stiffened. She knew Lena didn’t mean anything cruel by her words, but they hit on a nerve sensitive enough to have Danica’s belly rumbling for almonds. She didn’t stock almonds at home, given their tendency to go straight to her waistline, or rather, a little to the right side of her waistline and a lot to the left.
Talk about a freak show.
If not for her robe covering up her sides and back, Jordan would have taken one look at her and run.
She dipped a chip into the salsa and jammed it in her mouth. She chewed slowly, letting the balmy night breeze and the salt smell lifting off the sea ease away her irritation and overcritical self-bashing. “No idea,” she finally said. “He never took them off.”
Lena’s eyes went wide with appreciation. “Oh, man. He just pulled his cock out and did the deed. Hot.”
“Actually, his cock was out of his pants and sheathed before I even opened the door.” When she’d first made that discovery, Danica had been turned off by his self-assurance. Then he’d palmed her sex and dipped one of those long, thick fingers inside her body, and she could have cared less if he was arrogant, so long as he didn’t stop fucking her. “But, yeah, very hot.”
“Next time you’ll both be naked.”
Danica pulled from the hedonistic daze she’d fallen under with the memory. As incredible as it had felt to have a man’s hands on her body after so much time, his cock pumping away inside her, it wouldn’t be happening again anytime soon. Work was her priority. And, if she was to be completely honest, she would rather leave Jordan with the impression he’d had of her when he left the villa: that she was good to look at. “There won’t be a next time.”
“Sorry to break it to you, but Hi’iaka tells me otherwise.”
Then it was a good thing Danica wasn’t convinced Hi’iaka was sending Lena visions. Just to be safe, she downed the rest of her Pepsi in one long swig and then reached for the remaining cans for reinforcement.
3
Jordan punched the elevator button for the second floor of Private Indulgence’s main offices. He’d spent the night considering Danica’s response to the primal way he’d taken her up against the wall and came to the conclusion he was acting like a cynical ass. The resort could prove to be a bad investment when compared with others in the industry or all on its own. Until that happened, he had no reason to expect the worst of it or its owner.
His father was behind his cynicism. John had known Danica less than a week, and in that time she’d earned enough of his respect for him to trust her with his money in a way Jordan hadn’t been able to accomplish in years.
Putting it simply, Jordan was jealous as hell.
The elevator dinged as it reached the second floor. He stepped out of the car, determined not to let jealousy play a part in his treatment of Danica from this point on. He would be open-minded, get to know her as his father had. If doing so revealed past or ongoing skeletons, hopefully they would be enough to sway his father into trusting Jordan with his money instead. If it didn’t…It was the old man’s money to invest with whom and where he chose.
He reached the executive operations suite and opened the door to an empty waiting room decorated in cheery yellows and greens, the walls lined with framed photos of the resort under construction, along with certificates of training completion for Danica and the rest of the staff housed in the suite. He moved up to the check-in desk.
Flashing a practiced smile, a late fiftysomething, silver-haired receptionist slid open the glass partition separating the administrative and waiting areas. Her gaze fell on his shirt, and amusement gleamed in her eyes. “May I help you?”
Not busting a gut laughing over his clothes would be a start. The kitschy red Hawaiian shirt, with its enormous purple and white flowers, was ridiculous-looking but preferable to sweating to death in his suit.
Jordan typically wouldn’t resort to charm to get his way. Since he didn’t have an actual appointment and the shirt wasn’t exactly doing him any favors, he didn’t have much choice. He flashed his teeth in an appreciative smile as he scanned her nameplate. “Good morning, Diane. I have a meeting with Dr. Crosby. I was here yesterday, when you had on a dress the same stunning shade of green as your eyes.”
Soft pink settled over the lines on her face that said she hadn’t succumbed to Botox temptation. “Why, yes, I remember now. Mr. Cantrell, right?”
He nodded. “Great memory to go with a great smile.”
Diane fidgeted with the papers on the counter in front of her a few seconds before picking one up. “Ah, here’s the appointment log.” She frowned. “Oh, but I don’t see your name on it.”
If she was younger, he would add a bit of sensuality to the mix, give the back of her hand a teasing touch while he pretended to search the log for his name. Since she was his mother’s age and already appeared flustered, he stuck with the smile. “Strange. Dr. Crosby asked her assistant to schedule a follow-up appointment for today. I believe her name was Lena.”
She stood from her desk. “Give me a moment.”
Diane disappeared through a door on the right side of the closed-in reception area. Within a minute, a grinning Lena appeared through the door connecting the waiting area to the business offices. She gave his blindingly obscene shirt a glance and her grin faltered. Like she had room to talk with those obnoxious earrings. Jordan was no fashion guru, but it didn’t take one to know the hideous pink and green hula girls were no match for her sleeveless red shirt and white capris.
Her grin warmed again, revealing an attractive dimple. “Nice to see you, Mr. Cantrell.”
“You, too.” If she assisted him without question, the way she had last night when she’d supplied Danica’s address, it would be even nicer. “I was telling Diane I have a follow-up appointment with Dr. Crosby this morning.”
“Of course you do,” Lena said without hesitation. “You’re a few minutes early, but I doubt that’ll be a problem. Why don’t you follow me on back?”
Could it really be as easy as that? If so, Danica had told Lena about last night. The way Lena was grinning suggested Danica had only good things to say.
Jordan’s blood warmed with the thought of getting Danica naked again, this time completely. Only, that wouldn’t be happening. The plan was to get close to her in the same way his father had, and that damned well better not have included sex.
“Thanks.” With a farewell smile to Diane, he followed Lena down the hall toward Danica’s office. “I don’t know why you’re being so helpful, but it’s appreciated.”
“Just doing Hi’iaka’s bidding.”
“Hi’iaka is…?”
Glancing over her shoulder, she fingered the hula girl dangling from her right ear. “The goddess who created the hula and my vision guide. I’m psychic.”
Lena being gifted might explain her easy acceptance of him. Jordan still had a hell of a time believing she was serious. “You don’t say.”
“Danica doesn’t believe me either.” She stopped a couple feet from Danica’s closed office door. “Wait
