Recipe for Temptation - Gina Gordon Page 0,56

here for her. As if he really loved her.

But that was impossible. Cole Murphy wasn’t the falling-in-love type. And tomorrow, when they packed up and left Hawaii, she would have to face reality and fall back into their familiar rhythm of friends and coworkers. She didn’t have the luxury of screwing up her job. If she’d learned anything on this trip, it was that she needed to keep the people and spaces that allowed her to be herself close. She never thought she’d find a job where she’d have a hand in helping hundreds of people every year and be appreciated for her candor, enthusiasm, and occasional lack of propriety. But her job with the Madewood family was just that—a space where she could be herself.

But she wouldn’t worry about that now. They still had one more night in paradise.

An hour before the award dinner, they showered and dressed in casual clothes. They planned to go to the beach after dinner to find a secluded spot and… Well, they’d just continue what they had been doing in their room.

Cole left ahead of her for dinner. He was too nervous, wearing a path in the floor from his pacing. So, she asked him to save them seats.

Just as she walked out of her hotel room, her phone buzzed in her purse. When she glanced at the screen, Sterling’s face smiled back at her.

She swiped the screen and answered her call, but didn’t even get in a greeting.

“I’ve been texting you all day!” Sterling’s voice was a few octaves higher than usual.

“Sorry.” She really wasn’t. Ignoring Sterling’s texts meant she was preoccupied with Cole. “I’ve been…busy.”

Sterling made a playfully disgusted noise. “I don’t want to know.”

“How do you even know what I’m referring to?” Penn switched the phone to her opposite hand, then pressed the button to call the elevator.

“I know you.” Sterling had a weird tone to her voice, and it was way too serious for her liking. “Which is why you need to hear what I have to say before it’s too late.”

“Too late for what?” The elevator dinged. “You’re being really cryptic.”

“I overheard a conversation between Jack and Neil. They were discussing the vacant spot on the board.”

With one foot inside the elevator, Penn froze. And waited.

Why had her best friend decided this was the best moment to go mute?

“And…?” she squealed into the phone, stepping back, narrowly missing the elevator doors crushing her.

“I might have heard your name come up as a replacement.”

Her stomach flipped. “Get out!” she yelled. Leaning against the wall, she rested her head against it. “Are you sure? Me? Were there other names?” So many questions ran through her brain.

“I didn’t hear them mention anyone else, but I don’t know. They could have had other discussions.”

This was insane. She might actually get what she’d wanted all along. She might finally—

Her chest tightened, and the excited feeling in her stomach churned into something sour. If she was on the board, then what she had with Cole absolutely had to stop. In spite of the tiny hope that fluttered in her chest every time she thought about things working out differently.

Her hesitance could only mean one thing. Maybe getting a spot on the board might not be everything she’d ever wanted.

Penn ended her call with Sterling and made her way to the restaurant. They were still in Hawaii. Still in the little bubble they’d made for themselves, and until they broke through, she wasn’t going to think about the consequences of what a spot on the board might mean.

At the entrance to the dining room, she spotted Cole and her father.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the look on her father’s face and the rigid way he stood in front of Cole—the classic Sergeant Foster stance that had his shoulders pulled back and his hands clasped behind his back.

When she was within earshot, she heard her father say, “I’m just going to come out and say it.” He glared at Cole. “I think you’re a bad influence on my daughter.”

That was preposterous. Penn had veered off the path of so-called appropriate behavior long ago.

She couldn’t see Cole’s expression because his back was to her. But her father’s hadn’t changed. He still looked pissed. And didn’t that just make her retreat into the twelve-year-old girl who wanted nothing more than to please him.

She stalked up to the two men. “What’s going on?” Her voice was meek, wavering.

“You’ve been avoiding the family,” her father said