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“How are you doing?” he asks now, jolting me out of my reverie.
“I’m fine,” I reply. “A little tired.” It’s late and I’ve had several glasses of champagne.
“Shall we head off?” he asks.
“I’m happy to walk home if you’d like to stay with your friends.”
He gives me a look. “This late? In the dark? I don’t think so. If you want to go home, I’ll get someone to drive you.” He gets to his feet. “Come and see my suite and have a coffee or something. I just want to spend some time alone with you.”
“I bet you do.”
His lips curve up. “Just to chat. If after that you want to leave, I’ll call my chauffeur. Come on.” He gets to his feet and extends a hand. I slide mine into it and get to my feet.
“We’re off,” Orson says to the group. “Happy birthday, bro.”
Kingi stands, and the two of them exchange a bearhug.
“I’ll see you Wednesday,” Kingi says to me. “For the audit.” His gaze slides briefly to Orson’s dad. I follow his gaze and look at Spencer. He just lifts an eyebrow.
I want to ask what’s going on, but Orson takes my hand again, and everyone calls, “Goodnight,” and we wave and head for the main building.
“Thank you for inviting me,” I say as we walk through the lobby. “I had a great time.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I liked all your friends and family. It was good to put faces to names.”
He leads us across to another corridor that goes outside under a covered walkway, heading for the main hotel building.
“Is there something I need to know about the audit?” I ask.
“Why do you say that?”
I shrug. “Just got a feeling.”
“Don’t worry about it. No point in worrying before the audit’s done.” His tone is not dismissive, exactly, but I know he’s telling me he doesn’t want to discuss it further.
I open my mouth to protest, but the double doors open automatically, and we go inside. “I love this building,” he says. “Wetook a long time to plan it. Kingi wanted something biophilic—it means connected to nature. He’d visited an office in Christchurch that had a biophilic design and loved it, and we decided to incorporate the architecture here.”
The lobby is full of indoor plants and even has a tree in one corner. The construction materials all look to be natural—wood, bamboo, and cork. There’s a water feature in the middle, and I can see from the large windows that during the day the place would be filled with natural lighting. The wooden panels are all carved with Maori designs. It’s beautiful.
Somewhat stunned, I let him lead me to the elevator, which is all glass, and it takes us up to the top floor. Here there’s a corridor with half a dozen doors, and he goes to one of them, touches a key card to it, and opens it.
I go inside. It’s smaller than his apartment in the city, but it’s beautiful, with a similar design to the lobby—lots of carved wood and green plants. The windows face the ocean, and the rising moon casts a silver path, as if tempting me to cross the sea. The furnishings are all natural too, simple but elegant and made from wood and bamboo. The walls are what fascinate me, though, as they’ve been painted with natural scenes—trees, grass, flowers, and animals. I feel as if I’m in a cabin way out in the bush.
“It’s fantastic,” I say, turning around to see the kitchenette and, through a door, the bedroom.
“Not huge,” he says, “but I usually only stay here once or twice a week.” He goes into the kitchen and opens the fridge. “Champagne? Or would you prefer a coffee now?”
I walk over to join him. “You were serious about the coffee?”
He closes the fridge and turns to face me. “Of course. I thought we could sit and have a chat. And then… you know… you can decide whether you want to stay…”
His voice trails off as I move up close to him, put my hands on his chest, and push him up against the fridge. “You really think I’ve come up here to talk?” I murmur, pressing up against him. He smells amazing; even though he’s been swimming, the scent of his cologne lingers on his clothes.
“Well, I didn’t want to assume…”
He stops speaking as I reach up onto my tiptoes and kiss him.