Page 5 of Sweet Escape at Bayside
“She could still know him,” Chloe pointed out.
“Well, yeah,” Serena said, “but it’s not likely since she’s always traveling.”
“They probably forgot you’re standing here,” Gavin said to him. “You might want to make that run for it now.”
“Oh no.” Chloe touched Andre’s arm. “Don’t leave. The party is about to start. So, you’re a doctor, and you know Lizza through your company, which is…?”
“Operation SHINE—”
“You’re the guy behind Op SHINE?” Chloe exclaimed.
“What’s Op SHINE?” Serena asked.
Before he could get a word out, Chloe said, “It’s like Physicians Around the World, but SHINE allows doctors to sign on for shorter periods of time than PAW, right?”
“Something like that,” he said absently, watching as Violet headed his way with a serious look in her eyes. His heart rate kicked up with her every step. Even barefoot she gave off a tough, seductress vibe. It was Violet who had set him on a different path than the one he’d always known. Both of his parents were physicians, though his mother had only worked part time while Andre was young. He’d followed in their professional footsteps, and his life had always included charitable work, like the assignment with PAW he’d been on when he’d met Violet. Had he not been only six months into the nine-month assignment when she’d taken off, he would have gone after her. But even then he wouldn’t have known where to look. She’d told him she’d spent little time in the States, so she could have beenanywhere.
“I work in the medical field, and I keep up with the industry,” Chloe explained.
“You work inadministration,” Serena said just above a whisper.
Chloe elbowed her, whispering something back.
As Violet neared, Andre’s jaw clenched as he drank in her sexy curves, her long black hair lifting in the breeze with each determined step. He didn’t trust himself not to give her a hard time for the way she’d left him without a trace. He had to get out of there before he said something he’d regret, but her green catlike eyes pierced his barriers, pinning him in place.Oh man, you still hold all the strings.
Violet stopped beside Chloe, her jaw tight, her eyes a mix of determination and vulnerability.
“Vi, have you met—”
Violet put her hand up. “Stop talking.” Her eyes narrowed, still locked on Andre as she said, “Tell me you’re not sleeping with my mother.”
“Whoa,” Gavin said. “Okay, ladies, that’s our cue to get out of here.”
“Are you kidding?” Emery complained.
“No.” Gavin mumbled, “Good luck, dude.” Then he dragged the girls away.
Andre wasn’t about to satisfy the plea in Violet’s eyes. He glanced at Gavin and the girls, who had joined the rest of their friends but still had their eyes on him and Violet.
“Are you sleeping with Lizza?” Violet demanded.
He slid his hands into the pockets of his slacks as if his heart weren’t hammering against his ribs and said, “Patience was never your strong suit.”
She huffed out a breath and crossed her arms. “Are you?”
He stepped closer, catching a whiff of jasmine. How many times had he smelled that scent in the last two years and caught himself looking around for her?
Too darn many.
“Maybe you’d like to start over with something like, ‘Hello, Andre. I’m sorry I disappeared in the middle of the night and never thought to let you know I was still alive, much less why I left.’”
She pressed her lips together, sadness washing over her face for the briefest of seconds, softening his resolve a little. She lifted her chin as she said, “I asked you a question.Are youbanging my mother?”
He lifted one shoulder. “What if I am? You washed your hands of me years ago.”
She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the dunes. “What is going on? How long have you been with Lizza?”
“If either of us has a right to demand answers, it’s me.”
