Chapter Eight
Molly
The gym was a sprawling room with twos types of every exercise machine you could imagine. Glass windows substituted walls so that you could see the brilliant blue ocean no matter where in the room you had your workout. There were small TVs set up, too, and a few people were even watching them, but for me, nothing compared to that view.
I had spent forty minutes on the treadmill, before doing steps for twenty minutes. Now I was rounding out my workout with some elliptical training. I noticed from my peripheral vision that Alani had just entered the gym. She was wearing a nice white shirt, tucked into a black pencil skirt. Her thick black hair hung loosely around her shoulders, and I thought she looked like a modern-day Pocahontas.
I noticed how almost every guest in the gym turned to her like magnets. She greeted them all with friendly smiles and warm words. One of the guests actually stopped his weight training to walk over to her. She spoke to him for a few minutes and then politely excused herself to walk over to me.
“Exercising on vacation?” she asked accusingly. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as the type.”
I laughed. “Exercising helps me feel strong,” I admitted. “And with all the rich food I’ve been indulging in, I think a little exercise is necessary.”
“Fair enough,” she nodded. “Now…on to the more pressing matter—”
“How was dinner last night?” I guessed.
She laughed. “How was dinner last night?” she nodded.
“The restaurant was lovely, the food was exquisite, and David was…sweet,” I admitted. “But not my type. The conversation was a little boring in parts… He was constantly talking about his businesses. I don’t think we had very much chemistry.”
“Who cares if you did or not,” Alani said bluntly. “What matters is that Tristan saw chemistry between you and another man, whether it was there or not.”
I stopped the elliptical and got off the machine. I toweled myself off and took a big gulp of water. “I did everything you advised me to do,” I told her. “I dressed to kill, I laughed a lot, and I touched him more times than I can count. I pretended like I was enjoying myself, even if that wasn’t always true. I thought I did a pretty convincing job, actually… But I don’t know if Tristan even cared.”
“What makes you think he didn’t?” Alani asked.
“He came over to say hello, and he was extremely polite to both of us,” I said. “It didn’t seem like he was very jealous.”
“He came over?” she asked.
“Uh… yeah.”
“That’s a good sign.”
“It is?” I asked, wrinkling my brows. “Wouldn’t he have done that for anyone he knew eating at his restaurant?”
“Not necessarily,” she said vaguely. “What did you speak about when he came to your table?”
“Mundane things, nothing important,” I reported. “I introduced the two of them, David complimented Tristan on the resort, Tristan wanted to know where David was staying, then we asked him to recommend some dishes, and then he excused himself and headed off.”
“Kani mentioned that Tristan was curious about David,” Alani revealed.
“Who?”
“He’s one of the waiters at Pepe Albero,” she told me. “He waits on Tristan every night. When I checked in with him this morning, he told me that Tristan was very keen to know about your guest. He also told me that Tristan ordered a two black Russians last night for dinner.”
“Is that important?” I asked, slightly amused.
“Only because Tristan never drinks anything remotely that strong. He has one drink before his meal, and that’s it. He almost always has meetings after dinner, so he has to be alert. Something tells me that the sight of seeing you with another man might have thrown him a little.”
“You think?” I asked, not daring to hope.
“I do,” she nodded. “I think our plan is definitely working.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I’ve gotta hand it to you, Alani, I thought this was a long shot.”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” she winked at me.
“By the way, you never really told me what you told David,” I said. “He just showed up at the restaurant bar waiting for me.”
“I kept it simple,” she replied. “I told him that there was a beautiful single woman staying at the resort I worked at and if he was interested in a casual date, then I could set it up for him. I also told him that there was an ex-boyfriend you wanted to get revenge on.”
“I still can’t believe he agreed,” I laughed incredulously.
“Of course, he agreed,” Alani said. “He’s a rich bachelor who’s on vacation, meeting beautiful women is expected. Plus, he kind of liked the idea of making some other guy jealous.”
“He mentioned that,” I smiled. “It was really nice of him to play along.”
“Please,” she said, rolling her eyes. “He wasn’t being nice; there was nothing charitable about what he did. He was hoping to sleep with you.”
“He told you that?” I exclaimed as my eyes went wide.
“Of course not,” Alani clarified. “But when you tell a guy that a friend of yours is trying to make another guy jealous, they assume revenge sex is a given.”
I laughed. “Oh God, so that’s why he looked so disappointed when I said goodbye to him at the elevators.”
She burst out laughing. “You didn’t?”
“I assumed you had also told him that I didn’t really consider last night to be a serious date. Sex was definitely off the table.”
“I didn’t know if that was really the case,” she said.
“You thought I might actually sleep with the guy?” I asked.
“Well… he’s rich and attractive.” Alani shrugged. “It was possible you might hit it off with him. You’re both consenting adults; would sex have been totally out of the question?”
“For me, it is,” I said, without thinking.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly.
I liked Alani, but there were some things I just wasn’t comfortable sharing with anyone. Instead, I took another gulp of water to avoid elaborating.
“Are you ready for your next date?” Alani asked instead, wagging her eyebrows at me.
“You’ve already got someone in mind?” I asked.
“Oh, I have several men in mind,” she said. “Don’t worry about running out.”
“Tristan’s going to wonder what’s going on,” I said.
“Let him wonder,” she said. “Make sure to be vague with him if he starts asking questions.”
“I doubt he will.”
“Please,” Alani said, rolling her eyes. “You’re a beautiful woman, Molly. He’s definitely noticed. Just because he covers it well doesn’t mean he hasn’t.”
“You seem very confident.”
“I know men,” she replied. “I know what they want, and I know how to push their buttons. I’ve worked under Tristan long enough to have made a few observations.”
“Such as?”
“He’s driven, ambitious, and hard working. All necessary traits to have in life. But the fact that he also happens to be charming, charismatic, and handsome has catapulted him ahead of men twice his age. He inherited his father’s legacy, and he made it twice as successful in a short period of time.
“In short, he’s a man who’s used to getting his way. He’s a man who always gets the girl. And if he starts seeing you as something he can’t have… Well then, you’ll have him.”
I’d have him. The thought terrified me as much as it thrilled me. One thing was certain: I didn’t want to be just another name on Tristan’s list. I didn’t want to be yet another girl that he had used only to cast aside later. My feelings for Tristan were real, which meant I was the one in danger of getting hurt.
“Are you okay?” Alani asked. “You look upset.”
“Not upset,” I clarified. “Just…contemplative.”
“What are you contemplating?”
“What I’m trying to achieve out of this whole plan,” I said. “Do you I just want revenge for that forgotten kiss or am I hoping for something more?”
Alani gave me a sympathetic smile. “It sounds like you might still be in love with him.”
“Is that even possible?” I asked. “Is it possible to be in love with someone you’ve never actually been with?”
“Of course it is,” she assured me. “It happens all the time.”
“How depressing.”
She smiled. “The point is you need to see this thing through—either for closure or else for…”
“For what?”
“A chance at a relationship with Tristan?”
I took a deep breath. “Is it just me or do the words ‘relationship’ and ‘Tristan’ not go together?”
Alani smiled. “I think that’s all you.”
I sighed. “You know what I wish? I wish I didn’t have feelings for Tristan. That would make everything so much easier. Then I could actually enjoy this vacation instead of constantly obsess about him.”
“Is that what you’ve been doing this whole time?”
“It was just…something about seeing him the day I arrived. It was like all the old feelings came rushing back and somehow, they managed to magnify. I feel like I’ve become the hopeless fourteen-year-old girl I used to be.”
“You’re not fourteen anymore,” Alani pointed out as we made our way out of the gym.
“And yet, what has really changed since I was fourteen?” I asked. “I’m still single, unemployed, and hung up on my brother’s best friend.”
“Wow, you really know how to paint a dismal picture, don’t you?”
I laughed. “Who’s the next guy on your list?”
“His name is Raymond Burke,” Alani told me. “His father owns a chain of golf courses around the country, and he’s in Hawaii on a bachelor trip with his friends.”
“I’m assuming it’s not his bachelor party?”
“Of course not,” Alani said. “I think he’s going to get more of a rise out of Tristan than David did.”
“How do you figure that out?” I asked.
“David’s part of the older, white collar, predictable, and sensible kind of group,” Alani clarified. “Whereas Raymond Burke is...”
“Not?”
She laughed. “Most definitely not. He’s twenty-six and over six feet tall, sandy blond hair, great smile, and a fantastic body. Trust me; I’ve seen him without his shirt off.”
“And you explained the situation to him?”
“He knows you’re trying to make someone jealous,” she nodded. “But again, he’s probably hoping for some hot revenge sex as a thank you.”
“Well, he’s going to be disappointed then.”
“You might actually want to sleep with this one.”
I shook my head. “I doubt it.”
Alani wrinkled her brows at me, but I gave her a smile and withheld the explanation. When we arrived at the elevators, she wished me luck for the next date and headed off towards the staff quarters. I rode up the elevator to my suite.
When I had first stepped into the grand suite, I had been speechless. It was a huge space that looked more like a luxury apartment rather than a room in a resort.
You entered into the living room area, which opened out into the massive balcony. To the right was the dining area and to the left was the bedroom. The bedroom was situated in a completely separate alcove that extended out from the main structure of the building. I had only one wall against which the massive super king bed had been pushed. The other three walls were thick, floor-to-ceiling windows that gave me a spectacular view of the ocean below.
If you sat on the bed and looked straight ahead, all you could see was miles of ocean and sky. The blinds were operated through a special remote control, and the floors were covered over with a luxurious faux fur carpet that felt like you were walking on pillows. The room was connected to a separate walk-in closet and a massive bathroom complete with a Jacuzzi and its own view of the ocean.
I headed to the bathroom, stripped down, and slipped into the Jacuzzi for a nice long soak. I closed my eyes and started to daydream. Inevitably, my dreams turned to Tristan.