No Strings__ - By Janelle Denison Page 0,53
after everything they’d shared, she trusted Aiden, and that’s what ultimately mattered.
Unfortunately, those feelings weren’t reciprocated.
The thought made her chest hurt. “I am open to love again, but that doesn’t do me much good when the man I want isn’t.”
Hattie gave the back of her hand a consoling pat. “You need to give him a little push, I think,” she said thoughtfully. “If you haven’t told him how you feel, then you need to. Men can be very obtuse that way.”
The other woman managed to make Chloe laugh, but her biggest fear was that she’d put her feelings for Aiden out in the open, and he’d reject them. But then again, when had she ever backed down from something she believed in? “No guts, no glory, huh?”
“Yes, you strike me as a woman with a lot of guts,” Hattie said, her tone amused. “The worst thing in life is living with regrets. Don’t let your man be one of them.”
“Thank you,” Chloe said, and gave Hattie a hug, because this woman had given her more useful advice in the span of fifteen minutes than her own mother ever had.
Filled with a renewed purpose, she headed back to the resort, wanting to believe that Aiden’s reasons for bolting on her were because of the emotional impact of what had happened between them. But she wouldn’t know for sure, not until she had the chance to ask him herself. Because unlike him, she needed closure to this affair, one way or another. She wanted to look into his eyes, tell him what was in her heart, and know that she’d laid herself bare, with no regrets.
As she made her way into the hotel lobby, she caught sight of Darryl and Ken, the Metro Ad Agency boys, who were talking with Edward Luca, the vice president of St. Raphael Resort. She could tell by their expressions that it wasn’t a casual conversation, but rather a more intense discussion that raised her awareness and business instincts. They’d all had their time with Luca during the week to discuss the resort and potential ideas. They weren’t supposed to pitch their presentations until next week, after they’d returned to their respective ad agencies to refine their campaigns.
There was just something about how insistent Ken was being with Luca that didn’t sit right with Chloe. Curious to know what they were discussing, she stopped at a nearby rack of brochures about the island, and with her back to the trio she perused the selection while blatantly eavesdropping.
“We really feel we have the winning campaign for the St. Raphael Resort, and we’re ready to pitch our presentation today, before we leave the island,” Ken said, doing his best to convince the VP to give them an edge over the competition, without outright saying so.
It was all Chloe could do to keep her mouth shut, when she wanted to step in and argue just whose campaign was superior. She’d never be so crass in front of the vice president of the resort, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to make damn sure that she and Aiden had their shot, too.
“I have meetings with your agency, as well as Perry & Associates next week,” Edward said hesitantly. “I wasn’t planning on viewing anyone’s campaign here on the island.”
“We understand,” Darryl chimed in, his tone a bit more assertive. “But we feel that our presentation is all you need to see to make a final decision.”
The man’s gall and arrogance made Chloe’s blood boil in her veins, and she nearly tore the brochure she held in her hands in half. Maintaining her composure took extreme effort.
“That’s very presumptuous of you both,” Luca said, his tone frank.
“We’re just confident.”
There was a distinct pause, then Edward spoke again. “All right,” he said, a twinge of reluctance in his voice. “Let’s set up a meeting in conference room C in half an hour, and I’ll see what you’ve come up with.”
“Excellent,” Ken said in a too cocky tone. “We’ll be there.”
As the three of them went their separate ways, Chloe swallowed back her anger and knew she had no choice but to be present at that meeting, too. Because there was no way she was going to let those boys steal something that rightfully belonged to her or Aiden.
* * *
AFTER BOARDING A small puddle jumper plane from the island early that morning, Aiden sat in the Nassau, Bahamas, airport, waiting to catch his connecting flight to Boston. He had a little less