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As I racewalked away, I could feel his eyes watching me. If I put just a little bit more sway to my hips than I normally did, well, that was just the side effect of walking on the uneven sand.

Colin

I felt a pang in my chest as I watched Teresa walk away. I was certain that she had felt it too, the sense that when we kissed it wasn’t just a kiss, it was the beginning of something. Something big.

I wasn’t sure what that meant for either of us. She had a life in New York, while my life was here. I certainly could work in another part of our family’s business, but the Hamilton Keys Resort was my baby. I would hate to have to leave it. Well, I didn’t have to decide right now. First, I needed to figure out a way to spend more time with Teresa.

The solution presented itself the next morning. I was walking through the open air dining room and spotted Teresa and her companions at a table, taking advantage of the breakfast buffet.

The sister and her friends looked a little rough, but Teresa looked bright and sunny in loose navy shorts and a white tank top that hugged her curves.

“Good morning ladies,” I said as I approached their table. “How is everyone today?”

Evie groaned. “Some of us might have had a little too much tequila yesterday.”

Teresa sent her sister a teasing look. “I told you guys to slow down. You’re not college kids on Spring Break you know.”

“I was going to take my boat out today,” I interrupted. “I was wondering if you ladies would like to join me?”

“You have a boat?” Teresa asked in surprise.

Oops, I forgot she thought I was just the bartender. It was refreshing, having someone get to know me as me, not as the heir to the Hamilton Resorts empire.

“Actually, it belongs to the resort,” I prevaricated. It was technically true. The boat was part of the resort holdings. “But I, um, get to use it. What do you say?”

I sent Teresa a beseeching look even while I felt guilty about lying. I wasn’t particularly good at it either. I just wanted a chance to get to know my girl without the weight of my family name getting between us.

Evie gave me an appraising look over the top of her sunglasses. I had the distinct feeling that she knew that I was trying to get closer to Teresa and was on my side.

“Teresa, why don’t you go ahead? You said you wanted to go out on the water. The rest of us can lay on the beach and read this month’s book club selection until we feel better.”

My girl shot her sister a look. “I came to spend time with you,” she protested. “That’s what you said you wanted for your birthday.”

“Yeah but that was before I realized I can’t drink like I’m twenty anymore. You go on ahead. You hate laying on the beach doing nothing.” Evie raised a finger in warning and continued, “And don’t you even think about telling me you want to get on your damned laptop and work.”

I could see the hesitation on Teresa’s face, the desire to go with me at odds with her desire to stay with her sister.

“We’ll just go out for a couple of hours, and then I’ll bring you back to your sister.” I gave Evie a reassuring smile, silently letting her know I would take good care of her little sister. “Hopefully by then you ladies will be feeling better.”

I held my breath while Teresa looked around, then made her decision. “OK, thanks Colin, a boat ride does sound fun.”

It took a great effort to resist pumping my fist in the air to celebrate. I placed my hand at the small of Teresa’s back and guided her towards the dock. Her skin felt warm under my hand.

“So, what happened last night?” I asked. “Those three look a little rough this morning.”

“My sister and her friends worked their way through I don’t even know how many pitchers of margaritas. They got so drunk that they propositioned every man in the place, including our busboy who I’m pretty sure is a minor. I had a hell of a time getting them out of the bar and back to our cabana.”

“Are you all staying together?”

“Yeah, we’re in one of the two-bedroom cabanas. Dawn and Emma are in one bedroom, and my sister and I are in the other.” She looked up at me. “Do they give you staff lodging here? Or do you live in town?”

“Um, yeah, some of us live on site.”

“That’s nice. I’ve heard of management getting housing at resorts like this, but not the service staff.”

Crap, I had been imagining bringing Teresa back to my condo, but if we did she was going to have a lot of questions. There was no way she would think my penthouse condo was staff housing. I really should tell her the truth about who I was.

Instinctively I felt like Teresa wouldn’t really care about my money. It was clear from her clothing and what she told me about her career that she made good money. Not billions, of course, but enough for her to own a place in Manhattan. I had not seen her show any interest in hearing about which guests had money, nor did she drop hints that she was interested in someone taking care of her. Just the fact that she thought I was just a bartender and still wanted to spend time with me was an indication that she wasn’t shallow. I wanted a future with her, so I had to come clean with her. Maybe after our boat ride.