Chapter Three

 

* ZACH *

 

I was beginning to think that coming to the bar had not been such a good idea. It was a Monday night, so things were relatively slow. The only other people here were couples canoodling in corners, which didn’t help me fight off my sudden wave of loneliness any better. Not only that, but the bartender had easily recognized me as the owner of the resort, and he was falling all over himself to be extra helpful. I didn’t need staff falling all over themselves right now. I just needed someone to hang out with who didn’t care that I was a rich billionaire.

With a frustrated grunt, I started downing the rest of my whiskey as quickly as possible. I should have known better than to come down here. I should have just stuck with my original plan of ordering room service and going to bed. After all, I had several early meetings tomorrow. There was no point in wearing myself out by staying up late and watching other couples enjoying the evening.

I finished my whiskey and slid the empty glass toward the bartender.

“Anything else, Mr. Evans?”

“No, thank you. I’m calling it a night.” I held my head high and turned to walk out of the bar. I certainly wasn’t going to let on to the bartender how emotional I was feeling right now. I’ve always thought that part of a bartender’s job is to offer a listening ear to customers who are feeling sad or depressed, and I had no doubt that the man currently behind this bar was the type to do that. He’d been friendly, warm, and respectful. But no way in hell was I going to spill my soul to a man who was technically one of my own employees.

I had made it halfway to the bar’s exit when I saw her, and stopped in my tracks. I felt my resentful mood evaporating with just one look at her smile. She had a broad grin on her face that stretched from ear to ear, but it wasn’t directed at me. She was giving the bartender a small wave, and when I looked over at him he was waving back with a smile that was just as wide.

“Hey, Abby. Wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon.”

She groaned. “It’s been a long day. And I have a feeling it’s going to be a long week. You’ll probably be seeing quite a bit of me over the next few days.”

“Ah, well. Less than a week and it’s all over. Then we’ll sit back and wait for you to become rich and famous as the hottest wedding planner in the western hemisphere.”

I watched as she blushed a bit, but she looked pleased. She was already halfway to the bar top by then, and still hadn’t noticed me. I was about to clear my throat to get her attention, but then she happened to glance over. She froze in her tracks, and my heart sank as I realized that she recognized me—and that that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Damn it. Why does everyone in this town despise me so much?

“Mr. Evans,” she said in a tone of utmost professionalism. The blush in her cheeks had darkened, which made her more beautiful than ever. She was clearly caught off guard by the sight of me, but she didn’t lose her poise. She walked over to me and extended a hand for me to shake. “I’m Abigail Reyes. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” I said automatically. I was about to tell her to just call me Zach when I realized that she might actually be an employee of the resort. She knew the bartender quite well, and was a regular here, it seemed. That probably meant she wasn’t a resort guest, and it meant she was totally off limits for me. If I had one hard and fast rule, it was that I didn’t hit on employees. That was a recipe for disaster. What was it the bartender had said? She was a wedding planner? Did we have wedding planners on staff at the resort? I realized that I was staring at her like an idiot, and I immediately stood taller and tried not to appear like a total buffoon.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t recall meeting before, but you seem to know me. Are you one of our valued resort employees?”

She snorted with laughter. “Uh, not exactly. Although I’m here so much I might as well be. I’m a wedding planner, but I’m self-employed. But if you want to hire me and offer me health insurance I wouldn’t complain.”

“Oh. So you plan weddings at the resort but you’re not an actual employee?” I realized I must sound a little slow for repeating back to her what she’d just said, but I wanted to make double sure that I was understanding things correctly and she wasn’t an employee. Because if she wasn’t an employee, I was definitely about to buy her a drink. She looked even hotter up close than she had from across the pool.

“I’m not an employee, no. But your resort is quite popular for weddings. In fact I believe you’re planning to attend the wedding I’m currently working on.”

I don’t know why it had taken so long for me to put the pieces together, but I suddenly realized that Abigail was the one planning the big wedding I was set to attend this weekend. “Oh! You’re handling Bruce’s wedding.”

“That I am. He’s been a delight to work with.” Her smile gave nothing away, but I wanted to laugh. I knew better than to think that Bruce or his fiancée had been a delight to work with. I admired Bruce’s tenacity in business dealings, but I had a feeling that same tenacity would be a nightmare for a wedding planner.

But I was sure Abigail didn’t need or want to be reminded of Bruce’s hardheadedness. So instead I smiled and said, “Well, it sounds like you’ve been working quite hard all day to make the wedding a success. May I buy you a drink?”

She hesitated for a moment, and glanced back at the bartender as though looking for his opinion on the matter. I felt small surge of jealousy. Were she and the bartender a thing? It had never occurred to me to think about whether she belonged to someone else. My heart had so clearly considered her mine from the moment I saw her.

To my relief, the bartender must have somehow telepathically communicated his approval to her, because she shrugged and nodded. She even managed to sound slightly flirtatious as she said, “Sure. I was gonna have a cocktail one way or another, so I might as well get it for free.”

She turned and sauntered toward the bar then, her hips swaying in a way that sent fiery desire to my cock again. I could feel myself starting to go hard, and I tried my best to take a few deep breaths and keep my feelings of passion at bay, at least for the moment. I didn’t want to scare her away before she’d even sat down. And I didn’t want the bartender getting all protective of her. I got the feeling that he wasn’t a love interest of hers, but rather someone who was used to running interference for her and driving away unwanted suitors when necessary. It didn’t surprise me that Abigail would have to deal with unwanted suitors. Not with looks like hers.

It did surprise me that a bartender at my resort would be willing to cross me to protect a girl. Usually, everyone here was falling all over themselves to make me happy, and technically I could fire whomever I wanted. This bartender no doubt knew that he could lose his job for choosing to protect Abigail instead of choosing to flatter me. And yet, I could tell by the look in his eyes that he considered Abigail worth protecting.

Rather than making me angry, that kind of loyalty impressed me. I made a mental note to check up on who this guy was, and to see if it was possible to get him a promotion.

For now, though, my attention was turning completely to the beautiful woman sitting on the barstool next to me. My night had improved dramatically in the last few minutes, and I found myself feeling excited about what might potentially unfold between Abigail and me over the next hour or so. I hadn’t felt that kind of excitement in a while, and I was determined to make the most of the evening.

“So, Abigail. What are you drinking?”

“Please. Call me Abby. Only my grandmother calls me Abigail. And, as for a drink, I’ll have a Driftwood Hurricane, like usual.”

I winced. “Is that a specialty drink here? It’s rather unfortunately named.”

Abby laughed. “I believe your brother Logan invented the name, so you can take it up with him. But the drink itself is quite good.”

“I’ll take your word for it, and stick with my usual whiskey.”

“As you wish, Mr. Evans.”

“Hey, now. If I’m gonna call you Abby, you have to call me Zach.”

“Fair enough,” Abby said with a shrug. She leaned back a little in her chair, looking completely at ease and ridiculously sexy. She was wearing gym shorts and a tank top, and her hair was an absolute mess, but if she felt subconscious or underdressed, she certainly didn’t show it. I got the feeling that she was used to dealing with rich types like me hitting on her, and that she was now just playing a part in a scene she’d participated in hundreds of times. That realization felt like a challenge to me. I wanted to show her that I was more than just another wealthy clown.

I wanted to impress her. And I wanted to claim her as mine. I wanted to take her up to my suite and show her what it was like when a true man pursued her. Every protective, primal instinct in my body was taking over right now, and I had to remind myself that it would be wildly inappropriate to lean over and kiss her right then and there.

Slow down, cowboy. Take your time here.

“So, Abby,” I said as the bartender began to work on our drinks. “How long have you been in the wedding planning business?”

Her eyes lit up a little bit at the mention of her work, and I got the feeling that most men didn’t care enough to ask her about the details of her job. They probably thought it was boring, frou-frou stuff. For me, though, all business was interesting. Especially when learning about that business meant I got to sit next to a woman as stunning as Abby.

“I’ve been doing wedding planning for about five years. I started a few years after the resort opened. I was looking for something unique to do, but I didn’t want to leave the island. And, no offense, but none of us locals are going to actually take a job here in the resort. That would not go over well in the Driftwood Island community.”

“Yeah. So I’ve heard.” I wasn’t able to completely keep the note of bitterness out of my voice, but Abby either didn’t notice or chose to ignore it. Our drinks arrived then, and after a short toast and a gracious thank you to me for buying her drink, Abby continued telling me her story.

“Anyway, a lot of tourists started wanting to have weddings here, but the wedding planners from the mainland weren’t familiar enough with Driftwood Island to really give them the best experience possible. I saw an opportunity and jumped on it. Within six months of my first advertising my services, I was fully booked out. I’ve had a lot of success, but your friend Bruce’s wedding is my biggest job yet.”

Her eyes shone with excitement, and I couldn’t help but get caught up in her enthusiasm. “Well, it sounds like you have a lot of experience. I’m sure everything will go great.”

To my surprise, she groaned. “I’m not so sure. I have a lot of experience, but nothing I’ve done has ever been quite as over-the-top as Bruce’s wedding. I hope I can pull it off well enough. There’s a lot riding on this.”

I frowned. “Look, I know Bruce can be a pain in the ass, but don’t stress about it too much. The worst that can happen is that he gets mad and chews you out. You’ll never have to see him again after the wedding, and I’m sure you’ve already got his money. So just do your best and try not to worry.”

Abby looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “You don’t get it. This is so much bigger than just Bruce. This is my chance to truly break out in my career. How many wedding planners get the chance to plan a wedding for a multimillionaire? I have that chance, which means if I don’t screw this up, I could end up in all the bridal magazines and on all the hot lists for wedding planners.”

I raised my hand in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, okay. I get that. But I’m sure everything is going to be just fine. It sounds like you’ve planned tons of weddings, all at this resort. You’re experienced and the staff here is experienced. Don’t worry.”

Abby still looked skeptical. “Easy for you to say. You’re already established in your career, and you’re already a billionaire. Plus, you’ve never seen how crazy weddings can get. The weirdest stuff goes wrong. You think you planned for every contingency, but then something comes up that you never thought of. I just have this bad feeling that this is going to be the wedding where all hell breaks loose and everything is a complete disaster.”

“Hey, relax. If you’re doing the best you can, that’s all you can do.” I reached over and dared to put my hand on top of hers. To my relief, she didn’t pull away at the gesture of reassurance. In fact, she blushed again, and seemed to enjoy my touch.

Good. Because her hand was definitely not the only place I was going to touch her before this night was over.

She had fallen silent now, and was staring down at her half empty glass. I knew she was avoiding my eyes, but I wasn’t going to allow that. I wanted to see her eyes, and see whether she was feeling the same hunger for me that I was for her. I took my free hand and used it to gently grip her chin, then turned her face toward me.

Her sea green eyes looked like they were on fire. She met my gaze and I could see from the way her eyes widened slightly that she wanted me too. The passion burning in her face was enough to make me want to lay her down across the bar top and make love to her then and there. If it had been late enough that the bar was closed and no one else was around, I might have done it. After all, what would happen if I got caught? It’s not like they could kick me out of my own resort.

“Zach,” she said, sounding a little breathless now. “I should really get going. It’s late, and I have to—”

I cut her off by putting my lips over hers. For a moment, she was startled, but then she gave in, melting into my kiss. I moved my hand from her chin down to her waist, rubbing gently against her side with my thumb while my other hand still rested over one of her hands. I slipped my tongue into her mouth and let it dance with her tongue, amazed by the very taste of her. Everything about her was perfect, and everything turned me on. I could feel my cock growing hard as a rock between my legs, and suddenly I didn’t want to be in the bar anymore. I wanted to be up in the privacy of my room, where I could strip all of Abby’s clothes off and see the last parts of her that had been hidden by her bikini. I wanted all of her.

She pulled back a little and looked at me uncertainly. Then she glanced nervously around the room, and nervously over at the bartender, who had had the discretion to go find some glassware to polish on the other side of the bar.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my voice already husky with hunger. “Are you embarrassed of me?”

“No! It’s not that it’s just…everyone here at the resort knows me. What will they say if they see me cozying up to you?”

I sighed. I got so tired of being a semi-celebrity anytime I was at any of my resorts. I wanted the staff to respect me, yes. But I also wanted to blend in a bit. I wanted to be able to take a girl up to my room without a thousand eyes watching me and hundreds of mouths whispering about me behind my back. I spent ninety percent of my time on the road, and I thought I deserved to have a little fun now and then. I loved the no-strings-attached nature of resort romances, and I had already determined that Abby was going to be my next fling. She was more beautiful than any other woman I’d ever seen, by far. I had to know what she tasted like. What she felt like.

“I don’t care what the staff says,” I growled out. “And you shouldn’t either. They all work for me, and if they dare to say one word to make you feel uncomfortable, I’ll fire them all.”

Abby rolled her eyes, but still looked nervous. “Oh, come on. Don’t be so over the top.”

“The only thing that’s over the top right now is how much I want you. I want to take you up to my suite and show you what it feels like when a real man makes love to you.”

Abby looked a bit startled. Perhaps she wasn’t used to a man being so direct about what he wanted. But I wasn’t the type to beat around the bush. My time was valuable, and I didn’t like to waste it by talking in word puzzles or euphemisms.

But the shock in Abby’s eyes quickly fizzled out, replaced by more of the burning, passionate hunger that I had seen a few minutes ago She glanced around the room one more time, as if weighing the biggest decision of her life. Then she looked back at me, bit her lower lip, and nodded.

“Okay,” she said. “I think I’d like that.”

That was all the encouragement I needed. I wasn’t going to wait for a second invitation, and I definitely wasn’t going to give her a chance to change her mind. With one quick movement, I jumped off my barstool and scooped her up in my arms. Her blush deepened when she realized that I was literally carrying her out, but she needn’t have been embarrassed. The few other couples left in the bar were too busy paying attention to each other to notice us. The bartender discreetly kept his head down as he polished the bar top. Good man.

I carried Abby until we reached the elevator. Thankfully, we were the only ones to get on. I pushed the button for the top floor, then let Abby slide down from my arms so that her feet were touching the ground once more. I pushed her up against the mirrored wall of the elevator, pinning her hands above her head and pushing my body against hers. She gasped when she felt my huge erection pressing against her lower stomach, but she didn’t have time to say anything.

I pressed my lips against hers one more time, slipping my tongue deep into her and letting it dance against her tongue. I drank in the taste of her, my whole body turning to flames as she kissed me back, running her tongue over my tongue, my teeth, and the roof of my mouth.

I’d never felt as desperately turned on as I did right now. Somewhere in the back of my mind, little warning bells tried to go off and tell me that this was a bad idea. After all, Abby was one of the locals who hated me. Sleeping with her was only going to make the locals hate me more, or make them hate her. Or both. She also worked closely with the resort staff, so rumors no doubt would fly here at the hotel—and as much as I had tried to dismiss her concerns about that, I knew they were valid. I didn’t want things to be awkward for her here once I was gone and she was forced to face questions about what she had been doing with Zach Evans. Besides, she was the wedding planner for Bruce’s wedding. If things got awkward after sleeping with her—as they so often did after sleeping with a girl for god only knew what reason—then I would still have to see her around at the wedding. That idea sounded quite uncomfortable. I already hated weddings. A wedding where I had to go out of my way to avoid the wedding planner sounded like pure hell.

But none of that mattered to me right now. The only thing I could force myself to care about was how quickly I could get Abby off this elevator and into my suite. I’d been taken over by an insatiable desire, and no matter how many logical reasons there might be to stop, I knew there was no way I was going to slow anything down until I had fully claimed the woman in my arms right now.

I was going to make good use of my plush hotel bed tonight.