Private 02 - Private Paradise

led to a large windowed office. “This is my office,” she said, indicating a room with picture windows that offered views of turquoise blue water and white sand beach. Off in the distance Sam saw a two-mast sailboat making its lazy way across the horizon. “Bryce, our sales and events director, sits in here with me. You'll meet him later.”
    She continued further down the hall and opened a door on the left. “And this is where you'll be.” It was smaller than hers, no more than fifteen by fifteen or so, but like hers it offered a view of the sea that Sam could happily stare at for hours. “You didn't answer my question. Why?”
    “ Like Chris said, I needed a change of pace. I've been to some nasty places over the years.” That was putting it lightly. His stint in the Rangers had sent him to Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the five years he'd worked for Argus he'd seen more suffering and death than he ever had in the military. “I got tired of getting paid to help multi-billion dollar corporations screw the locals in the most fucked up places on the planet, so when Chris offered up a job in paradise, how could I not jump at it?”
    And when Chris had said Holley Cay was paradise, he hadn't been exaggerating. When he was a kid he'd looked at pictures in magazines, watched commercials for places like Club Med and wondered what it would be like to be able to go to a place like that. Holley Cay was about a hundred notches above Club Med in luxury, but it wasn't just the five star quality of the place that caught Sam's attention.
    From the second Sam had stepped off the water taxi that had transferred from nearby St. Thomas, he'd felt a sort of calm seep into his bones. It was like nothing he'd ever experienced. He'd grown up on the outskirts of Vegas, away from the glamour of the strip where the neon lights and wads of cash gave way to desperation. He'd never seen a place so beautiful and pristine.
    The sheer beauty, combined with the warm, salt-scented breeze, the lazy slap of waves lapping up onto the beach, gave Holley Cay a calming vibe that made a person feel like nothing could ever go wrong.
    “ I'd think working for me would be a pretty damn big deterrent,” Carla snapped, distracting him from the view out the window. Contrary to his thoughts, the look on her face proved that some days things went very wrong for some people.
    He couldn't stop his lips from curving into a smile. “Actually, it was kind of a selling point.”
    Her face went pale underneath the tan.
    “ What, you didn't have enough fun ripping me apart and humiliating me the first time? You thought you'd take Chris up on his offer and come back for another round?”
    There was no mistaking the pain in her eyes and her voice, and again the guilt clawed at him. Though he knew he'd treated her horribly, he'd justified it over the years with the knowledge that she'd gone on to become incredibly successful. If she'd stayed with him, who knew where she would have ended up. All he knew was that it wouldn't be here in paradise running one of the most exclusive resorts in the world.
    He'd hoped, stupidly, selfishly, that her hurt would have faded over the years, but it was all still there on her face, raw and undeniable. When Chris had told him he'd be working with Carla, part of his excitement and urgency to see her again was that he'd have the opportunity to give her a much-deserved apology. But now, seeing the pain on her face, he realized what a selfish asshole he was, dredging all of this up for her just so he could make amends.
    He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Chris told me about some of the problems you've been having, and when I heard about your situation, I wanted to help. I figured it was the least I could do.”
    Her arms were folded tight across her chest, her face a stony mask.
    “ But you're right,” he said at her continued silence and dug his cell phone out of his pocket, “this was a bad idea. Let me call Chris, I'll tell him I changed my mind, I can recommend a couple other guys―”
    “ It would have been nice if you could have done that about a week ago, before our investors got all hot and bothered by you. Unfortunately for me, I actually need you to keep your job so I can keep my job. According to Chris, they practically wet their pants when he showed them your resume.”
    Sam couldn't stifle a chuckle. Carla always did have a way with words. “I can make some calls―there are a lot of guys more qualified