Page 23 of Conflict
I kind of hate the turmoil that’s tolling inside me at the sight of what I’d initially—and apparently correctly—assessed him to be. Bigwig professional, not errant pool boy. It’s humiliating, and I’m not even entirely sure why. All I know is as far as irrational women go, I’m currently taking the cake. Iwanthim to chase. I want him to invade my space. Yet I don’t want him close at all.
“Who are you? Is your name even Shane?” I ask, taking another step away from him.
Good God, did I sleep with a man whose name I didn’t even know? Sure, I was bit hasty, jumping into bed with the man, but I thought I at least knew his name.
My first instincts were correct. I knew, just from seeing him in the hot tub, that he didn’t fit the pool-boy role. That he came from money. I could not care less about that. Money doesn’t matter to me. It never has. What does matter is that he lied and I don’t understand why.
“Alyssa, do you honestly think I’d let you call out some other guy’s name while I was fucking you two nights ago?” he asks, folding his arms across his chest.
I throw my hands up into the air. “I don’t know! I don’t know what to even think.” I narrow my eyes. “So, you are Shane?”
“Yes. I should’ve told you this the other night. It’s just… One thing led to another and then they moved so quickly. It’s not like I asked for your last name, either. You could be a Wellsley for all I know.”
My chest tightens. “A Wellsley?” I ask, unsure if I actually want him to clarify.
He sighs. “It’s a long story.”
It’s my turn to fold my arms across my chest.
“Fine. Long story short, Archibald Wellsley is my father’s nemesis from his fraternity days, and they’ve been business rivals ever since. If I came home with a Wellsley girl, Pop would probably blow a gasket.”
I wonder if that extends to girls who work for Wellsley. Sure, I’m actually operating under the Callahan umbrella of the company, but decades-long rivalries can get messy.
“None of that matters, Alyssa. I’m Shane. Shane Wellington, and I’m the same guy I was yesterday. The same guy you took to bed and woke up with the past two mornings. The same man who took your innocence and drove you to orgasm more than once.”
My cheeks flush with heat at the memory, and a cocky grin spreads over Shane’s face. My glare, however, has it quickly dissipating.
“I’m also the owner of this resort and CFO of Wellington Enterprises in the Atlanta division,” he continues. “This is the first property that’s truly mine and doesn’t belong to Wellington or anyone in my family. I’m here to see how it’s running. That doesn’t just mean by crunching numbers. I want experience in every department in this place, including the pool. You just happened to catch me on the day I decided to learn those ropes.”
“Atlanta?” I ask, disbelieving.
My heart flutters at the idea that he lives in the same city I do. That thiscouldcontinue after the week’s end. But I shake the thought out of my head. That doesn’t matter now. None of it does. I’m feeling foolish, stupid, and before he can discover that I work for his father’s nemesis, as he called him, I may as well end it now before my heart gets any more tangled up in this man who nearly brought me to my knees in just two days.
He takes a step forward. “Yes, sunshine. Atlanta. I don’t know about you, but this with you is the start of something—”
“You lied to me,” I spit out, shocked at the angry tears welling in my eyes.
It’s so stupid. Irrational. Way off base. I’ve known the man for less than forty-eight hours. Tears should definitely not be shed in this situation. Yet here they are.
“I agree that I could’ve been more forthcoming, but when I told you I worked here, I wasn’t lying. I do. I just have a few more zeroes in my bank account that I didn’t mention. Does that matter?”
The question is both enraging and insulting. “No!” I protest. “Of course not. I don’t care what your position is or how much money you have. Like I informed you last night, I’m an independent woman, not a gold digger.” I close the distance between us and poke him in the chest. “Youbrought it up.Youpretended to be someone you weren’t. And then…then I slept with you!”
He grabs my wrist and draws me closer to his chest. My heart hammers when I look up and see his jaw set tight, his nostrils flared, and his dark-blue eyes hot on mine.
“I may have misled you, but you were in that bed with me. You felt our connection. You know how good it was. How good it can still be. I was wrong, and I apologize. I swear I didn’t mean any harm, and I would’ve told you today the truth today. That’s what my note was about. God, Alyssa, these past two days have been two of the best of my life. Please, if you don’t believe in me, at least believe in that. You gave me something precious. I’ll never forget that.”
Gazing up at him, I want to believe his words. Part of me knows he’s right. Our connection was so intense and immediate that it took me off guard. After just a few short hours, I was already wondering how I was going to leave this man at the end of the week. And, now, it turns out I don’t have to.
But I can’t stop thinking about how he lied. From the very beginning. What kind of foundation for a relationship is that?
Then again, what kind of foundation for a relationship is banging a guy I’ve known for an hour?
I realize that I can’t be a hypocrite. He has to understand why this is such a big deal, and even though I never lied, I also never supplied details about my job. “Shane, it’s not just that you inadvertently misled me. If it was just that… I could… it’d be fine.” He steps forward but stops when I give a slight shake of my head. My eyes lift to meet his, and I hate the hope I see. “I’m an accountant at a huge conglomerate in Atlanta, a firm whose probably only second to Wellington Enterprises. Right before I came down here, I heard from my boss that I might be added to the support team for the Filiatrault account.”
His eyes widen, his lips forming a silent “oh.”
“So you see why this won’t work. It’s my first big break with the company, and the last thing I want to do is jeopardize my position on the team. This was fun, Shane, it really was. But it’s just too much of a conflict.Especiallysince I’m what you so affectionately called a Wellsley girl.”
