Chapter 15

We stayed the night at the same hotel where the party was held. I wriggled out of Casper’s arms when he tried to get me back on the dance floor, making excuses of tiredness. Also, thankfully, I hadn’t seen Samantha again for the whole night.

The next morning, I woke up beside Casper on a large, circular bed; I couldn’t even remember what time we came up to the room or how we had fallen asleep. All I remembered was that we’d had sex again on the ledge of the window overlooking the sea. I remembered that my back was pressed against the glass pane as he drove into me, making me scream.

Now I had a dull ache at the back of my head. I was hungover and tired and wished I could be home. I slipped off the silky hotel sheets and found my way into the bathroom. I quickly stepped into the shower and stood under the warm streaming water for what could have been close to an hour. By the time I was done, the bathroom mirror was completely fogged up and there was a hot mist in the room, making it hard for me to see.

I tried to find the handle of the door, but I ended up bumping into Casper’s chest. Then I heard him laugh.

“Seems like you had a good shower,” he said, but I couldn’t yet see his face through the mist.

“Are we leaving today?” I asked, ignoring his question. I wanted to go home. I wanted to get away from him before he could seduce me again. I’d had enough.

“We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready,” he said, grabbing my face with both his hands.

I had wrapped a towel tightly around my wet hair and it knocked against his face as he held me, trying to look into my eyes through the mist. It was finally clearing up now, and I could see his face. He looked fresh and content, as though he had just come out of a relaxing spa. Who woke up in the morning looking like that?

I wriggled out of his hands and finally found the door. My suitcase was on the floor next to the bed; somebody had brought it up for me, no doubt. Clearly, Casper had given his people instructions as to which room to bring the suitcase up to. He’d never intended on giving me a different room. He’d brought me here for sex, and that was what he’d gotten.

I clenched my teeth as I hunched down on the floor and opened my case. I didn’t know how I was feeling. Now I knew for sure what Casper’s intentions were, but I had been a willing accomplice. I couldn’t fault him for what he’d done. He hadn’t tried to create a different illusion. I’d willingly fallen for his seduction, and I enjoyed it. There was no excuse.

While Casper remained in the bathroom, I picked out my outfit: a lacy green dress, slightly old and faded in places, that grazed the floor. The straps were thin and frail on my shoulders, and my skin suddenly looked very pale against the emerald color of the dress. In the long, full-length mirror, I dried my hair as much as I could with the towel, then I ran my fingers through my curls, hoping they would settle down soon. I found the beaded earrings and necklace from the previous day, and I put them on. My blue eyes looked tired, and my pink lips looked swollen and pouty from all the kissing I had done.

The bathroom door opened, and I turned to look at Casper.

He looked as dashing as ever in a sparkling white polo shirt and tan chinos. He had an expensive-looking brown leather watch on his wrist and a pair of sunglasses in the front shirt pocket. As always, his hair was done stylishly, brushed to the side in a heavy tuft. His eyes were a calm morning gray again.

“You look beach ready!” he said, but there was no smile on his face.

“No beach. I want to go back home right away,” I said, zipping my suitcase back up again.

“Hold your horses, Lily. I said we’ll go.” His face turned sour. He had taken offense, and I breathed in deeply.

“I don’t mean to rush you. I just want to be back, back to my work and Marla and Zoe,” I said, running my hands down the front of my dress to smooth the creases.

Casper remained standing at the door of the bathroom until he dropped his arms to his sides and walked up to me. “Let’s go then. We wouldn’t want Zoe to worry about you too much,” he said, and before turning away from me, he placed a quick, wet kiss on the top of my forehead.

I licked my lips, afraid of how my body was going to react again to his touch. But I managed to soldier through, kept my emotions in check, and followed him out of the hotel room.

It was going to be over soon, I reminded myself. I wouldn’t have to be a slave to my own feelings for Casper for very much longer. Just a few more hours, and all this could finally be a distant memory.

“Leave the bags. Someone will bring them,” he said, turning to me. When I looked at his face, I realized that he had no idea how I was feeling.

****

“A hot towel?” The flight attendant presented herself to us again, with the same rolled-up hot towels on a solid gold tray. Only this time, the towels were lightly scented with cinnamon. It instantly made my stomach rumble, and Casper looked at me and smiled.

“Katrina, will you please bring us a plate of finger sandwiches or something?” he said to her, and she duly nodded her head and went away.

When Casper and I were alone in that large lounge in his aircraft again, we strapped ourselves in our seats and the plane took off.

I was sitting in front of him with my legs crossed and looking out the window, a little embarrassed now that he’d heard my stomach rumble. From the corner of my eye, I could sense he was looking at me.

“So, Lily, should I dare ask if you enjoyed yourself?” he said, after clearing his throat. He was sitting with his legs spread wide apart and his fingers laced together. When our eyes met, I noticed that he was serene; nothing was bothering him.

“It was a good party, and Hawaii was beautiful.” I didn’t want to talk; I just wanted to remain silent and think. But Casper was staring at me again. He wasn’t going to let me off the hook that easily.

“And what about the rest?” he asked with a smirk forming on his face.

“You mean the sex?” I asked him, rolling my eyes. “Are you asking for feedback on the sex?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“It was good sex, Casper. I’m sure you know that by now,” I said, uncrossing my legs and then crossing them again. I looked away from him because I didn’t want him to see me blushing.

“I just wanted to make sure that you would keep it in mind when you consider my offer.”

My head jerked back toward him. “An offer? What kind of an offer? What are you talking about?” I asked him, nearly standing up. Was he finally going to tell me what all of this was about?

“The job offer. I told you already that I want you to come work for me,” Casper said, still self-assured. He either didn’t know how worked up I was, or he knew and could see it very well, but didn’t care. Either way, his demeanor was calm and collected, and that made me even more angry.

“You want me to come and work for you after all this?” I thundered at him.

Katrina entered right then, and I bit down on my tongue to keep myself from saying anything more in front of her. She placed a bowl of salted mixed nuts and a plate of finger sandwiches in front of us.

“Thank you, Katrina. That’ll be all.” Casper smiled at her before turning to me again.

He waited for Katrina to leave and pull the curtains, then he cleared his throat. “What are you talking about, Lily? What has happened?”

I huffed at him and rolled my eyes. “You seriously don’t know what I’m talking about?” I said, shaking my head in irritation at him.

Casper shrugged. “What? The sex? You don’t want to come and work for me because we had sex?” he asked, the smile still there on his face. I licked my lips and rolled my eyes at him. I was furious, I couldn’t believe he was acting this innocent about the whole thing.

“The sex is a part of the deal, Lily. I thought that was the clincher. That it would seal the deal for you,” he said with a laugh in his voice.

It seemed like he was making fun of me again, and I clenched my jaw as I faced him. “You are an arrogant bastard, and I can’t believe you think I’ll come work for you as an environmental consultant after everything that has happened between us.” I couldn’t control my rage any longer, and I was screaming at him by now.

“An arrogant bastard? Those are choice words. But please, Lily, explain to me what you think has happened between us.” He was sitting in the same position with his fingers interlaced, his jaw chiseled and set straight toward me, the same dancing, laughing eyes trained on my face. He was completely unchanged – the perfect poker face.

“You brought me here for sex. Just for the night. To seduce me and use me for this exotic getaway.” I stood up, and he turned his head up slightly to look into my face again. He was allowing me to have my say.

“And then you told me, quite frankly, that I shouldn’t expect anything more from you than this. That you’re going to be a womanizer, and I should just stand by and watch. Which is fine. It’s your life and your rules, but you can’t expect me to stick around after Hawaii,” I continued, my body shaking with rage.

“I didn’t want to give you false expectations from our relationship, Lily. I was doing you a favor by being frank with you.” Casper spoke quietly in his deep, smooth voice that made him sound much older than his actual years.

I breathed in deeply, hoping that would do something to soothe my nerves, but it didn’t. I was still raging mad.

“Thank you, Casper. I am very grateful to you for being honest, but no, I do not accept your offer. I do not want to be your pet slave, hanging about your office so you can summon me for sex whenever it pleases you.” The words came lashing out of me, and I wasn’t satisfied even after I had said them.

The smile finally dropped from Casper’s face, his eyes narrowed, and he looked at me like he wished we’d never met.