It was hard to believe it had only been a week since their surf lesson on the beach.
That was, it was hard to believe when she was around Trey. In his arms (or his townhouse) it seemed like time went by quicker than any other place in the world. They’d surfed every night, eaten their meals under the stars, and even picked flowers to keep on what had quickly become her bedside table.
It was odd, really. That in only seven short days she felt like she knew this man better than any other man she’d dated. And, moreover, that he knew her better than anybody she’d ever met. He challenged her. He teased her. He played with her.
And when she walked through the door at night? He always made her take down her hair.
“Why?” She’d asked him the first time, though she moved to pull out the first of her bobby pins regardless.
“You look so tense with your hair up. I love seeing you with it down. You look more like you. But no matter how you do it, you’re beautiful to me.” Then he’d kissed her and she never had a word of argument again—especially not when he wound his fingers around her tendrils and led her back toward his bedroom.
That was Trey, though. He made her into hair-down Felicia—a woman who was carefree and fearless. And more and more? She was beginning to like that person a whole lot more than 9 to 5 stick-up-the-bum Felicia.
For that Felicia, time didn’t seem to move at all, and when the seconds of her minutes did seem to slowly tick by, she only noticed in order to get closer to the time when she could kick off her uncomfortable heels and sprint for the beach.
No matter which Felicia she was, though, there was no denying one thing—fast or slow, her time was running out.
The renovations on the offices were nearly finished, and her first class flight back to New York was waiting for her in two days’ time. Then she could kiss carefree Felicia goodbye…along with Trey.
But she couldn’t think about that. Not while she was so busy having fun for what felt like the first time in her adult life.
“Felicia?” Frank’s voice broke through her thoughts and she blinked, trying desperately to think of what it was she’d last heard him say.
Coming up with nothing, she settled on, “Hmmm?”
“I asked if you might stay after everyone leaves. Would that be alright with you?”
She sucked in her cheeks and glanced around the room to find a sea of gazes all trained on her. “Um, yeah, sure.”
“Ok, great. Everyone, enjoy the rest of your night. Thanks so much.”
The room began to clear and she ignored the few people who murmured her name as they skirted past her. When the glass door of the hotel’s conference room finally clicked shut, though, she shuffled her papers and trained all her focus on Frank.
Today he was wearing a red Hawaiian shirt that was so loud she was pretty sure you’d be able to hear it from space, and his mass of grey curls were piled in a bun on top of his head.
“Frank—“ she started, not exactly sure what she had to say for herself, but he held up a hand to silence her.
“It’s quite all right. Everything is fine, Felicia.” He offered her a smile, then took a seat a few chairs away.
“Good. Because, you know, I know I was late to breakfast this morning—”
Not that she’d needed to eat. Trey had surprised her by serving her the most amazing breakfast in bed. He’d made ham, too. And toast with egg in the middle—
“You’ve been late to breakfast all this week.” He nodded and Felicia flushed, not sure what to say for herself.
She couldn’t exactly tell her boss that she’d been shirking work to get a little wake-me-up call from the hottest hotel employee on the planet. Again, though, Frank saved her from having to come up with an excuse.
“Your tardiness does trouble me, but I do understand the pull of the island and…old friends.” Frank offered a knowing smile and she felt the sudden urge to curl up and die right on the spot.
“Right.” She nodded. “Okay.”
“No, I wanted to talk to you about the upcoming company leadership conference.”
Her ears perked up at that. The leadership conference was the golden ticket to management. The second they doled out the invitation, it was only a matter of weeks until the chosen person ascended to the highest ranks of the company.
Careful to keep an even tone, she said, “Okay?”
“Let me ask you. Why did you choose this business?”
She blinked. “I’m sorry?”
“Why did you choose this line of work?” he asked.
“Um,” Felicia thought back and answered with the only truth she could remember. “When I was younger, I flipped through a magazine and saw a list of the most stable and financially beneficial jobs and decided it was a good option.”
“Right.” Frank steepled his fingers. “Not to help people grow their investments. Not to be part of the team?”