However, at that moment, I didn’t care.
I was on vacation—a much-needed and well-earned vacation—with my best friend. Our future was full of change, but that was yet to come. This was now, and presently my eyes were closed as my skin absorbed the seductive warmth.
“There are a couple of chairs,” Chelsea said excitedly as we made our way around the large pool.
Taking in the scene, I was surprised by how many people were already poolside at this early hour. Following her lead, I moved toward the two available lounge chairs not far from the pool’s edge. “Perfect.”
“Yes, we can see everything from here.” She nudged my side as we got closer. “And, boy, is there a lot to see.” Her eyebrows danced, peeking out from behind her sunglasses.
“Chels, you go ahead and look. I’m enjoying my time with you and my Kindle. Do you have any idea how many books I’ve been dying to read? And there isn’t one textbook or required reading among them.” I patted my beach bag. “This baby is full.”
“I didn’t know you could really fill a Kindle.”
I pursed my lips as they quirked into a grin. “Not literally, babe.”
Smoothing her beach towel over the chair, she giggled and lowered her voice. “None of that matters. Remember what you said yesterday?”
As I stretched my legs out on my towel-covered chair, secured my floppy hat, and took in the beautiful scene around me, I thought about Chelsea’s question. I did remember what I’d said yesterday. Yesterday I’d declared that for this week I was no longer Alexandria. I was no longer Alex. For this one week, I would forget my past and not think about my future. For one week I would be Charli with an i and no last name.
To facilitate that even further, I booked this week at the Del Mar Resort under Chelsea’s name. I’d secured the funds, and no one besides my attorneys knew where we were. It was a week to reinvent myself. A week to live as I’ve never lived before. A week to enjoy just me and my best friend.
“What’s your name,” my friend asked.
I grinned as I turned her way. “You know, we’ve been best friends for years. It seems we should be past the introduction phase.”
Chelsea swung her legs my direction. “No, I mean it. Tell me your name.”
Pulling my Kindle from my beach bag, I mumbled, “Charli.”
“No way, girl. Louder.”
“Charli.”
“Louder,” she said, practically shouting the demand.
“Stop it. People will stare.”
“Let them stare. I don’t care. You don’t care about them. You’re Charli with an i.”
I shook my head. “You’re one crazy-assed lady sometimes.”
She nonchalantly hitched her shoulder. “That’s why you love me. I make life fun.”
There was no questioning her statement. Chelsea not only made her own life fun, but she made life fun for everyone around her. She was nothing like the girls I’d known in Savannah. Meeting as roommates our first year at Stanford was the best thing that ever happened. No matter what life’s ups and downs entailed, she was there. She was the sister I never had. “I do love you.” Raising my voice, I proclaimed, “And I’m Charli.”
“With an i.”
“Yes, with an i.”
“Hey,” Chelsea said, her gaze going to the handsome man in khaki shorts with a tray bearing frozen concoctions. The customary navy resort jacket was replaced with a collared shirt in the same color with the Del Mar emblem on the chest. No doubt, more comfortable to wear in the sunshine. “We should get drinks.”
“We just had breakfast.”
“And your point is...?”
She raised her hand as he came our way.
“Ladies, may I help you?”
“Yes,” Chelsea said excitedly, “I think I’ll have a—”
“A strawberry-mango slushy,” I interrupted. “No alcohol.”
My friend turned my way. Even with her sunglasses, I could see the question in her expression.
“Babe, you do what you want. I want to enjoy myself and remember it.”
“Fine,” she said, turning back to the waiter. “I’ll have the same. But don’t go far. It won’t be our last order.”
The man smiled politely as he took our room information and walked away.
Time passed as the sun grew warmer, my slushy turned to liquid, and the large pool area became more crowded. With my mind on the story on my Kindle, I was lost in the words when Chelsea nudged my side.
“Hey, you’re not listening.”
“What?”
“Do you see those two good-looking guys over there? They keep looking our direction.” When I started to turn, she said, “Don’t look.”
“How can I see them if I don’t look?”
“Okay, just a quick look.”
I turned. As I did, it was hard if not impossible not to see. This resort was filled with fine specimens of male and female patrons. After all, the resort catered to the elite. Those people spent a lot of time and money making sure their outer selves were perfection. I knew too well that when it came to pretty people, that perfection didn’t always translate to their inner selves.
In the direction that Chelsea had tilted her head were two men about our age staring directly at us. Everything inside me wanted to turn back to the story on my Kindle, and then I remembered my one-week mission. I lowered my sunglasses and returned their attention. The one with a surfer’s body and blond hair did the same. His closed-lip grin was cocky and confident.
Before I could do more than smile, he and his friend were up and moving our direction. “Shit,” I said. “They’re coming our way.”
“I said look, not invite him over.”
It was too late.
Four
Lennox
I paced back and forth in the office of the presidential suite. Deloris went above and beyond. The information she obtained was now on my computer. I knew who was attending Senator Carroll’s summit and most of the important information regarding their companies and bids. Hell, I even knew arbitrary information.
It was my first full day in California, and I’d already arranged a meeting for later in the afternoon with the senator. I planned to feel things out in person before jumping to conclusions, before deciding on my course of action for the rest of the week.
This was why I was better at this than my father. I wouldn’t barge into the senator’s plans; instead, I would make my presence known in a confident and assertive way, reminding him of the agreements we’d already made and the plans we had for the future finance committee.
The reason for my pacing was that I had a couple of hours to kill before our meeting. The flight, lack of my own bed, and inability to exercise this morning had me feeling itchy and on edge, as if I were ready to jump out of my own skin. Of course, the resort had an exercise facility, but I rarely did communal activities. I preferred my own treadmill in my own apartment with just me and the morning news getting me up to date on the foreign markets.
Now that time had passed. I’d updated myself with coffee and my computer screen. It wasn’t enough. There was even the possibility that the coffee was adding to my jumpiness. To make matters worse, the resort was filling my private pool. I wasn’t sure why in the fuck they didn’t have it already filled. Deloris said it had something to do with extending the reservation. They weren’t expecting a Demetri here until today.