Ivorie's Surprise [Golden Dolphin] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Skye Michaels Page A

“Ivorie, open the door. Please.” When he got complete silence for an answer, he lowered his voice to the “Dom” register that usually got a response double-quick and repeated the command. “Ivorie, open this door. Now.” Still nothing.
    Drew walked over to the next cabin, which was serving as their office, slid his security card into the lock, and opened the door. She wasn’t in the office. He walked quietly to the connecting door, hoping against hope that she had not locked it from the other side. He was in luck. He breathed a sigh of relief as the door opened, and he walked through into Ivorie’s cabin.
    He saw her immediately, curled up on the bed, facing away from him. She was so still he thought she was asleep. He walked quietly to the bed and carefully lay down beside her. She tried to roll away, but he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest. “Ivorie, please listen to me. I didn’t mean what I said to Eugenia. I just didn’t want her to turn on you like the viper she is. Please listen to me, baby.” He felt her body stiffen in his arms.
    “Mr. Blessingame, this is totally inappropriate. I am not your ‘baby.’ Please leave my cabin immediately and don’t come in here again unless I invite you. I know I’m just your assistant, oh, excuse me—just your second assistant—but even I have the right to some privacy in my own room.”
    He kept his tight hold on her stiff body. “Please, Ivorie. You have to listen to me. It’s not what you’re thinking.”
    “It’s exactly what I’m thinking. I’m just embarrassed that I was taken in by your suddenly affable demeanor. I knew it was too good to be true. Why I should have fallen for that, I cannot possibly explain, even to myself. I should have known better. What an idiot! I let you use me, and that’s my fault. I won’t be making that mistake again, sir. Please leave. I will be in the office at nine o’clock tomorrow and will attend to all necessary business. But our friendship is over. I will eat in my cabin from now on and will try to be pleasant and professional during office hours. That will be our only contact.”
    He pulled her closer, buried his face in her hair, and breathed in deeply. He loved her scent. This was going to kill him. He felt sick. When she didn’t unbend even a little, he said, “If that’s what you want, I’ll give you some time to think about this. It’s not what I want, but maybe we both need some time to think. This has all happened so quickly.” Ivorie made another unsuccessful effort to escape his tight hold. “Believe me, Ivorie, we are not done. And, furthermore, I had no idea Eugenia would show up here. I definitely broke our engagement. It was on Page Six of the New York Post for crap’s sake. How much more official can a broken engagement be?”
    She remained quiet and still and waited for him to leave. Finally, he got up off the bed and headed for the door. “I’ll see you in the office tomorrow morning, Ms. James.”
     
     
     

Chapter Twenty
     
    Carl Gustaf Hotel and Spa, Gustavia, St. Barthelemy Island, October 9, 2013—Wednesday Evening
     
    Eugenia was livid. She had been pacing the suite for hours. That bastard, Drew, and his little slut assistant, have another think coming if they think they can push me aside like yesterday’s news . She had related the whole scene to Frank, who had strangely little to say about the whole episode.
    “How dare he move that little bitch into my suite, into what is supposed to be my vacation and my bed. I just know if I could get her out of the way, I could get him back.”
    “Eugenia, it doesn’t sound…”
    “How do you know? You weren’t there. He said he didn’t want to hurt me. She’s trying to take over my place in Drew’s life. I won’t have it, I tell you. I just won’t have it. We have to figure something out.”
    “When you do that, you let me know. I’m going down to the hotel bar for a drink and some dinner.