by Kira Archer
Charley shifted slightly against the sudden acrobatics in her stomach. She couldn’t hide the flush of her cheeks, though. “You’re just seeing things you want to see.”
“Right. That’s why he about chewed through the table watching you up on that stage.”
Cue stomach acrobatics on overdrive. “I’m sure you’re mistaken.”
Izzy snorted. “I’m positive I’m not. I’ve known Chris a long time now. I’ve never seen him like this with anyone, not even Cass. He has it bad for you.”
“He barely knows me.”
“I know. Imagine how much better it would get if he did.”
Oh, Charley could imagine it. Seemed like she’d been doing little else but imagining it since the day he tried to steal her chocolate milk.
But she shoved those thoughts back where they belonged and shook her head. “Even if I believed you, and I don’t, it wouldn’t matter. He’s my client. My first client on my own. If I…if we…” She sighed. “There’s no way anything could happen between us. The last thing in the world I want is a reputation for sleeping my way to the top.”
“That wouldn’t happen.”
Charley cocked an eyebrow at her. “That’s exactly what would happen. Not to mention, I’d have every male client who ever crossed my door thinking they could do the same thing. After all, I gave it up for one guy on the job. Why not all of them? Not happening. No one would respect me or trust that I knew what I was doing because they’d all assume I’d slept my way to success.”
Izzy’s jaw clenched, and Charley knew she wanted to argue, but even Izzy wouldn’t be able to find a way to refute her logic. It was Working Woman Code 101. It didn’t matter how good, smart, successful, or amazing a woman was, the second she slept with someone in the business pool, all her credibility went right out the window. While the man’s increased. It was fucked up, but that was life.
“Besides,” she continued, “if he is interested, it’s probably because he wants to get on my good side while I’m evaluating him. He wants me to recommend him, that’s all. And if we were to get together, and then I didn’t recommend him, he could come back and say it was because of what happened or all kinds of other stuff. There are a million ways this could bite me in the ass. It would be nothing but a massive HR nightmare.”
“Chris would never do that. If he’s interested in you, it’s because he really likes you. Not any other reason.”
“According to you. But how would I ever really know? And how would he ever really know I wasn’t just with him to get ahead? There’s no way an actual relationship would work between us. And I’m not interested in some vacation fling that would do nothing but tank my career before it even got started.”
Izzy pouted for a second but eventually nodded her head. “Okay. I guess you make a few good points.”
“Thank you.”
“I still say you guys are perfect for each other, though.”
Charley shrugged. “Doesn’t make much difference now.”
Izzy got that gleam in her eyes that usually meant she was up to something. “We’ll see.”
She turned on her heel and headed out the door.
“Izzy.”
She kept walking, so Charley hurried after her. “Izzy, what do you mean, we’ll see?”
This didn’t bode well.
…
Chris opened the door to the suite he shared with Charley and looked around as he stepped inside. Charley and Izzy had disappeared after she’d left the stage, which had probably been a good thing. He’d definitely been ready to say and do a few things he would have regretted later. Still was, if he was being honest, but he had a little better handle on himself.
At least he’d thought so, until he saw her sitting at the small table by the window in the soft glow of her tablet, glasses he hadn’t known she’d worn perched on her nose. What was it about a pair of glasses that could make a woman look so damn sexy? He had a sudden vision of her jumping onto the table, ripping the glasses off, shaking her hair out, and breaking into a head-banging rendition of “Welcome to the Jungle” or some other song she could rock her ass off to.
He shook his head, trying to clear that mental picture. Unfortunately, it would probably be years before he got her out of his head. If ever.
She’d turned her tablet into a mini laptop with a mobile keyboard and was busily typing away. Probably destroying his career with each click of the keys. In hindsight, taking a risk assessor out to a South American casino might have been a bad idea. Considering how they’d had to exit the place, he couldn’t imagine that report going well. He doubted she’d enjoyed the feel of her soft body bouncing on his shoulder as much as he did.
Or maybe she had…she hadn’t struggled or protested aside from her initial surprise. He’d have to ponder more on that later. Getting her drunk afterwards probably hadn’t helped his cause, either. Though she had seemed to enjoy herself. Right up until she ran out.
She glanced up when the door closed and nodded at him with one of her soft, careful smiles that betrayed nothing of what she was really feeling.
“You disappeared on us. Glad to see you made it back okay,” he said, coming over to lean on the back of the other chair at the table.
She frowned slightly. “Izzy said she texted everyone when we left so you would know where we’d gone. Did she not do so?”
“She did.”
Her brows lifted a fraction in question, but he didn’t really have an answer for why he was acting like a jilted date. She certainly didn’t owe him any apologies or explanations. And there wasn’t much he could say that would make any sense, so he decided to take the safe road and change the subject.
“Tomorrow I’ll be inspecting a few properties in the morning, and in the afternoon, I’ll probably go hiking or something. You’re welcome to hang out here if you’d prefer. I can’t imagine you’ll have much fun following me around all day.”
She closed the tablet down and took off her glasses. “I thought following you around all day was the reason I was here.”
“True. Guess I was trying to give you an out if you wanted one. Seeing as how our first outing went so well.”
Her lips twitched at that. “Yes, well, that wasn’t entirely your fault.”
“Really?” He crossed his arms. “I would have said that none of it was my fault.”
She shrugged. “I suppose it depends to which part of the evening we are referring. Though I’m happy enough to accept partial responsibility and leave it at that.”
He laughed. “Well, we shouldn’t run into any angry mobs tomorrow, so you should be safe.”
That half smile peeked out again. “Thank heavens for that.”
“Shouldn’t run into any other bands desperately looking for rocking lead singers, either.”
Her eyes narrowed, and her cheeks flushed a faint pink that made him want to smooth his fingers over her skin to see if it was as warm as it looked.
“Thank heavens for that, too,” she said.
“Oh, come on. You can’t shred up a stage like that and then just pretend it never happened.” He dropped onto the couch. “Spill it. How does someone…” He looked her over, waving his hand in her direction.
“Someone like me?” she asked.
“Someone in your line of work,” he said, not liking the way she’d said someone like me, as if she wasn’t completely perfect, but rather defective or deficient in some way. “Come on. What’s the story there?”
She sat on the arm of the couch, as far away from him as she could get without being obvious about it. Even though it was totally obvious.
“There’s not much to tell. I was in a band with some friends when I was younger. And then I gave it up. End of story.”
“Uh, that’s not a story. That’s barely a highlight reel. I mean, seriously, how does a woman go from rock goddess to risk assessor? You looked like you were having the time of your life on that stage tonight. Like it was something you really loved.”
&n
bsp; “It’s called performing.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. She sighed and looked down at her feet for a second and then shrugged. “Something happened that made me realize there were more important things in life. And no, I don’t want to go into more detail than that.”
“All right, fair enough,” he said, wanting to push her on whatever it was that put that sad look in her eyes, but he had no business interrogating her. And the last thing he wanted to do was make her sad, which was what his current line of questioning seemed to be doing.
“Well,” he said, getting to his feet. “I want to get an early start tomorrow so I can get those properties inspected and have a little fun before it’s time to leave tomorrow night.”
“Where are we off to next?”
“Spain.”
Her eyes widened. “What, are we going to go run with the bulls or something?”
Chris just smiled and headed to his room. Why spoil the surprise?
“We aren’t going to do that, are we?”
He kept walking, his smile growing wider.
“Mr. Lachlan? Chris?”
He waited until the door was closed before he let loose the laugh he’d been holding back. The woman was a pain in his ass, but she was a lot of fun to rile up.
Chapter Eight
Charley had spent the day with Chris at three different properties, each a stunning oasis that she’d have gladly sacrificed a week or two of her time to carefully inspect.
And she had to admit, Chris didn’t do anything in those few hours that raised any red flags. In fact, he was the model businessman. Professional and focused, if a bit more laid-back than your average billionaire entrepreneur. Then again, it wasn’t his business practices that were in question—it was what he did when he wasn’t working.
She could see his point about needing to inspect the properties in person. If he had a really good manager he could trust completely, it might not be as necessary. But employees like that were hard to find. And even if there were someone in place that he could count on, being able to check on things himself both gave him peace of mind that everything was running smoothly and kept his employees on their toes. Even she could see that things might grow a little lax if it was known the boss was never going to show up.
So, that worked in his favor. While there was some risk in traveling all the time, there was certainly good reason for doing so, and he did seem to take all normal precautions when on the road, for which she was happy to give him credit. She didn’t know how much of a difference it would make since there was still the matter of his extreme sports-loving past times to address. But for the business traveling side—points for him!
And then there was the play side. What he did after work. Things that were rapidly tanking his chances for insurance approval. Things like climbing on an ATV to go tearing up the jungle. Things he wanted to share with her so she could see how safe they were.
She sighed and finished tying the bandanna around her face and then grabbed the helmet, making sure it fit snuggly around her head before strapping it on.
“Why can’t we just go on a regular hike?” she asked.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “You can’t really object to these.” He gestured at the ATVs they were sitting on. “They’re perfectly safe. They have four, big, sturdy wheels, you’re wearing more pads than a linebacker, and you even get to control how fast they go. What can you possibly object to?”
“Really?” she asked. “You underestimate my objecting abilities if you think I can’t find anything. Do you have any idea the safety hazard these things present? Seriously, if I showed you the stats, you’d be much less enthusiastic to get on them.”
She cocked her head at him, looking him up and down, from his animated grin to the way his body nearly vibrated with excitement. She rolled her eyes.
“Never mind. Somehow, I don’t think safety ratings matter too much to you.”
He laughed. “They are perfectly safe. Plus, these are the best way to get around out here. They can get places cars can’t go, travel some rougher terrain, really get us up in the jungle where all the cool stuff is.”
“We do have legs, you know. I think they’d get us up there just as well.”
He laughed again. “Not up where I’m taking you. And trust me, before you say that maybe you don’t want to go somewhere you need to ride these to go—you’ll want to go. What you’re going to see once we reach the top is an absolute to-die-for sight. Once in a lifetime.”
She sighed and leaned forward to grip her handlebars tighter. The butterflies in her stomach had turned into hummingbirds, but even she had to admit it was at least partially from excitement. She’d always wanted to ride these things as a kid. Before the accident. And flashes from that accident were harder to ignore when the vehicle she was on didn’t have seat belts. Or doors. Or a roof.
Chris wrapped a bandana with a grinning skull mouth on it around his face and let out a loud, “Wooo!”
She shook her head, though she couldn’t help but smile. Really, how could two people be more different? Yeah, he was fun to look at, and he’d be a lot more fun to do a few things with. A lot of fun. And she even had to admit she was starting to like being with him. He was fun. He made her laugh and definitely kept her on her toes. Being with him would never be boring.
Then again, being with him would probably require a lifetime supply of Xanax. Or a really good internet connection, because the only way she would ever get to see him would be via email and video chat. Because while she stayed at home building the business she’d always wanted, he’d be off trying to break his neck in multiple countries around the world.
Not that any of that mattered anyway. She was there to do a job, and so was he. Any other ridiculous fantasies her brain tried to cook up were nothing but that. Fantasies.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“As much as I’ll ever be.”
“Okay then,” he said, strapping on his helmet. “Let’s go!”
He nodded to the guide that they were ready and revved up the engine on his ATV. Charley took a deep breath and released the brake on her own machine. It lurched forward. Chris looked over his shoulder, waiting for her.
“Just ease up on it,” he said.
She released a long breath and slowly eased off the brake, giving it a little gas at the same time. This time, the take-off was much smoother. Chris gave her a huge grin and gave his own some gas, doing a little pop-a-wheelie while he shouted, “Woohoo!”
She rolled her eyes. “Show off.”
It took her a few minutes, but she finally got the hang of giving the deathtrap underneath her just enough gas so she wasn’t moving at a crawl without going so fast she thought she’d die. After a few more minutes, she actually found herself having fun. The ATVs really did allow them to travel places a car could never go. They threaded through the thick trees down a dirt path for quite a while before emerging on the banks of a creek. She hesitated a moment, but Chris zipped up the creek bed without so much as pausing, so she threw caution to the wind and followed.
She mostly stayed out of the water, but Chris darted in and out of the shallow creek, his infectious laughter ringing out as he sent sprays in all directions. Far from disapproving or being overly cautious as she usually would be, she found herself laughing along with him. Despite her best efforts, it wasn’t possible to stay indifferent to him. He was like a great big ball of golden sunshine that warmed and cheered everyone around him, no matter what their intentions. The man was contagious.
He mostly traveled ahead of her as he liked to go quite a bit faster than she preferred. But every few minutes, he’d wait up so he could ride along with her, pointing out exotic wildlife and beautiful plants and flowers. While she never would have thought to use this mode of transportation on her own, she could definitely see the merits.
And while it might be a little riskier than a car, she had to admit that they took every precaution to be as safe as possible. The ATVs se
emed very well maintained, they were definitely stable and sturdy, she was padded and helmeted, and they had a seemingly knowledgeable guide there to keep them on the right path. She hated to admit it, but Izzy had been right.
Charley had seen similar pictures of Chris on these contraptions on his Instagram account. And initially, she’d counted his preference for them as a negative. However, with all the precautions she could see that he took, and now that she’d experienced them for herself, she could see she’d been wrong with her initial assessment, something she would’ve never discovered had she not come on this trip.
She watched him as he splashed through the water, spraying the guide. Watched as he threw his head back to laugh, every rock-hard, solid ounce of him radiating life and happiness and vitality. And the small ball of fear that had taken up permanent residence in her brain after that accident began to unravel. There was no room for it when she was in his presence.
She hated that her entire job was to try to curtail any of that exuberance in him. Because in all honesty, what would make the insurance company very happy and much more comfortable insuring him was if he agreed to give up any sort of extreme sport and spend his days chained to his desk and his nice safe office. But a life like that would probably kill the man. She could no more see him in a suit and tie gazing out his high-rise window day after day than she could see herself hopping from country to country spending her days going from one adrenaline rush to the next. She’d had more fun on this trip so far than she had thought possible. But it was one thing to have an adventure, quite another to live your entire life that way.
She still craved some stability.
“Come on, slowpoke!” he called back over his shoulder. “We’re almost there!”
She grinned and gave her ATV a little more gas, gasping with the thrill that rushed through her as she shot forward, zooming after him.
Then again, there was a lot to be said for living your life to the fullest. Maybe she should take a page or two from his book. Or at least a paragraph.
…
Chris smiled as she caught up to him. She might try to pretend like she didn’t have an adventurous bone in her body, but her smile said otherwise. He couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when they got to their final destination. He could guarantee she’d never seen anything like it.