Who Wants to Marry A Billionaire?(39)
Nina couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but Daniel jumped in, “That’s kind of why we met, the managing director of the foundation and my mother couldn’t stop singing her praises. So I had to go find out about her for myself.”
Nina blushed, and said, “Stop, I do my job like a lot of other hardworking people at the Foundation.”
Arturo finally smiled. He liked her modesty. “Have you had time to enjoy the rainforest since you arrived?”
Nodding enthusiastically Nina told him about the zip line tour through the canopy, going to the coffee plantation, their day at the waterfalls, and dancing at the festival. She left out the part about the drunken sex.
“Bue?o. I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. Daniel seems pretty relaxed too.” He looked at Daniel pointedly.
Daniel smiled, “You’ll be happy to know that Nina is a very good influence. She’s fun…and charming…and stable. She’s making an honest man out of me.” And he truly meant it when he said it.
“That’s good news.” Arturo looked at his watch, “I have some things I have to catch up on today, but will the two of you be my guests for dinner this evening?”
Nina was delighted—so far so good. “That would be lovely Se?or Calderon.”
He nodded his head graciously, “Please Nina, call me Arturo. Se?or Calderon was my father. Eight o’clock then?”
Daniel stood back up and shook his hand again, “Looking forward to it.” Sitting back down, Daniel turned to Nina, “Do you want to go horseback riding or river rafting today?”
Nina rubbed her head, “I was thinking maybe we could just hang out here, sit on the veranda, and read a book or something.”
It was an idea that had not occurred to Daniel. “Okay, sure, if that’s what you’d like to do.” He reached across the table and squeezed her hand, “You’re right, that’s a good idea. I should probably do a little work and review my proposal for Arturo.”
Chapter Twenty Seven
The day passed quietly. Nina lounged about and read a mystery, and Daniel went through his proposal. Suddenly in the middle of the afternoon it occurred to Daniel that he had never told Nina about meeting Elsa the next day.
“Nina,” he was not hopeful that spending a day with Elsa was going to go over well, “I forgot to mention something to you this morning.”
Looking up from her book, Nina said, “Yeah, what’s that?” She’d been doing her best all day to not think about the morning, or what had happened the night before.
“Tomorrow morning, Elsa wants you to go to one of the project sites with her to start training you on being a field coordinator.”
Nina wasn’t sure whether she should be excited or dismayed. “I’m guessing that is not optional for me.”
Daniel waffled, “Well, she said the sooner you start learning your new job, the better.”
“Yeah, okay. I don’t suppose everyday can be paradise.”
The E-mail chime pinged on Daniel’s iPad. Without thinking, or really looking at the originating address, he clicked on the new E-mail. A giant, high-resolution photograph started loading, and it looked straight from the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. It was hard not to appreciate the fact that whoever she was, she looked like a Panamanian Kate Upton. He sucked in his breath…loudly.
“Are you okay?”
“Oh yeah, one of the stocks in my portfolio just kind of tanked, but it’s not that bad.”
There was a note attached to the picture. “Hi, my name is Ariadne. This isn’t spam —we have a mutual friend who gave me your e-mail address. I’m going to be at Eco-resort Calderon tomorrow, and I’d love to meet you.”
Daniel hurriedly closed the e-mail. This Ariadne girl reminded him a little too much of the First Lady he’d been frolicking with in Cannes. Compulsively, he clicked the e-mail back open again. Ariadne was drop dead sexy, in that classic swimsuit model kind of way—long straight hair, pouty lips, amazingly big boobs, a tiny waist, and a backside that would make any guy salivate. And she was wearing a three-Dorito and shoestring bikini. He clicked it shut again, sweating, and then it hit Daniel: he was an addict.
Not a sex addict, he mused, but a man addicted to gorgeous, empty-headed women, who didn’t challenge him to be better than he was—women who made it easy for him to act like a spoiled playboy. Women who were, he realized, the opposite of Nina when it came to substance and maturity. He hit the delete button and emptied the trash. He was done with all the Ariadne's that had passed through his life.
“Hey, put your book down. Let’s have a little stroll and go get a smoothie.” Daniel stood up and stretched.
Nina looked up at Daniel. They were acting like a completely normal couple she reminded herself. She needed to trust him, and she needed to not punish him for the fact that they’d gotten the cart a little before the horse. “Great idea,” she forced a smile. “Some fruity vitamin goodness is an excellent idea for two hung over people.”
“Speak for yourself, Missy, I’m fine.” He picked up Nina and playfully tossed her over his shoulder. “See? Fit as a fiddle.”
A genuine giggle escaped from Nina. “Mango?”
“Is that your safe word again…” he set her down and gave her a little kiss, “Or the flavor smoothie you want?”