Queen’s Knight (Invitation to Eden) (5 page)

Preston blinked, clearly nonplussed by the sudden about face in attitude from the CEO. Evan just smiled inwardly before excusing himself from that suddenly awkward conversation. Maybe Jeremiah wasn’t as fooled by the Maashole’s blatant sucking up as Evan had feared.

––––––––

“S
on, you need to make your move at some point this week if you don’t want to be left in the dust.”

Evan gave the older man a sharp look. Griffin’s cheeks were already rosy, a sure sign Evan had found that the other man’s drinks were starting to affect him. The blue eyes that stared at him however were as sober as ever, and Evan sighed. “I thought we were in competition here.”

Griffin snorted, taking the seat at the bar beside Evan. “I already know I have no chance for the position. My selection was clearly meant to placate the board, although I was personally as surprised as anyone to get that invitation.” He waggled his eyebrows and held up the drinks in each hand. “I’m not above taking full advantage of the situation though.”

Evan shook his head, grinning. Griffin leaned against the bar. “Let me give you some advice. If you can’t go directly at your target, sometimes it’s best to take an indirect route.”

The older man was staring at something across the room. Evan followed his gaze to see Jeremiah’s fiancé-slash-assistant sitting alone at the other end of the bar. “Ah,” he said, immediately understand what the other man meant.

“Just don’t get too talkative, if you know what I mean. Rarely seen a man quite so into his lady, so it surprises me he’s left her alone even this long.”

The advice sounded like something his father would suggest, and Evan sighed. He drank the rest of his glass, and then stood up. “Here goes nothing,” he muttered to nobody in particular, crossing the space between he and the other woman.

Before he could even sit, however, Lucy held up a hand to stop him. “If you’re striking up a conversation with me to earn brownie points with Jeremiah, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. Our relationship doesn’t extend to his work.”

It was almost a relief to be called out. “That obvious, was I?”

Lucy eyed him, and he got the feeling she was sizing him up. The smile she gave him, however, was sincere. “At least you have a subtlety that’s borderline charming. Unlike your friend Preston.”

Evan shook his head. “He’s not my friend.” It felt very important at that moment to make that clear.

“I would hope not.” She quirked an eyebrow, looking past Evan and out toward the veranda where the two men talked. Her mouth twisted. “If I’d had any say in the matter, Mr. Maas never would have boarded that plane.”

Her flat statement gave Evan hope, but he tried not to read too far into her statement. “He’s a businessman,” Evan said simply, as if that summed it up. “He’s not afraid to wheel and deal to get what he wants.”

“Hmm.” Her tone said she didn’t agree with his assessment, but she turned her gaze back to Evan. “He likes you, you know.”

It was on the tip of Evan’s tongue to ask which “he” she meant, but the realization was as startling as it was puzzling. “I’ve barely gotten a moment alone with him this entire trip,” he confessed.

“You and me both.” One corner of her mouth turned down ever so slightly and she sighed. “I came along to maybe scout a location for our wedding. It really is a beautiful spot.”

There was a wistful tone in her voice. “Yeah,” Evan agreed looking around. “It’s pretty incredible.”

Lucy sighed. “But this place is by invitation only and some of the people I’d have at the wedding...” She trailed off, wincing. “I highly doubt they’d ever get selected to come here.”

“I’m surprised Preston was selected,” Evan muttered, and was rewarded when Lucy laughed.

“To be honest, so was Jeremiah.” She nudged Evan’s arm good-naturedly. “Maybe it was to highlight who was the better candidate.”

“Maybe...” Evan trailed off as a blonde vision in a blue dress suddenly entered the waiting area. His mouth hung open as, spellbound, he watched Dani step into the restaurant area, looking nervous. He’d thought she was stunning in her dirt bike gear.

His heart was about to explode at the way she filled out that dress.

Lucy followed his gaze. “Ah, that’s your motorcycle girl?” At Evan’s look, she grinned. “Yes, my fiancé does tell me some of his stories.”

“If you’ll excuse me,” Evan mumbled, thankful when Lucy shooed him away.

He hurried over to Dani, letting his eyes take everything in. His dick hardened almost immediately, but it was his chest that threatened to explode when she saw him and a smile lit her face.

Holy shit.

It was then that Evan knew he was done for, and he didn’t mind in the slightest.

*

T
he blue sundress was too tight, but Rose had insisted it was fine. Dani tugged at it, nervous suddenly. So far, nobody had recognized her; heck, she hadn’t even recognized herself in the mirror. Her normally frizzy hair was straight, with barely a wave to it. Rose had made her scrub under her fingernails, then taken Dani to get both a manicure and a pedicure.

The flawless nails would be a lost cause the minute she tried to get back into that engine, but for now it felt
nice
to be a little girly.

She wondered if hell had frozen over yet.

Evan had told her to meet him down here, but she didn’t see him at the entrance. Outside, the sun was about to set, bathing the room in a rich orange glow. Her belly rumbled, reminding her she’d only had breakfast that morning, and prompting her to step inside a little more.

A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and then there was Evan. Relief surged through her, and she gave him a wide smile.

“My god,” he breathed, taking her hand, “you look stunning.”

“Blame Rose for it,” she blurted out, suddenly nervous. He’d seen her already in far less thanks to that bikini, but she felt her skin tingle every time he looked at her. “She insisted that, if I was going on a real date, I had to dress the part.”

“I’ll make sure to kiss the woman the next time I see her,” Evan said, grinning when Dani giggled. “Come on, I have something to show you.”

Dani followed behind him, the low heels making her wobble. She was used to boots with a great deal more support than the strappy heels. The entire outfit belonged to Maria, one of Rose’s coworkers. She’d been more than happy to help make over the tomboyish Dani, and wore roughly the same size.

She tugged again at the dress.
Roughly
sometimes meant making concessions to proper fit. Evan, however, didn’t seem to mind.

He led her outside onto the patio overlooking the water. Far below them, the water seemed to lap against the sandy beach, and off to the left a group was finishing up their golf game. The pier looked so tiny from this distance, the ferryboat docked for the evening.

The table to which he led her was set for a date, with a long candle and red rose in the center. Dani bit her lip to hide a smile at the romantic gesture, and sat down as Evan held her chair for her.

Well, hell. If the date kept on going like this, he might ruin her to the crummy dates she’d grown used to all those years.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Evan said, taking his seat, “but when I asked the chef here what dish you liked, he said he already knew what to do, so I went with his recommendations.”

Chef James was one of the best cooks Dani had ever met, and she nodded, her mouth starting to water. “If he has a plan for a meal, it’s going to be incredible.” She fidgeted with her dress, pulling the napkin free and settling it on her lap. “So, um, what did you want to talk about?”

The waiter chose then to bring the wine, pouring it into their glasses. Not too surprisingly, it tasted wonderful, but she’d yet to have anything less than fantastic from the island.

“I’d like to hear the stories you teased me about,” he said, leaning forward.

“Oh man,” Dani groaned, “where do I even start? I’ve been travelling on and off for nearly four years now, most of the time I’m super boring.”

“Somehow, I doubt that.”

Dani cocked her head to the side and studied the man before her. She’d seen that yearning before, that eagerness for her stories. Years ago, Dani herself had been the avid listener, wishing she’d inherited the adventurous gene in her family. Up until she’d left home, she had always believed that belonged solely to her brother James.

“All right,” she said slowly, wracking her brains for a good story. Then she grinned. “Let me tell you about the dolphins of Ometepe Island.”

*

A
n hour later, Dani was still talking, and Evan couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun.

“Suddenly Nick came around the corner and almost ran into this llama with his bike. I heard him over the intercoms cursing but I didn’t understand what about because he was speaking Russian.” She giggled at the memory. “By the time I get there, the llama had already spat on the face shield of his helmet and trotted away to find the rest of its herd.”

“I thought you did most of your riding solo.”

Dani shrugged. “Sometimes over the more treacherous bits, it’s nice to partner up with folks who are going the same way as you. I stay in a lot of hostels when I can afford it, and you meet a lot of interesting folks there too. Anyway, enough with my stories–your turn.”

“Me?” Evan frowned, disappointed. “My life’s been fairly boring up until meeting you.”

“Come on, you live in the big city, work for some billionaire I should probably know about, and flew here on some expensive jet.” She leaned forward and rested her chin on one hand. “There’s no way you don’t have a story too. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve ever done?”

Evan frowned and looked away, trying to decide where to start. “Well,” he said slowly, “probably the most interesting thing I’ve ever done is go to Egypt to see the pyramids.”

Dani’s eyes went wide. “Really?”

“I told you my grandfather was the adventurous one in the family. The summer after my senior year, he convinced my father to let me tag along on a Middle Eastern business trip. It was supposed to be a one-week thing but ended up lasting nearly two months. We went everywhere, from Cairo to Dubai to Bombay. Made my father furious, he’d had plans for my summer internship.”

“Sounds like your father is trying to live his life through you,” Dani mused.

Evan shrugged, and then his smile dimmed. “The next year, my grandfather passed away in his sleep. By then, I was in college and already set on the career path that led me here. There never seemed to be time for travel, it was all work, work, work.”

Evan’s eyes had a melancholy look about them that tugged at Dani’s heart. She reached out and took his hand, and his attention focused on her. “If you hadn’t gone that way though,” she reminded him softly, “we wouldn’t have met. So it’s not all bad, right?”

He stared at her for a moment, then without breaking eye contact brought her hand to his lips. Dani’s body tensed as his lips touched her hand, and her heart sped up. His eyes held a sensual promise, but he said nothing, as if waiting for her to make a decision.

“Ms. Knight?”

The man’s voice saying her name broke Dani from her reverie. “Yes?” she asked, looking away and up into the concerned face of their waiter.

“I’ve been told that your friend Rose had an accident down by the docks. Doc is with her, but they’re taking her back to the mainland now.”

Dani’s breath lodged in her throat. “Excuse me,” she whispered, pulling her hand free and standing quickly to her feet. Immediately shedding her shoes, she half-walked, half-ran out of the restaurant and down toward the docks, Evan trailing right behind her.

––––––––

T
he plane was ready to go, but Rose continued her protests. “I’m okay. Seriously, you don’t have to do this.”

Dani held up her hand. “Honey, how many fingers do I have up?”

Rose squinted, blinking hard, then rubbed her head. “Owie. What happened?”

“Honey, you hit your head on the pier.” It was the third time the doctor had told her what happened, but Rose didn’t seem capable of retaining the memory. “We’re taking you back to Miami to make absolutely certain you’re all right.”

“Well, that explains the headache,” Rose quipped, also for the third time, and Dani bit her lip with worry.

“Is she going to be okay?” Griffin stood beside Rose, hovering over her protectively.”

“Oh, shut up you big lout,” Rose muttered, grabbing for Griffin’s hand. “It’s not your fault I’m clumsy when I drink.”

But Griffin continued to look worried, smoothing his hand down Rose’s face. “If I hadn’t kissed you, none of this would have happened. But you looked so beautiful there in the moonlight, I couldn’t resist.”

Rose gaped at him. “You think I’m beautiful?” she murmured in a breathless voice. “And we
kissed
?” All at once, outrage flooded her face. “Oh,
dammit.
Of all the bloody memories to lose, why does it have to be that one?”

The drone of the plane’s engines grew louder as they drew near, and Dani helped her friend up the narrow steps. Griffin pulled himself up into the plane first, and as he disappeared inside Rose shared an incredulous look with Dani. “I kissed him?” she hissed, eyes wide.

Laughter bubbled up. “No accounting for taste,” Dani teased, and Rose stuck out her tongue. She was going to be all right. “Why don’t you go in and find out?” She moved to follow her friend into the plane, but Rose placed a hand on Dani’s chest.

“Nuh-uh. If I gotta go through romantic problems, so do you.”

Dani glanced back at Evan, standing on the edge of the crowd. He was watching her, and Dani realized he hadn’t left her side at all since their date ended abruptly. “He’s nice,” she said, curiously unable to take her eyes off him. God, he looked so good in that get-up. “But right now I really can’t...”

“Nope. I want to hear all about it when I get back.” She blinked, then winced and grabbed her head. “Where am I going again?”

Dani pushed Rose inside the plane. “Go, get in.”