It’s starting to piss me off that he keeps referring to Charly as beautiful. Not because it’s inaccurate, but because he’s obviously taken more than a passing notice.
“Yes, they would,” I remind him. “I’m a public figure. Everything I do is under scrutiny. These Lift retreats are successful because we all maintain our professionalism. This is a safe place for the women who attend. I don’t fuck with that, and I’ll bust your arse if I ever find out that you do.”
“I get it,” Todd says and holds his hands up in surrender. “But there’s nothing that says you can’t call her when this is over.”
He smiles smugly and I punch him in the shoulder, just for the hell of it.
“Ow! Bugger it.”
“Can we talk about the reason we’re here now?”
“Fine.”
Todd begins talking about seating arrangements and plans for the cocktail party at the end of the retreat. I’m listening with only half an ear.
Starting up something—physical or otherwise—with Charly is impossible, no matter how attracted to her I am. It would be career suicide. And how can I ask the other women here to trust and listen to me, if I’m carrying on with one of their peers?
I’m supposed to be here teaching them. Leading them. Helping them.
Not fucking them into the mattress.
Which is what I want to do with Charly, and only Charly, repeatedly.
“Are you listening?” Todd asks as we approach the lodge.
“No,” I reply truthfully. “I’m hitting the shower. I’ll see you in an hour.”
“You’re a pain in my arse!” he calls after me, but I ignore him and march straight to the elevator.
And there she is, already waiting for one. The universe keeps throwing her my way, and I’m not complaining in the least.
“Good morning,” I say, panting from the run. My shirt is soaked with sweat, and I can only imagine how I must smell.
“Good mornin’,” she says with a smile. “Did you have a good run?”
“No,” I reply with a laugh. “Todd insisted on coming with me and he talked incessantly.”
Charly laughs and leads the way into the elevator when it arrives. “Which floor?”
“Four.”
“Me, too,” she says and pushes the button. “Thanks again for the boat ride yesterday. It was nice.”
It was bloody amazing.
“You’re welcome,” I reply and lean on the wall opposite from her, willing myself to keep my hands to myself.
“Is it going to be another long day?” she asks as she leans against the wall, mimicking my stance.
“No. We’ll be done by early afternoon.”
“Oh, great.” She grins. “I told Savannah all about yesterday.”
“Really? Did she tell you to pack your things and run as quickly as possible?”
“No. She said it was good for me, but she was glad it was me and not her. So much for sisterly love.”
I smile and curse silently when we reach our floor. When the door opens, three women are waiting for the elevator. Their eyes widen when they see me, and I want to roll my eyes.
Many women are not coy when they see a man they find attractive. We’ll be discussing this next week.
When they’re in the lift and the doors are closed, I glance down at Charly and smile. “Do you have time for me to show you something?”
“We have to be in the conference room in an hour,” she replies, but I can see the curiosity in her eyes.
“It’ll be quick. It’s the perfect time of day.”
“Okay.”
I lead her to my room, at the end of the hallway.
“Hey, if you think you can just lead me to your room—”
I turn to her and cut her off. “I said this would be quick, darling. Trust me, if I were bringing you to my room to seduce you, it wouldn’t be quick. I’d be exploring you all day and night.”
She doesn’t act shocked at all. She simply raises a brow and smirks, like she did the first morning we were here. She’s all but saying, “Sure. I don’t buy it.”
So I lean in and press my lips to her ear. “Don’t press me, darling, or I’ll drag you in here and prove it to you.”
When I pull away, the smirk is gone, but the laughter is still in her eyes and I can’t help but wonder what I would have to do to truly surprise her.
I open the door and lead her into my room, then grab my binoculars and step out onto my balcony. “I just found them yesterday.”
“Found what?”
“Look.” I hand her the binoculars. “Look into that tree there, where we saw the bald eagle just the other day.”
She raises them to her eyes and is silent while she looks, then gasps.