Which made him wonder who ever watched out for her?
“You can’t save the company if you can’t take care of yourself,” she scolded. “Which brings me to the reason for this trip.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
Kelly bit down on her bottom lip for just a moment as she held his stare. Something was off. There was a niggle in his gut that seemed to be shooting off red flags, but he didn’t know what he should be warned about.
“Kelly?”
“This is for your own good,” she told him.
Dread replaced that niggle. “What have you done? Where are we?”
She tipped her chin and squared her shoulders. “We’re in Oahu for five days of rest and relaxation.”
“What the hell?”
“And there’s no investor,” she added. “Just you, me, and a private beach bungalow.”
Two
Luke stepped off the plane and was greeted with a lei.
“Aloha, Mr. Holloway. Aloha, Ms. Prentiss. Welcome to Oahu.”
Still confused as his anger continued to bubble up, Luke stepped aside as the young Hawaiian man, who was dressed in a crisp white suit, placed a lei on Kelly and then gestured toward the large silver SUV.
“Please, come this way,” he offered. “We will get your luggage and take you to your resort so you can get started on your romantic getaway.”
“I’m not going to any resort,” Luke gritted out before turning to Kelly. “What the hell is going on?”
He overlooked the fact that the man seemed to think he and Kelly were a couple and had come here for some lover’s retreat. But his mood soured even further when he noticed another man approaching the plane, presumably for their luggage.
Kelly’s eyes darted from him to the driver as she offered a slight, nervous smile.
“Could you excuse us a moment?” she asked. “You can go ahead and gather our things.”
Once the men were gone and working on the suitcases, Kelly focused back on Luke.
“You lied to me,” he accused.
And that’s what pissed him off the most. She’d never lied to him, but this was beyond lying. She’d been purposefully deceitful. How in the hell had she planned all of this without his knowledge? Using his own jet? His own pilot?
They’d flown all the way to Hawaii and he’d been utterly clueless and way too damn trusting. She had to have had help, and this reeked of Ezekiel. There was no way Kelly could’ve handled all of these details, let alone the financial aspect of this, without some major backer...
Like his meddling, yet well-meaning brother.
“This is for the best,” she explained. “I’ve never lied to you before and I’ve never done anything like this. Don’t you see that’s how serious this whole thing is? You desperately need a break.”
Luke heard her words, but that didn’t calm his frustration and anger. What had gotten into his loyal, honest assistant? Or maybe he should be asking who?
“Did Ezekiel talk you into this?” he asked.
Kelly’s eyes widened as her dark red strands blew across her cheek in the warm breeze. He could tell by her reaction that she didn’t want to rat out Zeke, but Luke wasn’t stupid.
“He told me to make sure you relaxed and ordered me to not let you steamroll me back to Royal before this vacation time was over,” she explained. “So, you and I are both going to take a break and recharge. You’ve been working yourself to death and Zeke and I are not taking no for an answer. Now get in the car.”
Luke blinked. He knew Kelly was a strong, determined woman—that’s one of the reasons he valued her as an employee and his right-hand woman. But she’d never directed that attitude toward him. This side of her was new and he wasn’t so sure he liked it.