Who Wants to Marry A Billionaire?(41)
“I thought you were getting coffee,” Elsa said irritably.
“I decided I didn’t need any more caffeine. Who was that woman getting out of your car?”
Elsa looked caught out. Nina could hear the cogs turning in Elsa’s brain. “Just a guest who got stranded in town with a flat tire, she overheard that we were coming up here, and asked if we could give her a lift.”
Nina didn’t believe that story in a million years, but what Elsa was up to, she couldn’t say.
Snapping into her professional mode, Elsa gestured toward the car. “We should get going, they’ll be waiting for us at the health center.” They got into the car, and Elsa started going over the program with Nina in a completely normal and respectful way. The complete personality shift made Nina worry that the woman was suffering from some kind of mental illness, but she was just glad to be out of the bull’s-eye.
When they got to the rural clinic, the staff was incredibly welcoming, and Nina was shocked to see the way in which Elsa related to them. She asked thoughtful questions, gave encouragement, and together with Nina they all brainstormed some issues. It was a side of Elsa that Nina had never seen, and she understood better how Elsa had become the managing director of the Foundation. Her background was in finance, and she was smart about money, but it seemed to Nina that she really cared about the programs truly helping people. Nina started to get a glimpse into the Elsa that Daniel saw—which made it all the more puzzling, why she had to be so mean, sometimes. Maybe, Nina wondered, Elsa didn’t know why she was so mean, either.
Chapter Thirty
The smile on Daniel’s face was so big that he thought his cheeks might split. He pumped Arturo’s hand telling him, “This deal is going to be great for everyone. You stay on as a part-time consultant to help us as we expand the concept—and you get to have more time with your family. Eco-Resort Calderon stays intact, but now a lot of other people are going to benefit from the principles you’ve developed.”
Arturo smiled too as he put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “I never doubted that you were smart Daniel, I just wanted to see that you could make a long-term commitment and not get distracted. It seems you’ve really learned from your experiences, and you’ve found a wonderful woman with which to share your life. I’m happy for you. I think Eco-Resort Calderon will be in good hands.”
“You won’t regret this, I promise.”
“I need to go meet with the lawyers to draw up the contracts this afternoon. Why don’t you go relax at the pool until Nina gets back? Then tonight, we’ll have a wonderful, celebratory, dinner. My wife will be back from our son’s some time this afternoon, and I’m looking forward to introducing her to you and Nina. We can sign all the paperwork tomorrow or the next day, whenever the lawyers get it ready.”
“A swim sounds like a great idea…maybe even a nap!” Daniel laughed.
“Go enjoy, see you later.”
Daniel went and changed into his swimsuit, grabbed a towel and headed over to the resort’s very nice, saltwater pool. Many of the resort’s guests were out for the day and the pool was quiet and empty. Normally, Daniel thought, he would have been bored being by himself, but he found that he was actually looking forward to savoring the completion of the deal all on his own—but he was also looking forward to telling Nina.
He slid into the pool and swam some vigorous laps; making perfect race turns at the end of each one. It felt good to use his body and he realized that what his life had been missing was discipline. When he was racing, he never had time to get in trouble. Maybe, he thought, he should participate in some kind of adult swim league when he got back to Boston. It sounded like the kind of thing of which Nina would approve. After a while, he just floated in the pool, and some parrots flew by and he thought of how Nina’s face had looked the first time she saw them. Making experiences available to Nina was something that he truly enjoyed. Her openness and wonder made it like the first time for him again—even when they were drunkenly making love. He didn’t regret one minute.
A small splash roused Daniel from his reverie, and he treaded water to see who had entered the pool. There was a woman in the shallow end of the pool, and with a sickening lurch to his stomach, Daniel realized it was the woman who had sent him the e-mail.
“Hello!” She gave him a seductive look, “You’re Daniel, right? I’m Ariadne. You got my e-mail?”
Daniel didn’t want to be rude, but neither did he really want to get into it with this strange woman. “Uh, yeah, I got it. I don’t know if you know this, but I’m engaged.”
She laughed, “Yeah I heard, but the word is, it’s—how do you say—a marriage of convenience?”
That alarmed Daniel, he swam toward her, “Where did you hear that from?”
“Oh, you know, people.” Ariadne was coy.
“And how’d you get my personal e-mail address anyway?”
“Oh, you know, I have my ways.”
Daniel was starting to get upset. “Look I don’t know what kind of game you’re trying to play, but I’m not interested.”
“But I think you are,” she rolled her shoulders back so that Daniel could get the full show: elegant neck, enormous boobs, flat tummy, and luscious tush. She was wearing the teeny tiny bikini from the photo she’d sent him, and when she turned, it was perfectly clear a shred of a thong was all that held the bottom on. “Like what you see, Mr. DeVere?”