From Ex to Eternity

* * *

Keith waited for Cara at the front desk and shot off some emails so he didn’t look like a lovesick teenager hanging out in hopes of accidentally running into the object of his affection. Of course, the things he wanted to do to Cara had a decidedly adult theme. All that heat on the beach had definitely not been one-sided, but she apparently planned to pretend otherwise.

He didn’t. This expo would get 100 percent of his attention during working hours, but there was nothing wrong with some after-hours relaxation with an old flame, was there?

Clacking heels announced Cara’s arrival, but his Y chromosome had scented her the moment she stepped through the lobby doors. That peach outfit hadn’t grown any less mouthwatering as the day wore on, and the sea breeze had teased her hair into a tumbled mess his fingers strained to dive into.

The rest of the lobby vanished. All he could see was Cara.

“I’m here,” she said.

Yes, she was. There must be something in the salt air because the first time they’d been together, being in her presence did not drive him batty. Chemistry, they had, but he’d always been able to focus when she wasn’t around. Now? Not so much.

And when she was around...well, he was allowing her to be so much of a distraction, he should hand in his resignation to Regent before the sun set.

Or he could get his mind out of Cara’s cleavage and act like the professional he’d insisted she be. Thus far, he’d been the one who’d devolved.

The resort’s assistant manager, a native islander who’d been working in local resorts for fifteen years, came around from behind the front desk for an introduction. “Mary Kwane, this is Cara,” Keith said. “Mary is filling in until we can hire another wedding coordinator.”

Mary sized up Cara and offered her hand. “What are your qualifications?”

Cara shook the other woman’s hand and smiled. “I planned a wedding in two months.”

“How many guests?” Mary didn’t mince words but her work ethic was unparalleled. He hired only the best.

“Five hundred, with two venues and two different themes.”

Keith did a double take. Really? Conceptualizing two separate themes was ridiculous, but he eyed Cara with new respect, nonetheless, because she’d also done it while pregnant. Without his help.

Then, because of him, she hadn’t gotten to enjoy any of it. His stomach rolled. He’d given lip service to making it up to her, but that wasn’t actually possible. Yet she’d let it go, as if he’d done nothing more serious than misplace her favorite earrings.

“I’ll leave the two of you to it,” he said and escaped.

Keith met with Elena so he and the resort manager could formulate a plan to fill the vacant wedding coordinator position and then he spent an hour alone in his office buried in procurement paperwork. In the next room, Alice and a couple of additional team members slashed through the pages-long to-do list, communicating their progress via chat windows. Keith glanced through the updates periodically while he pretended not to be dwelling on Cara.

Probably he should forget about how gorgeous and tantalizing and challenging she was. He’d done nothing to reconcile his screwup, and her back-off sign couldn’t be any larger.

A reminder beeped on his phone but he didn’t need it. Today was his mom’s birthday and with the time difference between here and Miami, he should catch her before she started preparing for an evening on the town. His father escorted her to the opera and dinner every year like clockwork.

She picked up on the forth ring.

“Hi, Mom. Happy birthday.”

“Keith. How nice of you to call,” she said coolly as if he never called, which was patently false. “Are you enjoying Turks and Caicos? I prefer Bali this time of year but Grace Bay is satisfactory for a weekend getaway, I suppose.”

Cara is here, Mom. At the resort. Yes, she’s still a knockout but different, too. Unexpectedly so. I have no idea what to do about her.

“I’m working,” Keith said. “I’m not on vacation.”

Mitchells didn’t work; they made money as passively as possible. Neither of his parents understood his drive to break family tradition and actually get his hands dirty. The most immersing activity his dad had done in the past twenty years was browse through the prospectus of the multibillion-dollar portfolio he’d amassed as a hedge fund manager. Following in his father’s footsteps was about as attractive to Keith as sucking up Florida swamp water with a straw.