“The fantasy doesn’t end like this, Gene.” Cami’s insistence flowed through the phone. “It ends with one of you having to make the decision to move to where the other lives. My money’s on you.”
“Why me?”
“Because I want to come visit you in Hawaii.”
“Well, you’re out of luck. I’ll be leaving in a couple of days and I don’t anticipate seeing him again beforehand.”
“Of course you’ll see him again. Fate wouldn’t be that cruel.” A brutal silence lay between them for just a second or two, but it was long enough to make Genie wish she hadn’t told Cami about last night. “Plus,” Cami continued, “he works at the hotel where you’re staying.”
Genie was about to object when a firm knock pulled her thoughts toward the door. “Hang on, someone’s at the door.”
“Mr. Fantasy!” Cami giggled.
Genie opened the door to a delivery person behind a dozen white roses. Genie’s heart thudded against her chest. The girl behind the bouquet peeked around and smiled. “Genie Wainwright?” she asked. Genie nodded. “These are for you. I’ll just need a signature.”
“Hang on,” Genie said into the phone, then used both hands (her phone still in one) to grab the vase. She set the roses on the table by the door, then signed the girl’s tablet. “One second and I’ll get you a tip.” She hurried toward the dresser where she’d laid her purse, grabbed her wallet and fished out a five. “Thanks,” she said, handing the money to the girl before closing the door.
Genie leaned against the door. Crazy, chaotic thoughts raced through her head. Where had the flowers come from?
“Gene, what’s going on?” Cami’s voice came from the phone lying on the table next to the roses.
Genie grabbed it. “Cami,” she said breathlessly, “somebody sent me a dozen white roses.”
Both girls were keenly aware that Ross had had a habit of sending Genie white roses. Genie didn’t want them to be from Ross. She hadn’t thought of him not once since she’d first laid eyes on Donnie Taylor yesterday. And she liked it like that.
Finally, Cami said, “They’re from Mr. Fantasy.”
“You think?” Genie’s hope-filled voice scraped out over her uncertainty.
“Is there a card?”
“Yes.” But Genie didn’t dare touch it.
“What’s it say?” Cami asked. “Who sent the flowers?”
“I don’t know.”
“It doesn’t say?”
“No, I haven’t read it.”
“Well geez, girl. Open the damn card and read it.”
Genie inched toward the card and plucked it carefully from its perch. She eased it from the tiny envelope and went straight to the bottom, to the name inscribed there. Donnie. Not Ross, but Donnie. A wave of relief washed over her. She went back to the top and began to read his message.
“Genie!” Cami yelped from the phone. “Who sent the roses?”
“Donnie,” Genie said softly.
“I knew it!” Cami squealed. “What does he say? He wants to see you again, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.” Genie nodded. “He wants me to have dinner with him tonight.”
“You’re going, right?”
“I don’t know.” Genie shook her head. “Nothing good can come from it.”
“Sure it can,” Cami said. “It can help you get past Ross so you can move on to find your perfect match.”
“How will I know when I’ve met this so-called perfect match…if I ever do?” She’d thought that was Ross. And she’d been so wholly and completely wrong on that score. “He could be right under my nose and I wouldn’t even know it.”
“One thing’s for sure.” Cami chuckled. “It’s not the desk clerk at your hotel…no matter how hot he is.”
CHAPTER 4
CAMI’S WORDS, “Go. Have dinner with Mr. Hottie, but don’t wear your heart on your sleeve,” echoed through Genie’s thoughts as she looked across the table at Donnie. Choosing to follow Cami’s advice hadn’t been all that difficult, but now that Genie was here, staying put was another matter.
“When did you leave Texas?” Genie asked. She was trying to keep the conversation neutral, but at the same time she wanted to know more about Donnie.
“Which time?” he said with a hint of laughter.
She paused a minute, then said, “When you came here.”
“About five years ago.” His smile made the silence settling between them bearable. He studied her for a moment and then, as if he knew the thoughts running through her head, he continued. “When I was a kid we came here on vacation. I guess you could say that I got sand in my shoes, because coming back here to live was all I ever thought about.”
His confession swirled around her and filled her with doubt. There was no way she’d ever talk him into coming back to the mainland, even though there were dozens of luxury hotels he could work at back home. Uncertainty swelled inside Genie. Did she want that? Was she prepared to enter into a relationship with a desk clerk or a bell hop?
Oh, who was she kidding? She wasn’t anybody special. Just a home stager. What about that made her so much better than, say, a desk clerk? Nothing. No, no matter how much Cami or Shelly or Jessica scoffed about her decision, she would be proud to call a man like Donnie Taylor her husband.
Yeah, right! You just keep on dreamin’. Nothing like that was ever going to happen, because Donnie would never agree to return to the mainland—no matter what she said or did.
What Genie had to decide was if she was prepared to go back home without Donnie.
This is crazy! She snapped at herself. Who says he’d want me for more than a night or two anyway? That’s probably what he did with all the tourists. Wined and dined them while they were on vacation, then bid them adieu when it was time for them to leave.
Like Cami had said, Genie had better guard her heart.
Donnie wasn’t sure what exactly had turned Genie cold, but something had and he didn’t like it. He hadn’t made it a habit to get involved with his guests and he couldn’t decide whether to curse his mother or thank her.
Genie was everything a man could want, and after just two dates, Donnie didn’t want to think about how lonely the rest his life would be without her. But there was a sadness about her. She’d built a wall around herself, and just when he thought he was close to claiming a place in her heart—she shut the door on him.