"She really enjoyed being up there?" Andrew nodded up toward Golden Bluff.
"She did." I could hardly believe it myself. "There were signs, right? In those disaster relationships, there were signs things were going wrong."
Andrew tugged his beard. "Yeah, definite signs. Like your girlfriends selling interior photos of your place to architecture magazines. Or suggesting design changes as if they were ready to move in. And then there was that one woman who actually invited her friends up to dinner and then pretended she lived there."
"I'm not seeing any signs, Andrew," I said.
"What are you seeing?"
"What she sees. The best views in the world. The historic value of what my great-great-grandfather built. The people who support Golden Bluff and me." I stopped. What I saw through Riley's eyes was the life I actually wanted.
Andrew leaned his elbows back on the bar and stared at the high polish. Then he stood up abruptly and grabbed his beer.
"Here's to a great weekend with a great woman. Why worry about that other stuff?" He raised his glass and took a drink.
I answered with my own raised glass.
"What'd Lyla think of Riley?" he asked.
My neck stiffened immediately. "Lyla's in San Francisco."
"So? She was here when Riley arrived." Andrew raised an eyebrow.
I dropped my forehead on the edge of the bar. "It was horrible."
He snorted. "Worse than usual?"
"Yes, definitely worse." I sat up and described the run-in.
I finished, "Turns out, at the gala, Lyla offered her a large sum of money to leave me alone."
Andrew's forehead crinkled. "Lyla is why Riley ran off from the gala?"
"She was completely insulted."
My friend's beard broke open with a big smile. "I knew I liked Riley." Then the storm clouds gathered over his face. "Goddamn her all the way to hell! Not Riley, Lyla. What business is it of hers who you go out with?"
I waved my hands to calm him down. "Simmer down. Lyla's in San Francisco. She left before she could ruin the entire weekend. Riley and I got over it."
He was about to slice off a sharp retort when his jaw dropped. "Shit. Am I going to have to admit that Rosalyn knows what she's talking about?"
I turned around and leaned back, stunned. Riley emerged from the ladies room with style. I loved every inch of her relaxed wardrobe and the way it clung to her curves, but now I was floored.
Rosalyn had added a wide black belt that sat on the curve of Riley's waist where my hands itched to rest. Instead of her white t-shirt, she was now wearing a sleeveless linen shirt with tuxedo ruffles below a diving neckline. Riley's loose brown hair was brushed back and held with a thin, pearl-embellished headband. A thin gold necklace dotted with delicate gold circles teased the exposed flesh above her ripe cleavage.
"Oh, I'd watch out, darling," Rosalyn said. "Those two look like they've been talking about women."
"You've been talking about me?" Riley asked with a sharp smile.
"Or have you been going on and on about me, Mr. Wyatt?" Rosalyn asked Andrew. "He likes to complain about me, but we all know it's because he can't take his eyes off me."
The older woman blew Andrew a feisty kiss, then turned. She waved over her shoulder as she flounced out of The Sand Dollar.
"She's made my life hell since I didn't let her do the interior design here," Andrew explained through gritted teeth. Then he looked back at Riley. "But I have to admit she's got a good eye."
"You look amazing," I said.
Riley gave us a shy smile. "Thanks. You'd be surprised what she finds in thrift stores and at garage sales."
"Ah, you look like a million bucks under all those accessories," Ruiz said, appearing from the kitchen. He waggled his eyebrows at me. "Too bad no one around here deserves such riches."
"Ooh, what's that?" Riley hopped back on her stool and looked over the lunch tray Ruiz had brought.
"I heard you were driving back and thought you might need a quick snack first. Try the salami —it's first rate." Ruiz saluted and strode back to the kitchen. "Only the best for the best," he called and pointed directly at Riley with a wink.
"Cheers,” Andrew toasted. "Thank god Lyla didn't manage to run you off twice."
I froze. Riley glanced over at me. Andrew grabbed a piece of salami and suddenly had to fill an order at the far end of the bar.
"You told him about that?" Riley asked.
"He kind of guessed. You should have heard him. I think he was ready to march up to Golden Bluff and give Lyla a piece of his mind. You make a good impression on everyone."
"Except Lyla," she said.
I caught her hand and squeezed it.
Andrew saw my helpless look and came back to our end of the bar. "We've all been on the business end of one of Lyla's rants. Not fun."
"She doesn't know me," Riley said, “and it doesn’t seem like she wants to.”
I could feel her frustration, but Riley seemed determined to get past it without thinking poorly of Lyla. I appreciated her effort but didn't think Lyla deserved it.
"You don't know her, either," Andrew said. "Lyla Townsend's family had to watch their cousins succeed beyond anyone's wildest dreams. And the Michels are known for charity work, but they don't just give money away, so they didn't automatically dish out money to all their relatives. To be honest, I think Lyla's still adjusting to Landon's lifestyle."
"We have common ground there," Riley said.
Andrew laughed. "That's really sweet of you, but you have to understand that Lyla comes from a jealous and bitter branch of Landon's family tree."
"Well, that just accounts for her protecting Landon so fiercely. She doesn't want to lose what she's finally found." Riley savored another bite of salami and cheese from Ruiz’s tray and pointed to the fresh salad, bright with pansy flowers. "New topic. There's a dressing on this that I would never think to add. It's delicious."
"Ruiz makes it himself," Andrew said. "Some top secret super recipe. I bet if you stopped in the kitchen and flashed that pretty smile, he might be willing to share it with you."
"I suppose I shouldn't let Rosalyn's perfect outfit go to waste. She called it a fabulous flirtation." Riley grinned.
"I second that," I said. As she walked away, I admired every graceful inch of her.
When I turned back to my beer, Andrew was still there, arms crossed. "You gonna see Riley again?"
"What? Of course."
"Then you have to confront Lyla as soon as you see her. What she suggested to Riley was more than wrong. It was rude and insulting. Luckily, Riley had enough class to just walk away."
"Riley knows Lyla was just trying to protect me and it's a good point. Lyla had no idea who she was, none of us did."
Andrew snorted. "So now you're siding with Lyla's idea of having a full dossier and background check on every woman you look at?"
"No, I'm just saying that maybe I should cut Lyla a little slack. I mean, you brought it up. All that stuff about her family having to watch my family get stinking rich. That couldn't have been easy." I swiveled a few times on my barstool. "Maybe Lyla's in over her head. I hired her because she was such a shark in the business world, but maybe all this has got her wound up too tight."
"She's wound too tight, that's for sure," Andrew said, scowling. "Don't excuse her behavior. She's been getting worse and worse, and you were complaining about it even before Riley showed up."
"Is she really that bad?"
Andrew crossed his arms. "Remember that time you wanted to order Christmas trees from the local tree farm? She insisted on reading all their reviews, inspecting the business from the inside out, and then she accused the delivery guys of trying to take pictures of the inside of Golden Bluff."
"It was a big order and important because of the Christmas auction we were hosting that year." I tried to defend Lyla, but I was already exhausted by coming up with excuses. "She didn't want details leaked to the tabloids."
; "They were calculating the bill on their phones. She made them so damn nervous they couldn't do simple math," Andrew reminded me. "I had to give them shots of whiskey to calm them down afterward."
"That was just business."
Andrew groaned. "Fine. How about that time we found out my sister got her heart crushed? You wanted to send her massive amounts of flowers to make the man think he was nothing. Lyla saw the order and flipped out. She actually called my sister and accused her of using your sympathy to get what she wanted."
"A round of bad allergies from the flowers is all your sister got," I said, cringing.
"She loved it. She loved you for the effort, but Lyla couldn't even see that you were just trying to be nice. She then tried to dock the assistant gardener's pay in order to make up the difference in the budget," he said.
"All right, all right, I know. You don't think I see how Lyla oversteps her boundaries all the time? She tracked my phone to find me in my own house for fuck's sake," I said. "The only problem is I'm not ready to take over all the crap she handles, so I have to put up with her."
"You have to tell her what is and isn't her job," Andrew insisted. "Otherwise, she’s going to keep taking over all aspects of your life. And how do you think that's going to affect Riley?"
"Fine," I said. "I'll talk to Lyla and, in the meantime, I'll make sure she doesn't bother Riley anymore."
Chapter Twenty
Riley
Two weeks later, I watched Anna tearing around our small apartment. "Do you have the lantern?" I asked as she ran by.
She skidded on our threadbare rug and turned around. "Is it by the door? Oh god, if it's still in storage, we'll have to stop at the store."
I tucked my feet under me as she ran by and dove into her pile of equipment.
"Doesn't stopping by the big store defeat your idea of a non-consumerist camping weekend?" I asked.
She stuck out her tongue. "The lantern's right here. So I'll be getting back in touch with nature while you're —oh my god! He's already here!"
I leaped from the couch and fluttered my hands in panic. "Are you joking? He's an hour early."
Landon knocked on our apartment door and called through the thin barrier. "Should I come back in an hour?"
Anna yanked the door open and grinned. "No, but you're going to have to take us as we are."
"I can do that." Landon stepped over Anna's pile of camping gear and strode over to pick me up. He whirled me in a tight circle so we didn't kick over the coffee table, and still managed to give me a dizzying kiss. "Glad to see you."
"I'm glad to see you too." I couldn't stop smiling.
"Who's ready for the great outdoors?" a friend of Anna's crowed from the open door.
Five of her friends from school piled into our tight apartment. Three tripped over sleeping bags and stumbled toward us. Landon reached out an arm to save the first guy from falling onto our folded up dining room table.
"Hey, thanks, man. Whoa, wait. Do I recognize you?" the young man brushed back his shaggy hair and peered into Landon's face.
"Scott, this is Landon, Landon this is Scott. Come on and help me get this stuff out of the door. Love you, Ri, see you on Monday," Anna called.
Scott didn't move. "Landon? Landon Michel of the Michel Fund? Holy shit, man! You're that guy with the golden castle."
"Nice to meet you, Scott." Landon shook his hand with an easy smile.
"What are you doing crammed into grad school housing, man? No offense to Anna and Riley but this place is, like, a closet. You should come with us to the great wide outdoors," Scott said.
Anna pushed her other sardine-packed and shocked friends out of the way and grabbed Scott's collar. "Landon happens to love our closet. Now let's leave them in peace."
Her friends picked up all the camping gear and squeezed out the front door. Landon and I could still hear them outside on the steps, arguing over how to fit everything into Anna's car. We laughed even though my cheeks were burning red.
"This is why it feels weird when I invite you to my place," I said.
Landon turned and gathered me into his arms. "I didn't come to see your place." He kissed me and everything receded into the background.
* * * * *
Landon and I only saw each other on short, stolen days when we both fought hard to get away. I was busy with graduate school, and he was busy with everything. The more responsibility he took on at work, the farther he had to go on business trips. After our weekend together at my place, Landon had invited me back to Michel’s Beach.
I was nervous walking into The Sand Dollar. Every jittery nerve jumped over the two weeks since I had last seen Landon. He was leaving again on business in the morning and had begged to see me. Just the sound of his voice was enough to fill me with longing, so I instantly agreed to a romantic rendezvous. I was too embarrassed to invite him back to my shared apartment, so I had suggested we meet.
"You made it!" Landon surprised me in the parking lot.
I shrieked and threw my arms around his neck. The kiss tipped the whole world out of the way for a few minutes before my thoughts came back into order. "Why do you sound so surprised?"
Landon wrapped an arm around me and pointed me toward the outside staircase of The Sand Dollar. "Because the last time you drove a rental car on Highway 1, you had some trouble. I've been worrying all afternoon that your car broke down and you cruised into someone else's beach town."
"Jealous?" I grinned.
"Absolutely." He kissed me again. "So jealous that I asked Andrew to send some champagne upstairs. If it's all right with you, I don't want to share you with anyone tonight."
We ran up the back steps to the attic apartment and I sighed with pleasure as soon as I stepped inside. The whitewashed wood paneled walls, the creaking hardwood floor, the wispy curtains dancing with ocean breezes, and the breathtaking views were all just as I remembered.
Andrew had set an ice bucket and champagne on the small table by the balcony. A tray with silver covers and the scents of Ruiz's cooking made my mouth water.
"This apartment is a little corner of heaven," I said.
Landon smiled. "Andrew keeps talking about advertising it as a bed and breakfast, but I told him he couldn't. It's too special."
It was special. The little attic apartment made it into many of my daydreams. I wrapped an arm around Landon's waist and squeezed, just to assure myself he was really there.
"I'm sorry we only have one night," he said. "You deserve more than that."
"This is perfect," I whispered.
We forgot about the view, the food, the champagne, and tomorrow. There was only a tangle of lips, the urgent need to be as close as possible. Landon lit a fire in me that felt brighter than the flash of a lighthouse. We fell into bed together full of fourteen days’ worth of need.
Later, in between lazy, satiated sips of champagne, one nagging thought managed to bubble to the surface. Why hadn't Landon invited me to Golden Bluff? I imagined Lyla there, meticulously packing for the next day's business trip, and my heart felt tight in my chest. He was avoiding his cousin and his home because of me.
* * * * *
Sunrise in the whitewashed attic apartment above The Sand Dollar was such a dream I thought I was still asleep. Landon shifted in his sleep and his arm curled around my shoulders. He drew me close, sighed, and fell back into a deep slumber.
I watched his chest rise and fall and couldn’t resist tracing my fingers over his taut contours. It was always a surprise how underneath his business attire, Landon had a working man's body. He never talked about working out. He preferred to spend his time out doing chores on his estate, but his muscles were toned and hard, so he’d be able to work with his hands.
Those hands. A sensual thrill ran from the top of my head, down the length of my legs, and left a rising warmth between them. Landon's hands made me forget every worry, every self-conscious thought, and every doubt.
"Keep doing that and I'm going to be late for t
he helicopter," Landon murmured.
I ran another sweeping circle from his chest to the ridges of his belly, then swooped lower. He stretched like a jungle cat and buried his smile in my neck. Searing kisses let me know he was more than awake. Then he rolled over and wrapped his hand over the curve of my naked waist.
I rolled onto my back, too blazing with need to care about the bright sunlight. His thumb teased the small of my back and when I arched up, Landon's hot lips caught my nipple in a thirsty kiss. I dug my fingernails into the solid strength of his shoulders and tugged him over me.
Together we paused, savoring the connection before the press and pull of our urgent bodies took over. I felt his full length pressed firmly against me as he teased. I wrapped my legs around his, pulling him close, wanting him, needing him.
He leaned in, kissing me hard on my mouth, our tongues dancing together and our bodies grinding, hot skin on hot skin.
In one, effortless movement, he raised his hips and then entered me, sending electricity through my body. Our legs, still intertwined, our bodies moving in rhythm like a perfectly choreographed dance.
Our passion crested like the crashing waves outside the open window and when I cried out, he caught my lips in a long, shuddering kiss.
"I'm going to miss you," Landon murmured against my lips.
I kept him close, not ready to part. I wanted more from him even as I held back parts of myself. I didn't know where this growing passion was going to take us, but I wanted it no matter what.
* * * * *
The warm wave tumbled Landon but he came up laughing. "I'm just no good at this." He waded through the receding water and caught me around the waist. "It's no fair because you look so good out there."
I hitched up on my tiptoes in the wet sand and gave him a smiling kiss. "You're so tall, your center of gravity is higher than mine. Are you sorry we came?"
"To Hawaii? Are you kidding?" Landon grinned and my heart skipped a few fast beats.
Anna had helped me find the dirt-cheap airfare. She had pointed out that Grandpa had always supported the idea of me traveling, but I couldn’t bring myself to use any more of my precious inheritance. It had taken three extra shifts to afford it and two sleepless nights to get my classwork done, but now that I was on the beach in Waikiki with Landon, it was all worth it.
Torn_An Alpha Billionaire Romance Page 45