Private 02 - Private Paradise

hand to Kayla, hoping her smile didn't look as much like a snarl as it felt like.
    The girl made a miffed huffing sound and slapped the handset into Carla's waiting hand.
    “ Funsucker,” she heard one of them mutter as she pulled Sam away.
    “ I hope he still comes over,” the other one tittered excitedly.
    Carla released Sam's arm and marched back to her office. “Bryce, would you excuse us?” she said to her assistant as he started to follow them in. “Sam and I have some things we need to discuss. It should only take a few minutes.”
    She slammed the door shut behind her and whirled on Sam. “I don't know what Chris told you about what it was like here before he got together with Julie, but don't you even think about taking those girls up on their offer.”
    “ Are you kidding me?” Sam said, the insulted look on his face quite convincing, she had to admit. “Thank God you showed up when you did. They called me over to ask me a question and the next think I know it was a like a double-headed octopus had a hold of me.”
    “ Right, you really looked like you were trying to escape.”
    Sam threw his hands up in the air. “You spent two hours yesterday drilling into my head that a large part of my job is about kissing ass and making sure no one feels insulted. I was trying to be nice.”
    Carla let out a mirthless laugh. “Yeah, I know how 'nice' you can be. And I don't care how much they invite your attention―this time it's two single girls, but how long before you do someone who's married. I can't risk you pissing off guests with your indiscriminate sleeping around.”
    ###
    Sam's anger boiled so hot he was pretty sure steam was coming out of his ears. “I would never risk my job or yours because I can't control my dick.”
    Carla's eyes narrowed. “You forget how well I know you, Sam.”
    He took a step closer, his fists clenched at his sides. “You haven't known me for a long time, Carla.”
    “ I know you well enough to know you don't care about who you hurt, as long as you get what you want.”
    Her words hit him like a knife in the chest, the knowledge that no matter how hard he'd worked to pull himself out of the pit, to make something of himself, to pull his shit together and act like a man, she would always see him as a selfish, irresponsible boy. One who had ripped her heart out and ground it into dust rather than face down his own demons.
    For a split second, he saw the pain reflected in her eyes before she shuttered it. But it was enough to trigger an apology more than ten years in the making.
    “ There isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret the way I ended it with you.”
    “ I don't want to talk about this,” Carla said, heading for the door.
    Sam grabbed her and pushed her back into her chair, standing over her so she couldn't escape. “No. You cut me off before, but I need to say this.”
    She sat, stiffly, as Sam knelt in front of her, his hands on the arms of her chair effectively blocking her in. Her face was as pale and stiff as marble, her gaze locked on a point past his shoulder as she refused to meet his gaze.
    Sam powered through, unable to stop the words from bursting to the surface. “Even thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach. But you have to know, I did it because I didn't want you to throw your life away over a loser like me. I didn't want to see your disappointment when you realized what a massive mistake you'd made.”
    He paused, waiting for her response.
    “ Are you finished?” she asked in a voice chilly enough to form ice crystals on her lips.
    Sam pushed to his feet, a lead weight forming in his stomach as he realized how completely she had closed him out. “I just need you to know the truth. I really cared for you, Carla. You were and are beautiful, kind, and smart, and way better than I deserved.”
    She straightened in her chair, shifting in her seat as though shaking off a layer of dust. “Well, there's something we can agree on at least,” she said in a falsely bright tone. “And while I'm happy you got that off your chest, an apology really wasn't necessary. Like I said before, I'd all but forgotten about what happened between us.”
    It was on the tip of his tongue to argue that she wouldn't have accused him of scheming to bang every guest in sight if it was so far back in her memory banks. but before he could say a word, she was up out of her chair and calling Bryce back into the office to start their meeting as though Sam