by Haley Oliver
I reach between the candles for her hand. I half-expect her to pull it away, back beneath the table. I can hardly believe my success when my fingers rest on her soft skin. Slowly, I smooth them along her closed fist until I find the soft underside of her palm. Still no resistance. When I thread my fingers with hers, what I find instead is reciprocation.
"Daniel..." she says quietly. "I know this might be the wrong time to mention this, but..."
I lean in. "You know you can tell me anything." I'm surprised I can get the words out the way my breath is caught in my throat.
"I have to use the ladies' room." Valerie looks down and blushes. I can't help the wry smile that tugs at my lips. That's Val—always keeping me on my toes. I wonder if that's really what she intended to say. No matter. We have the entire evening to get around to applying words to electric current that is buzzing irrepressibly between us.
I chuckle, lean back and release her hand. "Go on," I tell her benevolently. "The sooner you go, the sooner you come back," I wink.
Valerie pushes her chair out and stands, smoothing her dress back down. I try not to let my eyes stray below her face. She glances at me, before ducking her head and smiling to herself. I wonder if it's a trick of the Tiki torch light that makes her face that deep a crimson. She winds through the tables and disappears around the corner.
I tip back in my chair, drink in hand, unable to keep my own smile spreading further across my face. The night is young... and so am I.
"You look pretty pleased with yourself."
I startle, and all four legs of the chair slam back down to the ground. I turn around, but the move is needless. Gabe, my eldest brother, circles the table and pulls out Valerie's chair.
"That seat is occupied." I don't try to disguise the edge in my voice.
Gabe sits anyway.
We resemble one another just enough physically for the similarities to get under my skin. Gabe is a few inches taller, and less widely proportioned. He's the one who takes after our father the most. He's the one who best fills his expensive suits, like the cut and concept was made for him and him alone. His eyes glimmer like gray ice, and unlike Valerie, the lights surrounding us do nothing to warm his expression.
Nor does the sight of me.
"Drink, brother?" I decide I can play my own game, and at least try to amuse myself until my far more attractive date gets back.
"What are you doing?" Gabe inquires coolly.
"Having dinner."
"Dinner with your secretary?"
"Is that a problem?" I return with the same chilly tone. I never feel like myself when I'm engaging with Gabe. Either I'm trying to meet him at his level, and usually falling short, or I fall all too easily into the character of the irresponsible younger brother. I never seem able to him squirm, not the way he does me.
Not that I let on.
"You need to watch yourself around her," Gabe says.
I snort. "Is that a threat?"
"Advice," he corrects. He leans in, but I don't budge an inch, even though every insecurity within me is suddenly straining to hear what he says. "The two of you crossed the line already long ago, Daniel. You already treat her as more of an equal than a subordinate."
"That's because she is my equal," I argue. "No, actually, that's not true. Val's my superior in pretty much every way except professionally, and I'm surprised you're not first in line to admit that."
Gabe stares at me incredulously. "Listen to yourself. She has you wrapped around her finger."
"You and Jane..." I start to argue.
"Leave Jane out of this. She knows her place. We're talking about you."
I lean back in my chair, and give a noncommittal shrug. I can tell I hit sore spot, the same way he has evidently just found mine. But try as I might, this conversation can't be turned back on the person wielding it. "What are you trying to say? That Val's manipulating me?"
"Valerie Brown is an attractive woman, and there's no denying it," Gabe says simply. "But I'm telling you there's only danger in this situation for you."
"It's not like that."
Gabe gives me a weighted look.
"And even if it is, that's none of your business," I add.
"It's entirely my business."
"As my CEO?"
"As your brother," he corrects. I'm not entirely convinced, and it must show on my face, because for once I think I see Gabe's expression soften... then again, maybe it's only a trick of the light. "Daniel, I refuse to sit back and watch you get hurt again. I see the way you look at her. And this woman is going to hurt you a heck of a lot worse than Henry's mother ever did."
The fingers wrapped around my glass are rigid. I have no idea how to counter what he's just said. An easy denial should be on the tip of my tongue, but all I see now are the visions his words have conjured up flashing behind my eyes, visions of my penthouse empty of Valerie's soothing presence, visions of Henry's nightmares returning. Visions of what my life would be like without her if I screw things up.
And I always screw things up.
Worse than all of that is the realization that Gabe could, impossibly, be right about her. What if there's something I'm not seeing? Why is she suddenly so much keener to spend time with me? So much more likely to smile at my jokes? I thought it was because I was finally starting to see past her exterior. I thought that maybe, just maybe, she was starting to let her walls down. But, maybe that's me being blind and foolish again. Just like I was before with...
"Think on what I said." Gabe flattens his palms on the table, then stands. I glance past him and see Valerie winding her way back through the tables. Clearly, he's kept himself more aware of her comings and goings than I have.
"I can't promise you I will."
"You're not a fool, Daniel. Much as you want the world to think you are."
Gabe departs without a backward glance, leaving me feeling more like a fool than I ever have before.
Chapter Nine
Valerie
"Henry, have you seen your father this afternoon?" I inquire as I tidy up the living room of our shared apartment. Henry has been trading time between my hotel room and Daniel's, but he still prefers to sleep in mine most nights. Last night, after another battle with nightmares, we wound up in the living room once more fortified in a tent improvised out of blankets and pillows. I don't mind the arrangement in the least, but I certainly feel the effects of such nights the morning after.
"Uh-uh." Henry shakes his head. He's flipping through a book on sea creatures I bought him from the souvenir shop downstairs.
"He promised to take us to the beach today," I say aloud. I finish fluffing the couch pillows and rise, straightening my back with a wince. It gives a loud 'pop!' as I crane to my left, and Henry gives a gasp of sickened delight. "Hey, you try sitting at a desk all day for the last three years," I tease him.
He laughs heartily.
I smile at him. He's such a smart little kid. He already divides his time between learning technology and the more tactile real-world hobbies me and my siblings enjoyed in our youth—sports, reading, and now, conversing with other kids. He has a way with adults, but can't seem to wrap his head around children his own age. It's something we're working on. If it had been up to me, he would have gone to preschool. I'm sure Daniel would have agreed with the decision, had he known...
... but it isn't up to me. This is a dangerous way of thinking. As soon as the wedding ends and things calm down around Sway, Daniel is going to have to start the interview process to hire a real nanny for Henry. I assume I'll be a part of vetting. I hope I will be. But after that?
I gaze at little Henry sitting on the hotel couch, so small that his legs stick straight out and barely clear the lip of the cushion. He's a picky eater (besides ice cream), and it's been difficult trying to get him to open up to the new cuisine horizons of Tahiti when he would prefer macaroni and dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets (and honestly, who wouldn't?).
"Come on." I take Henry's hand and lead
him to the door. "Let's go find your Dad."
It takes me longer than expected to track down Daniel. A few unanswered texts and failed calls later, and I'm starting to get annoyed. By the time we run into Amanda and Jane down by the pool, my expression must be obvious. Amanda takes Henry to go get a juice as Jane tips her tilted pink sunglasses and looks at me for a long moment.
"Well?"
"He's nowhere to be found!" I launch immediately into my gripe. Now that Henry's out of earshot, I feel completely free to vent my frustration to a fellow secretary. "I keep making up excuses for him to Henry, but if he doesn't show his sorry self soon, I'll..."
"No. I mean, how did dinner the other night go?" Jane grins, and I flush at the implication left unsaid behind that gorgeous white smile of hers.
"Nothing happened. I mean... he was just taking me out for our anniversary."
"Your anniversary?" she crows. She sits upright in her poolside chair and whips her sunglasses all the way off. "Valerie, can't you see that he..."
But I do see something. Over Jane's right shoulder, I see a group of overly tanned guys with tousled hair and open shirts headed for the beach.
And I see Daniel among them. He's showing them something on his cellphone screen... the same screen that should have been notifying him of my messages this entire time.
Red hot anger flares in me. "Uh-oh." Jane retracts back into her chair as I storm past her.
"Watch Henry," I order.
"Yes ma'am."
I follow the sandaled tracks down to the beach. There's at least five men standing around together, swapping bottles of beer, flashing their pristinely white teeth in the sun every time they laugh at one another's jokes. Daniel is among them. He isn't drinking, thank goodness. He stands there with a water bottle clutched in his right hand, his left tucked casually into his pocket alongside his now-retired phone. I'm still out of sight, but coming up on them fast. I take my cell out to check it, then jam it back in my pocket. My fury is gathering within me like the dark storm clouds I see far off on the horizon.
You can cancel on your clients. You can cancel on me. But don't even think about cancelling plans with your son.
"Daniel!" My voice rings high and sharp, enough to turn every head in the vicinity as I approach him. "What are you doing out here?"
"Didn't I tell you?" Rather than answer my question, Daniel turns right back to his friends and gestures toward me. "Ain't she somethin'?"
The men murmur in agreement as they glance me over. I flush self-consciously. What in the heck? I'm not here to be looked over by all these male eyes. I have no idea what Daniel's going on about, but I instantly know I dislike this side of him. It's as though the Daniel Sway of the tabloids back home has jumped right off the pages and materialized before me. It's a Daniel I have never seen before. I never even believed he existed before today.
"This 'something' would like to have a word with you," I reply coldly. "Alone."
"Pardon the schedule conflict, gentlemen," Daniel jokes as he jogs after me.
It's all I can do to keep myself from yanking him in by his cotton shirt collar and tearing him a new one as soon as we're alone. I turn, grit my teeth, and... I snatch the water bottle out of his hand. "What is this? Are you drunk?" I hiss the accusation and unscrew the cap to take a whiff. Daniel watches me through hooded eyes, amused and... something else. I swear I see a shadow of regret, but it's chased away again the next instant as he twists his handsome features into another obnoxious grin. Is it my imagination, or is his expression more deliberate than it is natural?
"You completely bailed on Henry and me," I tell him. "Say goodbye to your friends and come back with me, Mr. Sway."
" ‘Mr. Sway'." Daniel gives a melancholy chuckle at this that I don't quite understand and just shakes his head. "I thought you understood that I was on vacation, Val."
"Not from your son you aren't!"
"You're his nanny, aren't you?" Daniel flips his hand at me and turns to go. "What do I pay you for?"
If there was any of his money in my pocket at that moment, I would have flung it back in his face. Anger courses through me like an erupting volcano, anger and indignation and…
Pain. I watch him walk back toward the water, he resembles the man who had taken me to dinner the other night, yet this guy's a complete stranger to me now. What happened in the interim? It must have started when I returned from the ladies' room. He was different… quiet throughout our meal, his jokes and smile forced, his eyes too often straying to our server as if he was suddenly in a haste to leave.
And now, he's worse. Here he is, in a haste to leave me again. Only this time, he's leaving Henry behind.
Not if I can help it.
"Hey!" My voice as an abrupt, husky edge to it that makes every head turn, again, with the exception of Daniel's. He's wading into the water toward one of the speedboats in the harbor. I yank my shoes off as I strut after him. The men who had previously eyed me swing their wide shoulders out of the way to make room for me. I stomp right into the blue-green waters of Tahiti, taking no time to enjoy myself or relish in its beauty like I should.
Again, all Daniel's fault.
"Mr. Sway, I demand that you… you…" My demands are cut off as the driver of the boat reaches down to haul me up effortlessly onto the deck of the boat. "Wait a minute, no! No thank you, I'm not going out, and neither is he!"
"Here." Daniel hands our captain a wad of cash. The man grins and nods in understanding. I realize he must not speak English fluently enough to comprehend what's being said. Either that, or money is as loud a language here as it is back in the States. It's a language that, unfortunately for me, the Sways speak fluently.
The motor stops up, and I fall back into a seat as the boat peels out from the harbor and buses us out toward open water. "Mr. Sway!" I shout in protest. "Quit throwing your money around and take me back! Right now!"
"You know, that's what I find so intriguing about you." Daniel lounges beside me, a pair of matte black sunglasses pulled down over his eyes to successfully conceal half of his expression from me. "Despite growing up with nothing, money still has little influence over you. You do what you want… you're free. Or at least, you've very good at pretending like you are."
"Stop it!" I snap at him. "Whatever has brought this ridiculous attitude on, I'm fine with you taking it out on me. But you're also taking it out on Henry, and that I find completely unacceptable!"
The unhappy smile dies on his lips, replaced with a frown that is far more real to behold. The boat starts to pick up speed, kicking up foam and spume. Wind whips my hair free of its ponytail. It's colder than I expected. Then again, we are heading straight for those black clouds on the horizon.
Daniel stands, and, impossibly, keeps his balance as he moves over to me. The speedboat hits a wake, and he sits down hard beside me. I want to scoot away, but he yanks me in beneath his arm. An angry protest dies on my lips as he drapes me in a life jacket. "Put this on," he advises.
"You put one on, too!" I exclaim. "Unless you want to make your son an orphan! Mr. Sway, who is this man? And where exactly are we headed?"
"A friend of mine," Daniel says dismissively. Somehow, I doubt that. He probably doesn't even know his name. I would bet they never met before this morning, before Daniel started flashing that fake smile of his and waving his money around.
"What's gotten into you?" I whisper. "Why are you acting …"
"What?" Daniel pulls his sunglasses off and fixes me with a hard look. "This is who I am, isn't it? Reckless? Dismissive of everything but a good time?"
"No, you're not," I tell him frankly. And I mean it. This is an act. It's not who he really is. The question is why. Why is he suddenly trying to alienate me? And Henry! "You're not fooling me. But, why? Why are you pushing me away?"
"I'm not the one pushing people away," he replies. The boat hits another wake, and I latch onto his arm with a cry of fright. I squeeze my eyes shut, hating myself, wanting to pull away. I m
ove to do exactly that, but another bump has Daniel pulling me into him. The man behind the wheel shouts something incomprehensible to us.
I force my eyes open and stare up at the gathering clouds. This isn't good. "D… Mr. Sway…"
Daniel turns into me abruptly and zips my life jacket up, lacing the front with proficiency. I hold onto his shoulders, willing my hands to return the favor, but I'm too petrified to move.
The boat slams into something, then. A log? My mind inanely tries to find the source of the problem, even as our driver shouts again. Suddenly, I'm not sitting beside Daniel. Suddenly I'm in the air, my hair floating around me, my arms adrift.
And then I'm plunging into the water. I open my mouth to shout, and salt water filters past my lips. I struggled back toward the surface, aided by the jacket that seems to pull me up like a strong pair of hands.
But it's not just the jacket. There is a strong pair of hands, Daniel's hands, hauling me back above the waves. I gasp as we break the surface together.
"Hey! Come back!" Daniel calls. He waves his arm vigorously, but the speedboat drives on, its engine groaning. He turns back to me as water swamps his face and tries its best to climb into my nose. His sunglasses hang askew from one ear. The next wave knocks them off completely.
Odds are I would have found time to knock them off myself if we weren't in so much trouble. As it is, I find myself clinging to him, too afraid of being separated to take my destiny into my own hands and leave him behind like he probably deserves. A drop of rain splashes down on my nose. I look up, just in time to see the heavens part and the downpour start.
"Looks like the weather app was right for once," Daniel reflects. He hugs me close. Then, spying something over the horizon, points excitedly. "Look! There's a beach just over there!"
Daniel begins to stroke for shore, hauling me with him. The waves slow our progress, but I'm too afraid of losing him to let go or let the sea take me.