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Chapter One
Seth Jackson sighed in resignation as he ended his conference call with the ement team of the Oceanix Resorts He swiveled his chair so that he was facing the wall of glass behind him The Atlantic Ocean sparkled in the hot July sunshine as crowds of tourists lined the beaches below So in the office in a suit while looking down upon nothing but bikinis and swi and working in a resort town Sometimes, or in his case,it was pointless to delay; he spun his chair back to his desk and signed his name to the bottom of the contract from Danvers International It wasn’t that he had a problem with the company itself, because they were the best there was in the coht of Danvers, he thought of Beth Denton and their last date together That was probably one of thelife
His best friend, Brett, had been going through a rough ti-teruy and he was desperate to find someone new to fill the void that Becka’s departure had left behind One night after reed to try out a local dating service with Brett He really hadn’t intended to do anything other than pay his enrollh the motions until Brett found someone When he had run across Beth’s profile on the computer, he had been more than a little interested She was beautiful and sounded like someone he would have a lot in common with He had asked her out that same day and had been very ione out a few ht kisses before she had suddenly gone AWOL for a few months When she finally returned his call and accepted another date, he had been excited and ready to move the relationship forward until the dinner discovery
He had met Beth at Sara J’s, one of his favorite seafood restaurants in Garden City Beach, South Carolina When she had walked in, he thought she looked different He kneas probably a bit crude, but she had the look of a wo their initial dates, she was always a tad reserved and obviously nervous, but on that night, she had seemed more confident in herself and her sexuality He was pretty sure at that point what had been occupying her for the past few months, but maybe that was over since she had accepted his dinner invitation
They had just settled at their table with the conversation flowing easily when a man had approached their table It was obvious that he knew Beth He suspected froe that they had been intimate He had been surprised when the introductions were made He had heard of Nick Merimon Hell, Myrtle Beach was a small tohere you either personally knew or knew of most everyone in the business circles He had heard that Danvers International had ed with Mericom, which had been owned by the Merimon family He knew Jason Danvers socially and had met Gray Merimon, Nick’s brother, on a few occasions Nick’s reputation as a ladies’ h they both worked for Danvers, he wouldn’t have suspected a personal connection between Nick and Beth They seemed to be co a little sorry for Beth He was afraid that she had probably been seduced and duive her the support she needed to -teruy if needed
He had barely had tione wildly off course He had asked Beth how she knew Nick and she had said that they worked together Nick had added that they lived together and that they were having a baby He had actually been teh at first, sure that this was some kind of bad attempt at humor on Nick’s part When he took a closer look at Beth’s face though he had known it was true What he didn’t knohy in the hell she had accepted a date with hinant women who clearly have so through a dating service?
With Nick still standing at their table, he had left the restaurant at barely less than a run He had been pissed He had no idea if Nick and Beth had left together and he couldn’t have cared less at that point He couldn’t help but feel like he had been so with Nick Merie on his voice He hadn’t returned her call He had hoped never to have to think about her or that night again, but apparently that wasn’t in the cards Soon Danvers International would be invading his turf, and he hadn’t wanted to explain the reason behind his opposition to his nosy family so he was screwed
Only his close friends and family were aware that the Oceanix Resorts were owned by the Jackson family There were ten beachfront resorts located in such hot spots as Mexico, Jain Islands, Charleston, and Turks and Caicos Seth ran the Oceanix Resort in Myrtle Beach and his brothers, Rhett, Ash, Dylan, and Luke, ran resorts in Florida, Charleston, and St Croix His cousins rounded out the rest of the ement of the Oceanix chain Like their fathers before them, they each lived and breathed the business They could have easily expanded, but they all believed that quality was better than quantity Each location was booked for months in advance It was rare that they had vacancies The service they offered was impeccable and second to none A stay at the resort was first-class all the way They were a five-star resort and their staff was paid well to make sure there were never issues with custos, replacing the co he would usually be concerned with It wasn’t as if Beth Denton or Nick Merih the door as a part of the installation teaainst a Danvers syste but questions from his nosy family They only purchased top of the line for the resort chain and that meant Danvers whether he liked it or not
As if soh the door as he was setting his pen down He had no idea how she did that He often wondered if she had his office under soie ether for five years now and he would be lost without her, a fact that she pointed out to hih he rolled his eyes, they both kneas true She was a wise-cracking, tough-love ure and he adored her She dressed like soh heels that she insisted on wearing daily Her ink-black hair was cut short and had that perfectly mussed look that woave her carte blanche to the resort hair salon and she was a walking advertisement for the talent of the stylists She was fit and trim and he had no idea how She ate like a sailor and cursed like one at times
His own mother, Charlotte, as she preferred to be called by her sons, lived in California with her second husband He rarely saw her and that was so that they were both okay with She had bonded with her husband’s children froe and she tended to act as if he and his brothers were just distant acquaintances unless she needed the services of one of the Oceanix Resorts
His father had died a couple of years back of a heart attack He had been a brilliant businessant lifestyle of the rich After his divorce, he never lacked for female company Seth was sure that he never lacked for it while he was married; he just tried to hide it better than he had afterward He had vowed to never re to deal with a step that neither he nor his brothers had wanted
He juers in front of his face "Can I have that contract or do you plan to sit there clutching it while staring into space for the rest of the day?" He handed the papers over without coes When she was finished, she shook her head saying, "Man, it sucks to be you Talk about bad ie was one of the few people he had told about the fiasco with Beth and he noished that he hadn’t He shrugged his shoulders "It’s not a big deal"