The morning sunlight creeping in through the bedroom window woke Dani out of her blissful slumber and threw her into instant panic mode. She sprang out of bed and started searching for her phone.

“Shit! Is it Monday? Oh my god what time is it? I’m gonna be late for work…..” She was comically racing around totally au natural while rounding up various items of her clothing. “Dammit! What was I thinking? I can’t wear this fancy stuff to the office?”

Shane rolled over onto his back and propped himself up in curiosity. He watched in amusement as his lover frantically dashed about the room buck naked while sporting major bed hair.

“What are you doing Danielle?” he laughed. “You look totally fucking crazy, you know that?”

“How can you just sit there Shane? It’s already 8AM. I don’t even have anything to wear. We’re both going to be late to work, and then what…..we come walking in together? You know what everyone’s going to be saying about us?”

“Yeah I do know what they’re going to be saying about us. At least I hope they are anyway.” Shane said smugly.

“Huh?” Danielle stopped in her tracks, bewildered by his remark.

“Yeah they’re supposed to see us and believe we’re a couple, remember? Where is your head Danielle? Hopefully there’s a picture of us at Islandia in today’s paper. You and I showing up to work together is nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Dani indeed felt silly. There was nothing to hide. In fact the situation was quite the opposite. Their relationship was supposed to be on display. She gave an audible sigh of relief and sat back down on the bed. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess it’s just natural to feel like I still need to be discrete about sleeping with the boss.”

Shane pulled her over to his side and laughed. “Is sleeping with the boss something you make a habit of doing?”

“Well I do now,” Dani said with a devilish smile.

“And another thing Danielle, since you’re dating your boss there really is no such thing as you being late for work. I mean it’s not like I’m gonna fire you. Pretty nice benefit, huh?” Shane kissed her breasts and started heading south as he continue talking. “And of course at some point you’re also going to have to move in here with me. I thought maybe Margie could stay at your place.” He swirled his tongue in her navel and smiled up at her.

As much as she seriously hated to do it, Dani stopped Shane from progressing any further down her body. For some strange reason, the thought of moving in with him hadn’t even occurred to her nor the fact that she would be given obviously preferential treatment at work. She was completely caught off guard by the prospect of both of those unsettling realities, which distracted her from her usual sexual desire.

Shane could tell by Danielle’s unresponsive body language that something was wrong.

“Is there a problem Danielle?”

“Umm….. Shane I guess I hadn’t really thought every detail of our agreement all the way through like you have. We never really talked about me moving out of my house.”

“Well that’s kind of a given isn’t it? I mean it would look pretty fucking odd for me to move into your little house with you wouldn’t it? Besides why wouldn’t you want to live here? Look at this place.” Shane wandered out of the bedroom still in the buff and headed to the kitchen in search of coffee.

“Shit…..I forgot there wasn’t anything to eat or drink here,” he said as he frustratingly opened the fridge and the cabinets. “I forgot to tell Margie to stock it. I guess we’ll have to stop at Maui Joe’s on the way back to your place.”

“It’s just as well. I don’t mind leaving right away. I’m still a little uncomfortable coming in so late together. It just seems so tawdry. I’d rather drive to work by myself if you don’t mind.” Dani wasn’t sure where her guilt was coming from but she didn’t apologize for it.

“I think you’re being silly about it but suit yourself.” Shane set about opening the many closet doors around the house in search of his wardrobe. “Fuck! None of my clothes are here either?” He grabbed Dani and kissed her. “I guess my mind was just too preoccupied with a certain someone.”

While they were both dressing back into their formal clothes, Shane’s phone starting playing the familiar ringtone that signaled it was his father calling; It Always Feels Like Somebody’s Watching Me…. He decided to ignore it, figuring no good could come from a conversation with the obstinate old man. He would talk to him later after he had had some coffee.

Dani checked her own phone out of curiosity. She had turned hers off last night as she entered the house, figuring she wouldn’t want to be interrupted. She was surprised to find more than a dozen different text messages and missed call notifications from Paolo, Allyssa, Auntie May, and probably everyone else she knew who saw their picture in the paper. She decided she would wait until later to address hers as well.

* * *

Dani arrived at the Kai separately from Shane but it was glaringly late in the morning (after eleven) and she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and self-conscious about it. It was bad enough she had stayed home on Friday because of her relationship with him, but now here she was slinking in at lunchtime because of their date. It was the exact thing she was afraid would happen; her professionalism being compromised by Shane Tanner and his money. And here it was already happening on day one of their new business arrangement. Walking through the hotel to her office she had to field a barrage of questions and comments from her work colleagues.

Paolo popped in less than one minute after she took her seat at her desk.

“There she is…..the future Mrs. Shane Tanner!” he said excitedly. “Can I assume you took him up on his proposal?”

“Yes Paolo you can, but please keep it quiet...”

Paolo couldn’t help but notice a strange note of discontentment in Dani’s voice so he tried joking with her.

“Will the baby be real or will it be a lifelike doll?” he said teasingly, but Dani didn’t even snicker. “What is the matter with you Dani? Why aren’t you psyched about this? It’s an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Danielle sighed and stared down at her desk.

“I’m sure I’ll get used to the whole idea but right now it just feels extremely weird. Like somehow I’m losing control of the situation. I’m going to have to move in with him you know. I just don’t know how I feel about that.”

“You’ll be living in the penthouse suite of the Kai? Oh wow that does sound rough.”

“No actually Shane’s moving out of there today. I guess he didn’t tell you that he found a hilltop estate to lease?”

“No he sure didn’t. That’s weird, you’d think I would at least have an email from him about vacating the penthouse.” Paolo scrolled down through his phone and checked. “Oh wait I do. I have one from Margie about that. So let me get this straight, you don’t want to live in a hilltop estate with a gorgeous billionaire? I gotta say…….you lost me.” Paolo’s forehead was suddenly furrowed with lines of confusion.

“I know it doesn’t sound like a hardship but trust me, it’s all still a bit much for me to process. Especially being paid for the charade... I mean, I really like him, but the money is dangling over me like a carrot. And being asked to move in with your lover is not very satisfying when it’s all prearranged and fake. I mean what’s my life going to be like under those circumstances? What about my child’s? What if we don’t end up together at the end of this? There’s so much that seems wrong. By the way have you seen Shane today? Has he even come in yet?”

“He’s here. He came in wearing formal attire so he went up to his suite to change. Now come on Dani how could a million dollars possibly be distasteful? And how bad could living in his world be? I know I sure as hell wouldn’t mind finding out, with or without true love.”

Shane was indeed up in his suite. He decided it was time to face the music and talk to his father since the old man had left him a total of four annoying messages in less than three hours. Shane was extremely irate but was having a hard time getting a word in with the stubborn old man. Grant Tanner was loudly carrying on about the picture in the morning Orange County Register of Shane and Danielle out on the town.

“I knew you were spending all your time over there chasing goddamn pussy and fucking hula girls! You’ll never change!” Shane finally cut in and interrupted his father’s rant.

“That’s enough! You don’t even know what the fuck you’re talking about but if you’d just shut up and listen for a minute maybe you’d actually learn something. Shit you are so fucking infuriating.” Shane was through mincing words.

“Well how do you explain this photo Shane? How are you even finding time to be out with women when you should be working on our public relations problem?”

“You know how I explain that photo? I made sure that photo was taken, that’s how. I had Margie anonymously tip off the press. You don’t think me dating a local environmentalist who grew up right here on the islands might be smart PR for us? How about me marrying one? How about me fathering a child out here on the island? Do you think that might help our fucking image and get people on our side? I believe that’s what you said we needed to do. Well that’s exactly what I’m doing. The contract is already being drawn up so it’ll be a legally binding financial arrangement.”

Shane heard nothing but silence and initially thought the connection had been lost. But then the sound of his father’s gruff voice chuckling on the other end caught him totally by surprise.

“I have to say it’s a fine plan... I’m jealous I didn’t think of it myself. It’s inspired. What better way to become a Hawaiian insider then to start a family with a local? I’m proud of you Shane.”

Shane decided that there was really no need in telling him that Danielle also just happened to be “the distraction” his father put an end to years ago. There was no point in opening up that can of worms.

“You’re a chip off the old block after all Shane. I underestimated you son. I’ll leave you to your work. You’ve obviously got everything under control.”

After the call, Shane stood on the balcony and stared out at the breathtaking beauty of the ocean and the neighboring islands in front of him. He had been waiting his whole life for his father to finally see him as an equal, only now the words seemed hollow. Chip off the old block? Somehow that left a bad taste in his mouth now. He still wanted to be CEO of the company but did he really want to be like his father?