“Come work for me.” He was quiet for a moment, his eyes curiously studying mine. “I’ll triple the salary you’ve got with Hoult.”
“I appreciate the offer, Turner, but no thank you.”
He laughed. “You barely gave it a thought.”
“I didn’t have to. See you at dinner.”
I flashed another perfectly nice smile before tightly shutting my door and locking it.
33
JULIAN
In the bustling dining room, with live jazz floating around us, I sat with Irv to my left and Robert to my right. Well across the table from me was Sara, sandwiched between the Roth brothers, looking so beautiful I could barely think straight.
My heart rate hadn’t gone down since she arrived at dinner in a light beige dress with thin straps I could barely make out against her glowing skin. The material looked soft, and it hugged tight all over her body while dipping loosely across her breasts. Her plunging cleavage made an appearance only when she reached or leaned in certa
in positions, making the night a game of silently anticipating Sara’s every movement, no matter what you were doing. Like everyone else, I was guilty of looking every time that neckline dipped.
But unlike everyone else, I was too far from Sara to speak to her, which made looking at her physically hurt.
I wanted to be next to her.
Fuck that – actually, I needed to be.
I was genuinely unsure that I could sit through this dinner. I’d seen Turner and Carter salivate over Sara before, but something was different tonight. To start, I hadn’t had the time to see or touch her since early morning. I ached for the chance to hear her breathlessly recount her stories from the day, but thanks to Irv and Robert’s ceaseless questions, I couldn’t make it to her room after she got back to the resort.
It was a technically small hiccup in an otherwise seamless day of great meetings, but it felt huge to me.
I could admit that I wanted her comfort. There was a dull ache in my heart today. I knew it had to do with Lucie, and I knew I needed only a few moments with Sara for that ache to fade away. Just a second or two of her arms wrapped around my neck and her head resting against my chest was all I needed to breathe.
“Another glass of champagne for you, sir?” the server asked as he glided by. I was in the midst of declining when Turner yelled across the table.
“Another round for everyone. We’re celebrating,” he told the server jovially. “Turner Roth.” He held his hand out. “This is my brother, Carter. Remember the names, ‘cause we’re buying this resort, so you’ll be seeing a lot more of us soon.”
For fuck’s sake. I prepared to apologize on his behalf, but the server was quickly gone, and Turner was quickly back to murmuring in Sara’s ear.
Under the table, my fingers fired a quick text.
ME: You alright?
SARA: Yes.
SARA: But I miss you.
Fucking hell.
We locked eyes as Turner leaned his arm onto the table in front of Sara, caging her in like his prey. Her steady gaze confirmed she was still fine, that she had this under control, but it didn’t ease my heart. My patience for being apart from her had been wearing thin all day, and now, as I watched her remove Turner’s hand from her bare shoulder, it was officially gone.
“Gentlemen,” I said suddenly, facing Irv and Robert while shooting another quick text.
ME: We have a meeting with the resort’s marketing team tomorrow at 8AM, before the final meeting with the Roths at 10AM.
COLIN: Oh God we do?
ME: No. But go with it
“You’re kidding. You have to go already?” Irv seemed genuinely disappointed. I knew well that he disliked being around the Roths as much as I did. “But Turner just ordered a round of champagne.”