Her cell phone vibrated. She scooped it up with an unsteady hand, silenced the thing, and told herself to focus on her call.
No use. The Templetons were teasing each other about their resolutions. Meanwhile, here she sat, tired and cranky and nowhere near a New Year’s frame of mind. Every second of the afternoon dragged by like an eternity and she placed the blame for her exhaustion squarely on Rafe’s annoyingly attractive head. How dare he show up out of the blue, bringing all sorts of bad memories—and even worse impulses—with him? True, she’d had plenty of restless nights before he arrived, and, okay, yes, a disturbingly steamy Santa dream or two, but today should have been the start of her clean slate, dammit.
There was one thing to be thankful for. The dance floor last night had been so packed with party-goers reveling in their own New Year’s Eve kisses, nobody appeared to have noticed the new manager surrendering her good sense, her clean slate, and every single hormone in her body to a walking orgasm in a tux.
She propped her elbows on her desk and rubbed her eyes. That’s when the silence struck her. She jerked her head up and stared at her speakerphone. “I’m sorry. Can you repeat the last part?”
John Templeton’s unhurried voice came over the speaker. “St. Sebastian made an offer to purchase Tradewinds Maui. A strong offer. Evelyn and I have decided to accept.”
The air couldn’t have rushed out of her lungs faster if he’d come through the phone and kicked her in the gut. “I didn’t…” She winced at the high pitch of her voice, took a deep breath and tried again. “I didn’t know you were contemplating selling.”
“We weren’t,” Evelyn broke in. “Believe me, Chelsea, we would have disclosed our intention to sell the resort before we offered you the job had we seen a sale on the horizon, but this offer came unexpectedly.”
“Are you sure you want to take it?”
“Yes. We’re in the final phase of construction on Tradewinds Tahiti, and the proceeds from the sale of the Maui property would enable us to do some really spectacular things with the new resort. As John said, Rafe made a very attractive offer.”
Yeah, he was full of them. She plowed her hands into her hair and tugged until her scalp protested. “How long until the sale goes through?”
“It’s still a potential sale right now,” John said. “We’ve agreed to price and terms, contingent on St. Sebastian’s satisfactory completion of due diligence. We’re estimating about six weeks to close, if all goes according to plan.”
“I see. Thank you for trusting me with the information. I’ll consider this confidential until you tell me otherwise.”
“We appreciate that,” Evelyn said. “We’re also hoping to entice you into an expanded role for the next six weeks.”
“A new role?” She didn’t have time for a new role, no matter how enticing. She’d be too busy finding another job.
“Yes. We need an on-site deal liaison. Someone to coordinate with our attorneys, particularly when they need information or documents located there rather than here at corporate, and also to give John and me daily status reports about the due diligence activities on your end.”
“Oh.” She picked up a pen and scribbled notes. “Not a problem.” Not exactly enticing, pulling documents and making copies, typing up daily status reports, but she could handle the tasks.
Evelyn laughed. “I know all that sounds incredibly dull and administrative, but don’t worry, there’s a fun part, too.”
“Fun part?”
“Yes. Rafe wants to get under the covers, so to speak, so he understands firsthand the property’s strengths and weaknesses. To that end, he proposes he spend a week at Tradewinds and requested we appoint someone to familiarize him with everything the resort has to offer. Naturally, we thought of you.”
Chelsea fought the urge to bang her head against her desk. A week under the covers with Rafe? Fun wasn’t the word.
“Sounds great,” Chelsea said carefully, “but I don’t think I’m the right person to play tour guide. I mean, I haven’t been here very long. I’m sure there are others on staff more qualified.”
“He specifically asked for you,” John told her. “Evelyn and I mentioned how well you’ve done in such a short time, and shared some of the ideas you brought to us about how to improve the resort. He wants to hear all your thoughts.”
Sure he did, preferably while horizontal. Sadly, after last night, she wasn’t sure she could trust herself to remain upright around him. She’d jumped into his kiss like a kid jumping into the waves on a sweltering summer day.
Someone coughed on the other end of the call. She pulled her mind away from the kiss. “I’m flattered, but I can think of several employees who would do an outstanding job. I’m happy to shoulder the other duties, and find the right person to take care of Mr. St. Sebastian.”
“We need you in both roles,” Evelyn insisted. “And we know we’re asking a lot, so we’ve put together a package we hope makes the deal liaison job, in its entirety, worth your while. John’s sending you an email outlining the details in writing, but to give you the high points, we’re offering you a fifty thousand dollar bonus when—or I guess I should say if—the deal closes.”
Fifty thousand dollars? She fumbled her pen. It landed on her desk, rolled across the smooth surface and fell onto the floor. “Wow. That’s very generous.”
“There’s more. If the Maui sale closes, we’d offer you the general manager position at the new resort in Tahiti. I don’t know how you feel about moving again, so soon, but—”
“Not that you’re out of a job if the sale happens,” John interjected. “Rafe assured us he envisions no layoffs. He hopes everyone will transition to St. Sebastian. It’s a large organization with plenty of opportunities. We understand if you prefer to stay on in Maui.”
“No.” She had zero interest in joining the same organization that employed Paul and Cindy, no matter how large and far flung. “If the sale happens, I’ll definitely move on.”
“Well, then.” Evelyn sounded pleased. “You’ll have our written offer shortly. Give it some thought, and then get back to us.”
“Get back to us with a ‘yes,’” John added.
“I’ll look it over,” she promised, and said good-bye, knowing full well she’d have to refuse. She hated turning down the bonus, as well as passing on the general manager slot at a brand new resort, though she was slightly less conflicted about that decision. Moving to Maui had been a purposeful step toward a fresh start, and a new perspective. Accepting the transfer to Tahiti felt more like getting swept along by events than controlling her destiny, plus Tahiti made the distance between Maui and Montenido look like a day trip.
The real deal killer, however, remained the tour guide part of the job. Spending so much time with Rafe amounted to an engraved invitation to mix business with pleasure. She’d learned a hard lesson about the consequences of that particular mix, but last night’s kiss left her with no delusions. A little persuasion from him and she’d make all kinds of bad decisions.
She swiveled in her chair and stared out her office window at the resort’s palm-lined walkways. He was still out there somewhere. She’d checked the registry this morning and discovered his reservation, discreetly made under a corporate account, ended tomorrow. Another reason to stay in the safe zone of her office. If she played things right, she could avoid him for the rest of his stay.