Mina grinned, a wicked glint in her eye. “Not if you contacted a friend a couple of weeks ago and made an appointment, on the off chance that you were able to tear your best friend away from your beau for the day.”
I blinked at her and then laughed. “You didn't!”
Mina shrugged. “Evil mastermind and all. Christian was in on it too; I told him to bring you breakfast this morning so that you'd be all ready to go by the time I pulled myself out of bed. Come on.”
I laughed again and followed her out to the car.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Christian
Even though I could have answered Paul's call as I left Gretchen's house, I declined the call and waited until I was back at the hotel to give him a call. I poured myself a glass of wine because there was something about this conversation that had my nerves on edge. Maybe it was just Mina's needling that had gotten to me, and where had my words been coming from, anyway? What did I mean, I might just go back to get my affairs in order? I was going to go back and settle down and be the face of the company again. That had been the plan all along.
“Hey man,” I said when Paul answered the phone.
“Relax,” he said immediately, a smile in his voice. “You sound nervous, and there's no reason to be. Mainly, I'm calling to wish you season's greetings, but I also wanted to call and let you know that the whole company, even Alex and George, are waiting for you to come back. The sooner, the better; ideally, we'd like to have you back by the start of the new year.”
I blinked and stared at a distance halfway between myself and the wall. Then, I shook my head. “Look,
I know you've been campaigning on my behalf, Paul, but I'm not sure that's the best idea,” I said.
I could hear the frown in Paul's voice when he spoke again. “Are you planning on tendering your resignation? I would have expected to hear about it before now, if so.”
“It's not that,” I said impatiently, shoving aside all my uncertain thoughts from before. “But Paul, I'm not stupid. I've been watching our stocks and all the company news. From everything that I've seen, the company is doing ten times better now than it ever did when I was involved in it. Whatever you guys are doing, or I guess, maybe, whatever you guys are not doing, it seems to be working. There's no way Alex and George want me to come back.”
“You haven't been in the news in the whole time that you've been in Hawaii,” Paul said. “I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised about it, myself. Alex and George must be beside themselves.”
“Honestly, there aren't even that many people who recognize me here,” I said. “I've been mostly staying away from the touristy things, and…” I broke off, cheeks flaming. For some reason, I wasn't ready to tell him about Gretchen just yet.
“That's good,” Paul said, his voice soothing away my concerns. “But we do need you back at the company. None of us can do the public speaking the way that you can. You have such a knack for twisting language and for dodging the really difficult questions. And beyond that, you have a knack for drawing in the audience and interacting with the camera. Your reality TV shows have helped us grow into the company that we are today, and you know that as well as I do. There's talk of a sequel series to that International Dream Homes show that you starred in last year. They've sent over a list of destinations and wanted you to go through and pick some places.”
“Oh,” I said, taking a sip of the wine, wondering how to respond to that. I couldn't help laughing a little. “I honestly thought you were calling to tell me that the company didn't see any reason for me to come back after the new year,” I admitted. “I know you keep telling me that that's not what you guys want and everything, but I call bullshit,” I said, shaking my head.
“Give me some credit,” Paul said, and I could hear the way he was rolling his eyes. “If I was going to give you that news, do you think I would wait until Christmas Eve to do it? Not that there's ever a good time for you to receive that news, but still. I'm not heartless.”
“I know,” I said, swallowing a sudden lump in my throat. “Paul, you've been such a great friend to me over the years. And thank you for whatever part you have in preserving my place there at Sunrise. I'll start looking at flights, I guess.” I ran a hand back through my hair, wondering how I was going to break the news to Gretchen. To be fair, she had to know that I was going back; that had never been a secret.
For a moment, I wildly toyed with the thought of inviting her to come live with me in New York, but I knew that that wasn't even an option. She had her whole life here in Hawaii, and anyway, there was something about her that just fit here in Hawaii. She could never be part of my life back in New York. And I knew, deep down, that she would never want to be. Asking her to do that for me would ruin everything that we had had.
“You seem pensive,” Paul said. He chuckled a little. “That's not a word I ever would have thought to use for you, of all people.”
I sighed. “This has been a really good trip,” I admitted. “It's a shame to see it end.”
Leave it at that.
We exchanged a few more pleasantries, and Paul finally let me go with a final 'Merry Christmas.' I sat there for a long time, staring off into space, and then I pulled up my computer, beginning to search for flights. I knew that the sooner I booked it, the better deal I would get, especially since there were going to be a lot of people heading home once the holidays were done. I stopped short of purchasing one, though.
Finally, I hopped into a long shower and took my time getting ready to go over to Gretchen's. I pocketed the little box that held her Christmas gift and went down to the parking lot, slipping into the rental car that I'd borrowed for the holiday, not wanting to pull Mark away from his family.
When I knocked on Gretchen's door, there was no answer, but when I tried the front door, it was unlocked. I stepped hesitantly inside, reflecting that this was something I would never have done back in New York, and especially not with a girl who I was sleeping with, whether we had agreed to meet up that night or not. But being with Gretchen in Hawaii just felt different.
I could hear the shower running upstairs, and I smiled a little to myself. I sat on the couch and pulled out my phone, waiting patiently for her to make her way downstairs. And trying not to think about what was going on just upstairs, the water droplets sliding over her body, her lathering up her long hair with shampoo, giving herself a good scrub, her hands sliding over each plane of her skin…
I swallowed hard and pulled up the news. Nothing less sexy than politics.
“Oh!” Gretchen said as she came down the stairs and found me sitting there waiting for her.
I grimaced. “Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you,” I said. “I was a little early, and the front door was unlocked, and-”