Dark And Dangerous (2 page)

 
"I wouldn't know." She looked out
the car window, and watched the moon spill its light over the land.

 
"I grew up here," he said, sensing
her withdrawal, and changed the subject again.

 
"Did you?" Kayley looked back at
him.

 
"Yes. I've traveled though. But I always
come back here. It pulls at me, like no other place ever has."

 
"I know what you mean. I felt it the
first time I came here. I've never felt it before," Kayley said.

 
He smiled at her. "What is your favorite
place you've ever traveled to? Apart from here, of course."

 
"That's a difficult question. I don't
think I can name just one. My favorite thing about all places is their
diversity."

 
"I feel exactly the same," Nathan
said.

 
"You should turn right again up
here." Kayley pointed.

Nathan turned onto a small
dirt road and followed it as it curved
it's
way through wild vegetation.

 
"This is certainly secluded," he
said. The road opened up again and he saw the little house. It looked old and
charming. It had once been painted white, but now the paint was crackled and
peeling. He parked in front of it, and turned off the car. It amused him to see
the worried look in her eyes as he followed her to the front door. She unlocked
it quickly, then reached inside to switch on the lights. Unsure of what to do
next, she looked at him.

 
"Good night, Kayley," he said it
lightly, with a hint of something beneath it. She wasn't sure what it was, but
it sounded a bit like amusement.

 
"Good night, and thank you for driving
me home."

 
"My pleasure." And he meant it. He
walked back around his car, and got in, as she stepped inside and closed her
door. He was very satisfied with the turnout of the evening.

 
Inside, Kayley let out a breath she hadn't
been aware of holding. He was an unnerving man. Not like any man she had ever
met before. He practically oozed self-confidence.

She heard his car drive
off. Tired, she walked straight into her bedroom and stripped out of her dress.
Despite her wish to just crawl into bed, she made herself hang up the dress first.
The old closet was the only other furniture, except her bed, in the bedroom.
Too tired to do anything else, she curled up on her bed and pulled the
comforter over her. She was asleep instantly.

Chapter Three

 
The
light woke Kayley, as it filtered softly through the closed curtains. She
looked at her wristwatch and stretched comfortably. It was nearly nine. She
found sleeping for as long as she wanted, one of the perks of working for
yourself. Yawning, she got out of bed and showered before eating her breakfast
out on the back porch. She loved the view. The little cottage looked over a
small lawn that hadn't been tended in years. Wildflowers grew cheerfully among
the tall grass, before giving way to rough cliffs. At the base of the cliffs
the water frothed and swirled quietly today, but in a storm it would pound
against the land.

 
Relaxing, she breathed in deeply, and enjoyed
her quiet morning. The small wild birds came hopping, looking for any crumbs
she might have dropped.

 
Giving them the rest of her toast, Kayley got
up and went back inside. It was time to work. She called the tow truck, and
when that was settled, she got her painting supplies and carried them all
outside to set it up in the middle of the lawn. She wanted to paint the way the
lush overgrown land gave way to the sea. Catch the beauty of the Sun casting
its light over green foliage, and the deep blue Ocean. She lost her sense of
time and space as she gave herself completely to the task of painting.

 
"That looks good."

 
Letting out a squeal, Kayley spun around
lashing out with her paintbrush. Nathan barely caught her arm before she
impacted, and would have splattered him with paint.

 
"Easy there. I called your name several
times, but you didn't notice." He smiled charmingly at her, making her
stomach clench uncomfortably. "Been painting all morning, have you?"
He released her arm, and she would have sworn she felt him caress her skin as
he let go.

 
"Yes, I got a bit caught up." She
looked around and noticed the Sun was riding high.

"What time is
it?"

 
"It's nearly noon." Nathan grinned.
She had paint smeared over her left cheek. It looked ridiculously cute.

 
"Oh, I guess I lost track of time."
Slightly disoriented she looked up at him. "What are you doing here? We
didn't have an appointment, did we?" she asked, trying to remember if she
had forgotten anything.

 
"I said I would contact you, when I had
talked to Yasmin." It had taken some doing to convince her. "I have.
So I was thinking if you weren't too busy, I could show you the resort, and we
could talk shop."

 
"Okay. Um, I'll just clean this up and
then change clothes, if that's okay?"
 

 
"It's perfect. Though don't change your
clothes on my account." She was wearing an old once blue T-shirt and an
old pair of jeans. He found it strangely alluring.

 
"Let me get that." He lifted the
painting before she could grab it, and hefting the easel, started towards the
cottage. Quickly, she grabbed the only things he had left for her to carry, her
paint and brushes. She caught up with him as he reached the porch.

 
"It's this way." Kayley led him
through her small sparsely decorated living slash dining room, and into the
small second bedroom she had dedicated to her workroom. There were a few
paintings stacked along one wall and a big table holding paintbrushes, paint
and a few other objects he had no idea what was.

 
"If you would set it down there, please.
Thank you." She quickly laid down the paint and brushes. "I'll just
go change."

 
Nathan watched her hurry out and wandered
over to study her paintings. She was good. Really good. Of course he already
knew that. Not only had he seen it for himself, but Yasmin had barely talked
about anything else for the last couple of months.

 
These were pictures of landscapes. Some of
the Californian coastline, he could see, and she had depicted them with
stunning accuracy. Another showed Ireland on a warm sunny day, and yet another
an Arizona desert with a heavy storm brewing on the horizon. He was caught up
in them, and didn't even hear her when she came back in.

 
"I'm ready."

 
He turned around. She was wearing black
slacks and a simple baby blue blouse. And managed to look elegant and edible,
at the same time. "Let's get going then."

 
Just as they reached the front door, they
heard a car drive up.

 
"Expecting company?" he asked.

 
"No."
 

Nathan opened the door, as
a delivery guy came around his truck.

 
"Package for a Kayley Hamilton."

 
"That would be me."

 
"Just sign here. Thank you." He
handed over the package and got back in his truck.

She barely glanced at the
small box before placing it on her kitchen counter. "I'll open it later,
"
 
she
told
Nathan and locked her front door. She climbed into his car as he held the door
for her.

 
"Did you call the tow truck?"
Nathan asked when he started the car, and drove deftly along the dirt road.

 
"Yes, I did. He will call me back when
he's found the cause of the problem."
 

 
"Good." He turned onto the main
road.

 
 
"How many resorts are there in
Monterey?" Kayley asked, wondering.

 
"There are a few resorts, quite a few
large hotels, and a large number of smaller hotels and
inn's
."

 
"So you have big competition."

He smiled at her.
"Yes, but we do okay. Our resort is one of the first larger
establishments, and we have expanded a few times since then."

 
"I read somewhere that the hotel
industry is one of the hardest. Is that true?" Kayley asked.

 
"Personally, I don't think you can
really say that one business is harder than another. In my experience it's all
about knowing what people want, and in the hotel business, people mostly always
wish for the same things. They just want to relax and be pampered, without
having to think about the stress of their daily
life's
."

 
She was surprised at how easy he was to talk
to, as they drove. She had never been much of a people person, and they usually
made her uncomfortable.

 
He turned onto a new road. This one was
smaller, though still two-lanes. Trees flanked it as it gently winded and then
the resort came into view.

 
It was stunning. Made in wood, it managed to
look both welcoming and majestic. The architect had been clever when he
designed it. From the big main lobby the building spread out to both sides. It
was created in shifting levels, that made it appear airy and gave it character.
The wood was broken up by shining glass and it appeared that every room had its
own balcony.

 
Nathan enjoyed watching the light and
admiration in Kayley's eyes as she took in everything. He had hoped she would
find it beautiful. He couldn't say why it should matter so much to him, but it
did.

 
"It's incredible. I've never seen
anything like it," Kayley said without taking her eyes off it.

 
"It's special." He parked his
Porsche in one of the booths marked reserved, and led her into the resort
through a large entryway and inside the lobby. It was big and elegant, held in
light warm colors. There were two luxurious sofa areas with cozy stone
fireplaces, and a long sleek check-in desk. The staff smiled in greeting as
they passed.

 
"I'll just give you the tour first, then
we'll go to the showroom," Nathan said.

He took her through the
resort, explaining about its different sections and how
its
charming, almost whimsical, layout was because it was built with expansion in
mind. It was much grander than she had imagined, despite not being more than
five stories tall.

 
"This section is part of the original
structure. It was built in five stories and each floor entails 85 rooms. The
resort consists in all of eight sections, in various sizes."

 
"How many sections were there
originally?" Kayley asked curiously.

 
"We started out with four. Then dad
built on two more, about fifteen years ago. When Damian and I took over, we had
two more sections built on."

 
"It's really beautiful. I love the way
it seems to be built in layers. It ads warmth to it."

 
He led her outside through a couple of big
open glass doors. The grounds had been perfectly landscaped by someone who had
a keen eye for nature. It kept the rugged yet pristine
feel,
that
was such an innate part of Monterey, and still managed to create an
elegant soothing atmosphere. Nathan showed her around the grounds explaining
about the plants and trees, showing her the large pool area, and the quiet
intricate garden made for those who wanted solitude.

 
They walked back inside through another set
of glass doors, and she found herself in an expansive showroom. At the moment
it exhibited a wide variety of art, including sculptures and paintings.

 
"When we're not holding a special
exhibition, we like to show the work of some of the local artists," Nathan
explained. "Often
times
visitors buy a peace when
it catches their eyes, so the locals are very happy to show their work with
us."

Kayley studied the pieces.
A wood sculpture of a woman holding a child caught her eye.

The woman appeared so
peaceful and serene. Kayley wandered over to study it.

 
"This is wonderful."

 
"Yes, I thought so too. That's why I
bought it," Nathan said from beside her.

 
"Oh
…
well."

 
He heard her disappointment, and hid a smile.
"So what do you think? Can you exhibit your paintings here?"
 

 
Surprised she looked up at him. "I think
this will be the most beautiful place I've ever had my paintings
exhibited."

 
Satisfied he smiled at her, and made her
heart skip a beat. "Why don't we discuss the details over lunch?"

 
"That sounds good." She hadn't
noticed before, but she was starving.

 
"I think this place is so big I could
get lost," Kayley commented as he took her elbow again and led her out of
the room.

 
"Don't worry. I'd find you."

She didn't know what to
say to that, so she wisely said nothing, and followed him to an elevator. She
watched as he swiped a security card over a scanner in the wall and pushed the
elevator button. A few seconds later the doors slid soundlessly open. Stepping
inside she looked at him.

 
"You have a special security card for
the elevators?"

 
"Only this one. It's our private
elevator. Only family and the most trusted personnel have a pass key for
it," he said.

 
"Why?"

 
"In case anyone decided to tamper with
the elevator."

 
"Have you had any problems like
that?"

He studied her quietly.
"Luckily we don't seem to get too many crazies out here? Anyway it's just
a safety precaution."

 
"Better safe than sorry, and so
on," Kayley added.

 
"Yeah, that's right." The doors
slid open, and they stepped out into a hallway. A man sat to the left, behind a
big desk.

 
"Hello, David. Would you order up some
food for us?" Nathan asked.

 
"Sure. What would you like?"

 
"I'll take today's special. How about
you, Kayley? Do you have any particular wishes?"

 
"No, I'll just take the same as
you."

 
"Okay. We'll take it in my office."
He took her arm again, leading her through one of the doors. His office was
spacious and masculine. There was a big oak desk, with an oversized leather
chair, and a comfortable looking sofa with a coffee table in front of a stone
fireplace. Floor-to-ceiling windows and doors led out onto a large wooden
balcony, with a table and two chairs. The walls were painted a cream color,
except the wall with the
fireplace, that
were deep
red.