Squaring my shoulders and securing the mask of my upbringing, I replied, “Yes, I was told to tell you that my name is Charli.”

His dark eyes sparkled. “Yes, Miss Charli. I’m Fredrick, and we’ve been awaiting your arrival.”

I swallowed my apprehension. After all, this was good. Now more than Chelsea knew my whereabouts. Fredrick did too. He picked up the telephone and after a few moments said, “Yes sir, I’m escorting Miss Charli to your suite.” Next he turned toward me. “Please follow me. I’ll take you to the private elevator.”

Slipping back into the person raised to believe that staff needed no more than to do their job, I simply nodded. It wasn’t as if I still believed the Kool-Aid my grandmother had fed me, but at that moment my mind was too much awhirl with the possibility of what I might find at the end of the elevator ride. Nervousness and excitement vied with fear and anticipation.

Fredrick led me down a quiet hallway, the only sound that of my heels echoing off the paneled walls. Even though I worked to calm my breathing, as he pushed the button for the elevator, I may have jumped with the ding as the doors opened. This elevator wasn’t as large as the ones used by the other guests nor was it glass. Instead, it was lined with the same rich paneling from the hall, and where as the others had panels of multiple buttons, here there were only two. Fredrick pushed PS.

I had the almost unstoppable urge to ask Fredrick about the man I was meeting for dinner. I wanted to ask his name, but my pride wouldn’t allow it. After all, who got all dressed up and met someone in the presidential suite if they didn’t know whom they were meeting?

Me.

As I realized the answer to my own question, I lifted the corner of my lips. I was really doing this—well, Charli was.

The doors opened, not to a hallway, but to a foyer, large and light. I couldn’t help but look around as I stepped onto the white tile. In the center of the room was a large round table with an enormous arrangement of fresh flowers. The sweet aroma saturated the glass room. Through the skylight I noticed the darkening sky. Then my attention went to one of the glass walls. Through it was a spectacular view of the setting sun over the ocean.

“Miss Charli,” a woman’s voice brought my attention back to present. I turned toward the petite, older woman. Since she wasn’t wearing the resort’s signature navy jacket, I didn’t think she worked for the resort.

“Yes, hello,” I offered with as much confidence as I could muster.

Her cheeks rose as her brow lengthened. I still didn’t know who she was, but I got the distinct impression that she was assessing whether or not I should be allowed any farther into the suite.

“I was told to come here for dinner,” I said, afraid that the words emerged as more of a question than a statement.

“Of course.” Her expression relaxed. “I believe your arrival is anticipated on the patio. It’s such a lovely night. It was requested that dinner be served outside. Let me show you the way.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as I returned her smile. Though I’d hoped that someone would mention the name of the man awaiting my arrival, no one did. It was as if everyone knew not to say it in front of me.

I’d tried to recall exactly what he’d looked and sounded like earlier that day. But with each passing hour, the recollections became embellished in my mind. I recalled the sun behind his head now as a radiating glow. His voice, deep and stirring, rolled like thunder in my memory, fluttering my tummy while melting my insides. His chest wasn’t just muscular, it was sculpted, and I no longer just remembered the sight of his dark hair and slight facial stubble. Now my skin tingled at the thought of its touch—so real, as if I’d felt it against the most sensitive of my parts.

When I stepped past the woman and exited the glass doors, my breathing hitched.

I hadn’t embellished, not really. With the orange glow of the setting sun sending prisms dancing off the waves below, the man casually leaning against the rail was everything I’d imagined and more. Despite the ocean breeze, his casual stance, the way one hand lingered in the pocket of his pants while the other held tightly to a tall fluted glass of light-colored liquid, filled me with warmth.

I was glad that Chelsea had talked me into wearing a dress and that I’d insisted on wearing panties. As he righted himself, the light gray suit coat he wore moved effortlessly, accentuating his shoulders and forming a V to his trim waist. If I’d thought he was handsome in his swim trunks, he was even better in a silk suit. The white shirt he wore was unbuttoned at the neck and his strong jaw was covered with just a hint of stubble. Whoever this man was, he wore the combination of casual and class with ease.

I remained still as his grin grew and he scanned me from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. Just like earlier at the pool, the gaze of his light blue eyes burned my skin, sending a rush of heat and leaving goose bumps in its wake. I found myself lost in the paleness of his eyes. Like pools of liquid, I imagined drowning in their depths, and then they settled on mine.

“Welcome, Charli with an i. I’m very glad you accepted my invitation.” Flutters like butterfly wings filled my tummy as I searched the horizon for clouds of an impending storm. There were none. It was him. His voice did roll like the low rumble of thunder.

I continued to remind myself to do as Chelsea would do. With all the issues that girl had in her life, lack of confidence was never one of them. As he closed the distance between us, I stood as tall and resolute as I could, diligently fighting the urge to look away.

When we were merely inches apart, I replied, “It wouldn’t be very nice of me to refuse my husband.” My cheeks flushed at the sound of my own words. Although I hadn’t meant them the way they sounded, I saw in his micro-expression that he heard the alternative meaning.

“That’s good to know,” he said with a grin.

Damn, maybe I am channeling Chelsea.

I closed my lips to stop the explanation from spilling out while trying to maintain my air of composure. Looking past his handsome face, I nodded toward the ocean, as the sun sunk closer to the horizon.

“This is an absolutely stunning view.”

“Yes, Charli. I couldn’t agree more.”

I turned back to him, but his eyes weren’t on the setting sun. They were on me.

“I wondered if you could be as beautiful as you were this morning, wearing more than you had at the pool.” He cocked his head to the side. “I no longer need to wonder.”

Blood filled my cheeks, but before I could respond, the woman who’d met me at the elevator came out onto the patio pushing a cart. When I turned her direction, she was taking the cart toward a small table with two chairs. It was off to the side, in an area with a glass partition that blocked the sea’s breeze. The small table was covered in white linen and in the center was a flickering flame within a glass globe.

“Would you like to have a seat?” he asked, reaching for my elbow and leading me toward the table.

I almost jumped at the touch of his warm skin against mine. Electricity like I’d never felt surged through my veins, setting off detonations at each synapse. My eyes snapped to his, and for just a moment, I believed he felt the same thing, but just as quickly, his expression returned to its casual, confident demeanor.

“Yes,” I said, trying also to ignore the chemistry that threatened to knock me off my feet. “Thank you. You didn’t need to go to all this trouble.”

He laughed. “It wasn’t me. It was all Mrs. Witt. She was happy when she learned that I wasn’t dining alone.”

My knees bent as he helped me with my chair. I turned toward Mrs. Witt. “Thank you. It’s lovely.”