Chapter 2

Lizzy suddenly reappeared.

“Ms Walker, before I leave, can I get you anything?”

“Not unless you have a pitcher of sweet iced tea in your pocket.” Sara said with a light laugh.

“Just a moment ma’am.” Lizzy said, moving to the phone. “Betty, I need a pitcher of iced tea, sweetened, sent to Ms Walker, Thanks.”

“Lizzy, you don’t need to go to any trouble.”

Lizzy just stared at Sara. For a woman of wealth Sara didn’t act as if she had ever had any luxuries in her life.

“No trouble at all.” And just that quickly the bell rang. Lizzy greeted who ever brought the tea. She quickly poured Sara a glass and put the rest in the refrigerator.

“Ms Walker, this is my pager number and I will be available till 8:00 tonight. I will be back on duty at 6:00 AM and will wait for your breakfast order.”

“Can I get breakfast at the restaurant?”

“Yes of course, any time after 6:00am.”

“Wonderful, then if you can tell me where I can get some coffee for my mornings, you can sleep in.”

“I can bring you coffee, fresh every morning.”

“I really do appreciate the offer and I know you are trying to do your job, but I really need as much ‘alone time’ as I can get. I get up very early and usually sit and sip coffee for a while before I have breakfast. It probably is my one true weakness. I need coffee before I can even shower.” Gently touching Lizzy’s arm, Sara quietly added, “I need to start taking care of myself.”

Lizzy didn’t understand but she smiled any way.

“In this cupboard is a coffee maker and the drawer above it has coffee packets in it.” She said pulling the drawer open.

“Thank you and I will page you if I need anything.”

“Very good Ms. Walker. Good day then.”

Hours later she had unpacked, showered and dressed for dinner. Lizzy had made dinner reservations for her at 7:00 so she had an hour to kill. At home, she would be fixing her own dinner, probably wearing shorts and a ponytail. Here she was dressed to kill and wearing more diamonds than she had ever seen. She had just finished another glass of tea when her cell phone rang. She scrambled to find it in her purse.

“Hello.”

“Hello yourself.” Sloan said.

“How are you?”

“Hungry. Want to meet me for dinner?”

“Where are you?” She asked, really glad to hear from him.

“I am just walking in to the lounge here at the resort. Where are you?”

“What?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in my condo getting ready to go to dinner. Why?”

“Want to meet me for a drink first?”

“Where did you say, you are?”

“I’m here. Meet me in the lounge in 15 minutes and I’ll explain.”

“Ok, should I act like I know you?”

“Yes. We can be acquaintances. It will look better than me picking you up in a bar. You are not supposed to be that kind of a woman.”

“And I’m not!” She responded.

Sloan liked that. Although he really hadn’t known her long, he had figured her for the classy type. That was something he really liked about her, she was a hometown girl but with style.

“Fifteen minutes ok?”

“Sure, I’ll be there.” Sara left the condo and started walking toward the lounge taking the same path she had taken to get here. It was just getting dark out and she had watched the sunset from her balcony. The waves were hitting the beach bringing the tide in and the fresh ocean air made her take a deep breath. What a beautiful setting, if she wasn’t working this would be a great place to vacation. But just then she heard something. Looking around, no one was there but she knew someone, was there. Something was wrong, someone was watching her. There was no one in site but someone was there, in the bushes. She walked quickly but she could hear them moving with her. “Hello” she called but no one answered. Quickly she reached the main building. As she entered the lobby Ron greeted her.

“Ms Walker, there is a gentleman waiting for you. Follow me please.” As she approached his table, he rose and extended his hand. “Sara, hello, how are you? It is so nice to see you again. I see your secretary gave you the message that I would be here.” He looked at her and needed a cold shower, she had cut her hair and was wearing makeup which she didn’t really need, but there was definitely something about her that was playing with his common sense. This was business, you came down here to look after her and make sure everything went smoothly not to get her in bed. He tried hard to control his thoughts because he was seconds from pulling her into his arms, and then she spoke.

“Yes, she did.” Was all Sara could manage. She knew she was acting strange but didn’t want to mention being followed. And the look on his face was new, he had never looked at her like that before and she didn’t have the time or energy to deal with it now. They ordered a drink and the waiter left.

“What are you doing here?” She finally asked.

“I am here to keep an eye on you. This whole thing has left a sour taste in my mouth.”

“Do you mean that you don’t trust Mr. Gibbons?” She whispered.

“Let’s just say that I think there is a lot more to this than he is letting on. I think we should start dating.” Was all he got out before the waiter returned with their drinks.

“What?” She gasped after the waiter was gone.

“It’s the only way I can stay close and I think you are going to want me close.”

Well that she did, but it didn’t have anything to do with the situation. Sara quickly reminded herself that this job would soon be over, and she would be Sloan’s assistant again and sleeping with the boss was never a good idea.

“I’m sure I will be fine, you really didn’t need to come all this way to look after me.”

“Yes, I did. I came to help one-way or the other. This is not an option. You are not a trained private investigator and even if you were, you would need back up. I was going to send Jim down here to clean this up, but I think this will work out much better. I am sticking around so if you can think of a better plan, speak now.”

Sara’s mind raced. She really did want him to stay but this dating thing was too much. However, it would explain why he was hanging around so much.

“We would take it slow and easy, after all, you are just coming out of a bad divorce.”

“Slow and easy?”

“Slow and easy!” He confirmed.

“Well I guess if we are going to start dating maybe I should change my dinner reservations to dinner for two.”

“I already did.” He whispered close to her ear.

They were shown to their table a short time later. Part way through dinner Sloan placed his hand over Sara’s, she didn’t pull it away, but he could tell she was uncomfortable.

“Sara, can I give you some advice?”

“Of course.”

“I know you have only been here a few hours, but you need to be a little more flamboyant. You are a very rich woman. You are used to getting what you want, when you want it. Tomorrow you need to get a massage, spend some time at the beach and just get out a little to socialize. You need to be seen out a lot, so the thieves think you’ll be easy pickings. Eat all your meals out and be sure you always stop what you are doing and attend Tea time.”

“Why, I’m not British?”

“No but it will give the illusion that you have traveled abroad a lot.”

“That’s a good idea. You know, you really are very good at this.”

“Yes, I know. But I really hate to deceive people; I investigate to get at the truth.”

Sara liked that about him. In the few weeks that she had worked for him, she had noticed that he was an honest man. That was something new to her, an honest man. He was charming, smart, very good looking and he still treated others with respect and caring. In the past few years, she had not known an honest man. Maybe that was what she found so attractive about him. No, he was just attractive. She knew she had to stop thinking that way but whenever she was alone with him, she just wanted him to take her in his strong muscular arms and not let her go.

“Sara, hello Sara, wake up. The waiter would like to take your dessert order.”

“Oh, I’m sorry; I guess my jet lag is catching up with me. What did you order?”

“Just coffee and cheesecake but get whatever you want.”

“I’ll have coffee and maybe just help you eat your cheesecake.” She said adding a flirtatious smile.

“Two coffees and one piece of cheesecake.” He repeated to the waiter.

“Thank you, sir.” And the waiter was gone.

“Good touch Sara. I think you’re getting the hang of this.”

After dinner, he walked her back to her condo. Standing just inside her door, Sloan smiled at her.

“Good night Sara.”

“Good night. Oh wait, would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?” She asked, surprised by her own boldness.

“I’d love to. At the same time?”

“Sounds good. Till tomorrow. Good night then.” She said leaning in to just touch her lips to his cheek.

“Good night.” And he stepped outside. Sloan just stood there for a moment and then touched his cheek. She had kissed him, and he had to wonder if this was just for show or if maybe there might really be an attraction.