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It was the white bikini, Evan decided. He’d always been a sucker for white bikinis.
There was no getting away from it now; he’d been caught. Ignoring her question was unthinkable, so he just grinned and shrugged. “Maybe I’m here for the Christian Grey convention?”
That got a laugh out of her, the same infectious chuckle he’d heard in the lobby. Her breasts bobbed with her laughter, and he had to work hard not to let his gaze slip south. The water hid most of her curves but he’d watched her get into the water, watched her slip off that yellow cover.
God, he felt like a pervert who’d been caught snooping. But she was smiling up at him, and he couldn’t help but return the expression. The stress of the last few days—really, since he’d gotten word he’d been chosen as one of Jeremiah Hamilton’s candidates for replacement—melted under that look.
“So, what are you here for?” she asked, crossing her arms on the edge of the pool and resting her chin on them.
“Job interview.”
Her brow furrowed. “For here?”
He shook his head. “No, this job is far, far away from here, although working in a place like this would be less stressful.”
“Gotta admit, it’s pretty stinking awesome here. I run the island tours, at least the kind you can do on the ground. Most folks just do the hikes but we do ATVs and dirt bike tours too.”
“Yeah, I saw you in your motorcycle getup.”
She cocked her head at him. “Do you ride?”
“I did as a kid. Mostly dirt bikes around my grandfather’s property in Pennsylvania.” He stood up and walked over, squatting next to the pool and holding out his hand. “Evan McQueen.”
“Dani Knight. Pleased to meet you.”
She had gorgeous eyes, a light brown that looked hazel in the sun. The small line of freckles peppered across her nose charmed him. There wasn’t a bit of makeup on her face, and for someone used to such things in every woman he’d met, the lack of artifice was refreshing.
From this angle, Evan was getting an eyeful, but he was enraptured by the whole package. “So,” he asked, shifting his weight to sit on his heels, “how did you manage to get a job in paradise?”
“Now, there’s a story. It involves a broken down bike, a Costa Rican hellhole, and what I’m guessing are hacked spy satellites to find me.” Her eyes danced with humor. “You have a few minutes?”
Right as Evan was about to say Hell yeah, out of the corner of his eye he saw a large man enter the cafe area and sit down alone. Evan shut his mouth with an audible click, quickly assessing the situation. The Maashole was nowhere to be found, nor was Jeremiah’s fiancé. It was the perfect opportunity to have some one-on-one face time with the billionaire, and hopefully make a good impression.
“I take it that’s your boss?”
Dani’s voice brought him back to the present. She’d followed his gaze, and Evan could hear the disappointment in her tone. It was on the tip of his tongue to lie, to say no he had all the time in the world to listen to her stories of Central American hellholes and adventure.
Don’t screw up this opportunity. His father’s advice rolled through his mind like a cleansing tide. “Yeah,” he finally answered, as disappointed by the opportunity as she seemed.
“Well, I don’t want to screw things up for you.” She pushed off from the edge, floating in the water. “Maybe I’ll see you around?”
Evan desperately wanted her to stay and talk to him more, but forced himself to stand upright. “I’d really like that.”
She turned away first, swimming toward the bar that sat in the middle of the giant pool. Evan watcher her go, his heart growing heavier with the increasing distance, then took a deep breath and turned toward Jeremiah’s location.
The CEO acknowledged Evan almost immediately. “How are you enjoying the island?”
“It’s fantastic.” Dani’s face immediately flashed through Evan’s mind. “Full of pleasant surprises. If you’re not busy, I’d...”
“Jeremiah, so sorry I’m late!”
The boisterous, over-loud voice of Preston Maas filled the small space. Evan winced as the volume of the other man’s voice boomed around the covered patio. His interruption was unsubtle and as transparent as the over-bright, false smile plastered across his face.
Even Jeremiah’s lips thinned at the intrusion, but he still acknowledged the new arrival. “Mr. Maas here and I were set to play some golf. Care to join us?”
Behind Jeremiah, the smile disappeared from Preston’s face. Evan was sorely tempted to take up the offer just to annoy the other man. Unfortunately, Preston’s stormy expression promised that the annoyances would be all on Evan’s end. He wasn’t in the mood to put up with an afternoon full of snide digs and passive aggressive putdowns. He got enough of that at home.
“You two have fun,” he said instead, and then added as an aside to Jeremiah, “hopefully we can meet up and speak privately in the next few days.”
“Our tee time is in fifteen minutes,” Preston interjected before Jeremiah could respond. “Maybe you can find Griffin and hang out with him. He said something about using the spa today, probably getting a massage or pedicure by now.”
The derision in Preston’s voice was evidence in more his tone than the words, but it was the disappointed expression in Jeremiah’s eyes that hit home. As the two men walked off, Evan sat down heavily on a nearby chair. Line by line, he went over the entire conversation in his mind and came up with answers far better than the nothing that had left his lips.
Why couldn’t he come up with those quips on the spot? Why only after the fact?
He ran a hand over his face, suddenly tired, and glanced back toward the pool. The bar in the middle of the water had several people, but he didn’t see the woman in the white bikini.
Regret tore through him. Dammit. He’d made the wrong choice.
Evan’s phone buzzed with another email, and he checked it absently. He deflated when he saw it was from his father, and pocketed the phone without reading the note. Gideon McQueen likely wanted a detailed update on how things were going, and wouldn’t be pleased with his son’s apparent lack of progress.
He wasn’t in the mood to deal with his father. Flagging down a waiter in khaki shorts, he asked, “Where would I inquire about the island tours?”