me to his office to interview. I guess it’s true what they say about being in the right place at the right time.”
He studied her face, staring as if he could see inside her. “Are you happy here? What do you do with your life when you aren’t practicing law? Surely that doesn’t take up your time twenty-four seven.”
She waved a hand in a nonchalant gesture. What to tell him? She sure couldn’t share any details of her personal life with him.
“You know what they say. A good lawyer is married to his or her practice. And almost everything I do impacts on my practice one way or another.” She sipped some wine, determined to redirect the conversation. “Anyway, I’m glad Alaska worked out for you just the way you wanted it to. And that success followed you to Atlanta.”
Okay! Could I sound any more fake?
His gaze on her was so intent she thought he could see right through her.
“Forget about that for right now. I’d rather you tell me why the hell you never took my phone calls. Why you changed your cell number. Why you never answered my letters. What the hell, Bailey? We were a lot more than fuck buddies who lived together.”
Okay, then. We’re right into it.
“Fuck buddies? What a romantic way of putting it.”
“Well, what do you expect when you didn’t take it seriously enough to tell me something this enormously important?”
She had to remember this was the hurt talking.
“I was thinking of you.” She twisted the wine glass. “You had this wonderful opportunity to do the thing you loved more than anything in the world, and I knew you had to focus on just that. A wife would have been a distraction to you.”
“A wife would have been wonderful to come home to after every flight. Especially if that wife was you. And who said I loved it more than anything in the world? More than you?”
Bailey distracted herself with another sip of wine and tried to deflect the conversation. “Are you telling me that, in all these years, you never met someone else you wanted to marry? Not one single person?”
He leaned forward. “I told you that on the beach. You were it for me, Bailey. No one else ever came close. You have no idea how insane I was when I couldn’t get in touch with you. Especially when I couldn’t even pry anything out of your mother.”
Bailey had had to do a lot of maneuvering back then, especially after Michael was born. Changing her cell phone number, returning Zack’s letters unopened, getting her parents to tell him when he called their number that she had taken an extended trip and couldn’t be reached—all painful but necessary. She lost count of the number of nights she cried herself to sleep, consoling herself with the thought that she’d done the right thing for Zack. That if he had to give up his dream, it would always be between them. Her parents did what she asked, despite the number of times they tried to convince her how wrong it was.
After a while, the pain subsided to a dull ache, one that had never left her even in all this time. But when Michael was born, he soothed that ache, and so did graduating from law school with honors.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I really did think it was for the best.”
“For who?” he challenged.
“For you. And maybe, after all, for me. Look. You’ve been living your dream in Alaska. I ended up with this great law firm in Naples. That’s about as far from Alaska as you can get. It never would have worked logistically.”
“Excuses, Bailey.” His voice was harsh. “Nothing but excuses. We could have worked it out.”
She shook her head. “I just wanted you to have that chance. Flying meant everything to you.”
Zack’s hand tightened so hard around the wine glass, Bailey was afraid he’d break it.
“You meant everything to me, Bailey. You were my world. Flying was my passion that I wanted to share with you because you were my heart.” He studied her face, his eyes like twin lasers burning into her. “
Nothing was as good without you.”
Bailey felt sick. She had been so sure he would find someone else, some woman who would fit into his life in Alaska better than she would. Had she miscalculated so badly? Made the worst mistake of her life? But she’d been twenty years old and had thought she was making the right decision. For Zack. Had it been the right one for Michael? Her son had finally stopped asking who his father was and why she’d never told his father about him, but she wasn’t fooled. One of these days, he’d start digging around. He was a bright guy and could find his way through the Internet.
Lordy!
She was smart enough to graduate twice with honors and become a junior partner in a prestigious law firm. How had she been so stupid and made such a mess of her personal life? Had she really thought she’d never, ever see Zack Elliott again?
“Bailey?” Zack’s voice broke into her mental agony. “Are you okay? You got a strange look on your face all of a sudden.”
“No. No, I’m fine.” She hoped her smile didn’t look as fake as it felt. She lifted her wine glass and took a quick sip. More than a sip.
“I sure wish I’d had the chance to share Alaska with you,” he went on. “It was a great adventure, that’s for sure. And I got to do all the flying I wanted. But it would have been a lot better if you’d been with me.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. Did he just feel that way in retrospect, or had he felt it all along?
He took both her hands in his. “Tell me the truth, Bailey. Was I not enough for you? Was that it?”
“Oh, Zack, no.” Her heart cracked a little. “Don’t ever think that.”
“Let’s find out if the magic is still there. That one kiss, well…”
Holding her hands, he rose, tugged her from the chair, and pulled her in close to his body. She was helpless to resist. The kiss, unlike the earlier one, began soft and sweet, just a touch of lips at first. His mouth was so warm and delicious, just the way she remembered. But heat flashed through every vein at the contact. Something familiar fired low in her belly.
And just like that, the magic slammed back, enveloping them. Despite the span of years, it had never diminished. If anything, the separation had only made it more powerful. What on earth had ever made her believe she’d gotten him out of her system?