it say?”
Her annoyance was apparent when she picked up her phone and read aloud what it said. “To lionize is to treat someone as a celebrity.” She looked back over at him. “Happy now?”
He leaned back in his chair and smiled over at her. Yes, he was happy. He had spent all day with her and tomorrow he would be doing the same—as well as the day after, and the day after that. He had twelve more days to be with her and he was looking forward to each of them. Around her, he felt relaxed. At least he did whenever he wasn’t lusting after her.
“Yes, I’m happy, but I want you to be happy, too, Regan. So, I guess that means I’m going to have to start lionizing you.”
A smile broke out on her pouty lips. Shaking her head, she said, “You just couldn’t resist, could you?”
He chuckled, moving the board game aside to put it away. “Enough of Scrabble. The last thing I want is for you to walk around mad with me for the next two weeks.”
“I couldn’t ever get mad at you, Garth.”
He glanced over at her. Instead of meeting his gaze, she was taking a sip of her wine while looking at the fireplace he’d lit earlier. Paulo had warned him that this time of year, Santa Cruz had warm days and cool nights. Since the château was right off the ocean, the evening temperature would drop rather quickly. They found his warning to be true. No sooner had they gotten out of the pool and eaten than the temperature fell. They were surprised, since it hadn’t done so last night when they’d taken a walk.
“Besides,” she said, finally looking at him. “I can’t get mad at you since you’re my boss and I need my job.”
He took another sip of his wine. For some reason, it was important that while they were there together, their employer-employee relationship didn’t exist. He wanted her to feel comfortable with him.
“That might be true, but while we’re here together, we don’t have a professional relationship. I invited you to stay here and to share my space not as my pilot, but as a friend. The person I cooked breakfast for this morning, went on a tour with today, went swimming with and beat at Scrabble, is someone I consider a friend.”
A huge smile touched her lips. “There you go, rubbing salt into the wound again.”
He laughed. “It’s not intentional.” He became silent for a moment and then said in a more somber tone, “But seriously, you understand what I’m saying, right? I don’t want you to think I would invite other female employees to spend time with me this way. I feel comfortable with you and with being alone here with you. And I hope the same holds true for you.”
She nodded, a serious expression appearing on her face, as well. “Yes, of course.
“Good. Do you have any questions or concerns you think we should address?”
She hesitated but then said, “Yes, there is one thing that’s concerning for me.”
“And what is it?”
Garth watched Regan nibble on her bottom lip. He’d known her long enough to know that whatever this concern was, she was nervous about bringing it up.
“You can talk to me about anything, Regan. That hasn’t changed.”
She met his gaze. “What about her? The woman you were supposed to spend time with here, who didn’t come? There are some women who wouldn’t appreciate their man spending two weeks with another woman, no matter how innocent the relationship. What if she doesn’t understand the kind of friendship we share and thinks us being here means more than it does? Will she understand our unique relationship?”
Their unique relationship...
He’d never thought of their relationship as such, but that was definitely one way to define it. For her to ask such a question showed the depth of her concern. And from her standpoint he understood why she would be concerned. But that was only because she didn’t know the truth.
Although he wouldn’t share any details about the dating service or his plans to settle down, he could certainly address her concerns. “Don’t worry about her, Regan.”
He could tell from the look on her face that those words hadn’t waylaid her concerns. “Why not?”
He met her gaze and held it. “Because you don’t have to. You’re going to have to trust me on this.”
Regan looked into his eyes, considering his words. Maybe the relationship with the woman who hadn’t arrived wasn’t as