Chapter Thirty Four
Mattie watched the hoards of spectators move across the car park and smiled, the weekend had been a HUGE success, physically and mentally the hardest, most draining thing she’d ever done, but a success, and a lot of fun. For two and a half days hundreds of people had moved through the hotel with various agendas, and Mattie herself had been trying to keep everything afloat. Sarah and Fabio were working the golf club and gym, making sure that the greens were in perfect condition, the buggies were working and that the bars and restaurant were well stocked, as well as that all the hospitality ran smoothly. She on the other hand had stayed at the hotel and relied on Dan and Martin to help her keep things going there. And for the full two and a half days her time had been filled with complaints about room service or business men needing fax machines, room overbooks, sickness and then there was the lack of a fresh dairy delivery on the last morning. Hectic was an understatement, but it all passed so quickly. Which was a good thing to Mattie. Being busy didn’t leave her much time to think about Thursday night, and the kiss.
It was now Sunday and she’d managed to not see Dylan other than across the room as he was entertaining the hospitality parties, a chunk of whom were his colleagues from the States, and whilst every other worker seemed to be run into the ground, he seemed relaxed and seemed to be playing a fair it of golf himself. Each time he’d caught her eye, given her a wink across the foyer or restaurant, he’d had his clubs over his shoulder and was heading out or coming in from the course, she had to remind herself that she’d wanted him to step back from running the place, she could hardly complain now that he was doing just that. Then there were the half a dozen investors from the US that he had to entertain every night. No Dylan was preoccupied, and it meant he wasn’t hassling her, because since the moment the kiss had ended, he’d wanted answers from her. Answers she didn’t seem to know herself.
The kiss.
She closed her eyes and remembered that moment for the umpteenth time, the moment when nothing mattered but the man in front of her. As his lips had claimed hers, for a moment she’d been transported back to being nineteen, the illicit sensation of kissing someone as exotic and worldly as Dylan Wallace was exactly the same as it always had been. He was a great kisser, that was a no brainer, but it was his nervousness, his heart racing as she placed a hand on his chest, his gasp of breath when he lifted his lips from hers, and the fear in his eyes that the glitter of passion failed to hide that made her truly appreciate how special the moment was for him too.
She had tried to fight the instinct to throw herself at him, because that wasn’t right. They were in the board room, anyone could walk in...but it was hard, far too hard. And it was as she was trying...and failing to have rational thoughts about what to do, that there was a crash from the corridor outside.
They both pulled apart, dragging lips from each other with such reluctance, such disappointment but aware that the blinds weren’t closed, that they were visible to anyone who walked past, and that their indiscretions could easily become common knowledge again. And that would be a disaster.
Then there was another crash, it sounded like a cleaning trolley hitting skirting boards, and whilst she silently thanked the clumsy cleaner for delivering a moment of clarity, she knew that the spell between them had dissolved in a second. Dylan sighed, and as he glanced towards the window, and she knew it was with resignation.
The spilt second of hesitation, his look away from her, had given Mattie the chance to jump to her feet. This was too much, too soon, and now that they weren’t touching, that she wasn’t entranced in his smell, his warmth...she was immediately terrified again.
“That was nice.” She’d offered almost apologetically as his eyes watched her move away.
He gave a snort, “nice? Nice?”
Smiling she had looked at him, “VERY nice. But I have to go. There’s a time and a place...this is neither.”
Dylan had stared at her, “but there will be a time...and a place.”
It was a statement, not a question. Giving him a smile she nodded, “this is a ridiculously hectic weekend...we need this tournament out of the way. If we have to talk, then we both need our wits about us. Neither of us needs complications.”
“Is that what I am? A complication?”
He was still stood across the She sighed, “what you are is my ex husband and boss. Whether that changes...” she took a deep breath as her heart lurched at the thought. “We need to wait until the dust has settled.”
He watched her for a moment, then nodded, “you are right, I’m not about to get into something one sided. But know TWO things Matilda Davies, we DO need to talk, and we WILL. I am not going to let you brush me off again. Ok?”
Smiling she straightened her dress and ran a hand through her hair, meeting his eyes knowing he was remembering his fingers causing that chaos, when they’d been anchored in her tresses just a few seconds earlier.
“You can run but you can’t hide,” was his final offering.
And whilst she had to run, there was no choice at that very moment, the last thing she wanted to do was hide.
But that had been then, in the heat of the moment when anything seemed possible, yet nothing seemed feasible. And instead she found herself as the weekend came to a conclusion, with almost seventy two hours worth of deliberating thoughts rushing through her head, she was full of self doubt, concern, and of course fear. They’d done this once, it had almost broken her in two...so much happened in the year that it took for her divorce to come through, that the thought of reaching those lows where she lost everything, was unbearable. And if there was one thing she’d learned over the last few days, if that kiss was anything to go by, was that he still had the power to suck her in, to overwhelm her, to take over her every thought, her every action. She’d not felt that useless, that out of control of her destiny since her marriage. How could she throw herself back into that? It scared her beyond belief.
Working the hotel she wasn’t directly part of the golf event, but she heard so many stories from Sarah and the other staff. It sounded like so much fun, but she was too busy to think about that. Though each night she had managed to sneak into the back of the dining room to hear the various after dinner speakers, an ex-pro golfer, the TV presenter, amongst others. Some were funny, others were really interesting, but always they entertained, and she loved to see the place full, rooms filled with laughter. That was what she craved, success. And as she watched people laughing, dancing, chatting, drinking...she knew this was her desire.
Talking of desires, every time she scanned the room with any depth, Dylan was there, watching her, smiling, passing seductive messages through his eyes. He’d tried to get close to her, but she made sure that she was always in the company of someone else, it ensured that any discussions were limited to neutral topics. That had seen Dylan get more and more frustrated as the weekend progressed, but with time came distance and she felt calmer the further away from him she was.
In the middle of the weekend Brandy had arrived back from the States to assist with the schmoozing that Dylan was attempting, and Mattie had to admit that having Brandy back instantly lightened the mood. Now she had someone else to liaise with, a step away from Dylan, and that gave her some distance, until then she had felt smothered by his proximity, or rather the intimidation of his seemingly constant presence. The more time away from him, the easier it was to focus, to concentrate on what was important, and at the moment, that was the hotel. They had the rest of their lives to try and deal with everything else.
As she perused the reception, checking for the final time that things were running to plan, she spotted a group entering the lobby from the golf club entrance. In the centre looking, the only word that she could think to describe him as was dapper in a cerise pink polo shirt, navy pullover and navy trousers was Dylan. Despite leading his guests into the hotel, his eyes were immediately searching, seeking...only stopping when they landed on her. With a smile he kept up the conversation with the other three men he was grouped with, but his eyes flared and his head nodded in the direction of the offices. Then his hands, placed across his stomach opened up to flash ten digits.
Office...ten minutes.
She instantly knew that was what he meant, and the thought that those sneaky looks and glances were about to become more significant scared her. As she walked to her office she could barely think for the pounding of her heart.
So as the night wound down, she did the only thing she could. Run.
Slamming the office door behind her, she kicked off her heels, then slid her dress from her shoulders, in her small shower room she found her t-shirt and jeans, and pulled them on in just seconds. Then her flip-flops followed. It was a warm night; she had no intention of wearing boots or trainers. Sliding her laptop into her leather satchel, she gathered her phone, keys and wallet from her desk. Glancing around to ensure that the office was tidy, she pulled her bag over her shoulder and left...head dropped.
Only to run straight into a broad chest.
Lifting her eyes she grimaced at the knowing smile on Dylan’s face. “Tell you ten minutes, make it five and catch you out. Oldest trick in the book...as is running away.”
Mattie felt the floor spin, so she reached out and steadied herself on the doorframe, “I...uh...”
Dylan grinned, “I know Matilda...life isn’t easy, this isn’t easy for me either. But running away from it doesn’t make it go away.” She should hate his presumption, the way he was forcing this, but on the other hand, she felt she needed that, she just wasn’t strong enough to turn to him, to allow this to happen. He reached out and tucked a lock of hair between her ear, and she shuddered at the sensations bursting through her. “I don’t want to rush anything, there’s a lot going on...I’m heading to New York in the morning, can’t put it off. So I’ll not see you for a few days. Think about what you want. Ok?”
She stammered again, and he grinned, leaning close to whisper in her ear, “I won’t call, or text you unless it’s work related, I’m not pressurising you at all. But when I get back, I want to take you out to dinner. That’s the deal. Ok?”
“It’s busy here. We’re fully booked...” but she wasn’t even sure what she was saying, his finger tips and his eyes were captivating her every thought.
He grinned and she hated how fragile her voice sounded, “we’ll make time. Ok?”
Mattie didn’t know what she’d expected, but it wasn’t this, time, space...understanding. The Dylan of old would have overwhelmed her, dragged her into making whatever decisions HE wanted her to make. That was what she was scared of, him dominating her. But he hadn’t done that, he’d respected her confusion, appreciated her indecision. And that was more intoxicating than the kiss they’d shared.
As she made to walk away with a mute nod, he reached for her wrist then tugged her so that she fell against him. As she staggered away a few seconds later she could almost convince herself that their second kiss hadn’t happened. It had been SO brief...thanks to someone approaching, but it had been as disorientating and devastating as the first one, and Mattie felt as though she was floating as she exited into the dark night.
Dylan watched her go and could barely contain his frustration, his need. All weekend she’d been like a butterfly, floating around his peripheral vision, close enough to entice him, but constantly evading any attempts to be close to her. The kiss they shared was only ever a fraction away from his conscious thought, but as the hours passed, he knew that how he managed their next encounter was everything. He couldn’t believe that in almost three days he’d set eyes on her about a dozen times, yet barely said a word. But then he hadn’t anticipated how taxing two days of playing golf, entertaining and showcasing the resort he had bought to both the public and his investors from back in the States would be.
But now as everyone headed to their rooms, tired after their weekend, he had to deal with the fact that he’d just let her walk away. He was booked on a flight to JFK at ten in the morning, the last thing he wanted to do, but Brandy’s appearance in London had been more than just a courtesy, he had things that needed sorting urgently. Whilst he wanted to put Matilda top of his urgent list, he kind of appreciated that she could do with some space.
Didn’t absence make the heart grow fonder?
He was doubting both his logic and his chivalry as his taught, tense and very primed body watched her walk away. He only had the memory of those two kisses and the dazed look on her face in the aftermath to survive on until he returned.