Free Private Paradise by Jami Alden Page B

luck was about to run out.
    ###
    Carla's blood turned to ice as she looked at
the satellite pictures of the storm, moving in an ominous mass
across the blue expanse of the Caribbean. Against the expanse of
the storm, Holley Cay looked like a pin dot on the map.
    The storm was indeed headed right for them,
and she was picking up speed.
    “ We have to evacuate, and fast,” Chris
said over the speaker phone. Carla nodded absently then remembered
he couldn't see her. “They think the storm is going to hit by this
afternoon.”
    “ I know,” she said, the knowledge
filling her with dread. Even though it was the low season, the
resort only half full and a reduced staff, it meant organizing over
fifty people―of whom at least thirty were the very definition of
high maintenance―to evacuate the island in a safe and orderly
fashion before they were overcome with what were predicted to be
one hundred mile per hour winds and swells that could very well
crest the breakwater and flood the villas closest to the beach on
the windward side of the island. “We have the plan in
place―”
    “ I have a couple of changes I'd like to
suggest before we move forward.”Carla looked up to see Sam in the
doorway. Unlike Carla, who had come straight to the office from the
gym, Sam had taken a quick shower and changed. His hair was still
damp, curling a little at the ends, and he was dressed in a clean
white polo with the resort logo and a pair of khaki's.
    The smell of soap and clean male skin flooded
her nostrils, making her acutely aware of her own disheveled state,
her ponytail a rats nest of curls, the salt of dried sweat coating
her skin and making her itch. God only knew what she smelled
like.
    She shook her head snapped herself back to
attention. What the hell was wrong with her, worrying about what
Sam might think about what she looked or smelled like when they
were about to have a head on collision with the worst storm to hit
Holley Cay in the resort's history? “Sam, we have this covered. We
really don't have the time to discuss this, so if you could just
leave and wait for instructions―”
    “ If I'm not mistaken emergency planning
is a significant part of my job here. I had extensive experience in
the military planning for and dealing with natural disasters. I
know you'd like for me to keep my distance but I think in this case
you need to put whatever personal issues you have aside and let me
contribute.”
    Carla felt her face flame red. How dare he
accuse her of being unprofessional? So what if she was still
reeling from what had happened in the gym? She'd never let that get
in the way of doing what was best for the guests and the resort.
And Sam was right. Emergency and evacuation planning fell under his
umbrella and he no doubt had more hands-on experience than Carla by
far. Still, it almost choked her to admit, “You're right. Tell us
your suggestions.”
    In a sick way, Carla was almost grateful for
the storm barreling their way, as it provided a much-needed
distraction as she and Sam worked side by side to get the resort
buttoned up and the guests and staff down to the dock to be taken
to St. Thomas by ferry.
    It saved her from having to summon up every
last shred of control to pretend she was indifferent to him, that
she didn't obsess over Sam's very revealing apology every waking
hour of her day. With the clock ticking and only a few hours to get
everyone off Holley Cay before the storm hit, for the first time in
a week she didn't have time to argue with herself about whether or
not she should put any stock in what Sam had said.
    About how sorry he was, how much he'd cared
about her. How he hadn't meant what he'd said, that he'd only
lashed out in a fit of insecurity.
    Under the best of circumstances, she didn't
have time wrestle with herself, trying to convince the stupid,
naïve girl inside of her, the one who still had a soft spot for her
first love, that nothing he said mattered. She'd spent all week
repeating to