My head whipped around and my gaze found his. “You’re a softie, Mr. Malachite? A lover of paradise?”
He opened his mouth to reply but the server appeared, stealing our moment and asking us if we wanted still or sparkling water.
Donovan looked at me, and I said, “Sparkling.”
“Anything else to drink?” The server turned to me first.
“Cabernet?”
“We have that,” he answered my one word.
“Espolon, neat,” Donovan stated.
“Right away,” our server replied and was off.
“I shouldn’t say this,” Donovan started, all grumbly, staring at me.
All of a sudden I felt self-conscious and wanted to yank my half shirt down, wishing it to grow on its own.
“Stop,” he interrupted himself. “You look perfect.”
I wondered if he could read minds…
“No, I can’t, but your face is an open book at the moment.”
I redirected him back to his thought. “What shouldn’t you say?”
The server had been pouring our sparkling water while we discussed this, and Donovan took his time, enjoying a sip. “I like paradise as much as the next person, but I think I may be a lover of making you happy. I’ve tried not to indulge in the idea, but it keeps coming to the forefront of my mind.”
A wineglass slid in front of me and I was grateful for a gulp of liquid courage, unable to peel my eyes off Donovan. His green eyes were sparkling, his hair forming small waves in the humidity. “Why shouldn’t you say that?”
He put his hand on the table, a gold Rolex shimmering between us. “Because it’s an occupational hazard.”
I swallowed back any pleasant thoughts or words. I was only a job to Donovan, no matter what he said otherwise. “Then we should eat and get after what we came to do.”
I didn’t know what I was thinking, dredging up silly schoolgirl crushes on Donovan, or even wishing for one or two grown-up days with him. The task at hand had to be done or my mother would be out for my neck, even though I wasn’t sure how my body would take the exchange of feelings. But let’s be honest, no one really cared. And certainly Donovan didn’t mean he loved making me happy.
No one was concerned with my joy. It was my job to make sure others didn’t feel pain. Period.
Donovan
“Thank you and good night,” Tulya said without looking at me, stomping off to her room.
After I’d gone and mentioned her being an occupational hazard, she’d barely looked at me, let alone said anything more than the tuna roll was delicious and asking to try my salmon sashimi.
After I paid the check and she finished her wine, we walked back to our hotel in the same silence we’d shared earlier.
It wasn’t until she closed the door to her bedroom that I told myself the rift was for the best. I needed to get this done and over with, and back to Rubia. My mother had her own relationship visions for me, and I had a plan to stop it.Eyes on the prize, I told myself.
Padding back to my quarters, I opened my laptop and checked my email, smiling when I saw the signed contracts. I hadn’t been worried, but wanted my vision tied up tight.
Our family had long been invested in housing and hotels in the States as silent partners. Our real estate portfolio was expansive when it came to outright owning apartment buildings, mostly because we hired a manager or two. My father believed hotels needed more onsite supervision from the owner.
Originally, I disagreed. And then I changed my mind, seeing it as my out. Which was why I was in the middle of buying my first hotel and moving where it was located. My mother could never argue with my deceased father’s ideals, could she?
I was close to being off to Hawaii…far away from Rubia, where the expectations and rules to perform or obey were squelching. I loved the place, and it had all the amenities I needed, but it had grown old in the way the citizens thought. Business was better when it was bigger where I was concerned. I wanted a more gigantic existence.
Of course, I didn’t plan to fall in love with a human or marry one or bring anyone back to Rubia like Magnum—I’d forever be mostly a rule follower—but I did intend to avoid the marriage my mom was arranging for me. If I was away most of the time, no one would want me.
