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He couldn’t argue with that logic. Everyone should have friends like Mia and Grace. People who had your back. The way these girls protected one another left him humbled.
“You’re right, Mia. Vivian and what she wants is all that truly matters.”
“Good, I’m glad you see it that way. Can I ask that you stay in your room for an hour or so longer? I expect this is frustrating, but we are all praying that this plays out as it should. If it doesn’t, I hope you won’t hold it against me.”
Another hour. He could do that. For Vivian he could wait. “Thanks Mia. Rest assured we won’t ever speak of the last few days again no matter what happens with Vivian and myself. When I get back to New York, we will all need to reset and go back to our respective work roles.”
As he hung up the phone a soft grin sat on his lips. His words would give Mia plenty to think about. She had a bright future ahead of her, and if the way she had just played him was any indication, Mia Allen would eventually find herself seated at the executive board table. He was about to become CEO for the entire Royal Resorts US, so it made sense to let his team members know where the line between work and his private life began and ended.
“Damn. Maybe I should have said thatafterI’ve spoken to Vivian.”
CHAPTERFIFTY-TWO
Dressed in a blue and white gingham sundress, Vivian slipped out of her hotel suite and headed for the beach. She wasn’t entirely certain as to why Bryce was here. Mia had asked that she give him another chance, but a chance for what? Was it to finally end things on a positive note, to let her know that bygones were bygones? That by parting as friends, he could go home with a clear conscience?
And while her head told her this was a sensible enough reason for Bryce to have made the trip to Florida, her heart pleaded for more. For him to want her.
Am I enough?
The article inLeisure Linehad come as a huge surprise. She’d spent the past day hating Bryce Royal, and his billionaire privileged lifestyle. For thinking that because he was uber rich, he could pick on a small travel magazine, and litigate it to its knees.
While on the phone to Mia, she had struggled to read the rest of the short press release, the words blurring through a sheen of tears. Bryce hadn’t turned his pit bull lawyers against her and her employer. Lionel wouldn’t be having to find the money to fight a legal battle. Vivian would still have a job when she got home.
The relief was so overwhelming, that after her phone call with Mia, Vivian had headed to the bathroom, and there she had sat on the floor of the shower sobbing while the hot water rained down on her head.
Bryce Royal had got under her skin. Reconciling her emotions for him, and the duplicitous man she had thought him to be, had been near impossible. In her mind she had branded him as an evil billionaire who enjoyed destroying the lives of those who dared to cross him. Then in Galveston he had been lovely. Discovering he was about to sue her employer had come as a huge shock. And now he had followed her all the way to Florida. Every time she thought she had him figured out, the world changed.
Bryce hadn’t ever been going to sue. The truth of that left her now having to face her own insecurities. Yesterday morning at the hotel in Galveston, she’d not given Bryce the opportunity to defend himself. She had acted as judge and jury, relying purely on a rumor from a gossip blog.
And I found him guilty. I left him a note and then got on a plane. I didn’t give him a chance.
The issue of the lawsuit was solved. The bigger problem was what she was going to do about the man waiting for her in beach villa number twelve.
What if he does want me, can I trust my heart again?
They had started out as a passionate affair, a moment of temptation that had burned bright, then flamed out. Galveston had seen them shift to slightly more solid ground, before fate had once more stepped in and torn them apart. One thing was certain. They were well past the point of this thing between them being just a California fling.
Reaching the gate of the beach front villas, the security guard greeted her with an expectant smile. “Good evening.”
Nervous, she mustered a half-smile in response. “Hi, my name is Vivian and I understand a friend of mine is staying in villa number twelve.”
He handed her an envelope, then opened the gate. Vivian walked a little way before stopping and slipping a thumb under the seal flap. Her heart was racing as she pulled the piece of paper out.
The only thing harder than building a business is finding true love.
“Oh Bryce,” she whispered as she took in the short note. It was honest and it was perfect.
She let out a slow breath. He was ready to forgive her, now all she had to do was pull up her big girl panties and go knock on his door.
Passing by villa number eight, Vivian gave a wave in response to the cheery ‘good evening’ offered by the middle aged couple sitting on matching beach chairs out the front. The way they held hands reminded her of Steve and her mom. Still nuts about each other after many long years.
I wonder if that sort of love is in my future. If I can find it with Bryce.
Her fingers crushed the piece of paper in her hand. She didn’t need to read it again, she understood what it meant. Her heart had spoken loudly in reply. She wanted a chance with Bryce.
The door to his villa was open. The sheer white drapes which hung either side of the entrance billowed out from within, their ends tossed around in the light sea breeze. It gave an ethereal look to the place. She could imagine any moment now a knight clad in shining armor would step out from between the curtains and come seeking a damsel in distress.
Vivian grinned at the unbidden thought. The fading sun and a long nap had clearly scrambled her brain.He doesn’t need to be my hero, he just has to be Bryce.
