One

Abby

“No, Mama! No!” Wild blonde curls smacked against my daughter’s chubby little face as she rejected the pink and yellow dress I held up.

I bit back the grunt of impatience as my adorable three-year-old daughter put her foot down on the day’s fashion choices. “Lily, you can’t wear a bathing suit everywhere. Melanie is taking you to lunch today, don’t you want to look pretty?”

“No,” she stuck out her bottom lip that was one hundred percent her father’s mouth. She had his stubbornness too.

I could have kept fighting her but whether she wore a dress or her beloved red checked two-piece bathing suit and cutoff denim shorts made no difference. So I put the dress back in the closet and put on what she wanted. Better to save that fight for something bigger. “Alright, pumpkin, let’s get moving.”

Lily smiled up at me and held her arms out. “Up, Mama.”

Carrying her saved precious time I didn’t have—especially today of all days. The resort I managed, the Sunset Hotel, had been bought out and renamed Azurel Resort. And I had a meeting schedule with the new owner whom no one knew a thing about because the previous owner, Maury, had told us nothing. He simply cashed his big fat check and took off for a better paradise than Puerto Rico.

None of that mattered now, though. All that mattered to me and my staff was making sure we all had jobs when the dust settled. Anyone who’d worked in the hospitality industry long enough knew that new ownership often meant tons of turnover. The new owner would want things done their way, and we’d all have to comply or find another job—which on the island, wasn’t that easy.

The drive to my aunt Melanie’s small house near the bed and breakfast she provided baked goods for didn’t take long. “Thanks, Aunt Mel,” I told her and kissed them both goodbye. I’m not sure how well I could have survived as a single mother without my aunt Melanie. She took me in when my parents abandoned me as a child and helped me get on my feet again while I coped with being pregnant just as my career was getting started. Because of her, I didn’t have to settle for a career I didn’t want. I could pursue my dreams and give my little girl the life she deserved.

Now it was time to secure our future.

Once I arrived at Azurel, I took a much needed second for myself. Several deep breaths in and out to slow my racing heart and I stepped from the small blue sedan I bought when Melanie, Lily, and I moved to Puerto Rico two years ago. My crisp white suite laid flat against my extra curves that hadn’t gone away since Lily’s birth, but it was my go to outfit when I needed a confidence boost. And I knew I would need it today. Badly.

I hadn’t felt this nervous since I found out I was pregnant by the man I thought I’d fallen in love with…just months after I found out he’d already picked out a wife, and it sure as hell wasn’t me. I did exactly what Aunt Melanie had always told me, ever since my wannabe rock star parents dropped me off with her and never looked back. I picked myself up and moved the hell on. Leaving St. Lucia had nearly broken me but going back to Atlanta and Aunt Melanie healed me enough to move forward with my life.

Moving forward meant taking a job in Puerto Rico managing a mid-size resort instead of the luxury resorts I’d hoped for, but it turns out I love my work, my employees and the island itself. And now another billionaire—presumably—held my future in his or her hands.

Story of my life.

I arrived early to prepare for the meeting, to steel my nerves and go over the reports each department had prepared for the new owner. Just because they held all the cards, didn’t mean I had to bend over and take whatever they tossed my way. I could fight and I would.

The last time I tangoed with a billionaire I ended up pregnant and alone. I just hoped this time turned out better than that one had.

***

Roc

Revenge. Some say it’s best served cold, but I’ve always thought it should be so fucking hot it singed everything in its path. And that’s exactly what I had in mind when I purchased the Azurel Resort. Revenge. Against the woman who had pulled me in, enticed me with her innocence and then vanished without a trace.

Until now.

Of course, this resort would also launch the budget and family friendly hotels under the Mahoney Hospitality umbrella, but in this instant profit wasn’t my main motivator. No, it was all about Abigail Blakely. I’d seen her name on the list of employees and the plan had practically formulated itself.

More than four years had passed since she disappeared from my life without so much as a Dear John letter, a passive aggressive text or a forwarding address. I couldn’t quite figure out what made Abby so special, so appealing. So fucking unforgettable that I hadn’t been able to sleep for days after she’d gone, couldn’t see silky golden blonde waves without thinking of her. And that just wouldn’t do. It would not fucking do.

I’ve never mooned over women. I didn’t chase them and I sure as shit didn’t let them affect my business. I didn’t take the inheritance my parents left me and my brothers and turn it into a billion-dollar empire by getting distracted by every skirt with nice tits and a gorgeous smile.

But Abby had proven that neither time nor distance would rid my thoughts of her.

And I found that totally fucking unacceptable.

Which is how I found myself walking through the lobby of the Azurel Resort two hours before my scheduled meeting with her. I wanted to surprise her. I needed that shock value of her seeing my face, knowing that I was the one in control of her future.

With a confident walk that said I belonged here and not to be questioned, I hooked a right just before the elevators and made my way down the long blue and silver tiled hall to Abby’s office. The plan had been to get into her office before she did and lie in wait for her.

Before I reached her door, however, several employees stopped me, inquired about my identity, and when they realized that I owned the place, welcomed me with warm smiles. “And who exactly are you?”

A leggy brunette with smooth tan skin and a seductive smile stuck out her hand. “I’m Cecilia, Ms. Blakely’s executive assistant.”

Ah, perfect. “And how do you find it working for Ms. Blakely?” Abby had a pleasant way about her and she made even the most difficult customers feel important. But she lacked the proper experience to run a resort of this size.

“She’s great. Tough but fair and she’s actually letting me assist so I can learn the business.” Cecilia shrugged. “She says someone gave her the same chance and it made all the difference.”

So she hadn’t completely forgotten me. I hated that it meant so much to me. “Right. I’ll just wait for Ms. Blakely in her office.”

The assistant’s smile dimmed. “I don’t—”

“I wasn’t asking,” I told her sternly and her lips snapped shut before she turned on her heels and left me alone in the hall. My fingers traced over the letters that made up her name on the door. Still Blakely which meant she hadn’t married. With a fortifying breath, I pushed the door open and froze.

Sitting behind a large glass desk, the familiar blonde hair falling around her shoulders in seductive waves and that lush mouth fixed in a shocked ‘o’ was the woman I’d come to see. And once again she’d gotten the jump on me.

“Hello, Abby.”