Finding Cory (Island Escapes Book 1) Read online

  On impulse he took her hand. "Olivia Stratten is someone who can laugh at herself, and that's the first trait I look for in a woman: a good sense of humor."

  Laughing freely at that, Olivia squeezed his hand back. "Well. A couple of months ago, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have seen the funny side, but I definitely do now."

  Cory looked at his watch then and said with regret that he needed to get back. They waved to Nessa, who was just getting busy with the early evening cocktail hour, and hopped back in the golf cart. He pointed out the walking path, which was a shortcut to the cabins as they passed it.

  "I have to go call the early evening bingo game," Cory said regretfully. "It's our regular bingo caller's day off."

  Olivia laughed at the thought of Cory calling bingo numbers to a crowd of retirees. Because he was the activities director, she supposed he had to be able to cover for any of his team when required, though. Thinking that she needed to know more about the activities and events the resort offered, she questioned him about his job. Cory answered all her questions good-naturedly, clearly happy to talk about the job he obviously adored.

  "Bryce was right when he said you really need to see the Reef, though," he said as he pulled the golf buggy back into the parking slot they'd taken it from. "Have you ever dived before?"

  She shook her head. "Not proper diving with oxygen tanks, no. I'm a strong swimmer, though."

  "That I already knew." He cast her a grin. "Well, you'd have to take a couple of Bryce's starter lessons in the pool to begin with, but I'm taking a group out snorkeling tomorrow, if you'd be interested?"

  "I'd love to," Olivia said enthusiastically, before she thought to say, "I don't know if Luke will want me to start work here, though..."

  "It's an early afternoon tour. You can catch up with him in the morning and see," Cory suggested. "I'm pretty sure he'll tell you to take a few days and familiarize yourself with everything the resort has to offer before you consider implementing anything, though."

  That sounded like a sensible strategy. "Well, provided he's okay with it, yes, I'd love to come snorkeling."

  "Excellent. Boat leaves the dock at one; we've got plenty of snorkeling gear, but make sure you bring your own sunscreen." He grinned down at her, and as they approached the door leading back into the main building, he drew her gently to a stop with his hand on her elbow. "There's nothing I'd like more than to spend the whole evening getting to know you, Olivia. I'm sorry I can't."

  Cory's eyes were serious as he looked down at her. She smiled back at him, charmed again by his honesty and his straightforward, open approach.

  "I'd like that too."

  "I'm honored by your trust in telling me about your ex and why you're here, and I promise you that nobody will hear a word of it from me."

  She was already quite sure of that, but she nodded anyway, accepting his pledge. Cory bent his head slowly, allowing her time to move away if she wanted to, but she was more than happy to step in closer and accept the kiss he pressed against her lips.

  "Tomorrow," he said, a low-voiced promise, before he swiped his access card and let them back into the building.

  Olivia was sure the color flags were flying high on her cheeks as she watched Cory bound up the spiral stairs in the atrium to the main lounge on the second floor where he had to call the bingo game. She caught herself admiring at the muscles bunching in his strong thighs as he took the steps three at a time, and laughed at herself. Cory was a whole lot more than just a handsome face and an attractive body.

  "He's good-looking for sure, but Cory's a player," a voice said behind her, and Olivia turned to see Jill, the guest relations manager she'd met at the airport. "Don't get your heart broken."

  Olivia wasn't entirely sure what made her ask, "Is that personal experience talking?" but the way Jill's face flushed told her that her shot in the dark was right on target. Jill didn't say another word, just turned and stalked away, outrage radiating from her in waves.

  "I think I might have made an enemy," Olivia muttered regretfully. She couldn’t do a lot about it, though; she guessed that the moment Jill so much as suspected chemistry between Olivia and Cory, her nose would have been out of joint. Thank God nobody had witnessed their kiss at the wedding chapel, or the quick embrace outside the door. Olivia's name would have been mud all over Sunfish Island before nightfall; no doubt she'd have been smeared as a slut who threw herself at Cory literally as soon as she arrived.

  Wandering over to look at the tour-booking desk—currently unoccupied—and the large display of brochures for available trips, Olivia wondered if she had been slutty. She'd always had a policy of never getting involved with anyone she worked with. What was it about Cory that had made her forget that resolution within a couple of hours of meeting him? It wasn't just the way he looked. She'd worked with attractive men many times before and never felt remotely tempted. No, she felt a genuine connection with Cory, one that had been there from their first meeting, and every moment spent in his company since had only reinforced the impression that he was a man she could like and respect as well as lust after.

  I'm not going to feel guilty for going after what I want, Olivia decided, squaring her shoulders and turning to look around the lobby. Whatever had happened between Jill and Cory was obviously in the past, and Jill's little display of jealousy only put Olivia on her guard. She couldn't trust anything Jill said about Cory now. Every instinct told her that Cory wasn't a "player" as Jill had described him—and wouldn't Rosie, who'd known Cory all her life, have dropped a gentle hint or two if he were, instead of eagerly matchmaking?

  Chapter Five

  Just as Olivia thought of Rosie, she came through a door on the other side of the lobby with Luke, the pair of them talking earnestly. They both spotted her and smiled at the same moment, coming over to join her.

  "Hey, how are you settling in?" Luke asked cheerfully. "Better after the dunking?" His eyes twinkled.

  "Much, thank you," Olivia said. "Rosie was kind enough to lend me some of her things, I'm afraid I vastly overestimated the dress code here at Sunfish. I think I'll need to go into Airlie Beach to shop one day, if that can be arranged?"

  "Of course, the boat goes every day," Luke said with a shrug. "You can go anytime you like. As far as I'm concerned, you make your own schedule here, Olivia. The only instruction I have from Mr. Hunter is that I'm to see to it you have anything you need. Rosie mentioned your laptop and tablet took a dunking too."

  "And my phone," she admitted. "Yes, I'll need to purchase replacements for those in Airlie as well."

  "The resort has an account at the computer-and-electrical store. Put them on our tab." Luke's tone brooked no argument.

  "Well... thank you," she accepted gracefully, secretly grateful. Replacing her electronics would have put a serious dent in her much-depleted savings. "That's very good of you."

  He waved away her thanks. "There's a computer in your room, too, but that's mainly because I don't really have office space for you. You're welcome to work anywhere you like in the resort. Although you're on staff, you're not part of the guest relations side, and as such I don't mind if you want to act more as a guest here, to get the real guest experience, than as a staff member."

  Startled, Olivia blinked at him. "Thank you! But I want to pull my weight around here too. If you need an extra pair of hands at any time, please just say so."

  "Rosie will let you know." Luke gestured at Rosie, who hadn't said a word as she nodded along in agreement with what he was saying. "She's our staff manager."

  "Well, there may be times when we do need extra pairs of hands, of course," Rosie said, "but I'll try not to shove you into anything you wouldn't be prepared for. I mean, I'm guessing you're going to spend a fair bit of time talking to guests anyway, asking them what they think are the best things about Sunfish for marketing purposes, so guest relations would probably be a handy spot for you. Which is Jill's department, of course."

  "Of course," Olivia echoed, doing her
level best not to let her feelings at the idea of having to work for Jill, even temporarily, show on her face.

  She must have failed, though, because after dinner—eaten with Luke and Rosie, who both talked enthusiastically about how much they loved working at Sunfish—she was walking back to her cabin with Rosie when the other girl asked, "Um, Olivia, I hope you don't mind me asking this, but have you had a run-in with Jill?"

  She missed a step, recovered. "I thought I wasn't that obvious."

  "Jill has a way of rubbing people up the wrong way, sometimes."

  "One would think that guest relations wouldn't be the best career for her, then," Olivia said dryly.

  "You'd be surprised the shit she has to deal with," Rosie replied. "Guest relations manager is just a fancy title for 'troubleshooter.'"

  "Hm." They'd reached her cabin, and Olivia stopped and turned to Rosie with a sigh. "I don't want to get off on the wrong foot, and I don't want to make any enemies, but I'm pretty sure Jill was predisposed to dislike me from the moment Cory started flirting with me."

  "She was predisposed to dislike you from the moment she saw you in the airport and realized how pretty you are," Rosie said bluntly. "Because yes, as you've already figured out, Cory is a sore spot with Jill."

  "Will you tell me about it?" Olivia pleaded. "I know Jill is your friend and I don't want to ask you to go behind her back, but I'm pretty sure I can't trust anything she says about Cory... and I'm pretty sure I can trust what you tell me about him, since you've known each other so long."

  Rosie sighed and glanced at the lit window in her cabin next door. "Invite me in?"

  "Sure."

  They went into the lounge area and sat down. Rosie rubbed her hands together, looking as though she was thinking about what to say. Olivia waited in silence, not wanting to push. Jill and Rosie were obviously close, and she didn't want to force Rosie to betray her friend.

  "Cory and Jill dated for a while when Jill got the job here in the middle of last year," Rosie said finally. "It lasted, maybe three or four months? I don't remember exactly."

  "Why did they break up? I don't need all the gory details," Olivia said hurriedly, "but who dumped who would be good to know."

  "Cory ended it, but Jill drove him to it. She was incredibly clingy and possessive. I'm sure you can imagine that with the way Cory looks, he literally can't help girls throwing themselves at him sometimes. There was this guest at the resort. She was here with her parents; she wouldn't leave him alone. She was all of seventeen, so Cory just treated her like a kid with a crush... which was exactly the right thing to do. He was polite but didn't encourage her, and he made damn sure she couldn't catch him alone anywhere. Which didn't stop Jill from getting wildly jealous every time Cory even glanced in her direction." Rosie sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Jill was being stupid, I told her so myself; told her Cory would never touch the girl."

  "But she wouldn't listen," Olivia surmised.

  "Yup, and in the end there was a really ugly scene where Jill confronted the girl and called her all sorts of demeaning names, told her to stay away from Cory. Honestly I think the only reason Jill didn't get fired for it was that the parents thought their daughter had been making a fool of herself and took Jill's side when the matter went up before Luke."

  Olivia shook her head. "That... must have been pretty hard on the girl."

  "Which was what Cory thought. The whole scene was just so unnecessary, and he told Jill that when he broke it off. She'd been jealous over nothing and he could see it inevitably happening again, every time he even so much as spoke to a pretty girl. He didn't want the drama."

  And here I come with a history of nothing but drama, Olivia thought. "Thanks for telling me this, Rosie."

  "You're welcome. I'd like to see Cory happy. I'd like to see Jill happy too, but the two of them just aren't suited for each other." Rosie shrugged, her irrepressible grin breaking out again. "I'm a natural matchmaker."

  "What about you, anyone special in your life?" Olivia asked curiously.

  A wistful look crossed Rosie's face briefly before she shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

  "That look tells me that there's someone, though? Didn't Jill say you were seeing a pilot?" Olivia remembered the earlier conversation in the airport.

  "Past tense, I'm afraid."

  "I'm sorry to hear that," Olivia said genuinely.

  "He was seeing multiple other girls"—Rosie's smile was wry—"and nice though he was—and honest about it, which was a big point in his favor—I'd like to be somebody's one and only."

  Don't we all, Olivia thought. "Jill told me Cory was a player."

  "Not in the least." Rosie shook her head vehemently. "Couldn't be further from the truth. Cory isn't one to start something unless he thinks it's going somewhere. He was genuinely broken up about ending things with Jill, but her jealousy was just too much for the relationship to bear."

  "So me even hinting that I might be jealous would be a big red flag," Olivia surmised. "I'll keep that in mind."

  "You should. Because there are silly young girls who try to throw themselves at him every other week here, and Cory will be watching to see your reaction," Rosie warned. She covered a huge yawn and laughed at herself. "God, sorry. Been a long day. I'm gonna go crash."

  "Thank you for telling me the truth."

  "You're welcome." Rosie surprised Olivia with a hug, which Olivia returned tentatively. "Don't let Jill get to you. If I see or hear her starting any crap, I'll try and pull her up; she listens to me."

  Olivia thanked her again, and Rosie took her leave with a cheerful wave, leaving Olivia alone with her thoughts.

  Lost in thought, Olivia sat for a while in silence. She was startled when the cabin door opened and looked up to see a tall redheaded woman who was probably a couple of years her senior entering.

  "Hi," she said uncertainly.

  "'Allo, you must be Olivia! I have heard so much about you already! I'm Suzannah, your roommate."

  "Oh." Getting to her feet, Olivia smiled in welcome. "Hi—nobody mentioned you were French!"

  Suzannah laughed throatily, stepping forward and kissing Olivia enthusiastically on both cheeks. "Eh, we are a multinational crew here; nobody thinks much of it. As long as they can understand your accent, that is."

  That made Olivia smile. She liked Suzannah immediately, admiring her poise and confident air. "I swiped one of your sodas from the fridge earlier," she confessed, figuring she'd best get that out of the way first. "I'll replace it, I promise."

  Suzannah waved it off with another laugh, heading to the fridge herself. "Want another? I'm thirsty, been a busy night in the kitchen."

  Olivia accepted the offer and they sat to introduce themselves to each other properly. Suzannah was more than happy to answer questions, talking about her training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and her past work in major hotels and famous restaurants. Olivia almost died of shock when Suzannah admitted to once having worked for Gordon Ramsey and having a glowing recommendation from the infamously critical chef on her résumé.

  "Well, nothing I've ever done compares to that; you definitely win," Olivia said, very impressed, making Suzannah's throaty laugh ring out again. The French girl smothered a yawn then, admitting that she'd had a long day.

  "Go sleep, we can talk more tomorrow. We've got plenty of time to get to know each other," Olivia insisted when Suzannah demurred, offering to keep her company. Left alone, she thought she should probably go on into her own room, in case she made noise in the lounge area and kept the weary chef awake.

  At least the nightwear she'd brought was perfectly fine; she liked to be comfortable when she slept, so she just changed into a tank top and a pair of boyleg cotton shorts before slipping into bed and turning out the bedside light.

  Sleep was nowhere to be found, though, and after a couple of hours tossing and turning, Olivia gave up. Getting out of bed, she went out onto her little veranda, sitting down on the chair and putting her feet up on the ra
iling. It was blissfully cool outside now, whereas her room had been too warm; she sighed as the sea breeze washed over her and let her head tip back.

  "Can't sleep either?" a low voice said, and she startled upright, yelping with shock as her feet fell to the floor.

  "Sorry!"

  "Who the hell is that?" Olivia pressed her hand to her pounding heart.

  "Cory. Remember, I live next door?" There was a laugh in his voice.

  "God damn it." She shut her eyes before opening them, laughing at herself and peering across the dark space between the two cabins. She could just about make him out in the dim moonlight, lying in... "Is that a hammock?"

  "Sure is, and it's big enough to share. Wanna come join me?"

  She hesitated only briefly before scrambling to her feet and heading over. "I've never been in a hammock before," she admitted, looking at Cory sprawled negligently in the net, one long leg hanging over the side. "How do you get into it gracefully?"

  "Easier said than done," he chuckled, "but actually fairly easy when you have help..." He pushed at the floor with his foot, swung towards her, and scooped her easily off her feet to lie with her back against his chest.

  Olivia flailed for a second before realizing she was actually making it more likely they'd both fall out, and relaxed back against Cory. "You could have warned me," she grumped.

  "I could, but it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun." He nuzzled at her ear, making her shiver.

  "Practical joker," she accused, but she couldn't repress the laughter in her voice and he knew it.

  "It's a bad habit." He fell silent, and she did too, feeling oddly relaxed despite their intimately close position, despite having known him for barely twelve hours. Lying in the cradle of his thighs, head pillowed on his broad chest, Olivia felt more comfortable, more secure, than she had in a very long time. Than she could ever remember feeling, if she were completely honest with herself.

  Cory's toe brushing the floor pushed off, set them swinging gently. The slow side-to-side motion soothed Olivia, and her eyes drifted closed.