Their Festive Island Escape

Never mind that his labeling of her as such was perilously close to the truth. Still, her attitude to Christmas was none of his business. How dare he treat her the way he had? Her ire and irritation shot up even further as she thought of the derision in his eyes as he’d studied her.

His negative view of her seemed way out of proportion to whatever imagined slight he’d witnessed. It was as if he’d disliked her on sight. Which brought back the question: Why had he seemed so familiar to her?

Celeste shook off the query. The answer hardly mattered. She had no doubt the upper-level management in charge of the resort would be appalled if they knew of the actions of their character actor employee. She was in the very business of appealing to consumers as a professional marketer. The faux Santa’s behavior would be considered a nightmare to any business leader. That was no way to treat any customer.

Still, the encounter shouldn’t have shaken her up as much as it had. She was a professional, after all. And she’d certainly suffered through worse humiliation. The best thing to do would be to try to just forget about the whole incident and put it completely behind her. She would chalk it up to yet one more instance of a negative holiday memory. As if she needed any more of those.

With a calming inhalation of breath, she sank to the carpeted floor. She would meditate until the whole interaction with the wayward St. Nick was nothing more than a mere ghost of a thought in her head. Relaxing all her muscles, she began to count down from ten. Then she did nothing but clear her mind.

It wasn’t easy.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Celeste had no idea how much time had passed before the annoying knocking roused her out of her deep state of meditative trance. Was it too much to ask for just some calming time after the morning she’d had? Apparently, this day was just going to be one irritation after another.

“Room service,” came a soft, feminine voice from the other side of her door.

It took a moment to reorient as Celeste forced herself to stand from her cross-legged sitting position on the floor. Her leg muscles screamed in protest at the abrupt movement as she walked to the door.

“There’s been some kind of mistake,” she said to the petite uniformed woman standing outside with a cart. “I haven’t ordered any room service.”

The woman smiled as she shook her head. “This is on the house, madam.” Without waiting for acknowledgment, she wheeled the cart toward the center of the room.

“I don’t understand?”

The woman’s smile didn’t falter as she answered. “No charge, madam. Compliments of the resort.” She handed her an envelope that had sat in the middle of the tray. With that, she pivoted on her heel and left the room.

Celeste blinked in confusion at the shut door before understanding dawned. Sure enough, when she read the note, her suspicion was confirmed.

Please accept this complimentary gesture as a token of appreciation and regret that you may have been inconvenienced in any way this morning.

Sincerely, The Baja Majestic Resort.

Someone in upper management must have witnessed the unpleasantness between her and Santa earlier this morning. She studied the goodies before her on the food service cart. They’d certainly made an effort to appease her. A silver carafe of steaming hot coffee sat in the center of the tray. A chilled bottle of champagne sent a curl of frost into the air. Orange juice and a variety of pastries rounded out the offerings. Not bad at all as a conciliatory gesture. Someone was trying hard to make things up to her. A foolish part of her felt guilty that perhaps bad Santa might have been chastised harshly by his superiors. Or even worse, that he’d been fired.

He may have been an overbearing clod, but he didn’t deserve to have his livelihood jeopardized. She would have to look into that. The desk attendant in the concierge lounge would surely know exactly what had transpired and the ultimate outcome that had led to the enticing cart she’d just had delivered. A visit later this afternoon wouldn’t hurt. If he had been let go, it was probably not too late for her to intervene. Not that he deserved her good will. Still, she would be the bigger person if needed.

It was a role she’d been well groomed for her whole life, after all.

CHAPTER TWO

“ONE OF THE guests would like to see you, mi paadie.”

Reid looked up from the spreadsheet he’d been studying to the man who had just entered his office without knocking. Alex was co-owner of the property and Reid felt grateful every day for that fact. He wasn’t sure what he would have done without the other man’s intimate knowledge of the island and its customs. Not to mention his sharp head for business.

Though Alex definitely had one flaw: a clear aversion to knocking before entering a closed door. Not that Reid had been doing much in the way of concentrating just now. A set of light hazel eyes and tumbling dark hair had interrupted his thoughts unwanted and unbidden throughout the morning. He wondered if she’d liked the tray of goodies he’d had sent to her room. Would she find it all an adequate apology? Or had she huffed in disgust and pushed the tray aside. He suspected the latter. Not that he could really blame her if she had.

“And hello to you too, Alex,” he answered his partner without looking away from the screen he hadn’t really been focusing on.

“Did you hear what I said, man?”

He nodded. “It appears I’m being summoned by one of the guests, is that it?”

Alex smiled at him. “You wanted to be hands-on, did you not? She’s asking for you specifically.”

Wasn’t it enough that he’d been commandeered into playing Santa this morning when the actor originally hired to play the part had called in sick? The entertainment manager had run to him in a panic. No one else was available to do it. And the resort had announced the event weeks in advance. In the end it was easier just to don the suit and get the whole fiasco over with.

Only he’d come face-to-face with a woman he hadn’t ever expected to see again.

Now he apparently had to go smooth the ruffles of a guest who no doubt felt slighted somehow or was trying to finagle a room upgrade.

“I tried to take care of it myself. Explained to her that I was co-owner of the resort. But like I said, the guest insists on seeing you specifically.”

Reid sighed and stood. The guest in question had to be one of those checking in this morning who he’d greeted. Apparently, they’d taken it to heart when he’d said that he’d personally see to any detail regarding their stay that they weren’t completely happy with. Though why Alex hadn’t just taken care of it by partially crediting the guest or explaining that they were at full capacity and had no upgrade to give out was lost on him.

Again, it was probably best to simply go get it over with. It was just clearly going to be one of those days.

Celeste shook her head and tried to blink away the image she was sure she had to be imagining. But when she opened her eyes again, the unwanted vision stood clear as day in front of her still.

This couldn’t be happening. “You’re the nasty Santa?”

Her words came out harsher and louder than she’d intended. Every eye currently in the concierge lounge turned to stare at her. She distinctly heard a giggle of feminine laughter from behind her somewhere.

To his credit, Reid Evanson looked as shocked as she was at the unexpected turn. Suddenly, the events of the morning seemed to make much more sense. She definitely hadn’t been imagining the waves of dislike emanating from the man playing jolly ol’ St. Nick.

Well, the feeling went both ways.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

He thrust his hands into his pockets before answering. “You’re the one who asked for me.”

He was being deliberately obtuse. Celeste tried to summon some semblance of calm. It didn’t help that the gentleman she’d spoken to earlier was shifting his amused gaze from one of them to the other. None of this was the least bit amusing.

“I mean, what are you doing here on this resort?”

“You two know each other?” the other man wanted to know.

“We were acquainted once,” Reid answered briefly.

Despite herself, she found herself studying him. He’d aged well. Clean shaven before, he currently sported a close-cropped beard slightly darker than the sandy blond hair on his head. He wore said hair longer, nearly touching his shoulders. Instead of the Santa suit from earlier, he now wore a formfitting T-shirt tucked into pleated khaki pants. It all showed off the physique of a man who clearly took care of himself. Had he always been so muscular?

“Why did you ask for me?” Reid wanted to know.

“I didn’t. I asked to see Santa Claus.” This time, the person behind her didn’t even bother to try to hide her laughter. Heaven help her, she knew how ridiculous she sounded. She had half a mind to let out a giggle herself.

Without another word, he stepped around the long, highly polished counter and gently took her by the elbow.

“Let’s discuss all this in my office.”

His office? The room he led her to, if it held human emotions, would have no doubt been insulted to be referred to as such. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls overlooked a scenic beach with a majestic view of the crystal-blue ocean into the horizon. Plush carpeting had her feet sinking in her flip-flops. A grand desk with three large monitors sat in the center of it all.

“You run the resort,” she commented as he shut the door behind him.

“I own it. Along with my partner, Alex Wiliston. “He was the gentleman you were speaking with earlier.”

The pieces started to fall into place. She remembered now that Reid came from a wealthy family of hoteliers. Though the family business had suffered some losses recently, Reid had taken the helm from his father and turned things around. Last she’d heard, Evanson Properties had not only returned to a profitable enterprise, the company had expanded, all thanks to the prodigal son.

“You decided to expand into the resort business, I take it,” Celeste said.

Something flickered behind his eyes. He gave a small nod before answering. “The Caribbean specifically.”

“I see. But earlier this morning…when I saw you…” Now she was just rambling.

“Just filling in for an employee who couldn’t make it at the last minute.”

“I see,” she repeated uselessly.

Suddenly, it was all too much. Far from fleeing her unpleasant associations with the holiday as it related to her failed relationship, she’d somehow ended up face-to-face with someone who’d played a major role in the whole fiasco.

Reid had been her ex-fiancé’s best man. And she knew he’d never thought her good enough for his buddy.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Reid asked, for lack of anything better to say. How exactly did one proceed with this conversation? The scenario was so completely unexpected in so many myriad ways.

She shook her head. “No. Thank you. I just had some coffee and a mimosa to wash down several pastries.” She took in a shaky breath. “But I’m guessing you already know that. Seeing as you were probably behind the delivery to my room.”

“I was. Did you enjoy them?”

Her eyes grew wide. “Are we really doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Pretending I’m just another one of your regular guests?”

The feeling of guilt from earlier blossomed once again in Reid’s chest. Celeste was indeed his guest. A paying customer. He hadn’t meant to come off as boorish as he had out on the beach. But he’d just been so thoroughly disconcerted at seeing her again after all this time. If he was being honest with himself, he’d imagined encountering Celeste Frajedi more than a few times over the years. Not that he’d ever been able to explain to himself exactly why that was so. He had no reason to be thinking of her at all.

“But that’s exactly what you are,” he answered. “An appreciated guest. Hence, my desire to apologize for my behavior earlier. I hope the gesture served as an adequate apology. I should never have let…our history, so to speak…affect in any way how I treat a guest at my establishment. There’s no excuse for my having done so,” he added with complete sincerity. He really didn’t have any kind of excuse. Not even considering the morning he’d had. On top of the missing Santa and the shock of seeing Celeste again, he’d started the day with another aggravating, infuriating phone call with his father, who was once again trying to take over the company he’d almost single-handedly destroyed.

Celeste looked far from convinced by his words.

“I can assure you such behavior on my part won’t happen again,” he told her. “In fact, you can forget I’m even here.”

The skeptical look she speared him with clearly said he hadn’t done much to convince her any further.

You can forget I’m even here.

Hah! As if she could forget his presence for even a moment. What a mistake it had been to come here. Of all the resorts she could have chosen as a substitute for her regular vacation spot, how in the world had she landed on this one? The cruel fates were clearly laughing at her.

Celeste flopped herself down on the wide king bed back in her suite and draped an arm across her face. No, she couldn’t so easily forget that Reid Evanson was right here on this very island. Nor could she forget the way he’d made her feel three years ago. As if she could never be enough for the likes of his best friend. Never mind that Jack had turned out to be a reckless, disloyal excuse for a fiancé who had eventually left her stranded at the very altar where they were to have made their vows. Sure, now she realized just how much of a favor he’d done her. Aside from saving her from what could have been years of betrayal and heartbreak, he’d helped her come to a conclusion about herself. She clearly wasn’t the type of woman who was meant for a family or a steady relationship. He’d enabled her to avoid the mistake of a lifetime.

A mistake that could have led her straight down the same path her mother had traveled.

But that knowledge hadn’t stopped the sting of rejection, nor the burn of embarrassment as she’d faced down a whole church full of wedding guests to tell them that the ceremony had been suddenly called off.

Reid had been there every step of the way. He’d witnessed her humiliation in its entirety. And she’d received the distinct impression that he felt she’d only gotten what she’d deserved.

An incoming message on her phone pulled her out of her thoughts. The screen lit up with the profile picture of her sister smiling as she held her toddler niece. Celeste groaned and debated whether to answer. On the one hand, she felt drained and conversations with her sister could often be one-sided; Tara’s side. On the other hand, Celeste could really use someone to talk to right about now.

With no small amount of doubt, she pressed her thumb on the icon to answer.

“Hey, Tara.”

“Hey, sis.” The sound of a musical children’s show could be heard playing loudly in the background.

“What’s up?”

“Just calling to see how things are in paradise. Still can’t believe you’re there and not here.” Ah, so this was the routine guilt-trip call. Cynical as it sounded, Celeste couldn’t help the thought given past experience.

Celeste sighed deeply as she shifted to a seated position on the edge of the bed. “Well, it just so happens, I’m beginning to doubt my decision to come.”

Tara’s sudden exhalation came through loud and clear across the tiny speaker. “What’s happened? Spill!”

“Let’s just say there’s someone here I didn’t expect to see. Ever.”

“Details, please. Is it a man?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact. But that’s not the import—”

But Tara cut her off. “Ooh, this is getting interesting. Is it someone you had a previous fling with? Can you have another one? Hot and heavy with no strings attached! You could so use that, you know.”

Celeste rubbed a hand across her tense forehead. Honestly, Tara didn’t know her in the least. “I don’t do flings.”

“Well, maybe you should start. Heaven knows your serious relationships don’t turn out so great.” She grunted a laugh. “They don’t turn out at all.”

Ouch. So much for a sisterly conversation to make her feel better. Foolish of her to even entertain the notion. Celeste found herself wondering if she should have answered the phone after all.

“So, who is it?” her sister asked after a heavy pause.

“Never mind. It’s not important. Forget I brought it up. How’s Mom? And little Nat?”

It wasn’t often any of them referred to her niece by her full given name, Natalie.

“They’re all fine,” Tara answered. But she wasn’t having it with the attempted change in topic. “And no way you’re going to try to drop the matter of this mystery man. Tell me who you ran into. And tell me what he means to you.”

Celeste opened her mouth to respond with a resounding and emphatic denial that Reid Evanson meant absolutely anything to her whatsoever. That she’d hardly thought about him over the past three years.

But the lie wouldn’t form on her tongue.

CHAPTER THREE

ALEX STILL STOOD in the middle of Reid’s office studying him like a lab specimen. “Is there something I can do for you?” Reid finally asked, ultimately losing the game of visual chicken.

“Yeah. Neither you nor the young lady really answered me earlier when I asked if you two knew each other. It appears you do.”

Reid pretended to type on his keyboard. “Then you seem to have answered your own question.”

“I have more.”

Reid gave up all pretense of trying to get any work done. Leaning back in his leather desk chair, he tried to stretch out some of the tension that seemed to have tied a knot in the back of his neck right at the base of his skull. “Somehow, I knew you would.”

“I do. One of them being, exactly how do you know our esteemed guest? I couldn’t help but notice she’s traveling alone.”

“So?”

Alex grinned. “So does that fact have anything to do with you?”

“What? No! Of course not.” Not directly, anyway.

He hadn’t realized he’d mumbled the last part under his breath until Alex questioned him.

“What does that mean, Reid? Not directly?”

Alex sighed, the tension in his neck traveling farther down his spine. He might have to hit the spa later for some kind of back treatment massage. Though he’d been meaning to do that for weeks, ever since he’d arrived at the start of the season.

“It’s not what you’re thinking, partner.”

“Then what is it? You two obviously have some kind of history and not all of it is positive.

Reid almost laughed at that. Less than positive would be an understatement.

“Celeste was almost the wife of a friend of mine. Let’s just say he hasn’t been the same ever since their relationship ended.”

Alex nodded slowly. “Oh. So she dumped him.”

Reid rubbed his jaw. “Not exactly.”

“Then I don’t understand.”

Reid ran a hand down his face. He hadn’t been sleeping well. There was always something that needed to be done, some detail to attend to. He also had his father’s ill-formed takeover attempt to contend with. Now he’d been thrown another curveball in the form of Celeste Frajedi and he wasn’t sure how to explain to his partner exactly what had gone down three years ago. It hadn’t really had anything to do with him. So it was hard to explain why he’d taken it all so personally back then. Even when it came to explaining it to himself.

“Well, on the surface, Jack was the one who actually did the dumping.”

His friend gave him a blank look. “On the surface?”

“She wasn’t in the relationship for the right reasons. He told me all about it.”

Alex raised an eyebrow.

Reid felt a sensation of discomfort meander down his spine. As if he was betraying a confidence somehow. Though he’d be hard-pressed to identify whose privacy he was uneasy about. Celeste’s or Jack’s?

“Celeste is a shrewd businesswoman. She’s very well known in the industry as one of the most successful marketing executives in New York. The business sites have regular profiles on her. She can be ruthless when she doesn’t get what she wants.”

“You said your friend hasn’t been the same ever since the disastrous wedding that didn’t happen.”

Reid nodded. “That’s right. He’s still traipsing all over Europe, partying in different cities. Living with various women.” Some of those women being wealthy, married socialites looking for a good time on the side.

“Huh. And he didn’t behave like that before he met Celeste?” Alex wanted to know.

The uneasy feeling grew from tingling sensation to an all-out burning down his back as Reid sought for a truthful way to answer. If he was being completely honest, Jack had always had a propensity to be a bit of a partier, something of a Lothario. If anything, his relationship with Celeste had seemed to temper that side of him.

“It’s just different. Trust me. I heard all about it before he called off the wedding. Celeste worked long hours, was never around for him. He said he felt single most of the time.”

“Sounds like she’s just ambitious.”

“I agree that’s a commendable trait. But for people like her, it’s never enough,” Reid answered quickly, though the uneasiness was now sitting like a boulder at the base of his spine. Damn it, why hadn’t he scheduled that massage? Maybe they could fit him in between clients.

Alex went on, “She also happens to have booked our most exclusive and pricey deluxe suite for an extended stay. So clearly her ambitions have served her well.”

Reid shrugged. “I guess. Again, some people can’t seem to have enough.” He couldn’t even tell anymore if he was talking from personal experience about his father or if he was still referring wholly to Celeste.

“You sound like a man who’s only considered one side of a story.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You sure you’re not confusing cause and effect, partner?”

But his friend didn’t give him a chance to answer, just turned and left the office. Apparently, the question was a rhetorical one. Good thing, too. Reid would be hard-pressed to come up with an answer.

Had he been completely unfair in his assessment of Celeste three years ago? Of course, it had occurred to him more than once over the years that he’d only heard one side of the story. But Jack had been his friend since they’d been roommates at university. He was a loyal friend and he’d come through for Reid more than a few times over the years. Reid’s father’s recklessness and wandering eye had started right around that time, too.

Jack had genuinely seemed shaken when he’d confided in Reid as his nuptials had fast approached. He’d talked about how cold and critical Celeste had suddenly gotten when a couple of Jack’s business ventures hadn’t panned out. How demanding she’d been that he get back on his feet in all haste.

Reid slammed his laptop shut in frustration.

What did any of it matter now anyhow? It was all past history. Jack had moved on, even if some of his current behavior bordered on self-destructive. He was a grown-up who could make his own choices. Even if everything Jack had told him about her was the absolute truth, Celeste couldn’t be faulted for her ex-groom’s behavior three years after the fact.