Secret Attractions at the Office: A Dirty Office Romance (Working Desires Book 2)

by Hazel Keys

  “No. I squared everything with him,” explained Mick.

  “You… You didn’t buy her, did you?” George ventured nervously, making the obvious misunderstanding. I snorted a laugh.

  “Of course not!” Mick cried. George looked relieved. “But I now owe Jay my Senna Edition Ducati. Was totally worth it, though.”

  I shook my head at the Englishman’s nerve, then turned back to George. “I have to tell you what happened with Valentina last night. It seems Mia managed to talk her into…”

  “It’s okay, Seth. Valentina told me,” he said calmly. “She only told me to hurt me, but it came as no surprise to find out she wasn’t actually attracted to me. I’m not an idiot.”

  “I didn’t try anything with her. I may have been a little slow to stop her, but…”

  “It doesn’t matter.” George gave me a smile and a hand on my shoulder. “So, where are you and Mia now?”

  Antonia and Jessica returned and, pausing out of politeness for Michelle or Suzy to serve, I told them about my feelings for Tara, Mia’s frustration, and that we’d been discovered together.

  “That’s why we haven’t seen Tara this morning?” asked Jessica.

  “Wow. It’s so romantic, so passionate,” mused Antonia, dreamily.

  “Yeah, but she’s going to lose her job and no one will let me down to see her,” I complained.

  “Poor, poor Seth,” came Mia’s malevolent tones from behind me. I whirled around to see her looking classically stunning. Big shades, big red sunhat and a red two-piece under a sheer wrap. Leaning on her arm was Valentina, dressed in her usual denim short-shorts and white crop-top. “Of course, she’s not your problem anymore, darling. She’s fired from this boat and, by this afternoon, she’ll struggle to get a job crewing the ferry that runs the ten-minute crossing between Malta and Gozo.”

  I knew she was going to do this. I felt my fists clench, my teeth grind, and I struggled to control my breathing. “Why do you have to do that?” I managed to seethe quietly.

  “Because I can,” Mia was yelling now, “and I want you to feel some of the pain and helplessness that I’ve endured these past few days, throwing myself at you and being rejected over and over.”

  The other guests shifted uncomfortably.

  “I think I’d better go,” I told her, trying to end this encounter.

  “I’m not even half done with you yet,” she screamed. Valentina stared at me viciously. I slowly stood and approached them, keeping myself under control, just. Everyone held their breath.

  “Whatever you’re planning to do to me, Mia,” I said evenly as I walked toward them, “there is, at least, no way you can force me to stand around and watch you do it.” I walked past them to the stairs, leaving them far behind.

  *****

  Thankfully, from my point of view, there was only another hour or so before Venus returned to Aruba and the charter was over. I stayed in my cabin and thought about Tara. It’s the craziest thing, I said to myself, this vacation was a chance for a break, to see if Mia and I had a thing worth pursuing. I know it’s all good on paper; a merger between the Radisson estate and the Wong family fortune. But I don’t want to get married because it makes good business sense. That’s what my father would do. Still, I never expected to meet her. I never imagined someone so beautiful, so mysterious, so right for me. I must find Tara.

  As soon as the yacht was in dock I heard Mia and Valentina disembark, ordering poor Troy, the third deckhand, around and not wanting to wait for the official farewell from the crew. I gathered my things, let the deckhands take my cases off, and went up. I hung around the entrance to the galley and the crew quarters until the others started complaining, just hoping I might catch her, or catch a glimpse of her.

  Eventually, though, I was back on the aft deck. The crew was lined up in their whites once again to see us off. The last to leave, I shook hands with each crew member. Michelle and Suzy, the other two stewards, both gave me a quick kiss goodbye. Sofia wasn’t present. She was probably a little uncomfortable, to say the least, so I said nothing.

  “Well, what can I say?” said Captain Samson, as he shook my hand heartily. “Thank you for giving us a very… interesting charter.”

  “I hope it wasn’t too terrible, Captain.” I smiled, pressing the thick envelope into his hand. “I know I caused some problems. Hopefully, this will help you weather the storm.”

  “That’s very generous, thank you. Please come back and see us again.”

  “I would love to. Please, though, is there any way I could talk to Tara, or get a message to her?” I implored. This felt like the last chance.

  “I’m sorry, sir, Tara left the boat as soon as we docked, even before your lady, I mean, ex-lady friend.” The captain shrugged.

  Man, I thought, she wasn’t kidding about having to find her. I nodded gratefully to him and trudged off. I followed the others down the jetty to the waiting stretched Hummer and ducked inside. Before closing the door, I allowed myself one last look at the magnificent Venus, gleaming white against the clear blue sky, gently rocking on the sparkling Caribbean waters. My God, I said to myself, what this boat has managed to do.

  Chapter 18:Tara

  Suzy was banging on my cabin door. “Come on, bitch, shake a leg!” she yelled. “Crew meeting and the captain insists you attend.”

  I wiped the tears from my eyes. “Be right there.”

  I had to go through with it. I quickly touched up my makeup and fixed my hair. When I finally felt I looked half presentable, I took a deep breath and headed for the crew lounge.

  There were a couple of knowing glances and shy smiles as I entered. Sofia avoided my eyes, as did Alex, reminding me of our recent flirtation. Tristan and Troy waved hello. I squeezed in next to Suzy, who dropped her hand below the table so I could hold onto it.

  “You all know my rules,” began Samson, “everyone who works on the charter gets an equal share of the tip. Now, this was a somewhat extraordinary charter, what with lifesaving, masts hit by lightning, crew members losing their heads…” He didn’t look over at me. “So, I’m happy to say, we have a somewhat extraordinary tip.” The captain pulled out a wad of cash from an envelope. “One hundred thousand dollars,” he announced, slowly and deliberately, and to the accompaniment of a large collective sigh. Suzy involuntarily squeezed my hand in hers. I couldn’t believe it. “That’s right. That’s about five times what we would normally expect from a two-night charter, but there it is. Around ten thousand each.”

  Samson counted out one collection of bills and handed them out, then another. He threw a pile of notes in front of Sofia.

  “Please, Captain,” she said softly, without touching the money, “can I donate my share to Tara?”

  Everybody froze. I stared wide-eyed at the small, tanned girl who finally turned her big eyes toward me.

  “You can do what you like, Sofia, it’s your money,” said Samson.

  “It’s okay, Sofia, you don’t have to do that,” I told her.

  “I feel so bad. I didn’t know what to do when I found you. I didn’t think. I’m so sorry.” Sofia’s eyes shone with tears.

  “You did the right thing by not taking the chance that you might get yourself into trouble,” I assured her. There were murmurings of agreement around the table.

  “It’s the only thing I can think of to say how sorry I am; I didn’t stop to think that you might actually have feelings for him.” Sofia pushed the money across to me. I nodded and added it to my pile.

  “But, as I was saying about rules,” began the captain, “Tara broke them and I have to let her go.”

  The table erupted with complaints and arguments, with Tristan, Troy, and Suzy shouting the loudest. Alex said nothing, I noticed. Samson appealed for silence. “I’m sorry, Tara. I need you to pack your things and disembark. I’m afraid there’s no reversing this decision.”

  I nodded sadly and stood to leave.

  “Hey, bitch?” called Tristan. “You’d better make
sure you say goodbye properly before you go.” I turned to see him make a grotesque mime of sucking a big cock, and I couldn’t help laughing.

  *****

  Out on the dock, the whole deck crew had gathered, except Samson who, having said his goodbye, was needed elsewhere. I hugged and kissed Sam, the bosun, and Mike, the first deckhand. Troy, who’d been carrying my bags off the yacht, went for a sneaky butt grab as I hugged him, but I decided to go with it, breathing in his huge warmth and masculine smell. Sofia came next.

  “I’m so sorry, Tara,” she said. “I didn’t think you would actually get fired, and it looks like you actually like this guy. I feel terrible.” I waved away her apologies again and pulled her close. I felt Sofia sob as I held her, and took the opportunity to slip her ten thousand back into her outside pocket, hoping she wouldn’t notice until later. I turned to Alex and put my hand on his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry it wasn’t meant to be,” I offered. For a moment, he continued to stare off angrily into the distance until, suddenly, his face softened and he gathered me in his arms.

  “Just promise me you’ll be happy,” he murmured. I pulled back to look in his eyes, then gave him a long kiss on the lips.

  “I’ll try,” I whispered back.

  I turned to Suzy and Tristan. Within seconds, tears were streaming down all our faces. We all hugged each other.

  “You cows!” wailed Tristan. “My makeup’s ruined!”

  “This is crazy. Why are we crying? We’ll Skype, Facebook, we’ll talk all the time!” I sobbed.

  “We’d better,” sniffed Suzy. “I expect first class all the way when you hook back up with your billionaire boyfriend.”

  I went to respond but my taxi honked its horn from behind me. I kissed them both, grabbed my bags and strode off the dock toward solid ground. I got to the car and looked back, as the driver loaded my luggage in the trunk. They waved. I smiled and waved back.

  “Tara!” called Tristan. “Don’t let any bad meat past those lips!” Suzy burst out laughing.

  “Yeah?” I yelled back, “That goes double for the two of you!”

  Chapter 19:Seth

  “Find her, George,” I spat. “I don’t care what it costs, I don’t care if we have to go knocking door to door across this whole fucking island. Find her for me.”

  George knew better than to argue with me when I was in this mood. “We’ll find her, buddy, don’t worry,” he said.

  We drove on in silence. Jay Money began to investigate the limo’s minibar. He pulled out a miniature bottle of Smirnoff, which looked even smaller in his big, black hand. He held it between his gold teeth and brought out another small bottle. This time it was a Glenfiddich 15-year-old, which he tossed to me.

  “Jay,” I said, catching it, “it’s like one-fifteen in the afternoon.”

  “Yeah?” replied the big rapper, opening the small bottle of vodka. “That means it's nine-fifteen in LA, right?” He downed the liquid in one practiced movement.

  “Erm… nine-fifteen in the morning,” smiled George.

  Jay shrugged before exploring the refrigerator for another. I went to hand the scotch back, but Mick waved to me, indicating he wanted it.

  “Are we going back to the hotel?” asked Coco, sounding tired.

  George turned to me. “Mia will be there.”

  I hadn’t thought that far. We had four deluxe suites reserved at the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach, one of which was currently occupied by Mia and, possibly, Valentina. Although there was nothing to stop Valentina stealing George’s suite, so that was probably full too.

  “Let’s go get some lunch and figure it out,” I decided.

  I had the limo take us to the Hilton Resort and Casino, about a mile down the coast from the Ritz. Traipsing into the restaurant with all our bags made us look like a collection of hobos which, I considered, at the moment was exactly what we were. We took a table that looked out over the pool while George hung back to enquire about accommodation.

  He came back wearing a very concerned look on his face. He sat down next to me.

  “No room at the inn?” I joked.

  “No, we’re all set,” he replied, staring off into the distance. “There were only three suites left so I figured you and I could share.”

  “Of course,” I told him. “But why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

  “A phone call from the board.” George motioned at my martini. I nodded, so he drained the glass and set it back down, breathing heavily. “They said, and I quote: The situation had changed. You were unreachable.” I remembered that I’d turned my cell phone off. “They had to abandon our plans to invest in Clancy’s firm. They’re proceeding with the hostile takeover.”

  I sat still for a moment, dumbstruck. George and I had spent months orchestrating the deal so that we could save the workforce of three thousand people from being laid off. The board had wanted to simply break up and sell the firm, making a billion-dollar profit. I’d forced them, as majority shareholder, CEO, and son of the founder, to invest instead. It was a much smaller return, over a longer period of time, but the workforce kept their jobs.

  “That fucking…!” I spat. “Fucking Wainwright! I knew he was never going to play along with us.”

  “That’s the thing, Seth.” George was still breathing rapidly. “Wainwright stepped down as chairman of the board this morning. Somehow, the new chair is…”

  “What the hell, George? Who is it?”

  “Mia Wong,” he said at last.

  Again, I sat stunned. Mick, Jay, and their girlfriends, across the table, were eating and laughing, with no clue to what George and I were discussing. I barely felt George place his hand on my forearm. He shook me gently and the numbness I was feeling seemed to subside a little. I looked at him, his concerned, earnest face, and giggled. I felt my smile grow wider and I laughed again, louder now. Everyone else at the table smiled at me.

  “What is it?” asked Jessica, unable to stop herself laughing along with me, as I began to lose control. I was laughing louder and longer, so the rest of the table couldn’t help but join in. Even George started to chuckle. I shoved my hand behind my old friend’s neck and pulled his pudgy face close, pressing our foreheads together. We laughed harder and harder, until tears were running down my cheeks.

  “They’ve been at work in New York, what, five hours? And she’s already effectively taken over my company!” I managed between sobs of hilarity. “How is that even possible?”

  “Imagine if you’d actually married her!” cried George and I burst out laughing again, almost falling off my chair.

  “Okay,” I breathed, as I finally began to calm down. The maitre d' had begun hovering and looked about ready to complain that we were disturbing other diners, but he shuffled off as our ruckus died away. “I guess this has just become a working holiday for you and I.” George smiled back at me. “I have an idea. You’re pretty much going to hate it,” I continued, “but you’re going to have to work with me on it because my mind’s made up.”

  “Okay…” replied George, uneasily.

  “I’m going to go make some calls. I’ll fill you in soon as I can. In the meantime, George,” I ordered, “find me Tara.”

  Chapter 20:Tara

  To be honest, my day was going better than expected. After that tear-filled goodbye at the docks, I asked the guy to drive me to San Nicholas.

  “You sure, Miss?” he asked. “This is not the nicest part of the island. You wouldn’t rather go to Palm Beach?”

  “I’m not a tourist, and I’m sure,” I replied, firmly. Palm beach, on the northwest coast, was the garden spot, full of luxury resorts and Americans on vacation. And exactly where Seth and his friends would be. No, I was better off down here, on the south of the island, hidden among the locals.

  The driver was right, though. As he dropped me off in the center of what was, at night at least, Aruba’s red light district, I almost questioned my decision. It was not the roughest part of town but, as I
stood on the street with my bags, a few native young men noticed me immediately and looked me over, a mixture of lust and hunger in their eyes.

  Luckily, my destination was dead ahead. I walked into the incredibly colorful Charlie’s Bar and saw Simon talking with a couple of the bar flies. He spotted me immediately, stopped midsentence and strode right over. His tall, lean body was so strong there was no way I could stop him from lifting me completely off the ground in an enormous bear hug.

  “Missed you, girl,” he rumbled in his thick, Jamaican accent. It was good to see him, to feel safe in his arms once more. I wrapped my legs around his waist. His pure white teeth gleamed like pearls from his dark face as he smiled at my intimate embrace. I kissed him, long and hard, but pulled away when I felt him open my mouth to slip his tongue in. His smile never faded, though. “You still looking damn hot.”

  “Put me down,” I commanded. “I’m not here for that.”

  “Then what you here for?”

  “I need a place to stay and maybe a job. For a little while,” I told him.

  Simon thought for a few moments. I had plenty of money, the amazing tip from Seth’s charter and the cash from the five others I’d done aboard Venus was in my bag, meaning I wouldn’t need to trouble my bank account for some time. All the same, what I did have would last a lot longer if I could do a little work and not have to pay for a hotel.

  Eventually, Simon smiled that wide smile again. “I got you covered, girl,” he said, picked up my two bags and bid me follow him upstairs. The inside of the bar was just how I remembered it, absolutely covered with posters, pictures, and tacky memorabilia, with historical paraphernalia hanging from the entire ceiling, making it a notable, if slightly notorious, tourist spot. Going up the back staircase, though, the walls became peeling white paint and the air became stifling away from the fans and air conditioning in the bar area.