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“It was—it’s been a very long while for me, I hope I wasn’t too rusty,” Raina said softly. She buried her head against his chest in embarrassment.
“Rusty? I certainly wouldn’t accuse you of that.”
Raina smiled shyly and looked down at her hands. He settled back down on the bed and pulled her closer so that her head was on his chest. They fit together like puzzle pieces. It felt so right, as if he and Raina had been together for years.
“We—We can’t let people at work know about us—“ Raina’s words were hesitant.
“Why, are you ashamed of me?” Christian tone was light, but part of him did wonder if she was.
If only she knew who I really am. He tried to push the thought aside. It only condemned him for his deception. A deception he was now regretting greatly because he knew it meant he was lying to Raina. And yet, he thought to himself, If I hadn’t lied to her, I never would have met her …
Would Raina agree with him that the ends had justified the means in this case?
“No, no. How could I be ashamed of you? It’s just too soon, and I never date my colleagues. It would cause all sorts of complications.…” Raina explained as she nestled closer to him.
“Relax, I was kidding, I understand.” Christian lied smoothly.
He wanted to take her to his own home and show her the real him. At the back of his mind, Christian realized that by making love to Raina, he had given her part of his heart. He had also taken his deceit to another level.
How would he ever explain that he was the same person she was falling for? That the only difference between Christopher and Christian was a bad dye job … and several hundred million in their bank accounts.…
He pushed the traitorous thought to the back of his mind. It was marring the joy he felt in the moment. He didn’t want to think about tomorrow—he only wanted to enjoy the moment.
And with that thought in mind, he bent his head to kiss Raina and rolled her over once again.…
He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he felt was Raina shaking him awake.
“It’s morning, sleepy head, just a couple more minutes until the kids wake up,” Raina said apologetically. “They can’t see you here.”
“This early? It’s a Saturday!” Christian groaned.
Raina playfully pushed him toward the edge of the bed. “Kids don’t care about days off. They seem to have a sixth sense—sleeping in on school days, but up at the crack of dawn on a day off! So you’d better go!”
He laughed. “Alright, alright, I’m leaving but not before getting a kiss,” Christian said.
The kissed lasted for five minutes and he had to tear himself away.
By now he was fully awake, and he tiptoed his way out of Raina’s room and headed downstairs to the basement. It was six in the morning, and at that hour, Christian knew he would never get back to sleep. He took a shower and dressed for the day.
He hadn’t been back to his penthouse apartment in the high rise for days and he needed to touch base with the New York office and deal with a lot of business he’d been neglecting. There was only so much he could do on his smartphone on his breaks at the hotel and when he could steal a moment away from Raina and the kids. He’d left very competent people in charge in his absence, but there were still many things that needed his personal attention.
He texted his driver—he knew that no matter what time of the day or night, he would be waiting for Christian’s call and a short time later he was back in his cold and sterile penthouse.
Christian shed his shabby clothes and removed his contact lenses. He glanced at the mirror, longing to shave off the scraggly beard and the dyed hair, which had grown to lengths he had never kept before. He inspected the dark brown dye in his hair and was satisfied with it. Christian spent the next three hours reading and replying his emails.
He got one interesting email from Roger.
Evidently his uncle had found out why the Palm Beach Del Mar hotel was losing money. Roger was cryptic but promised that he would shortly give Christian all the details.
Interesting that he, Christian, had spent so much time at the hotel and learned nothing, other than everything at Del Mar was working well, yet Roger had gotten to the bottom of the problem. Then again, Christian realized that his investigation had stalled the moment he had taken a greater interest in Raina. He was annoyed of himself for losing sight of his mission.
Still, Christian felt uplifted by the news. The sooner this mess got straightened out, the sooner It meant that he could finally be honest with Raina. He was tired of walking around in old clothes and hiding who he was every day. He shut off h
is laptop and got ready for the rest of the day.
Christian donned his undercover clothes; a ratty pair of jeans and worn t-shirt. He finished the look with the signature cap and his contact lenses. Raina would get the shock of her life if she knew that his eyes were not brown but a startling Caribbean Ocean blue. They were somewhat of a dead giveaway to anyone who knew that “Christian Del Mar” was known for having just that particularly unusual eye color.
He left the apartment an hour later and got Jim to drop him off a few blocks from Raina’s house.
