The Accidental Mistress (15 page)

"What does that mean? What kind of
plan?"

"Trust me,
mère
. I will be in
touch."

"
Oui ma
chérie
, talk to you soon. I love you."

"
À
bientôt.
"

Zuri set the phone on the receiver. With her
hand to her mouth, she dropped back in her painful silence for a
long moment, trying to decipher what her mother hadn't shared. Her
father wasn't well and her mother was scared. That was her reality.
She pushed up from the chair, resigned to what she would have to
do. She would find Christophe Montague and make him an offer he
couldn't refuse.

When Zuri left the office, she found
Danielle and Francine overwhelmed by a line of arriving guests. She
counted thirteen in total. This was the one time when less was
more. Too many guest and their services will slack off.

"Are you two okay?" Zuri asked her counter
manager.

Danielle gave her a curt nod and returned
her attention to the man detailing his wishes to her in broken
English. Zuri made a quick exit. She needed to focus on her
immediate problem, Christophe. He was going to listen to her. She
headed for the terraces. And it didn't take her long to find him
standing on the beach. He stared at the sea. Zuri thought of peace
bartering words. But there were none. What could she do to get the
bastard to hear her out?

Christophe turned from the ocean and headed
back to the Oasis. His gaze lifted as he climbed the stairs and
focused on her. Zuri chewed on her bottom lip.

***

The last person he expected to see so soon
was Zuri. But there she was. Christophe didn't think of himself as
a cruel man. Of course he had compassion for her problems. But how
were her issues his fault? He didn't mismanage the resort or cause
her father's stroke. Hell, he didn't proposition her the night she
gave herself to him. He knew he lacked some of the social patience
to woo her to seeing him as less of a threat. But he had no
intentions of walking away until he figured out why she affected
him so strongly.

"I was coming to look for
you," he said. "You will show me the Oasis, from its guest services
to your financial reports. The ones you keep from the bank. I want
to know what your true spend is on a daily basis. I won't waste my
time on arguing with you. I'm here because
—
"

"Okay," she said softly.

Christophe stumbled over the rest of his
words. "Okay?"

"I was wrong to attack you
personally earlier. It was unprofessional of me. Tonight you will
be my special guest at our own version of
vaval
," she said sweetly. "I can show
you hospitality."

"What is this
vaval
?"

"It's what's we call Carnivale here in
Martinique. My hotel gives a much smaller and private version once
a week for the guests. Music, rum and the best foods, this side of
Mount Pele welcomes you to the Caribbean. You will enjoy it.
Consider me the elected Queen Mother." she gave him a playful
bow.

Zuri lifted her soft brown eyes under dark
lashes and Christophe could barely maintain a coherent thought. He
had the nagging urge to touch her.

"
Bienvenue
." She slowly rose from her
bow. "How about we start with a personal tour of the resort? I'd
love to show you the private château’s or what the Americans refer
to as bungalows. The spa services are limited this week, but I can
arrange a special one for you."

Christophe studied her for the trick. She
was definitely up to something. When she batted those large round
eyes of hers, he found it hard to object. Zuri was quite beautiful,
and it had been some time since he desired a woman. He'd have to be
made of granite not to soften with her standing so close. "Okay,
sure. I'd like that."

"
Bien
, shall we?"

Christophe fell in step with her. She led
him along the shaded walkway and pointed out the private château’s
circling and forming a half horseshoe around the golden sands of
the beach.

"If you haven't noticed, Martinique carries
a very distinct air of sophistication, thanks to our French
heritage. Do you know that the world thinks of Martinique as the
Caribbean equivalent to Paris?"

"I've heard."

"Have you?" she asked. "Ah yes, Montague is
based in France, right? Are you French?"

Christophe bristled. He wondered how she
would respond to his disdain for their shared culture? He wouldn't
explain his mommy issues to her. She'd probably think of him as
some head case. Christophe decided to change the subject. "I
thought you were mostly proud of your Creole West Indian and
African heritage?"

Zuri paused. He liked surprising her. She
really didn't think much of him. She gave him a small smile and he
hoped it was genuine. "Yes, we are. Very much so. You can see it in
our food, our language, and our customs. This is what I was trying
to explain about the Oasis. It's not just a place to sleep and play
at the beach. My family offers a taste of Martinique from the
cultural aspect, and travelers prefer that experience."

Christophe wondered how the Blue Oasis had
reached it’s financial ruin if this place were truly every
traveler’s paradise. The hurricane had reeked havoc on the island,
but from what he read, her father had expanded his franchise far
beyond its worth.

She finally circled back
through to where his suite was. "
Monsieur
Montague
I
—
"

"Zuri, my name is Christophe, sweetheart.
Use it."

She nodded. "Apologies, Christophe. I need
to meet with my sister and staff. How about you take the time to
relax. The festivities tonight are sure to be exhausting."

Before the actions of his hands registered,
he found himself reaching to grasp her arm to delay her from
leaving. Zuri stiffened, but she kept the same pleasant smile to
her face. "Don't forget access to your records. I'm assuming you
have some system I can log into to review them, or maybe you can
run a report for me?" If he could offer her any help, he needed to
know what type of management they truly had for this place. "I want
to see how you manage your affairs. It may help me understand why
the Oasis is in jeopardy."

"
Oui,
of course," she said,
withdrawing from his touch. Christophe watched her walk off.
Suddenly he had something to look forward too.

Chapter Ten

"Ugh! I feel like I need a
bath
!
C’est des
conneries!
"
Joi slammed the door behind her. Zuri turned from the window
where she stared out at the sea in deep thought. Her sister shook
her shoulders and rolled her eyes. "That Elliot man makes me want
to throw him and his ego off the top of Mount Pelée!"

"He's that bad?"

"Oh, Zuri. He’s vile. Do you know he had the
nerve to tell me that he'd like to dine on some island food?"

"And?"

"Let me finish. He said he could start with
the sweet nectar between my chocolate thighs. Who the hell says
something like that? The man is gross."

Zuri cringed. "Well I'm
glad you escaped. I needed to talk to you. I spoke to
mère
this morning. I have
news, Joi.
Père's
has had a setback."

"What? No, what kind of setback?"

"Stress. You and I know he
is not a man to sit back idly as his daughters conduct his
affairs.
Père’s
pride is going to drive him to another stroke.
Mère
is worried, and I
feel awful because
—
"

She turned from her sister.
Joi put her hand to her back and Zuri sucked down her fear. She
almost blew it with Christophe, but she wasn't sure how she could
make this work. "Joi, he's just not feeling well. So we have to
step up things. Get Christophe Montague and that man Elliot to
agree to a plan that will give
père
his business back."

"That's what
we're
—
"

"No, we will start
with
vaval
tonight."

"Zuri, We are already pushing the staff
beyond belief. We have to be careful."

"I agree, so I've called in some help from
the Lagoon. They should be here this afternoon to set up. It will
be okay."

"If you say so," Joi scoffed.

"Trust me. Besides, I think I can win
Christophe over."

"You keep referring to him by his first
name. Did you two connect?

"Huh? No, not that way, I'm just saying. Oh
never mind. Forget what I said."

Joi sighed,
"
Père
is going to
be fine. And so are we. Even if we lose the Oasis, we will be
okay."

"Absolutely not. I won't let that happen.
Don't say it again."

Joi sighed in defeat.

"We got another problem,"
Zuri said. "He wants to see our budgets, have access to our system.
I have to distract him. I don't want him to know how bad the debts
are just yet. So the
vaval
will be perfect. Okay?"

"Fine. Tell me what you want me to do."

"Got some cute swimsuits? The sexier the
better," Zuri smiled.

Joi’s eyes lit up. "You're going to dress
up?"

"As the Queen Mother. What choice do I have?
You can do my hair and all. Just make me sexy."

"Why?" Joi narrowed her eyes on her. "You
never really liked dressing up before."

"It's custom," Zuri lied.

"Mmmhmm, whatever."

***

"I think I'm in love, man,"
Elliot exhaled. "Joi Baptiste is one hot piece of ass!
Elle va bien.
She's so
sexy. And she's feisty too. I've tried my best lines on her and
nothing. But I can tell, she's softening up to me."

Christophe closed the lid of his laptop. His
Google search returned very little about the Baptiste family. He
would call his office and put some people on it.

"Did you her me?" Elliot said.

"I heard you."

"What about Zuri? Nice rack on her. You two
hit it off?"

Christophe frowned. "We aren't here to hook
up with these women."

Elliot dropped down in his chair and
shrugged his shoulders. Christophe could debate his cousin's lack
of respect for women, but he didn't have the energy. Besides, he
hadn't done much better. Zuri's change in attitude, hopefully,
would give him an in road to figure things out. Still he remained
tense as too why he bothered at all.

"So what now? We taking this place or what?"
Elliot asked.

"I don't know yet," Christophe said,
reclining back in to the sofa. "But I have to admit. I'm
tempted."

***

The Blue Oasis consisted mostly of chateau
suites private and near the clear waters of the leeward beaches.
The hotel was an old fashioned Victorian structure three-stories
high. It’s where guests dined and received pampering from the
heated lava stones off of the cliffs of Mount Pele. The chic could
indulge in the extravagance along the walkways east or west from
its doors.

Christophe received a personal invite to the
festivities. Following the music, he found himself headed to the
outside terrace. The party had already begun. The warm night
carried in a light breeze that caused yellow, red and green light
lanterns to sway. Christophe head went back to the colorful
streamers and papier-mâché figures of devil's and masquerade masks
flapping in the wind.

Vaval,
as she called it, was already two month's past. The guests at
the Oasis partied merrily. The atmosphere was casual. Christophe
looked down at his attire. He'd chosen a pair of jeans and a white
linen shirt for the evening's event. When he and Elliot arrived,
the tall chef named JP greeted them both. He gave a nod to a
decorative table at the front of the dance floor.

"Zuri asked that you dine here. It is the
best seat for the show."

A table decoratively set with a buffet fit
for royalty was presented before him. Christophe hadn't realized
that he was famished until he laid eyes on the bananas, coconut,
guava, mangoes and the breadfruit. He inhaled the peppery spice of
gumbo with the sweet flavor of yams and chinese cabbage.

"
S'il vous plait.
S’assez-vous
."
Jean-Paul led them to awaiting chairs. They were
actually instructed to sit next to a chair adorned with bright
feathers like a throne.

"May I make a
suggestion,
monsieur
?" Jean-Paul asked. He pointed to the center clay bowl with
lumps of fish in tomato sauce. "This is our island favorite. We
call it
court-bouillon
which is snapper in my own special spicy sauce, and next to it
is
blaff,
boiled
snapper with chives."

"
Merci
. Sounds delicious," Christophe
said, his gaze slipping over to Elliot who was already eating.
Jean-Paul noticed his Elliot's gluttonous ways. He lifted a brow
curiously, dismissed them both and stepped away. It was hard not
feeling like the oddity here, especially with Elliot drawing
attention at every turn. But Christophe tried to relax. Under the
thundering beats of island drums, he piled a hearty helping of
gumbo and
blaff
.
The bandleader crooned a French Creole song to the audience,
encouraging them to sing along. The music had a rhythmic calypso
flow that reminded him of zouk music he knew had origins in the
Antilles. The flavor was a mix of reggae and salsa with
instrumental bamboo flutes, bells, and a synthesizer harmonizing
perfectly with the singer's voice.