Ivorie's Surprise [Golden Dolphin] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Skye Michaels

  Chapter Seventeen

  Carl Gustaf Hotel and Spa, Gustavia, St. Barthelemy Island, October 9, 2013—Wednesday Morning

  Eugenia had picked Frank Conklin up at the airport in Gustavia on Tuesday evening. He was currently having breakfast on her balcony and watching the harbor for the Golden Dolphin. The crystal blue water of the horseshoe-shaped harbor, dotted with sailboats and motor launches at anchor, was spread out below them. They had talked it out and decided that if Eugenia was able to get aboard the boat and back into Drew’s bed and good graces, she would pay Frank a lump sum of $20,000. This would be payment for any and all help she needed to achieve her mission, whether it could be accomplished in St. Bart’s or whether they had to follow the ship further. If she wasn’t successful, she would pay his travel expenses, and he could chalk it up to a good vacation in the Caribbean. She’d had to explain to him that maintaining her lifestyle was an investment in her future success. It took virtually all of the dividends from her trust fund, and her parents were not forthcoming with advances from principle. They thought she should be able to live on the income, but she couldn’t hope to attract the kind of husband she wanted if she was skimping along on a budget.

  “Have you seen anything yet?” She walked out onto the balcony and stood up against the railing. The brisk breeze was blowing through her midnight-black hair and plastering her royal blue robe up against her body.

  “I think that enormous boat out in the outer harbor might be it.” He picked up the binoculars on the table next to him and focused in on the ship. “Yeah, it looks like the name on the side is the Golden Dolphin. The helicopter just took off from the top deck and landed in the parking lot over there. I think that building is the harbormaster’s office.”

  “Yes, that makes sense. They would have to check in there before anyone got off the boat. Keep an eye on it. I want to know when people start coming ashore. I’m going to get dressed and get down near the dock. We can see if Drew comes ashore. We’ll just watch, and then maybe I’ll be able to talk to him at the dock. And quit looking at me like that.” Frank’s heated gaze was starting to get under her skin. She wasn’t about to give him access to her body and pay him twenty grand on top of it. She’d spent the majority of the day yesterday in the hotel’s spa getting buffed and primped. She’d had a haircut, facial, massage, manicure, and pedicure, and she felt ready to take on Drew Blessingame. We’ll see who has the balls here, baby. We will indeed.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Drew and Ivorie enjoyed the morning walking around Gustavia checking out some of the St. Bart’s designer shops, including Cartier, Vanita Rosa, and Bijoux de la Mer, and then joined Chris and Jenni Turner and some other couples from the boat at an outdoor café for lunch. They had enjoyed the French flavor of the island and the colorful inhabitants and tourists from all over the world. The harbor full of boats and the green hillsides full of colorful vacation villas were picturesque. It was a high-end location, very popular with celebrities, and had a lot to offer in the way of expensive goods. Drew had ordered a carved-black-pearl and diamond necklace and matching bracelet for Ivorie to be delivered to the ship as a surprise.

  “What did you buy, Ivorie? I got some killer perfume—guaranteed to turn my man here into a raving caveman. At least that’s what the store clerk said.” Jennie laughed. “She didn’t know he already is one!”

  “I got a bottle of Jasmin Noir perfume and some body lotion. I also got some more T-shirts for the kids.”

  “I didn’t know you had kids! How old are they?”

  “No, no. They are for my niece and nephew.” Drew could see that Ivorie was embarrassed and didn’t know what to say. It was obvious to Drew that the Turners thought they were a married couple.

  “Ivorie and I aren’t married yet. No kids!” He didn’t know why he had said that, especially when she looked at him like he was crazy. Maybe he was. He wasn’t sure he could trust his own feelings and instincts since he had made such a major miscalculation in his relationship with Eugenia. That lack of perception on his part had really shaken his confidence in his own judgment.

  Jenni laughed to ease the moment. “We’ve got three kids—Chris, Jr. is twelve, Jimmy is ten, and Katie is eight. They’re staying with my parents while we’re on this anniversary cruise. Three kids in the house kind of cuts down on opportunities to be alone, if you know what I mean. They always seem to know when Mom and Dad would like some time alone and manage to foil the best-laid plans.”

  * * * *

  Ivorie watched as Drew signed the credit card receipt and stood up. “Ready, Ivorie? We need to get back to the ship.” The intimate smile he gave her had her heart beating fast and her lady parts tingling. When he turned that smile up to full blast, it was devastating.

  As they headed back toward the dock, she said, “What is the hurry? I thought you were done with the Riverstone contracts, and I was going to scan and e-mail your final comments back to New York tomorrow morning.”

  “I just want to be alone with you this afternoon. Maybe we can spend some time in my hot tub and sunbathing on my deck. Private time.” It was clear he had romance on his mind.

  “That sounds good. I’ll check in at the office for a minute, grab my bathing suit, and come up to your suite.”

  He seemed to hesitate. “Why don’t you just have the steward move your things into the Master Suite?”

  * * * *

  “Drew, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Why don’t we wait a little bit on that?”

  He hadn’t planned to make that move just yet, but something in him had been pushing him in that direction for a while. He was stunned. The last thing he had expected was that Ivorie would turn him down. He had thought he was beginning to feel a definite tenderness in her attitude toward him over the last two days. She had certainly warmed up since Saturday.

  They had arrived at the dock, and he was about to help her board the tender when he felt a hand on his arm. He turned around and found himself face to face with Eugenia Cartwright. Her face was red and angry. Apparently she had overheard the last bit of conversation between himself and Ivorie.

  “You bastard! Have you been sleeping with this little slut all this time?”

  “Eugenia, what are you doing here?” He was shocked. She was the last person he had expected or wanted to see.

  “I wanted to talk to you and see if we couldn’t patch things up. Obviously, you’re otherwise engaged—while we’re engaged.” She had apparently conveniently forgotten that their engagement was broken.

  The AB tending the Riva stepped up. “Sir, this lady wanted to board the Dolphin. She said she was on the passenger list, but since she didn’t have a bracelet, I told her I would have to wait for orders from the bridge. No one boards without a bracelet.”

  Drew looked at the name on his uniform. “Thanks, Sam. That’s exactly right. Ms. Cartwright is not a passenger on the Golden Dolphin, and she is not to board under any circumstances.” He turned to Ivorie and saw that she had backed off. She looked extremely embarrassed to have been called a slut in front of everyone on the dock. She obviously didn’t want a confrontation with Eugenia, and who could blame her. Eugenia at full throttle was a frightening sight. Her blue eyes shot icy daggers at Ivorie.

  Eugenia looked ready to throw a full-blown fit. He felt he should make an effort to stop the tirade before it got started. “Eugenia, I thought you understood that we’re done. I don’t want to hurt you, but I have no desire to patch things up. Those feelings have nothing to do with Ivorie. She’s here as my assistant and nothing more. She had absolutely nothing to do with our breakup. I don’t know how I didn’t see you for who you really are sooner, but I have now. Please just leave and don’t make this situation worse by making a scene.”

  Eugenia looked shocked and hurt, but Drew knew just what a good actress she was. If any of the feelings shining from her eyes were genuine, he’d eat a boat shoe for dinner. As far as he could see, she didn’t have a genuine feeling in her entire
body. He turned away to board the Riva and left her standing on the dock with her mouth hanging open.

  When Drew turned to find Ivorie, he saw that Sam had helped her to board, and she was sitting in the front of the tender with her handbag and shopping bags arranged around her. It was obvious by the placement of her belongings and the hurt look in her expressive caramel-brown eyes that she did not want him sitting next to her at the moment. He decided to let things settle down on the trip back to the Dolphin. He would talk to her when they got back and had some privacy. The conversation they needed to have couldn’t be had in public in any event.

  Chapter Nineteen

  When the Riva tied up to the Dolphin, Sam helped Ivorie gather her packages and board the ship. She hurried away before Drew could stop her. All she wanted to do was get away from him, get to her cabin, and lock the door behind her. Her heart had a major crack running right down the middle, but she was damned if she would let him see how his comments to Eugenia had hurt her. What did I expect? This is Mr. Blessingame after all. Nothing has changed. The last few days were an aberration. He’s just shown his true colors. She had temporarily lost her mind. She shouldn’t be surprised by his callous remarks. She was just an office fixture after all. He had needed a playmate, and she had been convenient.

  Ivorie unlocked the door and slipped into her cabin, dropped her bags on a chair, and collapsed on her bed—the same bed she had not slept in since Saturday night. The steward must be getting a big kick out of that little factoid. What had she been thinking? What the capital H, capital E, capital double hockey sticks had she been thinking? She deserved this for sheer stupidity. It wasn’t like she didn’t know exactly what he was like. It wasn’t like he hadn’t brought her to tears before. She had cried in the ladies’ room at the office more than once.

  As she lay on her bed, the tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes and slide down the sides of her face. I’m not crying. I’m not! Slowly, she rolled over and curled into a ball and began to sob. The pain was physical, not just emotional. She had been stupid enough to fall in love with him. Oh, God. It hurt.

  * * * *

  Drew stalked into the Master Suite and slammed the door. It was obvious by her quick escape that Ivorie did not want to talk to him. He could tell that her feelings were hurt by what he’d said to Eugenia, but he hadn’t wanted to put Ivorie in that bitch’s crosshairs by admitting that they were in a relationship. Is that what this is? A relationship? Shit! It had snuck up on him, but he guessed that was indeed what it was. She had to talk to him. She had to. He wouldn’t accept anything else. He would fix this. He couldn’t stand the thought of her hurting because of something he’d said to Eugenia, who meant absolutely nothing to him.

  He paced around the suite for a few minutes more while he tried to put his thoughts in order. He poured a short brandy into a crystal snifter and took a deep swallow. It burned on the way down, but in a minute the warmth began to circulate through his system. Liquid courage. That’s what he definitely needed to face Ivorie. He walked out the door, down one flight of the central staircase, and down the corridor to the door of Ivorie’s cabin. He knocked. Waited. Knocked again. He just knew she was in there. “Ivorie, open the door. Please.” When he got complete silence for an answer, he lowered his voice to the “Dom” register that usually got a response double-quick and repeated the command. “Ivorie, open this door. Now.” Still nothing.

  Drew walked over to the next cabin, which was serving as their office, slid his security card into the lock, and opened the door. She wasn’t in the office. He walked quietly to the connecting door, hoping against hope that she had not locked it from the other side. He was in luck. He breathed a sigh of relief as the door opened, and he walked through into Ivorie’s cabin.

  He saw her immediately, curled up on the bed, facing away from him. She was so still he thought she was asleep. He walked quietly to the bed and carefully lay down beside her. She tried to roll away, but he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. “Ivorie, please listen to me. I didn’t mean what I said to Eugenia. I just didn’t want her to turn on you like the viper she is. Please listen to me, baby.” He felt her body stiffen in his arms.

  “Mr. Blessingame, this is totally inappropriate. I am not your ‘baby.’ Please leave my cabin immediately and don’t come in here again unless I invite you. I know I’m just your assistant, oh, excuse me—just your second assistant—but even I have the right to some privacy in my own room.”

  He kept his tight hold on her stiff body. “Please, Ivorie. You have to listen to me. It’s not what you’re thinking.”

  “It’s exactly what I’m thinking. I’m just embarrassed that I was taken in by your suddenly affable demeanor. I knew it was too good to be true. Why I should have fallen for that, I cannot possibly explain, even to myself. I should have known better. What an idiot! I let you use me, and that’s my fault. I won’t be making that mistake again, sir. Please leave. I will be in the office at nine o’clock tomorrow and will attend to all necessary business. But our friendship is over. I will eat in my cabin from now on and will try to be pleasant and professional during office hours. That will be our only contact.”

  He pulled her closer, buried his face in her hair, and breathed in deeply. He loved her scent. This was going to kill him. He felt sick. When she didn’t unbend even a little, he said, “If that’s what you want, I’ll give you some time to think about this. It’s not what I want, but maybe we both need some time to think. This has all happened so quickly.” Ivorie made another unsuccessful effort to escape his tight hold. “Believe me, Ivorie, we are not done. And, furthermore, I had no idea Eugenia would show up here. I definitely broke our engagement. It was on Page Six of the New York Post for crap’s sake. How much more official can a broken engagement be?”

  She remained quiet and still and waited for him to leave. Finally, he got up off the bed and headed for the door. “I’ll see you in the office tomorrow morning, Ms. James.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Carl Gustaf Hotel and Spa, Gustavia, St. Barthelemy Island, October 9, 2013—Wednesday Evening

  Eugenia was livid. She had been pacing the suite for hours. That bastard, Drew, and his little slut assistant, have another think coming if they think they can push me aside like yesterday’s news. She had related the whole scene to Frank, who had strangely little to say about the whole episode.

  “How dare he move that little bitch into my suite, into what is supposed to be my vacation and my bed. I just know if I could get her out of the way, I could get him back.”

  “Eugenia, it doesn’t sound…”

  “How do you know? You weren’t there. He said he didn’t want to hurt me. She’s trying to take over my place in Drew’s life. I won’t have it, I tell you. I just won’t have it. We have to figure something out.”

  “When you do that, you let me know. I’m going down to the hotel bar for a drink and some dinner. Do you want to come? Or do you just want to stay here and rant and rave?”

  “You go. I’m going to think. We’ll talk when you come back.”

  When Frank got back from dinner, Eugenia was ready for him with an idea, and she jumped right in. “I’ve got it. If we can catch Ivorie alone, you can detain her while I use her bracelet to get on board. If I can get Drew alone, I know I can talk him out of this breakup business.”

  “Are you nuts? You want to kidnap a foreign tourist from a bazillion-dollar boat, board the boat, and fuck some guy’s brains out? Baby, you’re losing it.”

  “Frank, wait. Just think a minute. This can work. The next port of call for the Golden Dolphin is tomorrow in Castries, St. Lucia. That’s too soon for us to get into position and locate a safe hiding place for Ivorie until the boat leaves port again. But by next Tuesday they will be in Santarém, Brazil and some other small Amazon River towns. There are several Brazilian ports of call, and I bet we can find just the right place. We have time to get there ahead of them and set something up.
”

  “I still think it’s nuts, but I guess we can go there and scope it out.”

  * * * *

  Frank couldn’t believe that Eugenia, rather than calming down, had revved up even more while he was out to dinner. She was definitely on a tear, and it was scary. She was losing touch with reality. Frank, a veteran of the New York streets, wished he’d never come down here and gotten involved in this nonsense. He’d thought it would be good for a few good lays, a free vacation, and a few bucks. Now, he thought it might be good for a few years in a South American prison. He’d play along for a while and see if her plan was feasible. But it better damn well be a great plan because he wasn’t risking his neck for Eugenia.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The Golden Dolphin—Castries, St. Lucia Harbor, October 10, 2013—Thursday Morning, Day Five of the Cruise

  The Golden Dolphin had anchored off St. Lucia on schedule, the captain had presented passports and credentials to the port authorities, and most of the passengers were going ashore for the day. Drew had a cup of coffee in his suite to give Ivorie time to get into the office. He wasn’t in the mood to eat, and he certainly wasn’t in the mood for a shore excursion. He’d been awake most of the night thinking. He had worried that she might have another nightmare, and he wouldn’t be there. This spat was a wake-up call. He realized that he had been so immersed in his own emotional problems and in business matters for such a long time that he hadn’t seen what his sour attitude was doing to other people. That wasn’t the leadership ethic his father had tried to teach him, and he was ashamed of himself. All the money he had made aside, his dad would not have been proud of his performance. His dad had been someone who cared a great deal about the people who worked for him and had always been there for them. That was one thing that he was going to change about himself when he got back from this trip. His parents’ deaths had just been the final straw in the change of his personality. He wanted to be the person he had been before 9/11, when the responsibility for the businesses fell on his shoulders. He also wanted to be the person he was when he was with Ivorie.