“Tenth floor,” Corinne supplies.
I push the button. “Your wife likes it here, obviously. What about you?”
His smile beams. “I’ve never seen a place so beautiful in my life. Living here must be paradise.”
“Most of the time,” I say as the car shoots up. “Three years ago, I came here on a business trip for a week. I connected with the people and the island…and I never left.”
Corinne turns to me, surprise all over her face. “Really?”
“Really.”
I’m guessing Parker told her I’m a calculating asshole—no shock—so my spontaneous decision to move here doesn’t jibe with her preconceived notion of me. If we spend any time together at all, I’ll inevitably rattle her again.
After a few minutes and a wrong turn, we finally find Arthur’s room. When his key card lets him right in, he’s visibly relieved. “Thank you. You won’t tell my wife that I got lost, will you?”
“Nope,” I promise. “We men have to stick together.”
“Nothing to tell, actually.” Corinne smiles. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
“You, too,” he calls. “And not that you asked me, but you two would make beautiful babies.”
She blushes and clears her throat. “That’s very kind, but we really just met.”
Arthur’s smile widens as he turns to face me. “Then you should get to know each other better. Go buy the lady a drink.”
When I first met the old man, I never imagined I’d be taking advice from him, but he’s onto something. “I think I will. Enjoy your evening.”
“After my nap, you betcha. And if you two get married, I expect to be invited.” He winks.
Corinne smiles, then rummages in her purse for a business card. “I’ll be here until Sunday morning. If you get lost, call me.”
He clutches the card, his grin widening. “Will do.” Then he turns to me. “I’m the guy who got the girl’s number. You need to step up your game.”
“Touché, you cheeky bastard.” I give him a jaunty, two-fingered salute as I open the door for Corinne, then file out behind her, leaving Arthur to rest—and me alone with my enemy’s gorgeous sister.
Silently, we walk to the elevator. Well, she’s silent. Admittedly, I’m admiring her ass and wondering what she’d do if I touched her.
She presses the button to summon a car and turns to face me. “Why did you come here?”
“You didn’t really think this morning’s conversation was our last, did you?”
“Unless you wanted to see my detailed business plan, yes.”
I don’t give a shit about that. I’m in no position to invest right now…but she doesn’t need to know that. “I’m still thinking things over, and I have questions. How about that drink?”
She tries to pretend she’s not leery, but her face gives her away. “All right.”
We make our way back to the lobby bar, but when the bartender perks up at the sight of her and the party boy in the corner hustles in her direction like he thinks he has a chance, I stake my claim by fitting a hand to the small of her back and giving both men a warning stare. “It’s getting crowded and loud. How about we try the restaurant upstairs? It’s got a great view of the ocean. I’ll buy.”
Corinne hesitates like she doesn’t trust me—not surprising since everything she knows about me she’s heard from Parker—then nods. “Lead the way.”
Five minutes later, we’re seated at a cozy, linen-draped table for two beside a wrought-iron railing, overlooking a vast expanse of the Pacific. The sun is setting, throwing vibrant pinks, oranges, yellows, and blues above the shimmering water. The sick sunsets are one of the many reasons I love Maui.
A waiter delivers water and takes our drink orders to the backdrop of Van Morrison singing about his “Brown-Eyed Girl.” I ask for another scotch. She surprises me by ordering something other than a standard mojito, margarita, sex on the beach, or cosmo.
“A French 75, huh?”
“I like the balance of dry gin and champagne, along with the bubbles.” She sounds defensive. “Did you want to talk about my choice of drinks or my business?”
Neither. “I’m not criticizing, just saying that you surprise me.”
She relaxes then, and I wonder if Parker jumped her case over something as trivial as her choice of drinks. Knowing him, he’s butted in on the way she leads her whole life.
“Are you buttering me up for something?” She raises a brow at me. “Information about my brother, maybe?”
“No.”
“Secrets about the film dropping tomorrow?”
Of course she’s seen it, and under other circumstances I might be interested, but… “No.”
She frowns. “Then what? Sex?”
I lean forward, elbows braced on the table, and stare straight into her dark eyes. “No. But if you’re offering, I wouldn’t turn it down.”
“From what I hear, you never turn it down, so I have no interest in sleeping with you.”
But she shifts nervously in her seat and her pulse jumps at her neck.