Читать книгу Resorting To The Truth - Lisa Dyson - Страница 12
ОглавлениеTHE MAN SPEAKING to the group stopped. He glared at Charlotte.
Her hand flew to cover her unexpected gasp, drawing more attention to herself. She had never seen this guy before, so why the loathing in his eyes?
Wow. He disliked her. Intensely.
She didn’t know what to do, how to behave. People didn’t usually react negatively to her, especially at first glance. He obviously thought he knew her.
Or her sister.
Her stomach flip-flopped.
The man cleared his throat. His contempt drifted away from her as he bared straight white teeth in a false smile to continue speaking.
Learning his name was Sam Briton didn’t provide any answers. Allie hadn’t mentioned him and he was the resort manager, not an advertising conference attendee. Charlotte watched him carefully, making sure she’d never met him, not even briefly. His deep-set, intense blue eyes would be striking, if not for his blatant animosity. He was average in height, with a strong jaw and short, dark hair. He had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and wore his clothes well— khakis and a navy button-down shirt with the resort logo. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing the forearms of a person who stayed fit. He was definitely a handsome man she was sure she’d not soon forget.
“How do you know him?” Veronica whispered frantically as she tugged at Charlotte’s elbow. “He is one very hot guy. Too bad he so obviously dislikes you.”
Charlotte shrugged and sipped her drink. She’d forgotten Veronica stood next to her. In fact, the woman hadn’t left her side since they’d first spoken. How should she answer Veronica’s question? Charlotte didn’t know this Sam Briton, but obviously Allie did. How did they know each other, and what had Allie done to earn his aversion?
Charlotte knew Allie had a troubled past, but she’d worked hard to move on. Especially since she and Jack had gotten together.
“I hope your stay here will be very rewarding, as well as relaxing,” Sam was saying. “If you have any problems or questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me or one of the staff. Breakfast is served from seven to nine. Enjoy your evening!” He waved, leaving everyone to talk among themselves.
Whew! This Sam person was leaving. No more caustic stares. She’d be sure to steer clear of him this week.
When he headed straight for her, she nearly inhaled a sip of her drink. She began coughing and someone took her drink from her hand. Instead of making herself invisible, she’d captured everyone’s attention.
“Come with me.” Sam took her by the elbow and roughly guided her away from the group. His grip tightened the farther away they got from the reception.
Unable to voice her opinion of his actions because she was still coughing, she finally jerked her elbow from his grasp. “Ouch!”
“Sorry.” His apology didn’t sound genuine.
He moved his hand to her lower back and his touch was anything but gentle.
They were alone in the middle of the hallway, past the sign that read Employees Only. She stopped and faced him. “Where are you taking me?” She cleared her throat. “I’m fine now. I just need some water.”
He didn’t speak, merely spun her around and continued guiding her to an office. The sign next to the door proclaimed Sam Briton, Resort Manager.
Resort Dictator would be a more suitable title.
She should run away, yell for help, but she had to know why he disliked Allie so much. Or did he actually know Charlotte and she didn’t remember him?
“Sit.” He pointed to the seat closest to the wall and in front of his desk. He closed his office door with more force than necessary. Instead of taking the desk chair, he chose the matching chair next to Charlotte’s. He pulled it several feet away from her and turned it so he could face her.
Charlotte was pretty sure that if steam could truly come out of one’s ears, then this would be the time she’d witness it.
For what seemed like several minutes, he didn’t speak, merely stared at her with narrowed eyes. He leaned forward, hands fisted on his thighs.
“Start talking.” When he finally spoke, his words confused Charlotte.
She shifted in her seat. “What would you like me to say?”
He laughed, a choking sound that lacked humor. He stood quickly and pounded a fist on his desk, making everything on it vibrate. Then he leaned in so close to Charlotte that she could differentiate the dark blue rings surrounding his lighter blue irises.
“We had an agreement.” He spoke slowly through gritted teeth, but his self-control was back.
“An agreement?” Maybe she could get him to elaborate.
“Don’t be coy. We both know you’re too conniving to play the innocent.”
Conniving. No one had ever called Charlotte that. “Maybe you can be more specific.” She kept her tone even, hoping to cajole rather than anger him. For some reason, she refused to blurt out she wasn’t Allie—maybe because the details were really none of his business.
“Specific?” He straightened to his full height and paced in the small space. He stopped behind his desk. “You want specific? I’ll give you specific. We agreed we’d never lay eyes on each other again in this lifetime.” He flattened both hands on his desk when he leaned over it, his eyes venomous. “Is that specific enough for you?”
Tears built behind her eyes. She fought them with every bit of self-control she possessed. No one had ever been this angry at her before. Even if Sam thought she was Allie, at this particular moment, his rage was directed at Charlotte.
“That’s easy to do.” She stood, head held high, smoothed her skirt and turned to leave his office.
“Sit down!” This time he shouted. “I ought to call Security and have them detain you until I can figure out how to get you off this island.”
She grabbed at the arms of the chair to steady herself and did as she was told. This was not the vacation she’d expected. Her heart pounded in her chest as she came to a decision. Maybe when he heard the truth, he would calm down. “I’m not who you think I am.”
He snickered.
“Really, I’m not Allie Miller.”
“So I’m supposed to believe you’re not Alley Cat—excuse me, Allie Miller—even though you look and sound exactly like her and you’re at an advertising conference?”
This wasn’t going well. “She’s my twin sister.”
“Ha! That’s a good one. Not as good as the scheme you came up with back in Charleston, but certainly worth hearing about.” He sat in his desk chair, leaned back with fingers laced behind his head and spoke to the ceiling. “Go on. This should be interesting.”
Scheme? What kind of scheme? Nothing Allie had shared with her. Charlotte sat dumbfounded.
“I’m waiting.” Sam’s tone made it clear he would brook no more deceit.
Where to begin? “My name is Charlotte, and Allie Miller is my twin sister.”
“Charlotte? As in ‘rhymes with harlot?’” His words burned her like acid.
“You’re being unfair, as well as rude.” She spoke as firmly as she was able. “Please let me explain before you pass judgment.”
He went back to contemplating the ceiling. “Go on.”
“Allie and I are identical twins who were adopted by two different families as newborns. We met a few months ago.”
Sam guffawed.
“It’s true.” Charlotte cleared her throat, needing to sound truthful to both Sam and herself. “Our birth mother delivered us in a prison hospital and her greedy lawyer brokered separate private adoptions. Neither of us knew we had a sister, let alone a twin.” But her mother knew. A stab in her heart from another direction.
“Nice touch, mother gave birth behind bars.”
“It’s the truth.” She wasn’t sure why she was telling him all this, since he obviously didn’t want to believe her.
“Why are you here and not your other personality, I mean your ‘twin’?” His use of finger quotes was when her patience ended.
She stood, making herself as tall as possible, her neck straining at the effort. “That’s it. You have no right to keep me here. You don’t believe a word I’ve said, so I’m leaving.” She crossed the small office to the closed door.
Before she could grasp the handle, he dashed around the desk, knocking his chair back into the window ledge. He slapped his palm on his closed office door above her head.
She turned to confront him, not realizing how close he was. He hovered mere inches away. She placed her palm on his chest, planning to push him back.
Instead, she stopped when his warmth penetrated her hand, then spread up her arm and through the rest of her body. Confused, she gazed at him.
His pupils dilated. In that instant, crazy as it sounded, she knew his physical reaction mirrored hers.
Before she could protest, his mouth was on hers and his chest pressed her against the door. His kiss was angry. And erotic. Instead of fighting him, and without thinking, she slid her arms around his waist to the firm muscles of his back. She wanted him closer, as close as two people could get.
He moved his mouth to her neck, shoving her sweater from her shoulder to nibble on her bare skin. Then he hiked up her long skirt while his mouth traveled to nip sharply at her earlobe. He whispered, “Is this what you came here for, Alley Cat? To finish what you started in Charleston?”
* * *
THE WOMAN CALLING herself Charlotte struggled to push him away. Sam backed off at once. Reason had returned. What had gotten into him? His physical pull to her was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. But he’d never forced himself on a woman, and he wasn’t about to start now.
He walked to the window and leaned on the sill with both hands. The sun was a mere sliver from being completely set over the calm ocean.
His office door opened and closed. He didn’t need to turn around to know the woman was gone.
What was wrong with him? One minute he was angry, the next he was turned on. He’d never had that reaction to her back in South Carolina, although she’d tried her best to seduce him. That had been part of her plan. Keep him close so he wouldn’t figure out what she and her boyfriend were up to.
What kind of scam was she running now? Twin sister? He laughed. That wasn’t very inventive.
Why had she risked coming here? She had to know he’d be here. He’d been offered the promotion to manager at the Grand Peacock right before they’d agreed to steer clear of each other.
That had been what, four years ago? As assistant manager of the resort’s Charleston property, he’d been tasked to work with Allie. Back then, she worked for a small cosmetics firm out of Wilmington, Delaware. She made regular visits to the resort’s boutique that carried the cosmetics.
She’d come on to him soon after they met, insinuating she could be quite discreet. He hadn’t been attracted to her, and besides, he never got involved with business associates or resort guests. His goal to rise to the top within Blaise Enterprises came second only to his children.
Allie had taken his rebuttal in stride, leaving him perplexed and with a slightly bruised ego. Not until he discovered her real scheme did he ever think of her as anything but an attractive hustler trying to claw her way into power.
He went to his computer to see what he could find out about Allie, using her current alias. Was she using the same last name? She’d conveniently given him only a first name. He didn’t find anything under Charlotte Miller that fit the woman he had just met.
There was a knock on his office door.
“Come in.” Had she come back?
His assistant, Gayle, opened the door and stuck her head in. “Mr. Briton?” Her unexpected appearance outside his office was never a good sign.
“What is it?” Adrenaline made his skin tingle. Now what?
She entered his office and ran her fingers through her wavy shoulder-length, strawberry-blond hair. She blew air through her lips. “I can’t believe this happened. There’s a couple in bungalow 6 who are claiming his phone was stolen from their room.”
“He’s sure he didn’t misplace it?”
“That’s what I asked. They’ve called it. The phone goes directly to voice mail as if it’s turned off.”
“Did you ask if he had any location software on it?”
“He said it’s a new phone and he hadn’t gotten around to activating it yet.” Gayle crossed her arms over her abdomen. “He wants to speak to the manager.”
Sam nodded. “Is he in his room?”
“I told him you’d come to his room as soon as possible. Bungalow 6,” she repeated. “Their names are Bob and Evelyn Snyder. They’ve stayed here several times before.”
Sam recognized their names.
“I’ve got this. Thanks.” Gayle left his office and Sam called his head of security. “Hey, George, how’s it going?”
“Just fine, Mr. Briton. What can I do for you?” George was a retired New York City detective who considered this job practically a year-round vacation.
“We’ve had a burglary.” Sam proceeded to fill George in on the situation. “So I’d like you to beef up patrols, especially around the bungalows, and monitor the video footage.”
He thought about Allie’s arrival bringing a whole host of problems. Broken elevator, water leak, now a burglary. How much more could happen in less than forty-eight hours?
He would definitely need to keep a constant eye on that woman.
* * *
CHARLOTTE DIDN’T WAIT for the elevator, instead chose the open staircase to return to her room. She didn’t want to run into anyone else who knew her sister. And she couldn’t get away fast enough from that awful Sam Briton.
Charlotte was beyond mortified by her reaction to that Neanderthal. How dare he treat her with such disrespect. And how dare she react to his kiss as if she’d been starved for him. She’d clung to his body, matching his ardor with her own. She put her cool hands to her face, which burned with embarrassment.
Her knees were about to buckle by the time she reached her room. She settled herself on one of the two Hemingway-style chairs and propped her feet on the matching ottoman. The breeze coming from the balcony through the open sliding doors fluttered the sheers.
The phone rang unexpectedly and Charlotte jumped. She picked up the extension on the table next to her. “Hello?” Her voice quavered and she cleared her throat.
“Hi, Allie, this is Veronica. I’m sorry to bother you, but are you okay? That manager guy seemed pretty angry.”
Charlotte tried to play it off. “I’m fine. It was just a little misunderstanding. In fact—”
“Misunderstanding?” Veronica wasn’t going to let it go.
“He thought I was someone from his past.” Charlotte wasn’t about to give her more than that.
“Oh. Okay. I’m glad you straightened him out then.”
If only.
When Charlotte didn’t comment, Veronica said, “Are you ready for tomorrow?”
Oh no, now what? “Ready?” Tomorrow couldn’t possibly be worse than today.
“For the conference. I picked up your name tag and welcome folder when I registered. I figured you’d like to see a schedule. Looks like Raymond Foster will be here Monday.”
“Raymond Foster?”
“You have heard the news that he’s looking for a new agency, right? Everyone’s been talking about it. He’s been with the same one since the eighties.”
“I have,” Charlotte answered. She decided to try again to correct Veronica’s misconception. “I need to tell you something. Allie Miller is my twin sister. My name is Charlotte Harrington.”
Veronica was silent for a few seconds and then she burst out laughing. “Good one, Allie. Although I don’t think you’ll get anyone to believe that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re known for making up things, especially to win accounts. No one is going to fall for your ‘twin’ story.”
“But it’s true.”
“If you say so.” Veronica didn’t sound convinced.
Charlotte dropped the subject. “Thank you for registering me.” Allie should be here. This account sounded like the one she needed to keep her fledgling business going.
“Not a problem,” Veronica said. “I’ll meet you at breakfast and give it to you.”
Instead of saying no, Charlotte answered, “Sounds good.” She hung up, then closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. She needed to try again to call her sister. She retrieved her cell phone and located Allie’s cell number.
Once again, the call went to voice mail.
“Allie, it’s Charlotte. I really need to talk to you. There’s a man coming to the conference, Raymond Foster, and rumor has it he’s looking for a new agency. You should be here.”
She disconnected and looked at her phone. How could she help her sister? For the next hour, she called Allie every fifteen minutes with no luck.
She changed for bed, not caring that she’d missed dinner. While brushing her teeth, she looked in the bathroom mirror and suddenly knew how she might be able to help.
Everyone she’d met, including Sam Briton, thought she was Allie.
So that’s who she was going to be. Honestly, it might be fun to be someone other than sad Charlotte for a change.
* * *
SAM EXITED THE main building and headed to bungalow 6. He made a mental note to check with Maintenance to see if the elevator part was on its way. As was his habit, he surveyed his surroundings as he walked down the stone path through the canopy of palms. He watched for landscaping that needed trimming back from the walkway or anything else that might need attention.
The Snyders were repeat customers now that they were both retired, and he’d do whatever was necessary to keep them happy. He had a difficult time believing the man’s phone was stolen. More than likely, he’d just misplaced it. The resort had rarely experienced a theft problem since he’d been here. He had dealt with illegal activity at the other Grand Peacock resorts he’d worked at, but seldom at this one.
He knocked on the Snyders’ door. Footsteps became increasingly louder until Bob Snyder opened the door.
“Come in, Sam.” Bob shook Sam’s hand and gestured to where his wife was seated on the striped sofa near the floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors. “You remember my wife, Evelyn.”
“Of course. How are you?”
“I’m doing well.” Evelyn and Bob were the classic couple who, over their long marriage, had come to look like each other. Short, round and gray, with bifocals and a passion for matching outfits. Today they wore red-and-yellow floral shirts with white cotton pants.
“Good to hear.” Sam took a seat on the chair across from the sofa where Bob sat next to his wife. “I’m sorry to hear you’ve had some trouble. Your phone is missing?”
“That’s right.” Bob rested one foot on his opposite knee.
“When did you notice it was gone?”
Bob looked at Evelyn. “About an hour ago?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Where did you see it last?” Sam still hoped the phone had been misplaced.
“I remember setting it down on the dresser when we got back from our walk. That was around three.”
“Did anyone come to the door, or did you leave the bungalow after that?”
“Only when the front desk called.”
“At least, we thought it was the front desk.” Evelyn’s voice trembled, and Bob patted her hand.
“What do you mean you thought it was the front desk?” Sam squirmed in his chair.
“We got a call asking us both to come to the front desk immediately. The man said there was a problem with some of the guests’ credit cards, and we needed to bring our credit card and ID for verification.”
Sam narrowed his eyes. “I never heard anything about this.”
“Neither had your desk clerk. Tom, I think it was,” Bob said. “He had no idea what we were talking about.”
“Do you think that’s when your phone was stolen?”
Bob shrugged. “Must have been. I didn’t notice it was missing until quite a while later, but that’s the only time we were away from it.”
“Is there anything else missing?”
“Everything else of value was already locked in the room safe. The phone call made it seem urgent that we complied, so I didn’t think about my phone. I only had it out to be sure we didn’t get a text from our son. He and his wife are expecting their first child in a few weeks.”
Sam got up and walked around the room, checking the windows and French doors leading to the private hot tub. Whoever took the phone must be an employee—or working with one of them—to have gotten into the bungalow without breaking in. The front door automatically locked when it was shut, so a person would need a master key to get in. Sam couldn’t imagine any of his staff taking such a risk. Someone must be desperate to have pulled a stunt like this.
A few minutes later, after assuring the Snyders he would take care of the matter and reimburse them for a new phone, he also promised them two free nights at the resort.
Sam walked back to the lobby, trying to wrap his mind around the blatant theft that had taken place during his watch. He needed to get a written warning out to all guests and employees as soon as possible.
And definitely keep a close eye on Alley Cat. Her arrival on the island coincided with this theft, and he wouldn’t put it past her to be up to her old tricks.
* * *
CHARLOTTE ROSE EARLY the next morning, her head foggy and her eyes barely able to focus. Sleep had eluded her, so she had given up and dressed in shorts and a T-shirt to run on the beach to clear her head.
She’d tried several more times to call Allie last night, with no success. She left her sister messages each time. Charlotte finally left a message on Jack’s phone, too, which he also wasn’t answering.
Charlotte kept a steady pace down the beach. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and not too hot with a constant, gentle breeze. Rhode Island rarely provided mornings like this except for a few weeks in the summer. Definitely not in October.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one with the idea to run on the beach.
He was coming toward her, still a few hundred feet away. Although she’d met Sam barely twelve hours ago, she recognized him immediately from his body shape and the way his long legs ate up the ground.
Without warning, both her mind and body recalled the tension in his well-developed, muscular arms, and the expert way his mouth had reduced her to a quivering idiot.
Should she run past without acknowledging him? Look the other way? Nod at him? Wave?
Her heart rate increased. She sucked in more air and got a stitch in her side, but no way would she slow to a walk with him approaching her. She fought hard against the urge to stop and double over in pain.
He wouldn’t see her distress, no matter what.
His eyes were hidden by his sunglasses, making it impossible to tell if he looked at her as he ran past. His pace was smooth and effortless. He was shirtless and had the sculpted physique to do so.
No words were spoken by either of them.
As soon as he passed by, she stopped short and grabbed her side, sucking in oxygen in small bursts. What was wrong with her? She ran at the gym on a regular basis and rarely had endurance problems.
“Are you okay?” Sam had doubled back. His unexpected question startled her, doing nothing for her already spiked vitals.
“I’m fine.” Her choked words contradicted her statement.
“Straighten up.” He came around behind her and pressed a warm hand to her left side.
“Ouch.” She tried to move away from him, away from his touch. Especially the heat transferring from his body to hers.
“I’m trying to help.” He pressed again, massaging gently. “Right here?” At her nod, he added, “Take deep breaths from your belly. Slowly. That’s it. Now exhale and take another deep breath.”
Deep breathing was nearly impossible with him so close.
The pain slowly subsided and he moved away quickly. She was left standing there with nothing to say but, “Thank you.”
He nodded.
“This never happens to me at the gym.” Why was she explaining?
“It’s easy to overdo it here on the beach. The great scenery makes you forget how far you’ve gone.”
That was the first friendly thing he’d said to her in their short acquaintance. At least he had no clue that his sudden appearance was what made her pulse and breathing go haywire.
He glanced at his watch. “I need to get going. Are you okay now, Allie?”
She swallowed, straightening her back. “I’m fine.” Her words were sharper than she intended, but it bothered her that he still thought of her as Allie. Even if she had decided to be Allie for the week, he wasn’t aware of it.
He turned to take off again.
“You really still think I’m Allie?”
Her words stopped him and he faced her.
His brow furrowed, but she couldn’t gauge his eyes through his sunglasses. “You’ve given me no reason to believe you’re anyone other than Allie Miller. Can anyone verify your identity? Do you have some ID to prove it?”
“Of course I have ID, but it’s in my room. I’ll bring it to your office later, if I must.” Telling him to check the hotel computer would only confuse him more. Allie had added Charlotte’s name to the room without removing her own. For all he knew, she could be either one of them.
“Isn’t there anyone at the conference that will vouch for you? I could ask around.”
“No!” Charlotte shouted, reaching out to him. She stopped before she actually touched him. “No, please, don’t say anything.”
He cocked his head at her vehemence. “So if—and I say if—you aren’t really Allie, then why are you here and not her? Are you in advertising, too?”
She couldn’t answer. After deciding to pretend to be Allie, she should probably let Sam believe that’s who she was. Even if deep down she wanted him to know the real Charlotte.
He laughed, the same humorless laugh from last night. “You’re losing your touch, Allie. You used to be a much better liar.” He took a step in the direction of the resort.
She grabbed his arm to stop him, releasing him a second later. “Please...promise you won’t mention this to anyone. Everyone believes I’m Allie and I’ve decided I’d rather keep it that way.”
He didn’t answer at first. What she wouldn’t give to see those eyes of his behind the dark lenses. “Somehow I’m not surprised you’re still scheming. We’ll see what happens.”
“What does that mean? You already think I’m Allie. I’m simply asking you to keep thinking that.”
“You need to prove yourself to me before I can make any promises.” He checked his watch again. “Now I really do need to go.”
He ran off before she could organize her thoughts and ask how he expected her to prove herself to him.
