TWENTY-TWO
“The things I do to stay afloat,” Aiden sighed the following Monday morning as he got off the phone with the satellite company, who said they’d have a representative out within the hour. “I shouldn’t have to give up my private time just because of a faulty connection.”
“Come on, admit it, the party was a blast, and thanks to the security guys we were able to pull the whole thing off without any troubles here at the resort during our absence,” Cat scolded him. “You really ought to lighten up a bit, I think. Now at least you’ll earn the reputation of being friendly and understanding, and word of mouth is going to do a whole lot more good than any reviews ever could.”
“Yeah?” he scoffed. “Well, it’s at least a good thing that Mr. Stanworth doesn’t arrive for his free three night stay until the end of the week. Maybe we’ll have ironed out this whole mess before he sees anything negative to write up in his report.”
“One can only hope,” Cat agreed. “Well, I need to hit the little girl’s room and check in on the front desk. Maybe we can hash out some way to catch the perpetrator when I get back. We certainly can’t allow this nonsense to go on forever.”
“I hear that,” Aiden agreed, enjoying the view as he watched her depart.
The door opened only a few moments later, startling him. For a moment he expected to see Cat returning briefly before she ventured down the hall, but instead Brynn stepped through the door and shut it behind her.
“I thought I’d never manage to get you alone for a moment, Aiden,” she complained. “Why won’t you answer any of my calls? Can we not even begin to talk about things?”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Aiden snapped. “And you are not a member of the staff. This office is off limits to you. If you’ll kindly leave, you’ll save me the trouble of having you removed.”
“Oh, Aiden, why must you be so cruel?” she complained, sighing as she stepped over to his desk and grasped him by his tie. “Being this close to you after so very long, I’m reminded just what it was that drew me to you in the first place. I’m so sorry about pushing you away as I did. Can you not give me one last chance, Aiden? Please?”
Aiden sprang to his feet and moved away from her. “I’ve given you more chances than I care to count, Brynn. Why don’t you just leave me be?”
“I’ll do better than that,” she replied, throwing her arms around his neck. Aiden blanched, trying to avoid her as she tiptoed to press her lips to his own. With a wrenching motion he shoved her away just in time to see Cat coming back through the door. Her jaw literally dropped as she stared at the two of them.
“What’s going on here?” she demanded hotly.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Brynn smirked. “I’m reclaiming my husband.”
Without another word, Cat spun on her heel and ran back down the hall and into the main entrance, sobbing uncontrollably.
Ellen sprang up from her chair and took three steps toward her. “You two keep the desk. I’ll go and find out what is going on.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said each of the women who had been sitting there with her. “Take your time. We’re not expecting any arrivals today.”
Aiden came running out with Brynn following right behind him. He said to the women behind the desk, “Whoever let this woman down my hall had best not do so after this. She is not welcome to barge into my office and cause all this trouble. Brynn, feel free to return to your friends, you have nothing more to say to me.”
“How can you treat me this way, even now?” she complained. “I felt sure getting you away from that woman was all that it would take, and I’m still convinced it’s true. The little wench is a controlling shrew, isn’t she?”
“Not nearly as controlling as you. Excuse me, I’ve got to go find Cat and explain what you’ve done.”
“You may know better than I do, but I’ll bet you anything she won’t believe a word,” Brynn snickered. “Not when evidence to the contrary already met her eyes. I’m not worried. She’s going to dump you like yesterday’s news, and you’ll come crawling to me. I’ll give you the rope you need to hang yourself.”
“Is that how you’re supposed to be winning me back?” he scoffed, then stormed out the front door and down the steps three at a time.
Wherever the two women had gone off to, they were nowhere to be seen. Aiden’s first thought was to head for the employee housing units and see if Cat had gone there to start packing her things, but he thought she would have more sense than to do such a thing. He would hope that she would be sensible enough to actually talk to him about all of this rather than to do anything on the spur of the moment.
As he turned in the direction of the housing units, however, Aiden’s attention was caught by the sudden appearance of Declan, who was heading for the main hotel.
“Aiden, there you are,” he said with a frown. “You’re needed at the diver’s hut right away.”
“Can it not wait, Dee?” Aiden sighed. “I’m right in the middle of something now.”
“No, sir, I’m afraid there’s no waiting on this,” he insisted. “We found that the shed had been tampered with, and now the equipment is all compromised until we can make sure of each and every piece.”
Aiden’s eyes went wide. “The diving shed too?” he growled. “This gets better and better. Come on, let’s go find out just how bad this is. My own troubles will just have to wait.”
Several hours later, when every piece of equipment had been checked, Aiden and Declan returned to the dining hall. Cat was sitting with Ellen, and when she saw him come in her face went very red. She refused to even look in his direction.
When he approached them, Ellen preempted him from sitting down with the comment, “Cat’s not ready to talk just yet, sir. I’d give her a bit more time if I were you.”
“This is Mr. Whitney’s resort, he may sit wherever he pleases,” said Cat, getting to her feet. “I’ve lost my appetite anyway. You all have a good evening.”
“Cat, come on!” Aiden called after her.
She turned to look at him, her face a mask of indifference. “Mr. Whitney, my first thoughts when we began was that I shouldn’t, that I should have waited for the divorce you told me you were about to have. I will, of course, continue to do the job for which I’ve been hired. At least I will until your wife decides to have me fired. Good night.”
“Cat, would you listen to me? She kissed me, and then you came in,” he defended himself. “I had no part in it. I was trying to get away. You’ve got to believe me.”
“Whether it’s true or not isn’t the point,” she replied, exasperated. “The trouble isn’t if you wanted to be kissed, it’s the fact that I don’t even have the right to be jealous. I don’t have any claim to you, except a foolish one I’ve allowed to take root in my heart. Deal with your demons, Aiden, and if you end up back with her, I’ll just have to deal with it, and forget you.”
“You—I’m not—oh, I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you,” he grumbled. “I am not interested in getting back with Brynn. She is not the woman I love.”
“I’m going now,” Cat insisted. “Don’t follow me. I need to be alone right now.”
Aiden rolled his eyes. “After the day I’ve had, sweetheart, I couldn’t run after you if I tried. Perhaps when you decide we’re speaking again, I’ll tell you all about it,” he replied as he turned to settle into one of the chairs and put his head into his hands.
Moments later, he heard footsteps. When he looked up at the sound, he saw that Cat was gone.