Reese

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Monday was not going well.

My mind began to drift as I followed a mid-thirties dark haired man around as if my life depended on it. Actually, my career did. My first day on a new job, and Larry was giving me the quickie tour on our way to the boardroom. We stopped outside an elevator, and he glanced at me and frowned. My large black purse hung from my right shoulder, and the heavy briefcase that held my laptop swung from my hand.

“You should have left most of that stuff at your desk.”

I hadn’t been to my desk yet. In fact, I hadn’t a clue as to where it was since Larry met me in the hallway while I was being shown to my desk by Kathy, the lady from personnel. Larry quickly whisked me away, spouting off about a meeting we needed to get to, and here I was.

“I ... uh, I haven’t had a chance to do that.” I gave him a small smile and winced as I hiked the strap of my laptop case onto my other shoulder to ease the weight. It wasn’t that it was overly heavy or anything, but it was a pain to have to carry around, especially today when I really could have used another day to recuperate after dislocating my shoulder New Year’s morning.

The whole thing had been entirely my fault and a stupid move on my part. My sister had traveled with me from Oregon to help me get settled in my new apartment here in Kauai. Before she left to go back home, we’d taken a short party cruise around the island to celebrate the New Year. The cruise ran later than we’d expected; into the morning hours in fact.

I’d fallen asleep on one of the lounge chairs on the deck. The chairs had been stacked up and put away for the night. But I’d been so tired and just wanted to close my eyes for a couple of minutes, so rather than wrestling to separate one from the stack, I’d climbed up onto the top and stretched out. Soon after I’d fallen asleep.

Everything was fine until a huge wave—they said it came out of nowhere—hit the boat, knocking me overboard. I dislocated my shoulder with the impact.

I heard someone shouting, “woman overboard” and the engine of the party barge stopped, but the boat was still rather far away. I was a good swimmer, having lived by the ocean practically my entire life, but it was difficult to get to the boat with my shoulder pain. A life preserver had been thrown into the water, but it was still several yards away. I’d considered summoning it closer to me, but there were so many spectators on board watching, that would have been difficult to explain and to mask afterwards, though not impossible with my sister’s help.

Then I heard a weird noise from my right. I turned, gasping at the sight of a dolphin. I knew dolphins weren’t aggressive creatures, but having one so close to me wasn’t exactly comforting and then when it shoved its snout against my rear end, I thought it wanted to hurt me. Except the nudging was so gentle, and it kept shoving me toward the life preserver that had been thrown. When I got close enough, I latched my arms around the circle. The dolphin continued to nudge me toward the boat, not backing off until I was lifted up by one of the ship’s employees. I turned to look back at the creature as it danced backwards on its tail, making dolphin sounds as if it were scolding me. I’d yelled out “Thank you” just as it turned and swam away.

“You okay?” Larry sounded annoyed as he turned to me. “You could probably store that stuff with one of the admins.”

“No. I’m good.” I wasn’t about to leave my purse and laptop with someone I didn’t know. Besides, I might need my laptop at this meeting.

“Suit yourself.” Larry was my height, about five seven and a bit stocky. He’d combed his dark hair straight back, and had donned each of his ears with little diamond studs. A light violet shirt and deep purple tie paled his pasty skin, which accentuated his dark goatee. He kept glancing at his watch. It was Monday, and we were on our way to an apparently mandatory meeting according to Larry. When we reached a set of double wooden doors, he pressed down on the handle and shoved the heavy door open.

I stepped inside and thought I’d died and gone to conference room heaven.

This had to be the most luxurious and gorgeous boardroom I’d ever seen. My gaze traveled around the spacious area. A rectangular white leather sofa, large enough for eight to ten people to sit at with room to spare; with a large, knee-high, white shiny table in the center. Behind each side of the sofa, a large water tank taking up the entire length of the wall cast off a blue glow with beautiful bright coral and exotic fish in it.

I set my belongings down on the corner of the sofa and perused the room in awe, wishing I had the nerve to pull my cell phone out from my purse and start snapping pictures to send back to my dad. He was a strict, over-protective father who hadn’t wanted me to take this job and move so far away. But I bet if he saw this room, he might just admit that I’d made a good decision for once.

“Everybody, this is Reese. She’s the new interior project manager.”

I smiled at the three male faces staring back at me. Each one said his name, as he sat down on the gorgeous cushions before us, and I repeated each name in my head as it was mentioned; Jason, Phil, and Carl. As their titles weren’t given to me, I had no idea what their positions in the company were. But it was my policy to always treat everyone as an equal, just like I wanted to be treated.

I’d yet to meet face to face with my new employer, Adrian Marlowe, as all of my interviews had been conducted by the human resources department. All I knew about the man was that he was the founder of Waterscape Properties and at the age of twenty-six he was a billionaire with extravagant tastes. If this conference room was any indication, I’d say that the latter part of that knowledge was most likely true.

I took out my laptop and placed it on top of the white marble table like the others had, took a seat and opened the lid.

“Reese, you don’t need to be here for this part of the meeting, and not everyone is here yet anyway. Would you mind running across the street and picking up four hot lattes and a dozen assorted donuts?” Larry asked, and the others smiled hopefully at me. “Won’t that make me late?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Everyone around here is pretty relaxed about that stuff,” Phil, or was it Jason, assured me.

Twenty minutes later, and positive I was late for the meeting; I stood in the hallway on the first level outside the elevators waiting for the doors to open, four hot lattes in a Styrofoam tray, and a box of assorted donuts balanced on top of the cups. With my purse falling from my shoulder every two seconds to dangle at my elbow, tugging at the tray, threatening to yank it from my hands, my first day at this new job might end up being my last if I dropped all this stuff. Especially with an executive meeting on the twenty-fifth floor waiting for it.

Right at that moment, I decided I hated those four guys who were probably sitting upstairs laughing their asses off at how gullible I was. This job as the new project manager of interior design for Waterscape—a position I’d earned after years of study and a tremendous amount of sweat and tears—was my first since earning my master’s degree in architectural interior design, with a heavy emphasis in hotels and resorts.

Waterscape was constructing an underwater hotel off the shores of Kauai. When the job offer came in, I hadn’t hesitated to say yes, even if it meant moving all the way across the Pacific Ocean to the islands of Hawaii, away from my parents and my twin sister, Quinn. My father was still baffled as to why I needed to pursue a job so out of the ordinary and so far from home.

The elevator doors opened, and out piled a whirlwind of three teenage boys. Three sets of black Converse sneakers hit the shiny, white marble floor, bouncing and leaping. The last kid’s elbow snagged my tray, knocking everything to the floor.

“Jesus H ...!” The box of donuts flew in the air, landing, of course, upside down, with the lid open. Donuts rolled in every direction. One of the glazed took off like it had a marathon to run, another chocolate headed toward the open elevator doors and settled inside up against the back wall. All four coffees tumbled to the floor. Hot coffee scorched my bare legs and feet before pooling around my brand-new Jimmy Choos that I hadn’t even paid for yet since I’d used my charge card. The charge on my card probably hadn’t even registered with my bank yet. Now they were ruined. Stained with coffee.

My purse slipped, once again, from my shoulder and landed on the floor in a puddle of hot coffee.

“Sorry, lady!” The kid stopped and picked up a cup, now empty, as the contents were on the floor. “I ... didn’t see you,” he stammered.

“How the hell could you not see me?” Tears of anger stung my eyes, but I kept my composure. My new shoes were ruined! Now I’d have to walk around with a giant coffee blob on my skirt all day; embarrassing at any point but especially on the first day of my job.

The kid put one of the now empty cups back into the tray and picked up another.

“Just go,” I bit out through gritted teeth, too filled with anger to care how it sounded. He didn’t have to be told twice as he ran toward the door—and his friends who seemed to be oblivious to what had happened and were long gone—glancing back at the last minute to see the mess he’d created.

“Yeah. Thanks a whole hell of a lot,” I mumbled, but I gained a brief reprieve of satisfaction as the kid tripped over his own feet and fell forward, flat on his face. Somehow his shoelaces became tangled in the commotion. I didn’t normally seek out revenge that way, but dammit, he ruined my brand new black suede strappy sandals. What the hell were three boys doing running around in an office building on a school day anyway?

“Here.” A melodic male voice spoke close to my right ear. I looked up to see the most gorgeous chocolate brown eyes I had ever experienced, with a face just as fine. High cheekbones and the perfect strong and chiseled jaw complete with plush lips and a straight nose gave him a face that made Henry Cavill look almost ordinary, which was basically impossible, in my opinion. Dark, almost black hair swept back from his forehead. He wore dark gray shorts resembling swim trunks paired with a teal golf shirt. He definitely wasn’t dressed as though he worked there. My mouth salivated at the sight of his firm and toned thigh muscles when he bent down to help me. Even his toes were sexy inside those black flip-flops. His hand extended with my purse dangling from his fingers. “Don’t worry about the mess. The maintenance crew is pretty good at cleaning up stuff like this.” He gave me a gorgeous smile, and I automatically smiled back. “It happens around here all the time.”

“Thanks.” I frowned. “Don’t they go to school?”

“They belong to the superintendent. I believe they were on their way and most likely late. Hence, the rushing out of the elevator.”

“You going up?” He splayed his hand toward the opened elevator doors.

“Yes ... no. I mean, I was, but first I’ll need to go get new coffees. Thanks for the help.”

“No problem.” He stepped into the elevator and pushed one of the buttons on the panel, his gaze remaining on my face until it disappeared behind the closing metal doors.

I sighed. What an amazing specimen of the male species. I shook my head. By the way he was dressed I wondered if he was one of the janitors, especially since he mentioned how they cleaned up spills like that all the time. Although he was dressed more like someone heading off to play on a Saturday afternoon.

After tossing the box of donuts, as well as the four now empty latte cups into the trash receptacle, I headed back across the street to the coffee shop for replacements.

At this rate, I’ll be blowing my first hour’s salary on donuts and coffee before the first hour of my first day was even over. I silently cursed Larry and the other three guys, but since I was new and not sure how things worked around there, I’d better just hurry up. Hopefully, I’d be reimbursed, but now I was sure to miss the first part of the meeting.

After purchasing four new coffees and another box of assorted donuts, I headed back up to the conference room. With my hands full, I turned away from the door to use my rear end to push it open, except I bumped against unmoving wood. I tried the other one and the same thing. I was locked out.

“Dammit all to hell,” I cursed and thought about kicking the door, so someone would come and open it from the inside. Yeah, that would go over really well, Reese.

Unlocking the door with my mind wasn’t an option either. Telekinesis wasn’t a talent your average project manager possessed. No one could know I had that ability. I set the tray of coffees and donuts down on the floor. At the same time, the door flew opened, knocking me right in the ass. I made a shrill screech as I stumbled forward on to my hands and knees, barely missing the tray of second string caffeine fixes. I glanced over my shoulder to see gorgeous dark eyes staring down at me.

“Are you okay?”

Oh, hell no. Not the guy from the elevator. What was he doing here? And me on the floor, on all fours with my tight pencil skirt hugging my ass, which was currently in the air.

“Yes, I’m fine.” No, I wasn’t fine. He was fine. Fine to look at. I was a mess.

“Here.” He extended his hand, and I took it and stood. “Sorry, I heard something shoving against the door so I opened it. I didn’t realize it would knock you over.”

I smoothed down my stained skirt, while he picked up the coffees from the floor. I grabbed the box of donuts.

“Hey, Reese. You’re finally back.” Larry shot me a smirk and I gave him a forced smile while I contemplated how I would get even with him later as I set the box of sugar fixes in the center of the table.

“Ah ... you must be Reese Briden.” Gorgeous elevator guy smiled as he shut the door, then set the tray of lattes next to the donuts and held out his hand to mine with an equally delicious smile. “I’m Adrian Marlowe. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Welcome to Waterscape Properties.”

I extended my hand and returned the smile, though I was positive it was impossible to hide my surprise at discovering that my new boss was the same gorgeous man I’d salivated over less than twenty minutes earlier. I cleared my throat. “Nice to finally meet you, also. Coffee?” I gestured to the now empty tray in the middle of the table and wanted to die right then and there when I saw they’d all been snatched up by the other four jerks.

He smiled. “No thanks. I never touch the stuff.”

“Oh.” I sighed with relief as I sat down on the sofa directly across from Larry who happily sipped his coffee and swung his crossed leg back and forth as if he hadn’t a clue that he’d just made me look like a fool. Heat rose to my cheeks. Now I was annoyed and extremely pissed at myself for even going along with it. The caffeine and sugar run was apparently some sort of immature hazing ritual. Were Larry and his pals pacifying some belated college antics to assure I’d be late to a meeting my boss was conducting on my very first day? Great first impression, Reese.

On impulse, I glared at Larry. I didn’t think about it. My mind just acted and as he went to place the cardboard cup on the table in front of him, it unexpectedly slipped from his hand, and hot coffee spilled onto his lap.

“Ouch! Fuck!” he yelled.

As difficult as it was not to laugh, I kept my cool. “Oh no. Are you all right?” I asked, innocence coating my voice.

He jumped to his feet, and one of the other guys handed him a wad of napkins.

Taking my focus away from the crew, I noticed a smirk on Adrian’s face just before he turned toward the whiteboard, almost as if he knew I was the one who had made the cup tip over. I watched him as he proceeded to go over the projected phases of the construction on the screen. I became mesmerized by the way he presented himself. The man personified power and command, even while wearing beach attire; a true magnate in today’s society. I was in awe by the elegance he possessed in the way he projected his authority, without arrogance, but with fervid zealousness. The passion he exuded for the magnificent underwater hotel he spoke about struck me like a bolt of lightning. How long had he been dreaming about this? A childhood fantasy perhaps? Something this tremendous had to be a lifetime vision.

The man was brilliant. I suddenly wanted to know everything about him. Where did he grow up? What did he eat for breakfast? What kind of toothpaste did he use? Did he snore? What would his hands feel like roaming over my body? Okay, well, maybe those last three were a bit beyond my grasp, but a girl could dream. I sucked in my bottom lip and bit.

“We had some minor setbacks due to scheduling conflicts with the contractors, but changes have been made to accommodate. Instead of the original seventy-five feet, the hotel will sit ninety-five feet below the ocean’s surface. Unbreakable glass elevators will transport guests to and from their accommodations without the need to enter the water. No scuba gear needed.” His lips twitched into a brief smile before continuing. I straightened in my chair. What was that about? Something amused him. Was it the no need for scuba gear statement? A private joke only he got?

He went over the new construction schedule and gave everyone the updates. Then he finished with, “I’ve emailed the new schedules and plans to all of you, and I’ll expect your updated drafts turned in first thing next Monday.”

Everyone stood and headed toward the door. “Reese, a word please.” I stopped with my hand propping open the door. Larry glanced back at Adrian and then at me before turning and walking away. It was obvious he didn’t like the idea of Adrian singling me out that way. I let the door fall closed and waited.

Adrian typed something on his keyboard, and all the schedules and plans disappeared from the screen. Then he closed his laptop and glanced up at me with a soft smile. “I don’t condone tardiness.”

Really? Frustrated, I impatiently gestured toward the stain on my skirt. “I’m sorry ... the coffee ... the kids in the elevator ... you were there. You saw what happened.”

He laughed. “Yes, I was. But in the future, if you’re going to fetch coffee, do it earlier.”

“I don’t drink it.”

“What?” He glanced up at me, two small lines forming between his beautiful dark eyes.

“I don’t drink coffee. I was simply fetching it for those ...” Oh, if he only knew what I wanted to call those asswipes. I settled for, “Guys.” After all, I had no idea what he thought of those imbeciles. And maybe fetching coffee was part of my job.

His gaze quickly scanned down to my toes, my ruined shoes, before focusing back on my face, then his eyes softened with his smile. “Good. Your body functions better naturally, without the artificial stimulant.” He said that as if he had some investment in how my body performed. “You don’t need to fetch coffee for those ...” His smiled. “Guys. You don’t work for them ... and they are all very capable of getting their own coffee and donuts. They should have offered to get you refreshments since you’re the new addition to the team. But they have this silly ritual for new hires, and until now, I never saw the harm in their weird form of welcoming, but I can see that it may not have been the best reception for you. I’ll be sure to talk to Larry and the others.”

“No, please.” The last thing I wanted was to be coddled and treated like someone unable to stand up for herself. “That’s okay. Thank you, though. I know how to be a good sport, and I think I can handle myself with those guys.” I stood staring at him, waiting for him to say something else. When he didn’t, I found my voice. “Well, if you don’t need anything else, I’ll just ... go. I mean, to my desk.” I turned toward the door. I grabbed the handle of my briefcase and slung my purse over my shoulder when a small groan escaped me as I winced at the shoulder pain I’d forgotten about.

Adrian frowned. “Your shoulder. You’re hurt.”

“Oh. It’s nothing,” I lied. But I didn’t want him to think I couldn’t do my job. “It’s just a minor dislocation from a small boating accident on New Year’s. Nothing major.”

He sucked in a deep breath, shaking his head slightly as he lowered his gaze toward the floor. “Sorry,” he mumbled, and I thought that was strange. Why was he sorry? Then he glanced at me. “You should have left all that stuff at your desk.”

I pushed my hair behind my ear. “Oh yeah. I would have, but I haven’t had a chance to—”

“Reese. Do you know where your desk is?”

I shook my head. “No. But I’m sure someone can show me.”

“Hold up. I’ll walk with you.”

When we reached the twenty-seventh floor, the doors opened and he gestured for me to go first. “I’m on the top floor?”

“We are.” He grinned. “My office is just down the hall that way, yours is right down here.” We stopped in front of a large corner office with floor to ceiling window views up as well as down the coast. “Your office pretty much mirrors my own except it’s smaller and doesn’t have a balcony.”

Adrian walked to the large rectangular glass desk in the center of the room and picked up some of the papers that were piled there. “I’ll take these. They should have been cleaned up before you arrived. Larry had been working in here for a short time while his own office was being renovated to accommodate his new architectural drawing desk.”

I stepped in to see another large tank filled with a variety of colorful fish gracing the entire span of one of the walls. It was beautiful with tropical foliage and blue lights. I placed my coat, purse, and laptop case down on the desk and turned toward the floor to ceiling corner windows. “This is my office?”

“Yes. Is it not large enough?” He grinned.

I chuckled. “More than.” I looked down at the ocean below and then turned back to peruse the rest of the space, stopping at the mini fridge inside one of the cabinets. “I wasn’t expecting something this grand.”

“I believe that a comfortable environment is important to the quality of work one performs. I think you’ll find everything you need. If you require anything else, though, just ring for Janet, she’ll help you out. She’s number five on your phone.”

“Thanks.”

“Oh. And if any of those guys are late getting their drafts to you, you have my full permission to fire them.” He winked and left me standing there, stunned, shocked, mouth gaping like a paralyzed groper fish.