Marcus sighed. “I do have other legal matters to oversee for your company.”
“That’s why I pay you an exorbitant salary.”
“That does take some of the sting out of working with you,” Marcus said more cheerfully. “I’ll be in touch.”
Blake hung up the phone, his thoughts zinging in a million directions.
He strode across the suite to the door. He finally had a tiny insight into what drove Felicity, and with that knowledge, he knew he held the card that could win the battle between them.
Feeling more enthusiastic than he had in a long while, Blake hurried down the hallway and, taking the steps to the outside two at a time, went back to the kitchen in search of Felicity.
“Felicity?”
Blake’s voice, so rich and welcoming, curled around her as he walked toward her in the glow of the tiki lights that surrounded the patio outside the kitchen. She’d set one of the unused staff tables with linens, silverware, and goblets from the kitchen, showcasing two plates of Hawaiian BBQ short ribs that Haku had prepared.
If the fall-off-the-bone ribs were an indicator, the Hawaiian chef was an expert when it came to meat. He’d slow cooked the ribs in a variety of sauces for the past six hours. When she’d taken a small taste in the kitchen, the meat had melted in her mouth and sent her taste buds soaring.
She motioned to Blake to sit down. “Haku showed me how he makes his Hawaiian barbecue.”
Blake sat in the chair opposite her. “He must really like you. He’s never shared that recipe with me. He says it’s what will keep him employed, and he’s right. People come from all over the island to eat here.” Blake studied her from over the rim of his water glass.
“I can understand why.” Something hot and dry curled in Felicity’s throat. His eyes were like pools of promise, beckoning, calling to her to trust him.
She couldn’t. He had the power to break her. With trembling fingertips, she reached for her food. They ate in silence, listening to the breeze as it rustled through the palms overhead. All around them, slow-moving shadows danced in the pale light of the torches. A rounded moon hung high in the sky, a circle of the purest gold, a moon that seemed as much a fairy tale as the rest of the day had been.
When he had finished eating, Blake sat back in his chair and studied her once more.
“Why are you and Destiny so at odds?”
The words came unexpectedly, jarring Felicity to sit up straighter. “What made you think of Destiny at a time like this?” They were sitting in paradise, isolated, alone, and his thoughts had gone there?
He shrugged, but the intensity of his look was anything but casual. “She came to see me before we left. She seems very intent on ruining you. Why?”
Felicity’s stomach lurched at the thought of Destiny and Blake together. Felicity knew the reporter would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. “We used to be friends, but something changed between us two weeks ago. I’ve gone over and over that time in my mind. I can’t figure out what might have happened. She’s been attacking me ever since; first with a terrible review of the Dolce Vita, then by trying to partner with you.” Her eyes went wide. “You’re not going to, are you?”
He frowned. “I don’t want to take you down, Felicity, nor would my family appreciate the negative attention on our hotels. I just want what should’ve been mine in the first place.”
Not for the first time did she have a pang of guilt over that very fact. The Bancroft should be his, but Vern must have had his reasons. If only she knew what those reasons were, this would be so much easier. “Damn you, Vern,” she said, then was startled when she realized she’d said it aloud.
“He was a cunning old fox, wasn’t he?”
“He was only ever very sweet to me, never manipulative.”
Blake’s eyes narrowed. “My uncle was sweet? Impossible. And he was always manipulative with me.”
Felicity groaned. “I feel as though I’m missing something. Some deeper meaning in that message he left me along with the will. Take care of the Bancroft, Felicity. You’ll know what to do. Well, I don’t. I have absolutely no idea. And there’s that unfinished note for you. I wish I could figure out what it all meant.” Felicity stood, no longer able to contain herself to the chair, pacing restlessly across the terrace.
Blake pushed his chair away from the table, watching her as she moved back and forth. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “I was never able to predict what my uncle would do.”
“What is there to be gained from us being at odds with each other?”
Blake snorted. “I didn’t know him well enough to even guess at a reason.”
She kept pacing back and forth as the minutes ticked past.
He sighed. “You know pacing isn’t going to solve our problem.”
“Yes, I know. But I can’t get my mind off why Vern did this. I mean,” she went on, one arm sweeping wide as she turned, “why did he go to such lengths to see that you and I would battle it out over the hotel? Why not just leave me the restaurant and you the hotel?”
He rose and caught her in his arms as she passed near and pulled her against him.
Her entire body responded with a wave of heat that sent her pulse racing. She braced herself against the sensation.
“I might be persuaded to accept that, Felicity.” His deep voice saying her name in the darkness made her senses jolt almost as much as the odd way he was looking at her. She forced herself to return his steady gaze. As they stared at each other, the breeze evaporated, leaving in its place an oppressive, warm silence. The only sound was the soft mingling of their breath in the motionless air. Felicity kept her flash of temper in check. That didn’t solve the problem of keeping her people employed. “Until I understand why Vern did what he did, or until you can convince me otherwise, the Bancroft remains in my care.”
A headache banged to life behind Felicity’s eyes. She stepped back out of Blake’s arms and moved to the railing. She leaned against the barrier, grateful the night breeze had picked up once more. Tipping her head back, she allowed the breeze to caress her face. She closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation when she felt Blake’s gaze on her body like a tangible presence. Almost a touch. Slowly she turned toward him. Their eyes met, held. The warmth in his look sent a shiver skittering along her flesh. The silk of her blouse seemed somehow thinner, the night colder than it had a moment ago.
“Why do you have to fight me for the hotel? You have so many already, and I only have the one,” Felicity asked with a tired sigh.
He leaned back on his heels and studied her. “Life isn’t about fairness.”
Her head throbbed and her temper snapped. “Don’t tell me what life is about. While you’ve been living in posh hotel rooms with enough money to do as you please, even fly to Hawai‘i on a whim, I’ve been living a real life with bills and responsibilities and lots and lots of worries.”
She latched on to her anger. Anger she understood far better than longing or desire. Anger had always spurred her forward in her life, challenging her to push beyond her abilities, to become more. Anger had helped her pick up the pieces of her life after her mother died and the father she’d always known had failed to come back to her.
Like a fire starting with a single flame, her anger took hold and built into a raging inferno. “You can’t tell me you’ve ever known what it was like to go hungry, or to shiver in the darkness because the power had been shut off. Or that you’d been so lonely that you wondered if another person in the entire world even cared if you were still alive.”
She turned back to look at him, and he trapped her with his gaze. “You’re right. I’ll never know those things, and I hope to God other children in this world will never have to know that kind of pain.”
She blinked, her tirade momentarily derailed.
He moved slowly toward her, holding her gaze, and gently took her arm. “What do you expect me to do? I can’t fix all the problems of the world. Even I don’t have enough money for
that.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her angry suddenly spent. “That was uncalled for.”
“Don’t be. You have a right to your beliefs, as I do mine. That’s why I put my efforts into the environment. At least there’s a tangible quality to the difference I’m making. I can test the air quality and know it’s improved on some level for every person on the planet.”
She frowned, letting him turn her and guide her back toward their table. “Helping one child out of poverty can make just as significant a change.” Her voice vibrated with emotion.
Silence wrapped around them. The world shrunk to just the two of them, standing face to face in a tropical paradise.
“Let’s not fight about the hotel tonight,” he said, breaking the silence as his hand came out, stretched toward her.
She stared at the flat, pale circle of his palm. Unbidden, a wave of longing washed over her. How good would it feel to place her hand in his, to let his fingers thread through her own, to feel like she wasn’t always so alone?
Felicity looked up at him from under her long eyelashes. Blake’s heart hammered at the vulnerability he saw in her eyes. A vulnerability that touched him on a level he didn’t want to think about. He wanted to wipe away the pain he saw in her eyes, wipe away her horrible memories. And along with that need to protect her came an even stronger urge to hold her to him, to revel in her scent, her softness, her warmth.
He hadn’t felt like this in so long. No, he corrected himself, he’d never felt this way about a woman before. This wasn’t just lust, like he’d tried to convince himself when they were in Seattle. He felt a bond with her. It was like they were two parts that made up a whole. Which was ridiculous. It had to be. He didn’t believe in such things, did he? At least he hadn’t before he’d met her.
She made him want to believe. Made him long for things he’d forced out of his life so many years ago to keep moving forward. What would it be like to wake up next to someone he actually cared about in the morning, to feel her warmth cocooned next to him, his hand on her flesh, hers in his hair?
He hadn’t allowed himself to think of such things while he climbed his way to the top of his uncle’s empire—an empire that had started with his grandfather. Because Vernon hadn’t married or had children, the Bancroft legacy would have passed to his much-younger brother, Blake’s father, had he lived. And Blake was there now, at the top. He could conquer just about anyone and anything . . . except Felicity. Was that what drew him to her? The fact that she was a challenge he had yet to master? Or was there something more?
Something was different between them tonight—something had changed since their time in Seattle. The sadness in her eyes had seemed to ease since they’d arrived on the island. Was it the distance from all her responsibilities that had finally allowed that to ease? Or did it have anything to do with him? He studied her as his heartbeat thrummed in his chest, the beat slowing then speeding up.
Beneath the silvery glow of the moon, her beauty struck him anew. He’d thought her somewhat plain upon their first meeting. How wrong he’d been. A breeze swept across the terrace and ruffled through her loose hair. Strands fluttered across her face. She eased the renegade strands away from her nose and mouth and tucked them behind her ear.
The innocent motion captured his focus. He took a moment to savor the look of her right now—carefree and beautiful. A gift he wanted most desperately to unwrap, to indulge himself in over and over again.
He’d offered her himself, and she had refused. She wanted more than just a sexual partner. What was it she craved? Love? Did that emotion even exist? Closing his eyes against the unfounded agony in his heart, he stepped back, away from her and the odd pull she held over him this evening.
He shook off the unwelcome thoughts. “Come on. Let’s clear the table and return the dishes to the kitchen, then I’ll walk you back to the suite.”
After they returned to the suite, Blake led Felicity into the lush bedroom with a king-size bed covered in a green tropical print. He shifted his gaze away from the bed and back to Felicity who stood before him as still as a statue.
To his surprise, she lifted her hand and ran her fingers down his jaw. The warmth of her touch sent chills through him. He knew in that moment that she wanted him to kiss her, and he knew what it cost him to hold himself back.
He simply reached up and ran the pad of his thumb over her lips. She barely bit back a moan. He shifted closer. She smelled so good, like a single rose in a bouquet of exotic flowers.
The air between them was rife with tension, with mutual desire and need. The force of it stole his breath and sent his heart thudding in his chest. And just when he thought he wasn’t strong enough to walk away, he pulled back.
He wanted her with a need that defied reason, and yet, he knew that if they were ever to be together in that way, she had to be the one to initiate it. If she wanted to kiss him, she would have to bring her lips to his.
“Good night, Felicity,” he said as he turned toward the door. It was the first time he’d ever denied himself something he wanted.
Outside the room, he closed the door, then leaned back against the wood, fighting the raging need inside him. It was raw and vicious, and it made him ache for things he had so rarely had in his life.
He had to put her out of his thoughts, or he would never be able to sleep.
But even as he stood there, the loneliness of his life settled around him. What was he fighting Felicity for—supreme dominance in his field? Or were there other things worth fighting for—like people, relationships, love?
With a groan he pushed away from the door. There was that word again. Love. A useless word that made people do stupid things.
He had a hotel to win away from her. That’s what he needed to focus on. She was the only thing standing between him and success.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Blake got up early, and while Felicity slept, he headed for a meeting with the managers of his hotels on the island. He’d sent word to them last night to meet him in the boardroom of the Mano Kea Hotel. He was the first to arrive and helped himself to a cup of coffee Haku had supplied, along with a light breakfast of exotic fruits and macadamia nut scones. He was about to reach for a scone when a ruckus sounded at the door. He turned to see, not his managers, but a member of his security team.
“Pardon the intrusion, sir,” Patrick, one of his security guards said. Patrick shoved a young man with a shaved head and dark, assessing eyes into a chair near the doorway. He kept one hand clamped on the man’s shoulder while he held a camera with a large telescopic lens out to Blake. “I thought you’d like to know I found this young man trying to climb the side of the building near the balcony of your suite. This camera was around his neck.”
Blake accepted the camera, flicked it on, then reviewed the digital photographs on the memory card. Images of Felicity and himself since their arrival in Hawai‘i played across the screen. “You’ve been following us. Why?”
The young man eyed him rebelliously. “It’s a free country.”
“And the rules of this great country you speak of still apply. I can charge you with trespassing on private property, attempting to break and enter, not to mention stalking.” Blake returned his hard stare. “And unfortunately for you, the police chief of the island is a friend of mine.”
His features hardened. “You don’t scare me.”
“Oh, you’ll be scared when I’m done with you, if you don’t start talking,” Blake said in an ominous tone.
The photographer glared at him. “You rich guys are all the same. You think you can buy anything you want with money.”
“There’s more to me than money,” Blake said, pushing back his sleeves to reveal his muscular forearms. He knew it was a scare tactic, but it had worked for him at boarding school several times when threatened. “Now start talking.”
Sudden fear replaced the rebelliousness in the photographer’s eyes. “I was just doing what I was told.”
“Which was?” Blake questioned.
“To take pictures of you and your lady friend in . . .” he hesitated.
Patrick tightened his grip on the young man’s shoulder. “Go on.”
“In compromising situations,” he said in a pain-filled rush.
“Who’s paying you?” Blake asked.
“I don’t know her name.”
“Describe her,” Blake demanded, turning the camera over and removing the memory card.
“Twenty-something. Red hair. Nice looking.”
Destiny. Was she still trying to find a way to discredit Felicity? Blake removed, then palmed the memory card and handed the camera back to the young man. “Patrick here is going to escort you to the airport. You’re going to get on the next plane out and never come back here again. Do you hear me?”
He clutched the camera to his chest and nodded.
“And when you make your way back to Destiny, please give her a message from me.”
“What’s that?”
Blake tossed the memory card to the floor then stomped on it, shattering the plastic into a hundred pieces. He scooped up a few of the chunks and sprinkled them into the young man’s hand. “Tell her my answer is still no.”
When Blake turned away, Patrick lifted the man to his feet and ushered him out the door.
Blake had no time for reflection or anything else as his five managers he’d invited to meet with him entered the room. Refocusing his thoughts, he greeted them individually and asked them to help themselves to breakfast, so they could start the meeting. While he truly was looking forward to hearing their updates on each of the hotels, he was far more interested in the woman whose image had been displayed on the camera’s small screen.
Damn you, Destiny, Blake lamented once more, before giving himself over to the business at hand.
Felicity had woken up at the sound of the door to their suite closing. She slipped out of bed, then smiled. It was still early enough that perhaps if she headed down to the hotel’s kitchen, she could ask Haku if she could prepare a surprise light breakfast for her and Blake. On the way to the kitchen, she heard Blake’s voice and followed the sound to a boardroom at the back of the hotel. She peered into the room to see Blake and two other men talking.
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