“Not that I know of.”
“Here’s a card. Call me if you think of something.” Zoe’s eyes darted to each side, and she leaned forward, whispering, “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” Katie answered, wondering if she was about to be involved in a conspiracy of some sort.
“That other guy who checked in with Gary… is that who I think it is?”
Katie rolled her eyes. She’d been with Gherring, Inc. for so long, she’d forgotten Steven was famous enough to be recognizable. “It’s Steven Gherring, in the flesh. But do me a favor, and don’t tell a bunch of people.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t.” She pressed her hand to her chest. “We’re very discreet here at Indigo Bay Resorts, but I’m excited to see him. He looks as amazing in person as his picture on the cover of Go with the Times.”
“One of the top ten bachelors in the country.” Katie remembered Steven’s heated argument with his publicist, who’d explained Steven couldn’t prevent the article, so he might as well cooperate and try to influence the final copy. “But don’t get your hopes up. I don’t think he’s ever going to change his bachelor status.”
“No worries. I’m happily married,” said Zoe. “And I don’t think I would’ve ever hoped to marry Steven Gherring, anyway… I might’ve dreamed about it, though.”
Armed with a small cooler and a new brightly colored bag she’d purchased at the gift shop, Katie made her way from the cottage to the beach. When she arrived, she found Steven lounging on one of three chairs they had arranged on the beach beside a surfboard. She was glad for the cover of sunglasses, since her eyes had to be bugging out of her head. Though Gary had warned her that he was going to surf with Steven, she’d never seen the man without a shirt. It seemed almost as odd as the fact her unrelenting boss was lounging on the beach without his computer. The thought reminded her she ought to be working, since Steven was paying for her to be there.
“Hi, Mr. Gherring,” she said. “Gary told me you don’t have anything for me to do, yet. But I’m ready to work whenever you are.”
“Believe it or not, Gary convinced me to take the weekend off.” Steven stood up, all six feet three inches of him, apparently solid muscle, despite his forty-nine years. She knew he was training for the Iron Man competition in August, since she’d entered the date on his schedule. But she was surprised to find him in physical condition that rivaled Gary’s.
Nicole is going to die when I tell her about this!
Steven took the cooler from her hands and set it on the blanket.
“Thanks.” She spread a beach towel over a lounge chair and settled herself in. “Did you know Gary told me you insisted on renting a surfboard for me?”
“We didn’t. We only got two surfboards.”
“I know that now. But he told me that story on purpose, just to upset me.”
“Sounds like him.” Steven shrugged as he returned to his chair, propping his feet on the lounge.
“You’re so different from him, I don’t know how the two of you are close friends,” said Katie. “But I guess he’s a good personal trainer.”
“We’re more alike than you realize. Gary puts 200% effort into everything he does. The big difference is he doesn’t take life too seriously.” Steven lifted his sunglasses and peered out from underneath them. “I have to admit this trip is good for me, even if he had to drag me here, kicking and screaming. I tend to drive myself into the ground.”
“Well, I wish he’d stop picking on me. He’s worse than the little kid who lived across the street from us when I was growing up.” Irritated, she squinted up and down the beach, itching to chew him out. “Where is he, anyway?”
“Here he comes.”
Steven pointed at the ocean, where a man was riding toward shore on a surfboard. When a wave crashed into his legs, flipping him into the water, she couldn’t help the sick feeling that swirled in her gut. She might be angry, but she didn’t want to watch him die in a shark attack.
“Mr. Gherring?”
“Call me Steven. Please.” He chuckled. “It feels weird for you to be so formal while we’re in swimsuits.”
“Okay, Steven…” It was so hard to say, after almost two years of calling him Mr. Gherring at work, she decided not to call him anything while they were at Indigo Bay. “Isn’t there a danger of shark attacks in these waters?”
Steven sat forward and swung his legs around to face her. “I won’t lie to you and say there aren’t any sharks. But I can tell you sharks on the South Carolina coast don’t have a taste for mammals. Any bites that happen are accidental and usually on really crowded beaches—maybe ten bites in all of last year.”
“That’s ten too many for me.” Her gaze scanned the beach, a private area for resort guests, which certainly couldn’t be described as crowded. Yet the tension in her stomach didn’t ease until she saw Gary step out of the surf, carrying his board. “I still don’t want to get in the water.”
Steven’s smile was sweet and sympathetic, as he stood and walked over to his surfboard. “Don’t worry about it. No one’s going to pressure you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
No one but Gary.
“Hey! You made it!” Gary called as he approached.