“Thanks. That’s okay, I need to head out. I’ve got to find a replacement for Shannon now,” he said.
“Don’t bother. Josie will be here tomorrow. I’m sure you can find someone to fill in until then,” Jade offered.
“Right.” He grabbed a muffin and then headed out.
“That right there is one tall drink of yummy,” Diane said with a sigh.
“Diane.” Jade laughed as she took her coffee and took a sip, trying to steady herself.
“What? I may be old, but I’m not blind.” She sat on the edge of the desk. “Is Josie really going to be here tomorrow?” she asked.
“Oh!” Jade gasped. “I thought I’d told you.” She felt bad suddenly. “Yes.” She smiled. “Josie’s planning on being here for at least six months this time.”
“How wonderful.” Diane smiled. “It’ll be great to have Josie around here again. She always brings a smile to everyone here. Will she be staying with you?”
“Yeah. She wanted to pay for a room herself, but there are two more bedrooms upstairs unused.” She took a bite of a cranberry muffin. The sugar was doing the trick to settle her. Still, she kept thinking back to how Wyatt had looked at her. Had any other man looked at her with such want before?
“Will she be taking over for Wyatt then?” Diane asked.
“No, she’ll be directly under Wyatt for now.” She suddenly wondered if Diane knew who Wyatt was. After all, Diane was the one person at the resort that her father trusted explicitly.
Until she could talk to her father again, she figured the best thing to do was keep her mouth shut. Wyatt seemed to think it was extremely important to not tell anyone else.
“I’ll go cancel Shannon’s employment with us and make sure security knows to cancel her badge and access.” Diane stood up and, after taking a muffin for herself, left, closing the office door behind her.
Jade sank back in her chair and leaned her head on the high-back leather chair. What she wanted to do was sneak out and head upstairs to sleep for another hour or two. Instead, she had a few seconds of quiet before her phone rang.
That evening, since she was still feeling woozy from her over-indulgence, she changed into a swimsuit and headed to the beach instead of to the bar.
She made her way past the busy pool and beach areas, tossed her towel and cover-up on a chair, and headed into the clear water.
Today the water was so calm that she figured that it would take her no time at all to hit the buoy marking a mile out.
“Heading in?” someone said behind her.
She glanced over and saw Wyatt walking towards her.
“Yes. You?” she asked, taking in his swim trunks. He’d already removed his shirt and had tossed it next to her stuff.
He nodded. “How far out do you go?”
“There’s a buoy a mile out. It’s two miles total round trip,” she answered him as he stood beside her in the wake “Don’t you work today?”
“Nope, it’s my night off.” He looked out over the water. “Two miles is a long way to swim.”
“Not for me.” She smiled. “I’ve been swimming out to the buoy since I was twelve.”
“Seriously?” He smiled at her. “Impressive.”
“My dad and I race out there when he’s around.” She glanced out over the water. She could just make out the small buoy swaying on the water.
“I’m a pretty good swimmer,” he said as he stretched his arms over his head, as if loosening up. “But it’s been a while.”
She glanced over at him, assessing his physique. Yeah, he looked like a swimmer. A swimmer mixed with a boxer. He was lean and very toned.
She turned to him. “Need me to dare you?”
“Care to wager?” he joked.