Their Festive Island Escape. Nina Singh

“So, I have a break coming up in a couple of hours. Can I treat you to another drink then?”

      She didn’t get a chance to answer as a thick baritone voice suddenly sounded from behind her. “Miss Frajedi, I hope you enjoyed your meal.”

      She didn’t need to turn around, recognized the voice immediately as belonging to Reid. Unlike earlier, he wasn’t speaking in the low husky voice of a makeshift Santa.

      Phillipe immediately took a step back. “Oh. Hey, boss.”

      Celeste darted a glance over her shoulder. Reid stood only an inch behind her. Arms crossed in front of his chest, his chin tight. He didn’t look happy. He merely nodded in a curt acknowledgment of Phillipe’s greeting.

      Then, to her surprise, he held her hand out to help her up off her stool.

      “I haven’t settled my bill,” she protested.

      Reid didn’t take his eyes off Phillipe when he answered. “It’s on the house.”

      “Yes, boss,” Phillipe immediately responded. She could have sworn he clicked his heels behind the bar.

      For lack of anything else to do, Celeste wiped her mouth with her cloth napkin and took Reid’s hand before standing. He gently led her away from the crowded bar toward the sand.

      “I take it there’s a rule about the workers fraternizing with the guests,” she ventured after they’d made their way to the beach. The sun was slowly setting across the horizon, throwing brilliant shades of red and orange across the evening sky.

      “Not yet, there isn’t. Though I’ve made a mental note to get one drafted ASAP.”

      His voice sounded strained and tight. If there wasn’t any such policy, why did he seem so bothered by Phillipe’s behavior? Could it possibly have anything to do with her?

      And how many times in one day could she wonder about whether her behavior was going to affect someone else’s livelihood, for heaven’s sake?

      “I’m sorry if you were made to feel uncomfortable during your dinner. We strive to make everyone feel completely at ease at all times. I’ll have a word with the staffing manager to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

      So that was it. She’d been foolish to even feel tempted to look further into it than what lay on the surface.

      “Another apology from the top man,” she commented, kicking off her sandals to feel the silky soft sand underneath her feet. Reid paused while she nudged them off to the side.

      He exhaled. “It appears we are off to a bad start.”

      She knew he meant the resort, but she took the opportunity to address the proverbial elephant in the room. “Or we’re simply continuing along the same path as we were three years ago.”

      His step didn’t falter but she could have sworn she felt him stiffening ever so slightly beside her. “I thought your intention on this trip was to forget all about it.”

      “Believe me, I see the irony in all of this.” An exotic-looking bird flew past them at eye level, a myriad of colors along its wing.

      “Tell me something,” Celeste began. “You never did appear to be on board with my and Jack’s wedding.” Or with her, for that matter.

      “You didn’t seem right for each other,” he answered simply.

      She couldn’t be offended. For he was completely right. Still, his words held enough of a sting that she wondered if she should have even started this conversation.

      She could guess what he meant. She and her ex-fiancé were from two different worlds. Celeste had grown up struggling to merely survive while Jack was a trust fund baby who’d always known wealth and privilege.

      Much like the man beside her now. Though she’d have to admit, if one were to look closely, the two men didn’t really have all that much in common besides factors visible on the surface.

      While Reid had worked incredibly hard to make a name for himself in the hospitality business, Jack was a mere figurehead for the yachting company his family owned and operated. Reid had taken all that had been handed to him and then grown and expanded it, becoming an industry titan in the process.

      Celeste gave a shake of her head. What good did it do to compare the two men? There was no reason for it. In fact, there was no reason to give Jack another thought. Why had she even brought up his name?

      Still, something tugged at her to get to the bottom of Reid’s statement, she couldn’t seem to help herself. “What do you mean? That we didn’t seem right for each other?”

      He gave a small shrug. “You’re very different personalities. He’s not as…ambitious, I guess. You’re much more driven. Yet, there’s a side of you—” He stopped abruptly. “You know what? Never mind. None of this is my place.”

      Celeste halted in her tracks and gently nudged him to stop walking. His gaze dropped to where she’d touched him on the elbow. She ignored the way his eyes darkened and quickly dropped her hand. “Please finish what you were going to say. There’s a side of me that’s what?”

      Reid released a deep sigh and looked off into the distance at the horizon. “Just that there’s a side of you which must have overwhelmed a man like him. An untamed, stormy quality just underneath your surface. A side a man like Jack wouldn’t be able to handle.” His eyes seemed to add the words unlike me.

      Celeste’s gasp was audible over the crashing waves behind them. She wouldn’t challenge his words, couldn’t. For he spoke the very truth. Celeste did everything she could to hide the wild inner-city kid she’d grown up as behind a highly polished professional veneer. She’d made certain to bury the hardscrabble teen who’d bartered, begged and stole simply to survive when the three of them had found themselves homeless on the streets for close to a year.

      Then there was her ancestry. She’d fully studied her absent father’s Persian roots, intrigued by all she’d learned about the culture. But she’d never explored that part of herself, hadn’t so much as looked into visiting that area of the world. Though she’d had plenty of opportunity.

      Somehow Reid had seen through all those layers three years ago when they were barely more than strangers.

      “I’m not sure how to take what you’ve just said, Reid,” she said once she found her voice again. “That I was somehow too much for Jack to handle.”

      He turned to fully face her then. “You should take it as a compliment.”

      Reid had no intention of stopping by the bar when he left his office behind the concierge lounge. He wanted nothing more after a long frustrating day than to head to his suite in the main quarters and pop open a bottle of cabernet and order a thick juicy burger.

      But then he’d seen Celeste sitting at the bar by herself. He didn’t even want to examine what had made him stop and just watch her for a while. She was alone, but she’d made it clear solitude was what she was after. She’d seemed perfectly content with her book and seafood plate. He’d been ready to move on, get going with the rest of his evening, but then he’d seen the way the bartender had been watching her. He’d found himself moving toward her then. So much for having her forget he was here.

      Some strange emotion lodged in his chest when he heard the other man ask to buy her a drink. He didn’t even know his intention until he reached her side. And what had possessed him to ask her to walk with him? He probably should have bidden her good-night right after intervening then went about his business. For now, they seemed to be awkwardly strolling along the beach, neither one managing to say anything much by way of conversation after the awkward words about their past.

      He shouldn’t have told her all the things he’d just shared, didn’t even realize he was going to until the words were