Seduced (The Billionaire’s Command #1)
Seduced
Victoria Villeneuve
Copyright 2013 by Victoria Villeneuve
I stood in front of my bed, frowning at the suitcase I’d hoisted onto it, trying to decide which bathing suit I was going to take with me. I mean, I know, it’s the ultimate first world problem. The red one piece with black polka dots that covered up more of my body, but would ultimately make me look like a bit of a prude who didn’t dare wear a bikini, or the black and gold striped bikini that was undoubtedly sexier, but definitely not me?
I sighed, then tossed the one piece into the suitcase. I wouldn’t be comfortable in the bikini. I didn’t even know why I bought it. Sure, I’d look like a prude, but let’s face it, I was the prude of the group. Everyone else who worked in the branch of my office was either already married, many with kids to prove that they had more sex than I did, or still single and living it up in bars on Friday nights.
God, cheer up Caroline. You’re going to Hawaii, it’s not like this is a chore I scolded myself as I moved onto figuring out how many pairs of socks this trip was going to require.
In all honesty, I was really looking forward to this trip. It had all started three months earlier, when the company I worked for, Alistair Investments, put forth a contest. The branch which brought in the most new business in June would win an all expenses paid vacation to Hawaii for a week in August at a luxury resort.
I didn’t really have all that much to do with winning the contest. I worked as a financial analyst, which is a pretty fancy way of saying I’m a glorified accountant. I look at numbers, and I decide if those numbers are likely to go up or down. I have an office in the back of the building, where I confer with my fellow analysts, but we’re not the ones who go out and find new clients for the branch. We don’t bring in the new money, we keep the money that the sales staff bring us loyal.
Luckily for me, however, our sales staff was second to none, and we blew away the rest of the competition for the duration of the contest. That’s how I managed to get a free vacation to Hawaii without really needing to do anything for it. Whatever. I worked really hard to get where I was, and I was going to enjoy this little treat, even if I didn’t really earn it per se.
My best friend, one of the salespeople in question, Lisa, always told me I should be appreciative.
“You never take any breaks, Caroline. You work like a madwoman. You don’t have boyfriends, you don’t really go out and party with people, you need an outlet to let off some steam every once in a while.”
“Yeah, well, I still feel like a cheater going on this vacation I didn’t earn. I mean, you did like, half the sales for our branch for the quarter.”
“I did, but whatever. We knew from the start that everyone in the branch would get to go. It’s not like you’re cheating your way in or something. Come on, Caroline. Have some fun, let loose. It’s Hawaii, all expenses paid! I went there with Rob for our honeymoon and we spent a ridiculous amount of cash, this is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip.”
“I guess so,” I replied, succumbing to Lisa’s positive energy. I wished I could be like her. Lisa was so strong, so confident. She had grown up in the suburbs here, her father was a former athlete who had almost gone pro until a knee injury ended his career before it had even started. He bought a coffee shop in town and ran that, while Lisa’s mom taught kindergarten at the local elementary school. Lisa basically had the perfect upbringing I had dreamed of having.
She visited her parents every Sunday. On the other hand, I had basically escaped from mine and spent most of my time trying to make sure I couldn’t be found.
I never knew my father, he left my mother before I was born. But I had the kind of overbearing mother that never lived the kind of life they wanted to, and so took it out on their kids. Unfortunately, since I was the only one she had, one hundred percent of that energy turned into making sure I was the perfect child, that I lived the figure skating dream my mother had hoped for herself.
Twenty two years after she put me in my first pair of figure skates, and it had been eight years since I had worn a pair. I was twenty four now. A woman in my own right. I had escaped the clutches of my mother’s fingers, I had gotten away from the life she wanted for me, and I had carved out the life I wanted for myself. When I got to my late teens I realized I was never going to be a professional figure skater. I was pretty good, absolutely, but I didn’t have the natural talent required to really make the national team. I was lanky, I was a little bit awkward, and while I absolutely had the work ethic, I realized it just wasn’t going to happen. If only my mother had accepted that.
Unfortunately, wounds to the soul don’t heal nearly as quickly as wounds to the body. I was thankful for Lisa; she was my only friend, really. I had a hard time trusting people. Most people would ask about my past, want to know everything when I told them about how I used to figure skate. Not Lisa. She never asked. She realized immediately it was a touchy subject and never brought it up again. We didn’t speak about anything that happened before we met.
It’s also part of the reason why I never had boyfriends. I mean, I wasn’t a virgin. But I never allowed myself to get close to someone. We would go on a couple of dates, it’d be fun, maybe I’d even invite him over for the night, but eventually, he always got too close. He always wanted to know, to really discover me, and the thought of it terrified me. I always ended up pushing men away. My last boyfriend was even worse than that, and that’s when I gave up on romance. It wasn’t for me. I would live out my days a single woman. Career-oriented, they would call me, and I was happy with that.
I forced the thoughts out of my head. I wasn’t going to dwell on the past. I was my own woman now. I had gotten good grades in high school, gone to college, graduated, and now found a great job that paid pretty well and was now treating me with a week in Hawaii. Right now, I didn’t have a lot to complain about when it came to my life.
Twenty minutes later I was done packing. As I climbed into bed, my suitcase on the floor, ready to go the following afternoon, I was getting excited.
Travel had never really been the sort of thing I’d been able to do in my life. I mean, that’s not strictly true. Growing up I’d gone all over the country taking part in figure skating competitions. But driving around the northern part of America with my mom in a van, sleeping in the back seat, sometimes getting a hotel room, wasn’t exactly what I called “travelling”. Usually I never saw more than the arena and maybe one major landmark wherever we went.
After I broke away from my mother’s clutches, I was on my own. When I went to college, I had to pay for everything myself. My two part time jobs paid for my food, and some of my rent, but not much else. I lived off student loans, and still had about $20,000 worth to pay off. I had decided when I finally paid them off and saved some money I would go travel around Europe for two months, but that was a long way off. This was going to be the first time I’d ever been on a plane. The first time I was ever going to be somewhere tropical.
I met up with Lisa and the rest of the staff from our office at the Minneapolis airport the next day. I grinned at her as I came up with my suitcase, all of us waiting for our manager, Tom, to come over and organize check in.
“Hey,” I told Lisa as I went up to her. “Excited?”
“Oh my God, yes. You have no idea how jealous Rob is of me right now. It’s amazing. I can’t believe this is actually happening. I love Hawaii so much, and I know you will too.”
“Yeah, I’m definitely getting excited, the closer we get to it.”
We didn’t have a chance to say any more as at that moment Tom came up and organized us a
ll. He’d checked us all in online before, handed out boarding passes, and we all lined up to check in our luggage.
“So I was looking up the place we’re staying at online the other day,” Lisa started as we waited our turn to drop off our luggage. “It’s basically the most amazing place ever. Every room has a view of either Diamond Head, or the beach. We’re right in the middle of Waikiki, where all the action is.”
“This is probably a really dumb question, but what do you do in Hawaii? Like, do you just sit by the pool and drink mai tais, or do you go out and spend the day in the ocean, surfing, or what?”
“Well you can do whatever you want. The resort we’re staying at can organize basically any trip you want. You know what? I’m going to take you snorkelling. We basically take a boat out, they take us to bays that are filled with coral, tropical fish, turtles, octopi, and more. It’s totally amazing, I guarantee you it’s something you’ll never forget.”
“That sounds awesome! I’m also going to learn how to surf, I think. It’s just one of those things that I don’t think I should go to Hawaii without taking a surfing lesson, even if I’ll be totally awful at it.”
“Definitely. I agree. You should do that, while I sit on the beach and drink. Apart from that, basically just relax. There’s a ton of shopping you can do, or just lounge by the pool and have sexy men bring you drinks. It’s awesome. You’re going to love Hawaii.”
We dropped off our bags and went through security. Lisa showed me how everything worked, and I’m pretty sure I made it through without looking like the lone idiot who had never been on a plane before.
“Ok, we’re at gate 17. Let’s go find a seat now, or we’re never going to get one at all. We’re boarding in like, twenty minutes, so it shouldn’t be too long.”
When we got to gate 17 there was an airplane already there, its enormous nose pointing straight at me as I stared at it out the window.
“Is that what we’re flying in?” I asked Lisa. It was enormous! I had never really actually seen a plane close up before. I knew they were big, but this was way bigger than I had thought.
“Yeah, it is. They’re just cleaning it up now before letting us in.”
“Holy shit, that’s huge.”
“Not really, it’s just a normal sized plane,” Lisa said, laughing. “I always forget you’ve never flown before, but yeah, this is basically the type of plane you’ll take anywhere in the country.”
“Wow.” I stared at it for a while after sitting down next to Lisa as we found a couple of chairs. Don and Karen, the receptionist and another salesman from our office, sat down across from us and we chatted for a while until we were finally called onto the flight.
I was a little bit apprehensive at first, and when the engines roared to life I genuinely thought I was going to die, but the plane took off, my stomach plummeted inside my body, and we were in the air. It was all pretty uneventful after that, and seven hours later we found ourselves landing in Honolulu.
Tom had organized for a shuttle from the resort to come and pick us up. We climbed into the seats, and I admired my new lei and enjoyed the heat. It was night time now, just after eight, but it was still very, very warm. Definitely nicer than the weather in Minneapolis, that was for sure.
When we got to the resort, an efficient looking blonde woman came out to greet us.
“Aloha, I’m Sandra. Welcome to the Hibiscus Resort Waikiki. We’ve got your rooms all organized, I’ll call out your names and please come and get your keys. The pool is on the third floor, with a perfect view over the ocean. It’s open 24 hours, and you’ll need your key to access it. The gym is on the top floor, and you’ll need your key to access it as well. For anyone who wants to organize excursions either through or outside of the resort, please feel free to come over here to the concierge desk, where we’ll be happy to book whatever you desire.”
Exhausted, Lisa and I went up to our room. We shared two queen beds, overlooking the sea.
“Oh my God, Lisa, I can’t believe it!” I exclaimed as we entered the room. It was pure luxury. A huge flatscreen TV against one wall, a kitchenette with a dining table on the other side of the room and a comfortable looking, modern couch made up the living area. To the side was the bedroom, with two queen size beds, and a marble bathroom that looked like it came out of the movies.
“I feel like we’re in a magazine,” Lisa exclaimed as she looked around the room with me.
“Just think, this is where we’re going to be staying for the next week. This is amazing!” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, it is.”
About fifteen minutes later our excitement wore off and exhaustion set in. We crawled into the incredibly comfortable beds and went to sleep. As I drifted off, I thought to myself that this was going to be the greatest week ever. Little did I know how right I was, and that it was also going to change my life.