Page 59 of One Night in Hawaii

“Understood. Anything else?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “Once the contracts are fulfilled or voided, this is over, right? She can’t come back a year later and try to sue me?”

“No.”

“If I have a girlfriend once the contracts are over, there’s nothing she can do?”

“Do you have a girlfriend?” he asked.

“No.”

“I think you need to be careful,” he said. “You’re talking about a private investigator. There’s a pretty good chance her attorney is advising the same. You are in a cutthroat battle. Watch your back.”

“I shouldn’t talk to her, right?”

“I would prefer you didn’t,” he said. “I think it would be better if all communication was done through us. That will eliminate any chance she could claim you threatened her or attempted to coerce her in any way.”

“Good,” I said with satisfaction. “I don’t want to talk to her. Maybe you could pass that along to her attorney.”

“I’ll do that. Anything else?”

I shook my head, feeling a sense of relief as I stood up. “No, that’s all. Thank you for your help.”

As he left the office, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was in over my head. I had never dealt with anything like this before, and the thought of a private investigator digging into my personal life made my skin crawl. But I couldn’t let Ashley get away with this. I had worked too hard to get where I was, and I wasn’t going to let her ruin it. I also needed to protect Penelope. If my suspicions about Ashley and Matthew were true, I needed to keep my sister from getting into the same situation. It was only a matter of time before Matthew’s family presented their version of a prenup.

As if Ashley knew I was plotting against her, she texted me. I felt nothing but disgust as I read her message. She wanted to get dinner and talk. That was not going to happen. She knew I was back in the city and had been texting me nonstop.

I replied to her text and let her know I was busy. I didn’t provide an excuse. I didn’t have to. I went to my desk and tried to focus my attention on work. In the back of my mind, I was quietly plotting my next absence. I wanted to get back to Hawaii. I needed to get back to Shiloh.

24

SHILOH

Iwas driving myself crazy. It had been a week since Archer left and I knew nothing about what was happening back in New York. He did try and call a few times, but I had been diving. I couldn’t bring myself to call him back or reply to his texts. It felt too weird. I was worried I would call at the wrong time. If he was ending things with Ashley, I didn’t want to make things worse by calling and revealing I existed.

I didn’t have any work to do. Sitting around and waiting was giving me way too much time to think. Ryder was doing his best to distract me, but it wasn’t working. I kept second-guessing myself. I wondered if I made a huge mistake sleeping with Archer. I didn’t know what his life was like back in New York. He might have caved into the pressure from his family and decided to take the path of least resistance. It wasn’t like he was committed to me. We made it very clear there were no promises. If he didn’t come back, that was that. I would have to live on the memory of that one night.

But as I lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, I couldn’t help but feel like I wanted more. I couldn’t let go of the way Archer’s hands felt on my body, the way his breath felt hot against my ear. I wanted to know what it would be like to have him here with me. Maybe it was foolish, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that what we had was real.

I would love to take him out on my boat for a long trip around the Hawaiian Islands. There were so many things I could show him. He seemed to love all the things I showed him thus far. I would blow his mind with more reefs and even beautiful hiking trails.

As I lay there, lost in my thoughts, I heard a knock on the door. I wasn’t expecting anyone, so I was hesitant to answer. But the knocking persisted, so I reluctantly rolled out of bed and made my way on deck.

“What?” I asked Ryder.

“What are you doing?”

I rolled my eyes. “Sleeping.”

“You’re not sleeping.”

“What do you want?” I asked.

“You’re grumpy.”

“You woke me up. You could have just come downstairs. You didn’t have to sit up here and pound on the deck.”

He laughed. “Don’t sit around sulking,” he said. “Take this.” He handed me a small card.

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