Chapter Four

 

* LOGAN *

 

I straightened my tie and glanced at my reflection in the mirror one last time. The last thing I had wanted to do this afternoon was put on a suit and go to a stupid “welcome reception,” but the staff had already planned the event and Zach had texted me telling me I better not dare cancel it.

Everyone wants to say hello and shake your hand, the text had read. You’ll be working closely with these people over the next few days, so try to start off on the right foot.

I wanted to argue with Zach that if someone wanted to start off on the right foot, they should have known that scheduling a reception for practically the moment I arrived wasn’t the best idea. Couldn’t a man even have an hour to relax and catch his breath after the long trip from New York?

Okay, so I had had an hour. I’d spent it first buying and then consuming a dozen cupcakes. Consuming bites of a dozen cupcakes, anyway. I’d sampled at least one nibble from each of the twelve cupcakes Julia had picked out for me, and they were all delicious. Julia knew her stuff.

She hadn’t even given me her name when I went into the café earlier, let alone told me that she was the owner. I’d assumed she was just an employee, but a few quick inquiries had set me straight. When you’re the billionaire owner of a resort, you only have to ask a few people to get whatever information you want. I would have stopped at nothing to learn who that gorgeous woman was, and what her relationship status might be. Luckily, it only took about ten minutes for my personal assistant at the hotel to get back to me, telling me that the woman, Julia Price, was the owner and operator of the Conch Shell Café. Julia was definitely single, but also definitely not looking. She especially wasn’t looking if the man in question was one of the Evans brothers who owned the obnoxious, intrusive Evans Resort and Spa.

We’ll see about that, I thought. I was determined to impress her. For one thing, the woman knew how to make coffee. When I took my first sip of the simple drip coffee she’d brewed up for me, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Finally, finally, someone on this goddamn island had figured out how to make coffee. But the fact that she also knew how to bake, and that she was so beautiful that a mere glimpse of her was enough to give me a hard-on? Yeah, I was going to find a way to convince her that I wasn’t as obnoxious as all the locals seemed to think I was.

I had started by asking my assistant to change whatever food had been ordered for my welcome reception to food and coffee from Julia’s café. I didn’t care what the cost was, or even what food Julia had available at such short notice. After sampling twelve different cupcakes of hers and thinking that every last one of them was the best cupcake I had ever tasted, I felt confident that whatever food she had to offer would be good. I also felt confident that she would appreciate the giant order. Instead of having to throw out pastries that would be stale the next day, she’d make a shit ton of money.

I had no plan beyond ordering the food, other than to show up and dazzle her with my smile once she arrived. So far in my life, that had always been plan enough to get any woman I wanted. I had a vague, nagging feeling somewhere in the back of my mind that Julia wasn’t going to be so easy to snag, but I pushed the thought away. Surely, everyone overestimated how much she hated me just because I was an Evans brother. After all, it’s not like I was Zach. I might have the same last name as the name on the resort’s flashy welcome sign, and I might share in whatever profits the resort made. But it wasn’t like I was out here campaigning for expansion all the time like Zach was. I actually thought he would be better off just letting the issue go. The resort was profitable enough, and we had plenty of other resorts on other islands that had been allowed to expand and were more than making up for the smaller size of this one. It seemed like a waste of energy to keep pursuing the whole expansion thing as hard as Zach did, but that was my brother. Once he got an idea in his head, he could not let it go.

I was pretty much the opposite. I wasn’t afraid of hard work, but if something was pointless I had no trouble shrugging my shoulders and moving on to the next thing—something that actually had a point.

Something like figuring out how to get Julia to overlook my last name and indulge in a little summer fling with me.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my reverie, and I gave my tie one last tug before going to open it. My personal assistant was standing there, wearing a prim and proper navy skirt suit and holding a stack of folders. I thought it was a bit ridiculous that we were all wearing suits after five for a casual meet and greet at an island resort, but this was what the staff expected of me so it’s what I did.

“Mr. Evans, I can escort you down to the meeting room if you’re ready? I can also brief you on your schedule for the weekend while we walk, if you’d like.”

She handed me one of the folders, and launched off into a discussion of my schedule before I even told her whether I was ready. I only half-listened. I’d already read over the paper copy of the schedule she’d sent me, and it was all the same-old, same-old. All sorts of boring business meetings I didn’t care about. God, I wished Zach would let me give up this façade of actually wanting to be a business man. After a while it all felt so boring and purposeless. I already had more money than I knew what to do with, even if I never earned another cent for the rest of my life.

When we arrived to the giant conference room where the meeting was to take place, no one else on the attendee list had arrived. But the smell of good, fresh coffee and delicious pastries hit my nose, and I knew Julia had already made it here. I held up my hand to my assistant, signaling her to pause in the long, rambling speech I hadn’t actually been listening to.

“We’ll finish up later, thanks. I want to see if Julia is here.”

My assistant sighed, and I got the feeling she was working really hard not to roll her eyes at me. Whatever. She could doubt me all she wanted. I would find a way to win Julia over.

“I’ll just wait out here in the hallway until the meeting starts, in case you need me, sir.”

I nodded, thankful that at least the assistant knew well enough when I wanted to be alone with someone. I stepped into the room, hoping that Julia was still here and still setting up. To my relief, she was. She had just finished putting the finishing touches on the elaborate tray of pastries, cupcakes, and cookies she’d brought. My mouth watered at the sight, even though I’d just eaten way more than I should have of the dozen cupcakes she’d sold me earlier.

“Julia!” I said brightly, striding confidently toward her with my hand outstretched, as though she was some sort of business partner I was trying to win over on some big deal or another. Julia looked at me suspiciously, her eyes darkening when she saw me. That wasn’t a good sign. She did manage to reach out and shake my hand, although she drew back from the handshake rather quickly. I was pretty bummed about that, because the feel of her small, soft hand inside of my larger, strong one was one of the best things I’d ever felt in my life. I felt a strange surge of protective instinct rushing through me. I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her that I would always use my strength to protect her. I didn’t, of course. I’m too much of a gentleman to force myself on a woman in a random conference room. But I had never wanted a woman in my arms so badly in all my life.

“Mr. Evans,” she said coolly as she took a step back from me. “I guess it was you behind the order after all.”

“It was indeed,” I said, keeping a bright smile on my face despite the fact that her reaction was a lot less happy than I had anticipated. “I enjoyed the cupcakes you picked out for me so much that I knew I had to have you cater this meeting this afternoon. And it looks like I made a good choice. These pastries all look fantastic.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me. “Look, Mr. Evans—”

“Logan. Please call me Logan.”

She scowled. “As I was saying, Mr. Evans, I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but if you’re trying to get me to let down my guard so that I’ll let you buy out my café, it’s not going to work.”

For a moment, I was too stunned to say anything. Then, I burst out laughing. “No, no. I’m not trying to buy out your café. I’m not like my brother. I’m not trying to expand the resort or anything like that. I just genuinely like your cupcakes and coffee and thought they would make a nice change of pace from the usual junk we serve at these meetings.”

Julia kept glaring at me. “I don’t care if your name is Logan instead of Zach. You’re still one of the owners of this resort. You still care more about adding a few more dollars on top of the billions you already have than about helping out our local businesses. I’m happy to sell you cupcakes or coffee anytime, but don’t think we’re going to be friends. Don’t think that I’m not going to have my guard up around you. I don’t trust you, and neither do any of the other locals. And with good reason. Your resort has a history of bringing in lots of noisy tourists who only make you richer. My people get nothing, while your people get richer and richer.”

“My people? Who are my people? I don’t have people. All I want is a good cup of coffee, and maybe to actually get out and enjoy the sun for once while I’m here. I’m not on some sinister mission to take over the island.”

She shook her head at me in disgust, her green eyes flashing as her red curls bounced behind her in their loose ponytail. “Good afternoon, Mr. Evans. Enjoy your pastries.”

She strode out of the room, her back stiff and straight as she left. I stared after her in disbelief.

“Well, that didn’t go quite as well as expected.”

My assistant came timidly into the room. To her credit, she didn’t say anything even remotely close to “I told you so.” Instead, she asked in an apologetic voice if perhaps we could quickly finish reviewing my schedule. With a sigh, I nodded. I went to grab a cup of coffee and then sank into a chair as I once again half-listened to all of the torturous meetings that were coming up for me in the next few days.

By the time my assistant had finished, the room was filling up with my staff members who were here for the meet and greet. I played my part as well as I could, smiling and shaking hands and lying through my teeth about how happy I was to be here. The truth was that the deep anger I felt bubbling just beneath the surface was threatening to boil over.

I would never say I hated my brother. He was a good guy, and he meant well. But I couldn’t help but feel a little bit ragey about the fact that he’d made the townspeople hate him so much. If he hadn’t done that, then maybe Julia wouldn’t have brushed me off so easily.

I was also a little bit angry at Julia. Who did she think she was, judging me by my brother? Just because we were twins and looked a lot alike didn’t mean that we were the same person. Here I was, trying to do something nice for her and give her business, and she was accusing me of not helping locals. I freaking bought out her entire inventory today, for crying out loud. What more should I do to prove I cared about her business?

By the end of the meet and greet, I felt like I was going to explode from anger. I needed to get out and get some fresh air, somewhere far away from the resort and far away from people. Despite the fact that I’d had a long day of travel and would have an early start tomorrow morning, I decided I was going to actually go beyond the resort’s boundaries for once.

I snuck back to my room as quickly as possible, and changed into swimming trunks, a t-shirt, and a baseball cap. I pulled the cap low over my eyes, hoping that I might be able to escape out of the hotel’s lobby without anyone recognizing me. I made it to the taxi line and hopped into the first available cab, just as one of the bellhops noticed me.

“Mr. Evans! Can I assist you?”

I ignored the bellhop, slammed the door shut and told the taxi driver to “Drive. Just drive.”

He chuckled as he pulled away from the resort’s front entrance. “Long day, eh?”

“I’ll say. Where can I go on this island to be alone for a bit?”

He chuckled again. “Lots of places. My favorite though is Sunset Lagoon. It’s a rocky outcrop that almost completely surrounds the beach. There’s only one way in, a short, narrow path. Easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there. It’s one of the locals’ favorite places.”

He glanced over his shoulder and winked at me, like he was sharing some deep secret. He must not have recognized me as one of the Evans brothers. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t dare tell me about one of the locals’ favorite hot spots.

“Take me there, please. I could use a secluded beach right about now.”

“Of course.”

He sped away from the resort, and soon he was driving along the road that wound in a circle around the island’s entire coastline. Just seeing the open ocean, glittering in the late afternoon sunshine, helped calm me down. This is just what I needed. Open space. Quiet. And maybe a quick dip in the ocean. About ten minutes later, he pulled off onto a dirt road that would have been easy to miss if you didn’t know it was there. He drove right up to what looked like a solid wall of rock, and pointed to a spot that jutted out extra far about a dozen feet from where he’d parked.

“Right past that rock jutting out right there is a narrow path that’ll take you right smack into the secluded beach.” Then he reached and grabbed a business card from the center console of his car. He handed it back to me with a warm smile. “If you need a ride back later, give me a call. I’ll come out and get you.”

“Thanks,” I said, reaching into my wallet and pulling out double the amount of the fare shown on the meter. I didn’t dare use my black Amex, for fear that he’d glance down at the name on the card and realize who I was. He’d probably leave me stranded out here all night if he realized I was an Evans.

“Keep the change,” I said as I handed him the cash and jumped out of the car. I started walking at a brisk pace, eager to get past the rocks and to the quiet of the beach. I just wanted to be alone, with no one around to remind me of who I was, or to remind me of the fact that Julia wasn’t going to give me a chance, just because I happened to be a billionaire resort owner.

Maybe, if I gathered my thoughts and calmed down enough, I could figure out a way to change her mind. After all, no woman had ever been able to resist me before. Why should she be the first?

With an angry, determined gait, I stepped past the rocks and to the beach. Julia would cave. I would figure out her weak spot, and use it to convince her that I wasn’t someone you passed up.