Danielle had had almost twenty-four hours to think about her brief meeting with Shane Tanner. As she bicycled to work, their exchange of words from the day before looped repetitively around and around through her mind. That smug bastard knows damn well we had a “past encounter”. That’s an understatement! He had to have recognized me dammit…...what a cowardly phony. Her anger was causing her to pedal her bike faster than normal which she knew was a stupid thing to do considering that the oblivious tourists were out in full force on the highway again. And as usual they were causing the same traffic problems. What are they gawking at now? Rainbows? Whales? Pull your head out people! The irony was not lost on Dani and in fact she found it mildly funny that the gawking tourists’ dollars fueled the very industry that employed most of the islanders, including herself.

She was always so glad when she could simply ride in the bike lane and easily cruise past everyone. Dani headed off down a beach access road so she could pedal at a slower more relaxed pace. It was another beautiful Maui morning and she was determined to soak it all in and not let her thoughts of asshole extraordinaire Shane Tanner ruin it. She had ditched her fancy new suit in favor of her comfortable casual hotel uniform; khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.

Biking along Maui’s coastline was like a soothing but energizing meditation for Danielle. Even though she had lived in Hawaii for most of her life, she never took the breathtaking scenery for granted. The island chain had more natural gifts than any other place she knew and as a self-proclaimed tree-hugger she looked for ways to protect it; from easy things like leaving her car in the driveway whenever possible, to more demanding efforts like working on behalf of several environmental organizations.

When she finally arrived at the Kai she coasted into the resort parking lot, hopped off her bike and removed her safety helmet. She didn’t need a mirror to know that helmet hair was not a good look for her. She undid her long braid, flipped her head forward and combed her fingers through her long mane as it hung upside down in front of her face. Then she removed her lunch from the wire basket and secured her ride to the bicycle rack. Before heading inside for the day, she took a couple deep breaths of salty sea air and stared out at the glistening blue horizon. In Hawaii all horizons are the ocean and in her heart Maui no ka oi, meaning Maui was the best.

Once inside the hotel, Dani grabbed a cup of Kona coffee and a poppy seed muffin from the break room and headed for her office. As she scanned her email inbox a new one jumped out at her causing her to freeze on the spot. From Shane Tanner? Shit shit shit! What does he want? I don’t want to read that right now. But she had no choice; she had to open it. Her palms instantly went clammy and she could feel her antiperspirant already failing her underarms when she suddenly noticed it was a group email, addressed to the entire managerial staff.

She breathed a sigh of relief upon finding out that it was an invitation to a Tanner International hosted cocktail party for the hotel employees. It was being held on the hotel’s swanky rooftop lounge Saturday night and everyone was allowed to bring one guest. She chuckled at her initial needless panic.

Dani was painfully aware that she was eventually going to have to have a very uncomfortable and probably confrontational meeting with her new “boss” and she sure wasn’t looking forward to it. At one point she had contemplated initiating it herself just to get it over with, but ultimately she decided she needed him to come to her. He needed to right his wrong not the other way around. She cleared all thoughts of Shane Tanner out of her mind and concentrated on getting some work done.

As the hotel’s marketing director, one of Danielle’s favorite duties was reading the Kaanapali Kai’s customer reviews on not only its own website but also the various travel sites. They were a powerful tool in identifying the Kai’s strengths and weaknesses. Most of them were five-starred and very complimentary, but all complaints no matter how trite or unreasonable were always taken very seriously.

A common complaint that she was starting to see with greater frequency was regarding the hotel’s lack of eco-friendly programs that other island resorts had been implementing for years. The negative comments were starting to rack up from the more contientous visitors. The absence of recycle bind and the dogged determination to be the last hotel still using incandescent lighting instead of LEDs and skylights wasn’t helping with the resort’s image. It made the whole place feel dated. Try as she might she couldn’t get the Artemis Hotel Group to address her concerns. Danielle was hopeful that their new global parent company, Tanner International, would reflect a stronger sense of environmental responsibility.

While Dani was busy scrolling through the many pages of comments she heard a rapping on her office door. It was open as usual so she called out, “Come on in!” without turning around to see who it was. Shane Tanner’s smooth sexy voice sent an immediate rush of adrenaline through her.

“Danielle Kane. Good-morning.” Then she heard the door shut.

Shane Tanner’s large overpowering presence seemed to fill the room behind her. She took a deep breath and a sip of coffee before spinning her chair around to face him.

“Shane Tanner….. Am I allowed to call you by your real name now? Or do I still need to call you Scott Turner?” Dani defiantly folded her arms across her chest and smugly pursed her lips in obvious disapproval of him. Shane strutted toward her and unbuttoned his suit jacket before taking a seat near her desk.

“I’m sensing some sort of past hostility Danielle…..” he said as aloofly as possible. He pondered the name Scott Turner for a second and mentally confirmed it as one he frequently used back in the day.

“Well aren’t you perceptive? Looks like that Ivy League education of yours paid off. What was your first clue Sherlock?” Dani was finding it difficult to keep her sarcasm to a minimum.

Shane was completely aware of the rage that she was no doubt still harboring justifiably toward him. He was also pretty sure he could quell a lot of that anger if he would just level with her about what had actually happened way back then. If he would honestly tell her that his father had demanded the immediate severing of all contact between them, she might actually be able to accept that. But then he would also have to own up to letting his father control him like an obedient, pathetic little boy, and there was no way in hell he would ever admit to being that weak. He decided he’d rather have Dani believe he was an inconsiderate jerk when he was younger rather than think he was afraid of his daddy.

To Dani’s dismay, Shane remained unfazed by her harsh words.

“Quite frankly I’m a bit surprised Danielle. I really am. I find it hard to believe that a refined business woman of your sophistication and stature within the community would still be emotionally preoccupied with something that happened when she was a college girl. Surely I couldn’t have been that hard to get over?”

Danielle felt her rage rising up and tried her best to restrain it. This was hardly the humble apology she imagined. She couldn’t believe his colossal ego but she was determined not to come off as a hysterical woman.

“Emotionally preoccupied? You think I’m emotionally preoccupied with YOU? That’s a laugh! I think your problem is you need to get over YOURSELF! The fact is Mr. Tanner I just learned of your outrageous deceit the other day when I found out who you really are during the corporate meeting. Excuse me for being shocked! Bad enough you made a sneaky slimy getaway in the middle of the night, but using an alias like a common criminal…...that’s pretty damn low.” Dani’s eyes started to tear up but she was proud of the way she was handling herself. She was surprised when Shane didn’t immediately answer her but instead reached out and took her hand.

“Danielle what can I say? I was obviously a thoughtless jerk in my younger days. I had no idea my selfish actions had such an impact back then. I can’t tell you how terribly sorry I am. Please let me make it up to you? Be my date at the reception tomorrow tonight? I’d be honored to have a woman of your caliber on my arm.” Shane gazed deeply into her eyes and brought her fingertips up to his lips as he said, “You’re more beautiful than ever Danielle.”

Dani’s eyes widened with disbelief. She was floored by his enormous nerve and quickly yanked her hand back.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? Do you really think you can waltz in here, sweet talk me, invite me to a party and sweep me off my feet? What world do you live in? Oh I know…..one where you think your money and good looks are enough to redeem your abysmal character.” Danielle stood up to signal it was time for him to leave.

Shane sighed and raised himself out of his chair. He knew there was no point in arguing with her. She was a woman scorned just like Margie said. Still, he remained undaunted. He was certain he would have her again and soon. He could still see a hint of a spark flickering for him in her eyes. Shane placed his palms down on Dani’s desk and leaned all the way in toward her as though he was about to kiss her.

“Danielle surely you remember how good we were together back in the day? Shit what am I saying? We were great for fuck’s sake! You can’t deny our chemistry; all those long hot summer nights we spent together….. It really wasn’t that long ago if you think about it. And now that you and I are going to be working together we could be an incredible team. I want to work closely with you.”

Dani could feel her body heat rising in response to his overt sexuality, causing her to take a step backward.

“That was a very long time ago and for the record I had that chemistry with Scott Turner, not with you. I don’t actually know you at all and you sure as hell don’t know me! So if you don’t mind I prefer to keep our relationship on a strictly business level Mr. Tanner. If you’ll please excuse me now I have work to do.”

Shane backed off. “Very well,” he said as he headed toward the door. “As always, it’s been a pleasure Ms. Kane.” Before leaving her office he turned to her and added, “By the way, anger becomes you. Your severe reprimand was smokin’ hot. I hope I don’t have to wait too long for another tongue lashing.” With that he smiled and walked out.

As soon as the door closed Dani could feel her knees almost give out from sheer weakness. She let herself drop backward into her chair as she let out an audible sigh. How in the world am I ever going to be able to work with that man? He’s obviously incorrigible….and unfortunately more sexy and handsome than ever. She had lied to him in order to appear strong but she knew she couldn’t lie to herself; she felt their chemistry alright and she did indeed want to give him a different kind of tongue lashing.

Out in the hotel corridor Shane had to admit to himself that the meeting hadn’t gone quite as smoothly as he had hoped. However, Danielle’s fiery rejection was more of a turn on to him than a deterrent. He was not the least bit concerned that he had possibly lost the first battle, after all there was a whole glorious war to wage in his effort to lure her back; a war that he fully intended to win.