Their Festive Island Escape

He had so much upheaval in his life right now, had no guarantee what the future held if this deal didn’t work. His father was hell-bent on bleeding the company dry. He could only hope the board saw that fact and sided with him.

Because damned if he hadn’t just realized that he’d fallen in love with her, too. He needed to tell her so. It was only right. He needed to follow her example and be as courageous as she was. He also needed to take her into his arms and make sure she understood that he was never going to let her go.

But first, a shower. It had been a long, grueling day that had left tension knotting in his shoulders and back.

Reid couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his mouth as he walked to the bathroom and turned the water on. In a few short hours, if all went well and he could persuade Celeste to listen, he’d be holding her and kissing her again. That had to make him the luckiest man in the universe.

He realized all too soon that the universe had other plans.

Reid’s phone lit up like a Christmas tree when he left the shower fifteen minutes later. With a chest full of trepidation, he returned the call to the number that had been trying to reach him for the entire time he’d been bathing.

One of his lawyers.

This was not a good sign.

The attorney answered on the first ring. “Bad news, Reid. We’re going to need to do some damage control or you run the real risk of reverting all control back to Dale.”

“I take it my father has managed to push through a vote?”

“You’d be right. You need to fly down to Boston first thing.”

Reid disconnected the call and cursed the fates he’d been so sure were smiling on him just minutes before.

He tapped out Celeste’s number on his screen but she didn’t answer. His intended message wasn’t the kind a man left on voice mail. He would have to try to get a hold of her later.

Right now, he had a flight to book and packing to do.

* * *

Celeste tried to focus on the same book she’d been trying to read ever since she’d arrived on the island. She’d barely gotten through the first couple of chapters. As gripping as the plot was, she couldn’t seem to find herself immersed in the story.

She was much too distracted wondering whether Reid had read the file yet. There seemed to be no good conclusion. If he hadn’t looked at it yet, what exactly was he waiting for? Why was he putting it off?

And if he had read it but wasn’t reaching out to her... That scenario was the more heartbreaking possibility.

Well, she’d done all she could. She’d laid herself bare. Both with what she’d written and everything she’d told him in the cabana earlier. There was nothing more of her to expose to the man. Regardless of his ultimate reactions, she vowed to never regret her decision to do so.

She needed something to take her mind off him. The book wasn’t cutting it. Celeste reached for her phone and dialed her sister’s number. The gurgling, happy sounds of her baby niece would be like Uma’s balm to her injured soul.

“Hey, Tara,” she spoke into the phone when her sister answered. “How are you?”

“All right, putting up Nat’s first Christmas tree. She’s very confused about why there’s a tree in the house. And why I’m hanging shiny things off its branches.”

Celeste had to laugh at that. Maybe her little niece would be enough of a reason from now on to stay in New York for the holidays in the future. “I really miss the little tyke.”

“She misses you, too.”

“Can you put her on the phone? I just wanna hear her make noises for a bit. Maybe get her to say CeeCee again.”

Her sister laughed. “I think you imagined that. She is not trying to say your name already. She’s only nine months old.”

“I heard it loud and clear that day!” she exclaimed with a laugh.

“In any case, I’m afraid she’s down for a nap right now.”

“Oh. That’s too bad.” Celeste wasn’t prepared for the depth of the disappointment she felt at the news. She really had missed the little girl, hadn’t realized exactly how much until now.

Tara paused a beat before continuing. “You sound sad, sis. What is it?”