“I’ll join you,” Gibson tries.
“I’m okay by myself.” I don’t wait for a response as I head into the water and make my escape. Now I’m the one running.
After I dip under the water and come back up, I don’t have the willpower to not look for him. Gibson stands at the end of my cabana, his eyes trained on me the whole time. I swear I can feel the heat of his gaze burning me hotter than the sun.
The water is getting rougher by the second, and when I get out, I go straight to the sun bed and grab my things as I try to ignore him. It’s impossible to avoid him with us all being in a group, but what I can do is make sure I have a buffer between us. Throughout the day’s activities I make sure we’re never alone, and I dive into the work we’re here to do.
The one positive thing about focusing on Gibson is I forget how much anxiety I was feeling about fitting in. At times I still feel in over my head when people talk about things I don’t understand. The numbers and codes can feel like they're speaking another language, but I can get the surface idea when it’s explained to me.
I don’t know if Gibson realized that I was struggling at times, but he kept asking people to pitch him their idea or to explain it like they would to a consumer. I knew he understood everything they were saying, but having them break it down for someone that wouldn’t already know the information benefited me.
If that was his motivation for always clarifying a response, then it’s kinda sweet. How can something be sweet and irritate me at the same time? Gah! This man has me all over the place.
“You mind if we have a moment alone?” Gibson asks close to my ear as dinner wraps up. He’d taken the seat next to mine before I could ask anyone else to sit down. He’s been glued to my side since I got out of the water.
“I actually need to make a call.” I give him a tight smile, not wanting to draw attention, and he narrows his eyes at me. For some reason it feels like a warning, and a delicious thrill runs through my body that I can’t explain.
“We had the outside bar area reserved, but that won’t be happening,” Cora announces as she stands up from her chair. The storm hit about an hour ago, and we’ve been watching it rain from the safety of the restaurant. “They are saving a section in the main bar if anyone wants to keep hanging out.”
As everyone rises from the table, some people are calling it a night, and others are more than ready to keep the party going.
“You coming back down after your call?” Peter asks from across the table.
“Depends.” I shrug. I don’t really have a call, but I could try to reach the twins. They are always good at distracting me and making me laugh.
“Gibson. Can I snag you for just a second before everyone breaks?” Cora says loudly so he doesn't really have much of a choice. I have no clue what Cora makes, but one of my first orders of business when I get back is giving that woman a raise.
I don’t linger as I sneak away from the table and up to my suite. At least this time I make it back to my room before we once again lose power. The storm is raging outside, almost as hard as the one raging inside of me.
Chapter 10
Gibson
Thunder sounds outside, and I turn to Cora. “Yeah, what do you need?”
She peers over my shoulder and then smiles brightly at me. “Nothing really. I just wanted to give her a head start.”
I grind my back teeth as I narrow my eyes. “What are you playing at?”
Just then Mary moves close to stand next to Cora and somehow gives me the same bright smile like they’re not up to something.
“A word of advice?” Mary offers, but I don’t answer, and she doesn’t need a prompt to keep going. “The man who’s lucky enough to catch that one”—she nods in the direction Lindsey went—“will need to make sure he’s strong enough to hang on to her.” When her eyes come back to me, they narrow and then she does an exaggerated head-to-toe scan of my body. Something about her expression makes me think I didn’t measure up.
“Want to have a drink at the bar?” Cora asks Mary, and she nods without taking her eyes off me.
The silent warning is enough to have me turning away from the two of them and walking toward the elevators. I don’t know what I’ve done to piss them and Lindsey off, but I need to make it right. She gave me the cold shoulder all night, even though I could practically feel the heat of her body pulling me to her.
The lights blink on the elevator as I ride it up to the top floor, and I worry that I made a mistake taking it. Thankfully when I get to my floor, the doors open, and I get off. But as I walk down the hall, the lights flicker, so I quicken my pace. I know how much she hated being in the dark last time and I don’t want her to have to go through that again while she’s alone.
When I get to her door, the power goes out, and I knock. “Hey, Lindsey, it’s me, Can you open the door?”
There’s no sound from the other side, and I wonder if I got it wrong and she didn’t come back to her room. I stand there thinking of where the hell else she could have gone, but just then the door opens, and I see the outline of her shadow.
“What do you want?” Her words aren’t exactly cold, but she’s direct and without emotion like she was all damn day.
“You.” It’s the only answer I have, and it’s the truth. “Now let me inside.”
I can practically hear her thoughts as she tries to quickly come up with an excuse.
“Let’s cut to the chase, Lindsey. I’m not leaving, and you’re letting me in.”
“Oh, you’re so sure?” Her tone is a challenge.
“You’re playing with fire, princess.”
“What the hell did you just call me?” She cracks the door.
The heat in her words fans the flames of my own, and I’m done playing. I push the door so quickly she doesn’t see it coming, and she backs away. I follow her step for step as it snicks closed behind me, encasing us in the darkness. Alone.
“I called you princess because that’s what you’re acting like.”
“You know, you have some nerve.” She stops retreating, and the storm outside lights up her silhouette. “I don’t know what the hell that was earlier in the woods, but you’re swinging from hot to cold so fast I’m getting dizzy.” She’s angry, and for some reason I like this side of her. I want all of her passion in whatever way she wants to give it to me. “You disappear and then come strolling back like you’ve got some claim to me, but I’ll tell you this for free, nobody owns me.”
I move so quickly she’s surprised as I back her up against the wall. “You done?”
“No,” she barks, and this close to her I can see every emotion. “How dare you think you can walk in here and into my life, like you’ve got the right? I’m nobody’s property, and I sure as hell won’t belong to an arrogant asshole that can’t make up his mind!”
My hands are planted against the wall on either side of her, and by the time she’s finished, she’s right in front of my face.
“You think I don’t know what I want?”