AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He guided her over to the big chairs near the window. It was like a recliner made a baby with a first-class plane’s seat. She sat down and sighed. “Undersell everything if this is what I get.”
“Yeah, these are my favorite. I should warn you, I call them the time travel chairs.”
She closed her eyes. “Why is that?”
“Because when you sit in them, the plane ride is over in a blink.”
She sighed. “I like your time travel chairs.”
He laughed. “Night, Goldie. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”
“I’m not sleepy.” She turned her face to the sun that streamed in the small windows.
He murmured an agreement, but she was already floating off.
Fifteen
Vance droppedPresley off at the store. It was a prime bit of real estate right in the heart of the touristy section of town. She’d already been distracted with three phone calls as soon as they landed. Instead of making himself a nuisance, he promised to pick her up at seven when the store closed.
One nice thing about the islands was that everyone was on island time. None of the shops stayed open because St. Maarten was all about the nightlife once dinnertime came around.
He ran his own errands since he didn’t have her to distract him. Picked up a few changes of clothes in one of the men’s stores. Added a pair of swim trunks and a bikini for Presley. The villa he rented at one of the resorts had its own small pool and the back had a private beach.
Melissa took care of the electronics he needed to get working on the upgrade for Warren Jewelers. He would need every hour that week to get the system up and running. And the side project he had hatched that morning.
By the time he got to the resort, he only had three hours to kill before he picked up Presley. He checked in with Natalie to make sure their plan was still a go. Relieved to find it was,he started on the framework for the jewelry store’s inventory platform.
There was a lot of tedium to setting up the accounts, but once he had a solid foundation he could get it done relatively quickly. Writing code was second nature to him. It didn’t matter if there were months between projects, the rhythm came back.
The hours flew by and he was glad he set an alarm for himself. When he dove into a project, he lost hours by the handful. He’d hired a driver because he didn’t know the maze of streets that made up the island. The Lincoln Town car was a little ostentatious for him, but the last-minute plans required some allowances.
When he pulled up to the edge of the zigzagging roads that most of the shops sat on, he sat forward. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Yes, sir.”
He moved through the throng of people. Some were dressed in beach wear with very little covering them, and others were dressed for dinner. It was an eclectic mix of social statuses as well.
The door to Warren Jewelers opened just as he got to her end of the sidewalk. She pulled down a gate and locked the door as well as the wrought iron bars. When she turned and spotted him, he couldn’t help but smile back at her relieved wave.
His girl looked tired.
He’d planned to take her out to one of the high-end restaurants on the water’s edge, but quickly shuffled that idea out for another. “Hey, Goldie.”
“Hi.”
He curled her into his chest and she pressed her cheek over his heart. “How was your day, dear?”
She chuckled against his shirt. “The minute I walked in, two people had to go home suddenly.”
He folded his arms around her waist. “Island-itis? It’s a pervasive virus.”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“I was thinking we should pick up a few steaks and marinated kabobs I saw in a little market around the corner. Stay in tonight?”
“That sounds awesome.”
He stepped back and laced their fingers. “Just a short little walk to the car at the end of the lane.”
