A Wonderful Kind of Love (Kinds of Love 2)

“What's that and why does it require a swim suit?” I was still confused, but at least it wasn't for the office.

She reached for her briefcase and began looking for something. “Our firm heads all legal council for Travel, Inc. Every year, Travel, Inc. and MSW meet to discuss the future.”

“In swimsuits?” I had the sudden image of an entire board room full of high powered business executives in swimsuits. There was a towel on the center of the table and everyone was drinking fruity drinks.

Kathryn must have imagined something similar because she laughed. “The meeting is held at a resort on Key Island.” When I showed no recognition of the name, she added, “in the Caribbean.”

“Oh.” I raised my eyebrows as understanding hit me. “We're going to the Caribbean?”

“I told you this job had travel,” Kathryn said, still rooting around in her briefcase for something. “I believe my exact words were, 'It will be long hours, there will be travel, and I expect perfection.'”

“I was thinking travel like to Toledo. The Caribbean sounds great,” I said, trying to sound calm and mostly succeeding. This job just kept get

ting better and better. “You said it was a legal meeting for Travel, Inc.?”

“Yes,” she responded. She handed me the file she had been searching for. If I was going to be her personal paralegal, I was going to have to help her manage her files better. “We're the lead firm and will head the meetings.”

I flipped through the folder. “I'm afraid I don't know much about Travel, Inc. other than their commercials,” I admitted. The file in front of me said they were the world's largest travel website and had recently added a “concierge travel” service that was destroying the competition by leaps and bounds. “Do they not have their own legal department? I would think a billion dollar company would have their own lawyers.”

“They do. In addition to their in-house lawyers, they contract out to 15 firms to handle all their legal work,” Kathryn explained. “This meeting is where the partners of these firms and the key players for Travel, Inc. meet to make sure we're all on the same page.”

“In the Caribbean.” I grinned. Screw Texas, I was going to a tropical island instead!

“At a beautiful, all-inclusive resort in the Caribbean,” Kathryn amended. She grinned.

“What do you need me to do?” I was already excited. We'd probably be stuck in meetings all day and barely get to see the beach, but I didn't care. I was going to the Caribbean.

“Make me look good. Everything's already prepared, but I need you to make sure I make it to meetings on time, have my presentations up and running, and to help wrangle some of the other firms.” She shrugged and leaned back in her chair. “It should actually be a pretty low-key event. Almost vacation-like, really.”

“I can do that. When do we leave?” I hadn't taken a vacation in a very long time. I hadn't seen the ocean since I was a kid and we went to Florida for a family trip in high school. I remembered I really liked the water, even though it had been nearly brown with sand.

“Two weeks. We'll be there for six days.” She looked at me as if I might complain. My roommate would be able to handle my one little sad plant for six days.

“Consider me already packed,” I told her with a grin.

“Just about.” Kathryn nodded to the changing room. Right then Raoul returned with a clothing rack full of swimsuits ranging from skimpy bikinis to full pieces my grandmother would be comfortable in.

I took a deep breath and prepared for another round of clothing with Raoul. I wasn't terribly excited about trying on swimsuits, in fact it was something I usually dreaded, but I knew that at the end of it, I would be going to the Caribbean.

I would happily try on swimsuits for that.

Chapter 9

I stared out the glass doors of my room in awe. Outside the ocean sparkled in blue jewel tones against pristine white sand, rolling and dancing together like lovers. Even through the glass, I could hear the song of the sea, calling me like a siren's song. The bright blue sky stretched out into infinity. It was possibly the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.

I looked down at the schedule in my hand. I was going to get some good time in with that perfect turquoise water. The schedule looked more like a vacation than a conference. There was barely a meeting a day and never for more than a couple of hours. Most of the items on the schedule were for fun events like wine tastings and dancing. Alexa and Calvin could suck it in Texas while I vacationed with Kathryn in the Caribbean. I sent Alexa a silent thank you for taking my spot. She was going on thankless coffee runs while I sunbathed.

It wasn't just the vacation that was making me happy. It was my job. In just two weeks, I had done more with Kathryn than I had ever done with Calvin. Kathryn trusted me and appreciated my ideas and experience. Even though I wasn't a lawyer, she listened to me like I was. For the first time in months, I was appreciated and being used to my full potential.

The only thing that could have made the last two weeks better was if Aiden had come back. I kept my eyes open for him, but I hadn't seen him in the office since that night. When I'd asked around, no one knew who Aiden the Assistant belonged to or where I could find him. If I hadn't kept the note from dinner, I would have thought I had dreamed him up.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. It came from the adjoining door to Kathryn’s suite. If I thought my room was luxurious with the ocean view and king sized bed, Kathryn's made it clear that my room was meant for the hired help. She had a huge living room and a giant bedroom that dwarfed even my apartment at home. I had only heard of luxury like this.

“Lena, I'm going to go meet some of the other lawyers for drinks,” she informed me. She was wearing a low cut sundress that showed off just how fit she had stayed through the years. Her hair was down and she almost looked relaxed. It was a far departure from the perfect lawyer I had worked with for the past two weeks, but I liked it. “The evening is all yours. I'll see you tomorrow for the first official meeting.”

“I'll make sure everything is ready, Ms. McDonald. Have a wonderful evening.” I grinned at her.

“We're not in front of clients here. We'll be with colleagues pretty much this whole trip, so you can just call me Kathryn. Especially in private,” Kathryn told me with a warm smile. “This is the closest I get to a vacation, so I won't have you ruining it by making me feel like I'm working.”