Chapter Twenty-Two
Molly
“The restaurants are understaffed,” I said, as Tristan glanced down at his phone. “I want to start addressing that problem starting tomorrow.”
“Sorry,” he said, setting his phone down. “One of the suppliers contacted me. Can you repeat that?”
We were sitting in the dining area of my suite. The table was cut in the shape of a hexagon and perfectly mirrored the cozy little nook we were situated in, which afforded us a brilliant view of the ocean. Tristan had ordered the eggs Benedict, and I had gone for a breakfast of fruits, but neither one of us had made much progress with our meal.
“I’m looking to hire a few more waiters for the restaurants,” I told him. “Now that the resort is at full capacity, we need to make sure that we don’t drop the ball on service.”
“Right,” he nodded. “I meant to do that myself before the opening.”
“Well, now you don’t have to worry about it,” I reminded him. “That’s why I’m here.”
He smiled. “That’s right.”
“Does the resort have a budget that I need to stick to?” I asked. “I need to know how many people I can take on and at what cost.”
“Of course,” he nodded. “Ben will have all the details.”
“I had to push my meeting with Ben to this evening,” I said, glancing over at the schedule on my phone. “It’s the second time we’ve had to postpone.”
“Ben will be at my office in an hour,” Tristan said. “If you need to speak to him urgently, you can catch him there.”
“I have a staff meeting in half an hour,” I said, spearing some pineapple with my fork. “It’ll probably run me about an hour…at least.”
“Ah, shit, Ben and I will be in another meeting by that time.”
“I figured,” I smiled. “That’s okay; I can wait until this evening to meet with him.”
We were interrupted by Tristan’s cell phone. “Excuse me,” he said, as he left the table to answer his phone.
It had been two weeks since I’d officially started working for Tristan at the resort. I had jumped right into it and had found that I really enjoyed the work. It involved a lot of interaction with the staff, a lot of patience and people skills, but it was exhilarating and interesting and every day was different. The downside to my new job was the fact that it didn’t leave me with a lot of time left over to spend with Tristan. Which was just as well considering he was extremely busy, too.
The resort had been generating excellent reviews since the public opening, and Tristan and Ben were both thrilled about that. But I could sense that neither one wanted that reputation to slip. They didn’t want to get complacent, and that meant a lot of hard work, late nights, and endless meetings. As tiring as things were for me, I knew they were twice as bad for Tristan.
Our days had taken on a ritualistic pattern in the evening. Sometimes we would eat at Albero together, but most often we would just retire to my suite. We would make love passionately and then order in some room service to replenish our energy.
After dinner we would sit on the couch for half an hour and talk about our day; if we weren’t too tired, we would make love again, and then I would retire to bed and Tristan would tackle his never-ending load of paperwork or hold late night Skype meetings with his international investors in different time zones. Then he would slip into bed beside me and wrap his body around mine. We would sleep soundly until our respective alarms woke us up the next morning.
There was something cosmopolitan about the lifestyle we led, and as unfamiliar as it was to me, it was still comfortable. I was surprised by how quickly I had adapted to life in Hawaii. Granted it had only been a couple of weeks, but I could see myself living and working here indefinitely. It was a positive sign that I didn’t take for granted.
“I’m so sorry,” Tristan said as he returned to the table. “There was an issue with my hotel in LA.”
“Nothing major?”
“It shouldn’t be,” he sighed. “But I think the staff’s getting a little complacent. It’s been months since I traveled there to see to things. I’ve been so busy opening the resort here that I guess I’ve neglected everything else.”
“It’s understandable.”
“For everything, except you,” he said, looking up at me.
“What do you mean?” I frowned.
“I’m talking about what a terrible boyfriend I’ve been to you,” he said apologetically. “We’ve been together just a little over two weeks, and in that time, we haven’t even spent a whole uninterrupted day together.”
“We have mornings and nights,” I reminded him.
“I don’t mean to neglect you.”
“I know that,” I said, reaching for his hand. “And, I also happen to understand that you have a very demanding job. I’m not holding that against you. I knew what I was signing up for.”
Tristan smiled before leaning down to kiss my hand. “You’ve been amazing, you know,” he said. “The staff loves you, and you’ve significantly eased my workload.”
“Have I?” I asked incredulously. “How much more would you have been working if I hadn’t been around?”
He laughed. “I’d have had to pull all-nighters,” he said. “Like in college.”
“Wow.”
“I want you to know that this is just temporary,” he said. “It’s just until the resort finds its legs. Then I don’t have to be so hands on all the time.”
“I understand,” I nodded. “It’s not like I’m not busy, either. We both have our jobs to do.”
Tristan nodded, then he attacked his breakfast. I took a second to admire the view, before turning back to him. “Since I have you here, though, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
He looked up immediately. “Of course,” he nodded. “Anything.”
“I feel like I need to move out of this suite.”
His eyebrows went up immediately. “Why?”
“This is the grand suite, Tristan,” I reminded him. “And I spoke to Alani yesterday. She told me that the resort has had to turn away guests because we’re fully booked until the end of February.”
“Which is a good thing.”
“It is,” I agreed. “Except that I’m not a paying customer. This suite should be made available for new guests.”
“We have two other grand suites.”
“Both of which are highly sought after,” I told him. “Why shouldn’t this one be made available, too? I’m happy to move into the staff quarters.”
“Absolutely not,” Tristan said firmly.
“Why not?”
“Because that’s not suitable for you.”
I smirked at him. “Come on now; it makes sense, and it’s practical. Plus, I’ve seen the staff quarters; they’re really nice.”
“You’re not moving to the staff quarters,” he said, with finality. “I’ll find other living arrangements for you.”
“That’s unnecessary—”
“Sorry,” he said, interrupting me. “I’m not budging on this one.”
I was annoyed, but also touched that he would take such pains to make sure I was comfortable and well looked after. He was a better boyfriend than I had expected, and a part of me was still wrapping my head around our very new and exciting relationship.
“I will need to make a trip home soon,” I told Tristan.
“Oh…right,” he said, and his expression looked a little troubled.
“I have to pack up my life and move it here,” I said. “And, I never really properly said goodbye to my family.”
I saw Tristan bite his lip, and I knew instantly what had caused his sour expression. “You haven’t told Jason yet, have you?” I asked, trying to keep the amused smile from my lips.
“Fuck,” Tristan groaned, pushing his plate away. “I’m such a coward.”
“I really don’t think you should be so worried about telling Jason about us,” I said. “I don’t think he would care.”
“Please,” Tristan said, shaking his head. “He was always so protective of you.”
“You’re reading too much into that.”
“I don’t think I am,” he said. “He hated all of your boyfriends.”
“I had only two.”
“And, he hated both of them with a passion,” he insisted. “Come to think of it, so did I.”
I smiled. “You remember my boyfriends?”
“Of course,” he nodded. “The gangly idiot with the red hair and the bulky moron with the blond hair.”
I laughed. “Joseph and Simon,” I said. “Simon was a moron, I’ll give you that, but Joseph was a sweetheart.”
“He looked at you like a piece of meat.”
“Do I sense a little jealousy?”
“You sense a lot of jealousy,” he replied, without reservation.
I smiled happily. “I was much younger during both those relationships, and Jason wasn’t inclined to like strangers right off the bat. He has known you forever.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Which means he knows my history. He knows the number of women I’ve been with, and he knows every single romantic mistake I’ve made since I started dating. He’s not going to want that guy dating his little sister.”
I pursed my lips. “Well, he doesn’t really get a say in the matter,” I insisted firmly. “We’re not asking for his permission or his blessing. We’re simply telling him what has happened. If he doesn’t like it, then tough.”
“Easy for you to say.”
I laughed. “Are you sure you won’t let me tell him?”
“No way,” Tristan said immediately. “No way; he’s going to think I’m a complete coward for hiding behind you. I’m sleeping with his sister. The least I can do is be man enough to tell him myself.”
I sighed. “Okay, suit yourself. But don’t you think you should do it soon?”
He groaned. “I’ll get around to it,” he said reluctantly. “So…I always meant to ask you, what did you see in Simon?”
I laughed. “Are you changing the subject?”
“Definitely,” Tristan nodded. “But I’m also curious.”
I shook my head at him. “Simon was…persistent,” I said. “And usually even persistence doesn’t work on me, but for some reason, I let myself be convinced. I actually think it had a lot to do with you.”
“Me?” Tristan repeated.
“You and Jason had dropped by for dinner the week before, and you were full of stories about your latest flame,” I said. “I guess I got jealous and lonely and when Simon pursued me, it made me feel better. So we dated for a couple of months, and that was that.”
“What happened there?”
“The same thing that happened with Joseph,” I said honestly. “They both wanted to take things to the next level and I… I just wasn’t ready.”
“Meaning they wanted sex.”
“Yes.”
“Not that I’m not thrilled you stuck to your guns and said no, but why did you say no?” he asked curiously.
I smiled, feeling slightly embarrassed. “I told you, I always thought of sex as being something special and important that you share with someone you love. I didn’t love Simon or Joseph, so I couldn’t justify sleeping with either of them. Whenever I considered it…” I trailed off.
“Yes?”
I pushed back my blush and continued. “Whenever I considered it, I kept thinking of you,” I admitted. “It just didn’t feel right to sleep with one man while you were fantasizing about another.”
Tristan’s smile was both thrilled and teasing. “I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to hear you say that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t get too cocky.”
“Too late,” he replied. “You know, I really like that I was your first.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You would,” I said. “What number was I?”
Tristan’s smile faltered a little. “Um…is that really necessary information for you to have?”
“Ballpark?”
“It’s definitely less than a ballpark.”
I laughed, but a part of me felt slightly uneasy. I knew enough of Tristan’s romantic history to know that he had played the field in college and even afterward. I also knew that he had never committed to one woman for any significant length of time and wondered if I was expecting too much of him. I knew it was naïve of me to assume that my love for him alone might be enough for him to change, but I hoped.
I wondered if that hope would see us through or if it would end up breaking me. I had experienced enough to know that hope was as intoxicating as it was treacherous.