Awe and anxiety fought for the upper hand, making me feel like my stomach was a yo-yo, bouncing up and down in my chest. I walked around the spaces where the party would be held, amazed at what Layla had accomplished but terrified about how the night would go.

What if I did all this and still couldn’t convince enough people to come work for me? The party was sure to impress the people of Sweet Bay, and that was one of the reasons I’d agreed to it. But at the same time, I hated doing anything nice for them, and I hated parties in general. They made me feel like a socially-inept teenager again. And of course, the party was the only thing keeping Layla in town. Once it was over, she’d be on her way back to Hollywood.

Layla walked beside me, clipboard in hand, making sure everything was perfect. It was, of course. Just like her. I’d given her a ridiculously small budget, but she’d managed to organize a five-star event, anyway, using her charm and negotiating skills. She hadn’t even spent all the money. She was an incredible woman, and I was more smitten than ever.

I desperately wanted to tell her, but I was too afraid. She was Layla, the girl of my dreams, and despite the success I’d achieved, I still felt like the loser she’d teased in high school. We’d gotten close over the last few weeks, and I thought she might have feelings for me, too, but there was always a barrier between us.

She’d seemed happy in Sweet Bay since she’d been there. I barely heard her talk about Hollywood. Did she still want to go back there, or was she reconsidering?

Of course, I was also her boss, so she probably wouldn’t feel comfortable expressing them if she did have the same feelings. If I wanted to pursue a relationship with her, I was going to have to make the first move. Too bad I had no idea how to do that.

Maybe the evening would present an opportunity. I could ask her to dance with me. Then I could hold her, at least. But the thought of that brought on a whole other round of nervousness.

After the party preparation passed our final inspection, the only thing left to do was get ourselves ready for the event. I couldn’t wait to see her dressed up again. Memories of that night in Hollywood still featured in my dreams. I would’ve loved to have seen her in that dress again, but I knew how women were about wearing the same thing twice. She probably wanted something new. It suddenly dawned on me she might not have the money to buy a dress. I knew she was pinching pennies.

“Everything looks great, Layla. But what about you? Do you have something nice to wear?”

She winced. “I thought about wearing that silver gown, but I think it might be too fancy. I’m just going to borrow something of my mother’s.”

That made me wince. Her mother dressed like a 1950’s southern matriarch.

“Why don’t you take off early and go shopping, find yourself something special? Here, it’s my treat. Go to the salon and get your hair and nails done too, if you want.” I pulled out a credit card and handed it to her. I knew I could trust her with it.

She looked at it like I was holding out a venomous snake. “You don’t have to buy me a dress, Calvin. You pay me a decent salary. I just don’t want to spend it on that.”

“Maybe you don’t, but I do. Someone told me once that entertainment is an investment in my own mental health and happiness. Nothing would give me more pleasure than having you on my arm, dolled up like a movie star.” I put the card in her hand and closed her fingers by wrapping mine around them.

She stared at me for a long moment then gulped and nodded. “What’s your favorite color?”

Her question threw me, and I blurted out the first thing that popped into my head. “Brown.”

She screwed up her face in surprise. “Brown? Really? Why do you like brown? It’s so dull.”

Did I dare say it? Maybe this was the opportunity I’d been hoping for. I felt ridiculous, but maybe she’d think it was romantic.

“It’s the color of your eyes, and there’s nothing dull about them.”

“Oh.” She sucked in a breath then smiled. “I meant for the dress.”

“Oh. Oh!” I stuck a hand to my forehead, feeling like an idiot. “I think you’d look great in any color. Get whatever you like.”

“Okay, I’ll look for my favorite color, then.” She gave me a cheeky grin and a look like she was waiting for me to take a hint.

“Uh, what’s your favorite color?”

“It used to be red, but now it’s blue. The color of your eyes.” With that, she walked away, leaving me to stare after her. Did that mean what I thought it did?

That was the encouragement I needed. I was going to tell Layla how I felt that night, regardless of how scared I was. Hopefully, she felt the same way, and I could convince her to stay with me.

I went home to get ready for the party, remembering how nice it was having Layla nearby, getting ready for the movie premiere. I hardly spent any time in my apartment. It was empty and lifeless. I spent every moment I could at the office with Layla. If only I could come home to her, too.

When I had showered, shaved, put on cologne, and dressed in my favorite black suit and the blue tie that matched my eyes, I headed back to the resort. I tried to see the place from a visitor’s point of view as I approached.

Spotlights shined on the sign, illuminating the elegant, silver lettering, making the entrance easy to see in the dark. Twinkling lights wrapped the palms that stood sentry on either side of the drive, heralding me in. I followed the curved path, edged with lush, tropical plants, up to the front entrance and drove my car under the portico.

A valet in a black uniform, with a name tag that said Michael, opened my car door for me and handed me a valet ticket. “Good evening, sir. I’ll take good care of your vehicle. Just present this ticket when you’re ready to leave. I hope you enjoy your visit to Sweet Bay.”

I smiled and nodded at his professionalism and courtesy. “Very good, Michael.”

I could see the beautiful lobby through the glass doors that whooshed open for me. No other guests were there yet, but the staff were all in place. Fortunately, we’d been able to hire enough people to staff the event, at least, thanks to the addition of the incentive program. But we still needed to entice dozens more.

What if no one came? What if we organized all this, what if I invested all this money, and the town still rejected me? The mostly-empty room made the possibility feel all too real. I rarely talked to anyone in town, but Layla assured me people were excited about the event. I had to trust they would show up. But trusting the people of Sweet Bay did not come easy for me.

A welcome table sat just inside the front doors, where a woman in a sharp but feminine black suit smiled and handed me a glossy, pearl tone gift bag with the resort name printed in silver. A few other women stood next to her, ready to greet the next guests.

The woman launched into the spiel she’d been told to give. “Welcome to the Sweet Bay Resort and Spa. We’re so happy to have you. There’s lots of information and some other goodies in the bag.”

I opened the gift bag, careful not to ruin it, then made sure it contained everything it should — a pen printed with the resort name, information about the resort, a list of the departments and job openings, a comment card, a voucher for a free spa service, and coupons from the other local businesses that were represented at the event.

The woman continued, drawing my attention to the black fabric-draped tables set up around the room. A sign hung above each one, identifying them, and each table was decorated with a bouquet of tropical flowers.

“The lobby has stations for each department where you can get more information about available positions. Feel free to browse and ask questions. And make sure you check out the employee incentive program.”

She indicated a section in the center of the room where a large display outlined the program Layla had devised. Then she pointed out the computers. “If you’re ready to apply, you can use any of the computer stations to fill out an online application. It only takes a few minutes.”

“Thank you, Rebecca. That was perfect.” I smiled at her, gave her back the gift bag, and walked deeper into the lobby.

I wished I could go in undercover and pretend to be a real guest, maybe ask some hard questions to see how the staff manning the tables would respond. Instead, I settled for approaching each one and letting them give me their standard spiel. Layla had done a great job preparing them. Somehow, she’d managed to pass on her friendly confidence.

I looked around for her but didn’t see her yet, so I moved on to the dining room. The delectable smells coming from it made my stomach grumble. Each food vendor had their own table where they offered bite size versions of the food that would go on the menu if they won the contract. I visited each of them and sampled the food, carefully protecting my suit with a napkin. Several waiters in crisp, black suits and white gloves stood nearby, ready to offer me a drink.

Attendees would be encouraged to vote for their favorite vendors by checking them off on comment cards they could turn in. I wanted to go with the lowest offer, but Layla insisted this would give people a sense of ownership in the resort. I wasn’t sure I wanted them to feel that, but I trusted Layla’s plan. Everything tasted as good as it smelled, so I had a feeling the votes would come out fairly even and I’d get to make the final decision, anyway.

Music floated in from the pool deck where the band was practicing, enticing me to walk outside and circle the pool area, where up-lights shined amongst the tropical plants and the pool glowed a luminescent aqua green. Paper lanterns strung around the pool deck swayed in the slight breeze coming off the ocean against a background of bright stars on a black velvet sky.

I let out a slow, cautious breath. Everything looked perfect. We’d done everything we could think of to impress the people of Sweet Bay. Now it was up to them to respond.

“Calvin, are you out here?” Layla called out. I couldn’t quite see her, but I followed her voice. She stepped under one of the paper lanterns, and it illuminated her body with a soft, golden light. She took my breath away.

“Layla, you look so… beautiful.” I dared to say what I really thought.

She ran a hand down her pale blue, satin dress. “The color’s not quite as nice as your eyes.”

The dress was simple but elegant, letting her figure take all the attention. It certainly had mine. She’d styled her hair to hang down in soft, loose curls over her shoulders. I wanted to bury my hands in it, tilt her head back, and taste her so badly my hands clenched with need.

I couldn’t hold back any longer. I stepped forward into the circle of light around her and cupped her cheek with my hand. She gasped and dropped her eyes to my lips. That was all the encouragement I needed.

I leaned down and kissed her. My lips trembled as I pressed them against hers. They softened for me, like sweet, ripe berries. Her scent surrounded me like a cloud, intoxicating me. I felt drunk on it, on her.

I put a hand to her waist and pulled her closer till she pressed up against me, and her warm body melted against mine. She slid her own small hands up my back, under my suit coat, holding me close to her.

I lost myself in her for several long moments, savoring every sensation. It was everything I’d ever imagined it would be, and so much more. It was almost too much. I felt myself falling into her, consumed by her closeness.

Just when I had almost disappeared into oblivion, she pulled away from me, yanking me back to reality. I gasped for breath and clutched at her, feeling dizzy and disoriented. When my vision came back into focus, she had a worried look on her face.

My own face twisted in agony. I’d blown it. I’d come on too strong, too fast, and I’d scared her away. I tried desperately to fix it. “I’m sorry, Layla, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know what came over me.”

She put a calm hand on my chest, and I realized my body was shaking. Then she looked deep into my eyes, stilling me with her gaze. “I’m not sorry. I’ve been waiting for you to do that forever.”

I raked a hand through my hair. “You’re not? You have?”

She gave me a soft smile that melted any remaining strength I had. “I’ve had feelings for you for a while now, but I had to let you make the first move. I’m glad you did it.”

I had to touch her again. I wrapped my arms around her and laid my head on hers. “It feels like I’ve loved you forever, Layla. But I never thought you could love me.”

She pulled her head away from my chest to look into my eyes. “I do, Calvin.”

The band was playing a Sinatra song, and my body started swaying to the music with her in my arms. We danced till the song ended, our bodies moving as one. I kept holding her till another song began. I never wanted to let go of her.

I forgot about the party, the guests. Everything around us disappeared as I relished that moment with her. Till a voice broke through my reverie.