Page 27 of Promise Not to Fall for the Rich & Famous

Carly grinned. “That shouldn’t be hard.”

“Tsk, for me?” he smacked his chest with one hand. “Forget about it. That’s as easy as breathing.”

She knew he was covering the awkwardness once again, but Carly was grateful. After a few more bites, Christian shared some hilarious reenactments of a few recent dance mishaps.

And just like that, the energy shifted. From the stiff tension of wondering what the evening might hold, to a comfortable acceptance of what it was: two friends having a bite to eat together. They were friends. Good friends. She was certain, in fact—as the conversation continued—that Christian wouldn’t have said a bad thing about her to Gage. It wasn’t who or how he was.

“I’m happy that you’re moving beyond your past,” he said as they dished up seconds. “You seem like you’re in a good place.”

“Thank you. I am.” She reached for her glass, pausing before taking a sip. “So, what about this whole work situation? You know I’ve never paid much attention to that part of the contract. Am I going to get in trouble if I start seeing Gage?”

Christian dabbed his mouth with a napkin, a mischievous grin tugging at one side of his lips. “That all depends on which side is winning in the main office.”

“Side?”

“Sweet ol’ Mrs. King, she’s a matchmaker of sorts. And while she doesn’t want any funny business leaking to the press, she secretly prides herself over all the couples who’ve walked down the aisle after meeting right here at the Royal Palm. Then we have Mr. King.He’sthe stickler. Each year there’s a tug-of-war evident in the employee contracts. A give here, a new take there. It’s the epitome of compromise.”

Carly smiled as she pictured it.

“And then,” Christian said, his tone getting low. He leaned over the table slightly. “If you ask me, I’d say there’s a youngerversion of the Kings in management. They’ve got thathe said she saidthing going on. Only they’re not married. In fact, the couple has one of those… love hate relationships, I think.”

That spiked her curiosity. “Who? Is it with Cyree?”

Christian poised himself in his chair, straightening his shoulders, and gave her the smallest hint of a nod.

“No way.” She couldn’t imagine it. Cyree always seemed so…businesslike. “She doesn’t strike me as someone who’s evenlookingto date. You think she likes someone here at the resort?”

Christian grinned. “Whether she knows it or not, yes.”

“Who?”

He shrugged, picked up his fork, and heaped another bite onto it.

“Come on, you can’t leave me hanging now.” Her mind raced. There weren’t a whole lot of options, were there? But then something occurred to her. “Ifthose twospark up a relationship, they’ll have to be okay with other staff members hooking up.”

“Yeah,” Christian said, “witheach other, maybe. But not with the patrons. And no matter how far we come, they’ll probably always discourageboth. We can’t have people quitting over a bad breakup. Or abandoning their membership at the Palm after getting dumped by one of the staff members.”

Carly sighed. “True. So now I have a question for you in return. You know I spent time with a guy who couldn’t…well,wouldn’tcommit. From what I can tell, Gage isn’t anything like Jimmy, but you’ve known him most of his life.” Her pulse spiked as she arranged the question in her mind. “With the job issue aside, do you think, I mean, it’s been close to two weeks now, do you think Gage is a good guy for me to invest in?”

Her palms broke out in a sweat as she waited for his reply. Red-hot heat flared up in her chest. It had taken years to develop feelings like this for anyone other than Jimmy, and the stakes felt much higher than she wanted to admit.

“Gage hasn’t had a whole lot of girlfriends, to be honest,” Christian said. “I tease him because of how different we’ve always been. I used to be real quick to commit.”

Commit. The ache in her chest multiplied as she considered that.Would Gage be the same as Jimmy in that regard?

“But the good thing about Gage,” Christian continued with a nod, “is that he doesn’t give women a load of bull crap either. If he doesn’t see a future, he won’t string them along saying that he does. He’s honest. And that’s a rare quality among men these days.”

Carly nodded as a wave of relief flooded over her. “That’s good,” she said. “And you’re right. There seems to be a real shortage of that.” The question did make her wonder though. Just where was this new relationship going? With his acting stint around the bend, did she and Gage actually have a shot at a normal relationship?

“Have you told Gage about the meaning behind your necklace yet?” Christian nodded to the pendant she wore.

Carly reached for it and shook her head, glad he’d asked it without really asking. Certain things were just too painful to hear without warning.

“Not yet. You didn’t say anything about it, did you?”

Christian frowned. “Of course not.”

“Good.” Carly couldn’t help but sigh with relief. “It’s not something I’m hiding. It’s just such a personal thing, and I hadn’t found the right time to share it.”