“Always,” she agreed. “But it's good that way. If you have a good day, there's no reason not to keep repeating it, that's what I figure.”
“That's a good way to live,” I said.
“What did you do this weekend?”
I frowned, trying to figure out how to answer. Before I could, the surprise of the century, Christian himself, poked his head into the room. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said, not sounding sorry at all.
Mrs. Harris' gaze was around to him in a flash. “Christian Wall?” she asked, sounding shocked.
Christian rubbed the back of his neck. “That's me,” he agreed, sounding sheepish.
“Oh, just wait until the girls at the club hear about this,” she said, shaking her head.
I grimaced. “I'm with a customer,” I told Christian coolly.
“Oh, don't mind me,” Mrs. Harris said. She grinned a little. “Actually, you're my one celebrity free pass. I told my husband that after reading that piece in Voyeur about your charity work. I can't believe all the things that you do to help those disabled children.”
If I wasn't mistaken, that was a hint of a blush on Christian's face. But he grinned, leaning his hip against the doorjamb. “I bet I'm sexier than your husband's celebrity free pass.”
“Oh, definitely,” Mrs. Harris agreed. She looked back at me over her shoulder. “You know Christian Wall? Is that what you did this weekend?”
It was my turn to blush. I didn't miss the innuendo in her words. “It's not like that,” I protested. “I know him. Mr. Wall has been in here a few times for a massage. But-”
“If you need to talk to him, don't let me stand in the way,” Mrs. Harris said.
“I did just want to borrow Gretchen for a couple of moments,” Christian said, playing up the charm factor. He winked at Mrs. Harris. “I'd be more than happy to have a portrait, or maybe a poster, sent over to your house for the inconvenience.”
“There's no inconvenience at all,” Mrs. Harris said, the traitor. She was practically shooing me out of the massage room.
I stalked out into the reception area, careful to close the door behind me. “What the hell was that?” I snapped. “You can't just show up at my work and-”
“You never gave me your phone number,” Christian interrupted. “I wasn't sure how else to contact you, except through the concierge desk at the resort, and that just seemed a little impersonal. And no one was going to buy that I needed another massage so soon.”
I snorted. “You were already pushing it, coming in two days in a row,” I agreed.
“I want to take you out
again,” Christian told me. “On a proper date.” He frowned. “Okay, sure, the other night ended up being a pretty proper date, once I…” He rubbed the back of his neck again. Then, he laughed a little. “I'm not usually this nervous.”
I frowned, surprised by his raw honesty. “You're nervous?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
Christian folded his arms across his chest. “I can't say that the last date was a resounding success,” he said. “I'd like to make that up to you if I could.”
I blinked, wondering if this was the same guy who was splashed across all those magazines that Mina loved to read. “How?” I asked.
The thing was, I didn't want to go on another date with him. Maybe it was bad, but I just didn't think that we had that much in common with one another. And the things that we did have in common, like the fact that we were here in Hawaii, weren't the kinds of things that I cared about when it came to a relationship.
“Come on,” Christian cajoled. “Look, I know I didn't give you the best impression of me the last time. But let me make that up to you. I talked to Mark, he's my driver here and a great guy, and he gave me some recommendations. We can go get barbecue down on the beach and watch the sunset, and I won't wear a suit or anything like that.” His eyes coasted over my curves. “You'd still look sexy in a dress, but just a casual beach dress, nothing fancy. I promise.”
I frowned. “There have to be other women on this island who would love to leap into bed with you,” I said. Mina, for one. For a moment, I debated sending him next door to see my best friend, who would probably love to do nothing more than take a tumble between the sheets with him. But for some reason, despite my uncertainty toward him, I felt a bit jealous of the thought of that.
Oh, brother.
“All right,” I said before he could respond to that. “Okay, you can take me out, just one more time though. If I walk away from this one, I'm not going to see you again.”
“That's fair,” Christian said. He smiled down at me. “I'll pick you up at 6 p.m. tomorrow, okay?”
I watched as he started to leave the shop, not even bothering to wait for my acceptance of that time. Just who did he think he was, anyway? But at the same time, I couldn't seem to argue with him. “See you tomorrow,” I said faintly. Then, I shook my head and went back to the massage room, where Mrs. Harris was patiently waiting.