Page 1 of Accidental Love

Chapter One

Liam

Two Hours Ago…

“Mr. Stanford, all of us here are a little concerned that you are here in your father’s place,” Mr. Danforth, executive manager of the hotel, said. Three other people sat in front of me, other managers from this hotel and another one inland.

“And why is that, Mr. Danforth?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. I watched him squirm in his seat. He gulped, glancing at the other members in the room. I did not want to be here listening to this talk. I wanted to be back downstairs with Jenna, but no, I had to be here in a boring-ass meeting about nothing.

Thinking about Jenna made me smile inwardly. Right now I bet she was getting ready for our date tonight at eight. Yes, a real date with Jenna; I liked the sound of that. The look on her face when I’d told her I had to go to a meeting instantly made me want to take it back and stay with her instead. So before I even really had a chance to think about it, I had asked her to go to dinner with me after this.

A night where it could only be us; no paparazzi waiting for us outside, no mother-like figure spying on us, or friends interrupting. After our kiss on the plane, I knew I had to tell her how I felt. When I saw her leaning against the counter earlier, sending me a smirk, all I had wanted to do was grab her and kiss her. And I’d done exactly that—trapping her against the bar with my arms on both sides, I noticed she wanted me to kiss her just as much as I did. Her green eyes had been focused on my lips, their color a dark shade that lit up her face when she was happy.

That morning, when I got back from the office before leaving, I saw her dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. I fell a little bit more in love with her. She didn’t care what she looked like. Her blonde hair was up in a messy bun and she didn’t have any makeup on, making her look even more beautiful. Everything about her was beautiful, honestly—from the way she dressed to how she looked. Her green eyes always seemed to be expressing some kind of emotion. Most of the time I couldn’t even figure out what she was thinking. Jenna just fit in perfectly with my life, something I hadn’t accounted for when I found her. My parents loved her and my sister adored her, as did Lennon. Even Blake liked her. Well, he was a given since Jenna helped him get together with Lennon. Even though I knew Jenna had something planned for Blake and Lennon, I had no idea what she was up to until Blake called me afterwards, telling me to thank Jenna.

Instead of being back in our room watching Jenna get ready, I was here. I hadn’t even thought about taking Jenna along with me this weekend until Lennon reminded me it was her birthday tomorrow, the 26th of September. I had remembered Barbados was a place Jenna had always wanted to visit, so two days before I was set to go, I decided to bring her with me. Instead of staying in my usual room, I made sure I was put in a bungalow right beside the water. I knew she would love it, and I was glad I had booked that room, because her face lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw it. I was just hoping this meeting would end soon so I could go and be with her.

“Well, he is more familiar with this kind of meeting and has more experience. I have personally worked with your father for many years—” Mr. Danforth started saying.

“If I am not mistaken, I am the one who told my father this place would be a good spot to put a hotel. I am the one who has been dealing with the funding of this place and making sure you have enough money to keep it going. I am the CEO of the company and I can fire you, if you would like,” I said, glaring at the man across from me. His hair was all white and he had an obvious beer gut.

“N-no, sir, I—”

“Good, then you have no problem dealing with me.” I turned to stare at the other three men. Under my gaze, they shrunk and nodded silently. I took pride in how scared they all looked. I knew I was intimidating, and I did not care if I had to fire these people to show others that they should not cross me. These people could easily be replaced. “Let’s get started. I want this over by eight,” I said, grabbing the file that was placed in front of me.

“Yes, sir.” With that, Mr. Danforth talked about how more and more people had started to stay here at the Stanford Hotel, and how the rates had gone up. I half listened, staring down at the chart on the paper.

Seeing that everything was going smoothly and that earnings had gone up, I was pleased. I was the one to tell my father we needed to build a hotel here when I first started at the company, fresh out of college. I had seen the land, and with the beach being not that far away with the little town nearby, I knew it was perfect. After showing my father my findings and ideas, he agreed to build the hotel there. This was my first ever hotel idea, and seeing that it was doing well was good. This was also the start of my father realizing I was serious about our company.

“But, Mr. Stanford, a few of the bungalows by the beach were ruined by the storm a few months ago. We have tried to restore and clean them, but the damage is severe. We may have to tear them down and rebuild,” Mr. Danforth said.

“That is fine. They were a little worn out anyways. I will make sure you have money to tear them down and rebuild. While you are at it, add a few more. It will build profit,” I said, folding my hands on the table. “I will admit you have been doing well managing this place, but your tone could use some work. Remember who you are talking to.” Glancing at my watch, I saw it was fifteen minutes past nine o’clock. Shit.

“Well if there is nothing else to discuss, I have to be going.” I stood, buttoning up my suit jacket. “I will be calling you, Mr. Danforth, next week with the numbers so you can get started on the rebuilding. Keep up the good work.” With a nod at all of them, I turned and left the conference room.

As soon as the door shut behind me, I sighed, happy to be done. Now I could enjoy the rest of the weekend with my Jenna. Heading to the elevator, I cursed. I was late. Jenna was probably down at the restaurant waiting for me. The elevator opened quickly, so I got in and pressed the button for the first floor. Just as the doors were shutting, a hand snuck in at the last moment. Clenching my jaw, I turned to glare at the intruder but froze. Standing in front of me was none other than Carmen Samson, otherwise known as my ex. A grin spread across her face as she came into the elevator. She looked almost the same as when I’d last seen her, a year ago. Her deep brown hair was now cut short into a bob style, instead of the length it used to be. She was wearing the kind of tight dress that was her usual; a number that showed off her curves. She matched it along with a pair of tall high heels, making her my height. Staring back at me were bright green eyes, but they were nothing like Jenna’s. Where Jenna’s were innocent and kind, Carmen’s were bright with mischief and conniving thoughts.

Carmen turned her body toward me, a smirk on her face as she suddenly pressed a button to make the elevator stop completely.

“Carmen, what the hell?” I said as the elevator jerked to a stop. “What are you doing here?” I bit out at her.

“You aren’t happy to see me?” she asked. The last time I’d seen her I told her I never wanted to see her again, and yet, here she was.

“No, I am not. I told you that I did not want to see you again.” I glared at her. I would never know what I’d seen in her. She was nothing but trouble and did things only for herself.

“But, baby,” she said, coming closer and pressing against my side. I had actually thought she was the one, ironically. We had been together for almost a full year, and in that time I had fallen for her. I had fallen for her good looks and her personality, which was completely fake. I even thought she loved me back, but when I found out she was cheating on me with three other guys and had tried to get with Blake, I dumped her. Actually, “dumped” was a nice way to put it. I made sure to humiliate her in front of everyone I knew, and I’d never felt better.

She had led me on, making me fall in love with her enough to consider proposing to her. Now that the fog had cleared, I wanted to yell at myself for even considering that. She only cared about herself and using people. Now here she was in an elevator with me, making me even later to my dinner date with Jenna.

“Don’t ‘baby’ me, Carmen. What the hell are you doing here?”

“I am here to take you back, isn’t that obvious?”

“I am engaged.”

“I know. I’ve seen the pictures. How can you be engaged to something like that? Liam, she isn’t even close to your league. You deserve someone higher class than that slut,” Carmen said, standing in front of me.

“Don’t you ever say anything like that about my fiancé again,” I growled, taking a step toward her. “You know nothing, Carmen. You are delusional to even think you are in the same league as Jenna.” I watched as her eyes widened and she took a few steps back.

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