❦Jason ❦

"Surprise!"

I tore my gaze away from the computer screen and looked up to see Cheryl Black standing in front of me. "Cher." I stood up and walked around my desk towards her. "When did you get back from Cannes?"

"A couple of hours ago." She pressed a soft kiss to my cheek just as I pulled her into a hug. "Did you miss me?"

"Nah. Barely noticed you were gone." I teased.

"Liar." She laughed and flopped down in the chair in front of my desk, and I took my seat behind the desk. "What are you doing tonight?"

"What do you think?" I said gesturing to the huge stacks of documents on my desk. I needed to go through them and put my signature of approval on them. Not only that but I had several meetings too.

"God, you're such a workaholic."

"And you're such a fine example of balance?" I shot her an amused look. She was one of the busiest actresses in Hollywood and travelled all over the world for filming.

"Of course. I take breaks in between filming." She waved a hand carelessly and grinned. "C'mon let's do something tonight."

"Like what?"

"There's this new Korean restaurant in Long Beach I've been dying to try. We can start by having an early dinner there. Say about 6 or 7?"

I rubbed a hand across my nape as I considered her idea. I needed a break, I admitted to myself. I hadn't even eaten anything since breakfast the previous day. A decent meal and a night out with Cheryl would do me good. But on the other hand, there was so much work to do.

"I'm not taking no for an answer." Cheryl quickly said reading my mind.

"You're so damn annoying, you know that?"

"Is that a yes?"

Shooting her an exasperated look, I pressed my intercom.

Andrea's voice came through. "Yes, Sir?"

"What's my schedule after 5 today?"

"You have a meeting with Mr. Preston at 5, a management meeting at 6 and an interview with Forbes Magazine at 7."

I frowned thinking. Preston was the Regional Manager who oversaw the operations and sales of all of my hotels and resorts in Europe, and he had flown in straight for the meeting so I couldn't cancel it. The management meeting was important too and I didn't want to cancel the interview with Forbes either. I had already cancelled on them twice before.

"Also Mr. Yates wants to talk to you regarding the mobile app." Andrea continued after a pause. "Should I set a meeting for 8?"

Yates was the head of the Research and Development department. He was currently working on several new features to add to our existing mobile hotel booking app. I knew he wouldn't request a meeting unless it was urgent.

"Make it 7.30."

"Very well, sir. Is there anything else?"

"That's all."

Cheryl who had been listening to the conversation gave a dramatic sigh. "Next time I want to have dinner with you I'll just call Andrea and make an appointment."

"Good idea." I couldn't help grinning at the face she made at me. "I'll be done by 9. We can still do dinner."

Her face brightened up. "Great. I'll call Nathan and tell him to join us."

"I doubt he can make it. He already has plans tonight."

"Really? With who? Anyone I know?" She asked excitedly.

"If you're familiar with the Swedish Royal family."

"Oh, don't tell me it's Princess Isabelle."

"Why, do you know her?"

"I met her on my last trip to Sweden. She's one of the sweetest people I know." She sighed. "She doesn't deserve to be hurt."

My lips twitched. "I doubt Nathan has any intention of hurting her."

"I'd have believed you if not for the long trail of broken hearts behind you both."

"In my defense, the women I sleep with know exactly what they are getting into."

She laughed, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "One of these days you're going to meet a woman who makes you feel things you've never felt before, and trust me, you won't know what hit you."

Kate popped into my mind immediately and I felt my body still. I clenched my jaw in annoyance. No, I refused to believe I had feelings for her. It was just physical lust.

"Oh my god, you already have, haven't you?" She was staring at me gleefully.

Rearranging my features into a smirk, I got up from my seat and walked around to her. "Okay, that's it. You're leaving now." I said pulling her to her feet and steering her towards the door.

"I can't believe you're kicking me out. At least tell me who she is."

I was enjoying the frustration on her face. "I'll pick you up at 9."

"Fine. I'll drop it for now. But you know I won't rest until I find out who the mystery woman is, right?"

"You're such a pain in my ass."

"That's why you love me so much." She grinned and stood on her toes to press a kiss to my cheek. "See you at 9."

I watched her leave with exasperated amusement on my face. I knew she would spend the whole dinner questioning me.

The first time I met Cheryl was when I was 18. It was a couple of weeks after my relationship with Kate ended. I had accompanied my parents to a charity event in Washington and she was also there. Her family owned one of the biggest chain of high end retail stores all over the world. So naturally, my family and hers moved in the same social circles.

Over the next few months we found ourselves meeting at different social events and we developed a genuine friendship between us. After high school Nathan and I decided to go on a trip before we went off to college. I asked Cheryl to join us and the three of us went backpacking in Africa. We covered South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia in a month, spending a week in each country.

That trip had been life changing for us. Cheryl and I had a pampered life, with every luxury known to man. We were used to staying at the best hotels, travelling in private jets and fancy cars. However, Nathan came from a working-class family and he persuaded us to rough it. So instead of fancy hotels, we chose to stay with local families who provided accommodation to travelers and camped under the stars.

We explored the beautiful countries by public buses, vans and hired scooters. The locals were so kind and wonderful and we learnt so much from them on our short trip. It was the best experience of our lives and completely changed our perspective on how we saw the world.

When we came back to the States, the three of us had grown so close to each other. We even ended up applying to the same college. Our friendship was strictly platonic, in fact, Nathan and I thought of Cheryl as a sister.

After college, Cheryl pursued her dream of acting and modelling. Nathan started his own consulting firm. Four years later, now Cheryl was the most successful actress in Hollywood. Nathan had turned his firm into a multibillion dollar empire. As for me, in the time since I stepped in as the CEO of Perez Holdings, I had doubled our family's net worth earning the 6th place on Forbes list of world's top billionaires.

But all through our success, the three of us had remained as close as ever. We had a once in a lifetime kind of friendship.

I was jerked out of my thoughts by a knock on my door.

"Come in."

Andrea entered carrying several files I had requested.

I took them from her and asked. "Is everything ready for my departure tomorrow?"

Kate and I were flying out to Bali to see the hotel the next day. She had called me the previous day saying she had changed her mind and wanted to accept the hotel project. We had spent agonizingly long hours in my office the previous day.

She acted distant and professional and I did the same. At the start of the meeting she told me that she had told her fiancé everything and the only reason she was accepting the job was because he had asked her. I was still perplexed as to why he wanted her to take the job but Kate refused to answer.

"I want you to forget about whatever happened between us. I'll appreciate it if you treat me in a professional manner." These were her exact words. If she wanted me to be professional I would give her that.

Andrea nodded. "Yes, sir. The jet will be ready for take-off at 6 in the evening. I've booked you and Miss Lewis at The Lavinia Hotel and a car will be waiting for you at the airport when you arrive."

"Good. Inform Kate that Ben will pick her up tomorrow." I said dismissing her.

After she left I thought about the trip. For the millionth I asked myself if I had made the right decision in hiring Kate. There was no doubt that she would do a wonderful work on the hotel. I was afraid for me.

Like Nathan said, I had always let my guard down where she was concerned. She was proving to be my biggest weakness and I needed to be very careful around her. The last thing I wanted was to repeat the same mistake I did when I was 18. I had a feeling the three days in Bali were going to be the longest days of my life.