Chapter Eight

 

Chase had no idea what time it was when he finally pulled himself off the couch. All he knew was that his head was killing him, his stomach was angry and his face felt as if he’d grilled it on the barbecue outside.

He rummaged through the kitchen and came up with a beer from the fridge and half of a telera roll. Not the best combo, but it calmed his stomach enough so he could make his way down the hall to the restroom.

It was time to wash away the fucking day.

He flipped on the light switch and headed toward the shower. He stopped when he noticed a black swimsuit hanging over the glass door.

The memory of how it got there immediately made him hard. They’d taken a late night dip in the pool last night then ended up getting naked in the Jacuzzi. It wasn’t until they were about to walk out the door this morning that Rio remembered her swimsuit was still outside. But rather than taking it with her, she’d hung it on the door.

She left it here because she knew she’d be back later.

Chase looked around the restroom and saw she’d also left behind a bottle of lotion, a hairbrush, a pair of earrings and a tube of lip gloss. He uncapped the tube and sniffed: Cherry. Warmth spread though his body. Not just because the items reminded him of her, but because they proved that she had made herself comfortable there.

No one had forced Rio to sleep with him or spend lazy afternoons on the beach with him. She’d done it because she’d wanted to.

She’d wanted to be with him as much as he had wanted to be with her.

And now he’d ruined it for both of them.

He ran out of his villa, not bothering to lock it or even think of what he’d say when he saw her. All he knew, all that mattered, was that he had to see her again and beg her forgiveness. Chase jogged and then sprinted toward her villa. It was less than a quarter of a mile, but it felt like it took forever to get there. As soon as he landed on her front porch, he pounded on the door. When she didn’t answer after a few minutes, he ran around to the back and banged on that door. But again, no answer.

“Rio!” he yelled.

Only the rushing waves answered him back.

Chase ran back again to the front and peeked in the front bay windows to see if he could spot any movement, any sign that she was inside.

Hope swelled when he saw a flash of light. Then he realized it was only a reflective glare coming from behind. He turned and shielded his eyes from the shining beam of light being aimed at him.

“Señor Simon? Is that you?”

The light went away and Chase adjusted his focus in time to see Gustavo stepping off his golf cart and walking toward him.

“Hello, Gustavo. Yes, it’s only me. I’ve been trying to call Rio, but I think she’s probably in bed already.”

“Oh no, she not in bed. Ella se fue.”

“Sorry? What did you say?”

“Señorita Flores is gone. I take her to the port an hour ago for the last boat. She say she go on a plane back to Los Angeles tonight.”

A heaviness fell on him—weighing down every part of his soul. Rio was gone. He’d made her get on that boat as if he’d packed her bags himself. He could fucking kick himself for throwing away a second chance to be with her because of his over-thinking.

Why couldn’t he have trusted his own feelings? Why couldn’t he have let his mind believe what he already knew in his heart?

He was in love with Rio. And now she probably hated him.

Anger and agony took turns knifing him in the gut. But before he could succumb to their destruction, he did what he normally did when emotions threatened his control over a situation. He went on the offensive.

Less than thirty minutes later he was standing in Gustavo’s kitchen using his land line. His fingers shook as he punched in the phone number. After two short rings, the line picked up.

“You have some fucking explaining to do, Rhodes.”

* * *

The elevators doors opened and Chase hesitated for a second. High-pitched chatter and telephones ringing assaulted his ears. The chaos was exactly as he had left it. The thrill he used to feel when coming into the office had died a long time ago. The time he’d spent away only just made him realize it.

Still, there was nowhere else to go. So, he took a breath and stepped back into his life.

“Mr. Simon, you’re back!”

“So good to see you, Mr. Simon.”

“You look amazing, Mr. Simon.”

“We’re so happy you’re here.”

Chase walked the long aisle of cubicles, nodding and smiling at his employees. A few of the men came up to pat him on the back or shake his hand, while the women waved with giant smiles. By the time he arrived at his corner office, he was exhausted from all of the “welcome back” attention.

He shut the door behind him, threw his bag on a nearby chair and took a seat behind his desk. Reports and files he’d been working on before his “attack” remained there untouched. He sighed in both relief and disappointment. It was as if he’d never left.

Maybe his life outside of the office would be just as status quo and he could fall back into his routine—a routine that had never included Rio anyway, so that way he couldn’t miss her, right?

A few hours later, though, it became more apparent that some things were different. After being brought up to speed by his brother on everything he had done in his absence, Chase sat back in awe.

“What’s that look for?” George asked, a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

Chase’s own defenses rose. Before he answered with his usual annoyed tone, he breathed in and exhaled. “I don’t mean to give you a look, George. Guess, I’m just impressed, that’s all.”

His brother did a double take. “Impressed? You mean you don’t have a long list to share of things you would’ve done differently?”

“Not really. I mean, I’m not a fan of the way the data’s sorted in this sheet, but that’s not you, that’s the consultant. It’s only because I’m not used to seeing it this way. Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong.”

George fell back in his chair and laughed. “Who are you and what did you do with my older brother?”

Chase thought about his brother’s words and he had to admit he was a bit surprised too. A week ago, he would’ve attacked George’s reports with a hatchet, nit-picking every comma and period. Turned out, when he wasn’t so busy looking for the things that were wrong, he could actually see what was right.

He picked up the papers on his desk and handed them back to George. “Everything looks good. Really. Thanks for holding down the fort while I was gone.”

Chase turned to look at new emails that had just popped up on his computer screen, but noticed his brother hadn’t moved. “Did you need to talk about something else?”

George shifted in his seat. “Yeah, I guess there is, but I’m not too sure you’re going to like it.”

And here it comes, Chase thought. He braced himself for whatever kind of mess George had gotten himself or the company into. “Just spill it,” he said on a sigh.

“Fine. Here it goes. I know I haven’t been totally committed to this company—or to the family, but I think I’m ready to do more. I’ve actually enjoyed the last few days here.”

“Could it have anything to do with the fact that I wasn’t?” He couldn’t hide the irritation in his voice. Chase wasn’t in the mood to hear how he’d had a sudden change of heart and wanted to help run things. Even his dad had given up on the fact that George would ever be more than just a figurehead.

His interest was too little too late.

And how dare he think he could remove himself from the business after all these years, play CEO for seven days and then fill his dad’s shoes without a blink of an eye.

And that’s when it hit him. Why he’d been so stressed the past few months. He’d been killing himself trying to be his dad for George and for the company. His dad was gone and no one could replace him. The company needed someone with fresh ideas and a new energy to lead it into the next phase.

Chase finally admitted to himself that he wasn’t that someone. He didn’t want to be that someone. George did.

He blew out a breath. “I’m going to make you a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“For the next thirty days, you show up. And by that, I mean you come into work before me and you leave after me. You make it to every single meeting, every single conference call, every single lunch and dinner that I have to. If you do that, I’ll ask that the Board give you the title of Interim CEO.”

“Why interim?”

“Because you still have to earn it, George. I’m not Dad. I’m not just going to hand it to you just because you asked for it.”

“So what else do I have to do to earn it?”

“I’ll let you know. There’s not going to be some magic number of days that you hit that’s going to convince me you really want this. I have to see it. And when I do, that’s when I’ll go to the Board and recommend you for the position.”

“What about you?”

“Honestly, I never wanted to be CEO. I’m the numbers guy. Numbers make sense to me. All the other stuff that comes with running a company doesn’t. I’m kind of tired of pretending to want something other people want for me. I’m going to try doing what I want for a change.”

George nodded. “Wow, that island really changed you.”

Chase knew it wasn’t the island. Still, he nodded.

“Guess I’ll get back to work then,” George said and stood. “And Chase?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“You can thank me when you have the job,” he said and looked at his computer again.

After George closed the door, Chase thought about what had just happened. There was still a very good chance George would revert back to his old ways once he had to make his first tough decision. But Chase told himself that even if that happened, he was still going to tell the Board that he didn’t want to be CEO.

It felt freeing to realize that he had a choice after all.

Almost his whole life had been planned for him before he could even tie his own shoes. And he’d gone along with it only because he’d never been encouraged not to.

Except for the night he met Rio.

The knock on the door saved him from having to think of her. John opened it before Chase even had a chance to tell him to.

Shit. He hadn’t expected to see his friend so soon after basically ripping him a new one on the phone two days ago.

“Before you throw me out, I came to apologize,” John said as he approached Chase’s desk. “You have every right to be angry with me. I had no right to tell Rio about what happened to you.”

“Go on,” Chase said and folded his arms across his chest.

“But please don’t be mad at Cassandra. She thought she was helping by telling her sister. This whole damn vacation plan was just us trying to help you. Maybe we went about it the wrong way. So, I’m sorry for that, and for getting mad at you for getting mad at me. I was a jerk.”

“You were a jerk,” Chase said. And then he sighed. “But so was I. “

John nodded and the tension in the room evaporated. He took a seat and studied him for a few seconds. “You look good, healthy even. How do you feel?”

“Fine. Despite my rant the other day, the vacation wasn’t terrible. I even enjoyed some parts.”

“Like screwing my wife’s sister?”

The comment slammed into his chest. “How—”

“Apparently, women know these things. After you called me, Rio called Cassandra. She wasn’t as pissed as you, though. She was more…I don’t know. Sad?”

His gut wrenched at the thought of Rio being upset, especially since he knew it was because of him. “What did she say?”

“Nothing much, but somehow Cassandra figured it out anyway. She asked her and she admitted it. So, I was instructed to come over here and find out what you were going to do about it.”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean. We were together on the island, but now we’re not. It’s as simple as that.”

His friend laughed and shook his head. “Nothing about these Flores women is simple, man. Cassandra insists that whatever happened between you two must’ve been more than what you’re both letting on.”

“I’ll admit that I have feelings for Rio, feelings that actually started way before this vacation. So, yeah, it was nice to spend Christmas with her on some tropical island and pretend for a little while that the real world didn’t exist. But it does and I’m an ass and it’s over.”

“Bullshit.”

“Excuse me?”

“Look, I don’t know if this thing between you two is the real deal. All I know is that you can’t be afraid to find out. So maybe it’s time to stop pretending.”

“Stop pretending what?”

“That you’re not crazy about her. Cassandra may have a sixth sense when it comes to her sister, but I know you. And Rio does something to you when she’s around.”

“God,” Chase groaned and put his head in his hands. “Have I been that obvious?” Then a realization hit him. His head snapped back up. “Wait a second. So were you hoping something would happen between us when you stuck us on that island together?”

John sat back in the chair and folded his arms across his chest. “I figured it was time for you both to either get it out of your systems or figure out how to be together. It sounds like you still haven’t been totally honest with her. Don’t you think she deserves to know the truth?” He pulled an envelope out of his pants pocket and threw it on the desk.

Chase stared at it and then back at John. “Don’t tell me you’re sending me on another fucking vacation?”

His friend stood up and shrugged. “Consider it a late Christmas present.” Then he turned and walked out of the office.

Chase looked at the envelope for a few more minutes debating whether to open it or shred it. After everything John had pulled off last week, there was no telling what could be inside. Still, he owed it to him to at least look, right?

He opened the unsealed envelope and pulled out a piece of red paper.

After reading and re-reading it a few more times, Chase laughed. Then he picked up his phone and told his assistant, “Donna, I need you to make an appointment for me.”

* * *

The clock said it was only five, but it might as well have been midnight. Rio looked at the spreadsheet on the computer screen and sighed. Even with a few energy drinks in her, math still made her tired. Actually, everything made her tired these days. Every movement, every thought took effort. Her concentration was zapped and even her staff mentioned she seemed distracted. She’d brushed off their concerns and said her body and mind were still on “island time.” It didn’t help that she’d barely gotten any sleep since returning from Mexico.

Truth was, she needed a vacation from her vacation.

Rio shook away the image of a naked Chase between her thighs. It was the one that usually appeared when she grew tired of trying so hard to forget. Instead, she tried to focus again on the accounting hieroglyphics in front of her.

The knock on her office door gave her a welcome distraction.

“Come on in,” she called and laid her head down on the desk.

“Sorry to bother you, sweetie,” one of the instructors said. “Were you taking a nap?”

Rio groaned and sat up. “Oh, Justine, I wish. Unfortunately, I’ve just been sitting here trying to understand how in the hell I balanced last month’s finances.”

“Uh-oh. Sounds rough. I was just letting you know that your five o’clock private lesson is here. If you’re in the middle of something though, I can take it for you.”

“No, that’s okay. You can go ahead and take off. It’s New Year’s Eve and you have a fabulous party to go to later.”

“Are you sure? Really, it’s no trouble at all. I don’t mind—”

“Oh, I get it,” Rio interrupted. “He must be good-looking.”

“Nope. He’s fucking hot,” Justine said.

She laughed and stood up. “Well, sorry to disappoint you. The note in the appointment book from Chris says he’s here to learn to dance as a surprise for his girlfriend.”

“Damn.” Justine snapped her fingers. She walked over and gave her a tight hug. “Happy New Year, sweetie.”

Rio squeezed her back. “Happy New Year.”

“Call me if you change your mind about going to the party, okay?”

She nodded even though she knew she wouldn’t be changing her mind. All she wanted to do that night was binge watch Netflix and eat all kinds of junk food. “Do me a favor and lock the door on your way out? And just let the client know that I’ll be there in a minute.”

Justine nodded and disappeared behind the door again.

Rio closed the document she’d been trying to decipher and then shut off the computer. She took a moment to center herself by closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. It helped her focus on the music and her steps. Whether it was performing or teaching, Rio needed to be fully in control.

Satisfied she was ready for her lesson, she went toward the front of the studio.

Every ounce of control she’d just gathered disintegrated on the spot when she saw Chase standing in the middle of the room.

Justine was right. He looked hot.

She’d gotten so used to seeing him in camp shirts and shorts, that the sight of him in a suit and tie made her gasp. And his new tan only made his eyes more stunning, more soul piercing. Her body reacted with a mix of desire, anger and sadness. She didn’t know what to say or what to do. So she just stood there in shock.

“Hello, Rio,” he finally said.

When she didn’t move or speak, he approached her and showed her the slip of paper he’d been holding. “I came to redeem this,” he said, his expression blank.

The fact that he was acting so nonchalant after everything that had happened between them irritated her enough to snap her out of the haze of seeing him again. She took the paper and her irritation only increased.

She looked at him and shook her head. “This is a coupon for a free dance lesson that I gave John as a joke birthday gift a few months ago. Why do you have it?”

Chase took the paper from her and shrugged. “Guess he figured I needed it more than he did.”

The tightness in her throat warned her tears were on their way. She didn’t want to cry in front of Chase. It would show him what a freaking emotional wreck she’d been the last few days, trying to forget the way he’d touched her or whispered naughty, naughty things in her ear. It was the day of Cassandra’s wedding all over again. She couldn’t let him know that she’d fallen for him. This time, though, the fall had been much harder and she knew it would be that much more difficult to pretend she didn’t care.

So, she needed to put an end to whatever it was he was doing by showing up here.

“That coupon’s non-transferrable. Says it on the back. So, sorry, but I can’t honor it,” Rio said. “Besides, we both know that’s not why you showed up. I don’t care what John or Cassandra told you, but I don’t need you coming around to check on me. I’m perfectly fine. Good-bye Chase.”

She turned on her heel and started back to the safety of her office.

“I lied to you!” he yelled after her.

Rio’s heart stopped. So did her steps. She desperately wanted to keep walking away from him. The knot in her stomach forced her to turn around.

“When?” she asked.

“Two years ago. The day of the wedding.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I told you that our night together didn’t mean anything to me. But I lied. It meant everything. I was just too much of a coward to admit it so I pushed you away.”

“You’re not making any sense,” she said.

He raked his fingers through his hair and his body shuddered. Actually shuddered. “The only way I can explain it is that I’ve been living the past two years as a ghost. Then for seven glorious days and nights, I came back to life. But then you left and a part of me died all over again.”

That’s when she recognized the weariness in his eyes and the sag of his shoulders. She’d seen both in her own reflection this morning as she brushed her hair.

Hope surged within her, but the sting of Chase’s rejection still burned.

“You didn’t believe me—”

“Because I was scared—again,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “I’d never felt so alive or free or satisfied and it terrified me to think it hadn’t been real. But when you left without a word, that made me realize that there’s only one thing in this world to be afraid of now.”

She swallowed the sob that almost escaped her lips. Not yet, she told herself. Not until she knew for sure.

“And what’s that?” she asked in a small, unsteady voice.

He moved closer and finally cupped her face with his hands. “A life where you don’t you wake up in my arms every day. I love you, Rio.”

Relief and joy squeezed her chest at the same time making it nearly impossible to breathe. Until he’d said the words, she hadn’t let herself admit that she loved him too. Although her heart wanted to believe him, her head told her to be careful

“You hurt me, Chase,” she whispered as she felt a tear slide down from the corner of her eye.

“I know I did and I promise I’m going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Starting now.” He rubbed the tear away with his thumb and then leaned down for a kiss. He hesitated though until she nodded and gave him permission to find her lips.

When he did, she melted.

His hands still cradled her face, letting him control the tempo of the kiss while their tongues did their own tango, tasting each other back and forth. Any doubt, hurt or hesitation fell away. For two years, she’d been just as lost as he had. And now, through forgiveness and love, she had been found. This was where she belonged.

It was time to come home.

Rio broke their kiss and pressed her hand against his chest. “I love you too, Chase. It’s not practical or logical, but I do.”

He smiled at her, true adoration sparkling in his eyes. “Someone very smart and very beautiful once told me that sometimes the best things in life are the ones you can’t explain.”

They kissed again, long and deep. Chase’s hands slid down her back and grabbed her ass to pull her tighter against him. The need to have him inside her grew until she was ready to make him take her right there on the studio floor, but the cleaning crew would be here soon. Maybe another day.

The fact that she knew in her heart that there would be another day, another week, another year and more in his arms, filled her with so many emotions. Until this moment, her relationship with Chase had been all about their past.

Now, it was about their future.

Rio tore her lips away and caught her breath. “Let me grab my things and we can go back to my place. I think you still owe me a skinny dip, Mr. Simon.”

He pulled the coupon back out of his pocket and waved it at her. “As much as I would love that, I think you owe me a dance lesson first.”

“I thought you said you don’t dance,” she said with a laugh.

He wrapped his arms around her and brought his face close to hers. Then just before he claimed her lips once again, he whispered, “Rio, with you by my side, I think I could do just about anything.”

 

 

THE END