Hurricanes in Paradise by Denise Hildreth (web ebook reader .TXT) 📕

“Well, if you’ll excuse me one minute. I need to grab Riley. We’ve had a guest with a slight situation.”

Laine looked at her watch. “How about we meet for dinner at six, ladies, at Casa D’Angelo.”

Riley saw Laine looking at her as if waiting to know she would be there. She clapped her hands together. “I’ll make our reservations and see you all there at six.”

“How did you get roped into that?” Mia asked as the women walked away.

“Long story,” Riley said, dabbing her own wet ringlets with a towel. “What’s up? Max hasn’t been looking for me, has he?”

“Actually he called and I told him I had just left you and you should be right around here. He said he had been trying your cell phone for an hour and hadn’t been able to reach you.”

“Of course he did. I should have known.” Riley dug for her phone in her bag as her pace quickened toward her office. “She calls him to get me fired and then traipses me off so I won’t get the call when he does call to fire me. She is such a control freak. I’ve never met anyone like her.” She checked her phone and saw that Max had called her four times. She stopped in the middle of the walkway and leaned her head back. “I can’t believe she can be so in control and I lost my control like that. It’s just been so long since I’ve done something like that.”

Mia wrapped an arm around her. “It’s okay. Honestly, it’s going to be okay. I’ll do anything I can for you.”

“Well, I need to go face the music. It is what it is at this point. I’ll be there in a few minutes to pack up my stuff. I’m just going to call him out here.”

Mia reached out and gave her a hug. “I’m so sorry, Riley.”

“It’s okay. Thank you. For today. For listening. I so appreciate it.”

Mia released her. “I’ll be in the office.”

Riley watched her as she walked away, then pressed Max’s number on her speed dial. He picked up on the second ring. “Riley, where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“Max, I know what this is about. And I just have to tell you how sorry I am. You have been so good to me and for me to lose control like that is just completely out of line. And I understand. I’m going to pack up my office now.”

“What are you talking about?”

She paused for a moment. “I thought you were calling about . . . What were you calling about?”

“I was calling to tell you that our three sets of VIPs have turned into six, so we’ll need three extra rooms and six more tickets for the concert. Also, I was thinking let’s make reservations at Mosaic for lunch and Nobu for dinner. Then we’ll take them to the nightclub for a little while after the concert. I’ll want you to be there waiting on us when we arrive. I want you to shine in all of this. Now, what in the world were you talking about a minute ago?”

She closed her eyes and bit the top of her lip. “I was talking about something so completely not important.” She laughed a ridiculous laugh. “So you don’t worry your head about a thing. What time do you think they’ll get in?”

“I’m meeting them at the airport at noon.”

“Well, you just have a great day and we’ll take care of everything. It will be perfect.”

“Honestly, I’m not worried about you as much as I am this crazy weather. Looks like there’s real potential for this storm to hit us. Might even end up having to fly them all back Thursday evening if it looks like this thing is definitely aiming for us. And by the looks of it, it could be ugly.”

“Well, I can’t change hurricanes, but I can make sure everything else comes off without a hitch.”

“I want you to e-mail me all of their reservation information as soon as you get it ready. And I wanted to send it to them by the end of the day. That’s why I was trying to find you. Where were you anyway without your phone?”

“Our author in residence, Ms. Fulton, wanted me to go with her to swim with the dolphins.”

“My word, she wants you everywhere. Is she incapable of being alone?”

“Max, she’s capable of just about anything, so I’m not sure why she wants me with her everywhere.”

“Well, thanks for taking such good care of her. She called me just this afternoon and told me what a wonderful job you were doing.”

Riley felt the breath go out of her. “She . . . she did?”

“Yeah, she said you were excellent at what you did and had taken superb care of her. I can’t ask for more than that, Riley. So thank you. You don’t want someone writing a fiction book about your place and trashing you in it. My wife reads fiction. Half the time she thinks those people are real.” He laughed.

She let out an odd, nervous laugh. “Thanks, Max. Thanks for telling me. I’ll make sure you have what you need within the hour. Call me if anything changes.”

“You too. Take care.”

Riley stuck her phone inside her pocket and shook her head. What in the world was Laine Fulton up to now?

13

Tuesday evening . . .

The scents of Casa D’Angelo filled Riley. She loved this restaurant. Especially chef Angelo Elia’s herb-crusted rack of lamb. It was one of his signature dishes and her favorite. And his tiramisu . . . Well, let’s just say women didn’t need men with food like his. She sat at the bar to wait for Laine.

Laine arrived promptly at six thirty. She looked beautiful in a pair of flowing black pants and a black silk sleeveless blouse. Her blonde hair was pulled back behind her ears, and a few wispy pieces hung softly around