A Secret to Keep (10 page)

“No problem. I actually haven’t done this in a long time, so it was really nice to be able to come here with you.” She nodded as he pulled the car into traffic and they headed to the airport.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Sloane stood with her hands on her hips and listened to Gates speak with one of the airport representatives. “There’s no way I’m spending the night in Charleston.”

“Ma’am, there’re no flights leaving tonight. This storm is way too dangerous for us to put any planes in the air. We’ve already had one have to do an emergency landing and we aren’t taking any more chances.”

“Gates McCall, this is all your fault. I can’t believe this.” She huffed, stalking over to the bay of windows. As quickly as they entered the airport, a thunderstorm complete with hail and the most vicious lightening she’d ever seen descended on the city. It moved in quickly and churned in one spot.

“Are you sure we can’t get out of here tonight?” She could overhear Gates talking to the airport rep and the pilot as she flinched at the bright streaks slashing the sky. She knew it really wasn’t his fault, but if he had not insisted on bringing her to dinner in Charleston, she would be at home with her little boy. Chase was going to kill her. He’d agreed to babysit for her again tonight, but it wasn’t supposed to be an all-night affair. He was going to be mad about this one and she could only imagine how livid Hannah would be. They had plans to go to a concert and she knew she would hear about it for the rest of her life. Reaching into her purse, she found her cell phone and dialed. She dreaded this, but she had to let him know where she was. The phone rang a couple of times before he picked up.

“Hey, are you on your way?” She cringed at the upbeat sound of Chase’s voice, knowing she was about to shatter any good mood he was in.

“Uh, well, not exactly.” Turning quickly to make sure she was out of earshot; she could see Gates still talking with the pilot.

“What’s not exactly, Sloane?” She could hear the growing apprehension in his voice and the phone call was starting to descend into the dread zone she anticipated.

“I have good news and bad news. The good news is Gates is going to build the hospital.” She was trying her best to keep the conversation upbeat, but she knew she’d eventually have to tell him the bad news and it wasn’t going to go as well as the good.

“That’s great. I knew you and Liyah could do it.”

“Thanks. I just found out.”

“So, great, then you can come get this squealing, squirming little monster.” Hearing Brayden gurgling in the background, she could only imagine him in Chase’s arms reaching for the phone and anything else he could get his chubby little hands on.

“Well, not so much. Even if I left now, I wouldn’t be able to make it for another three to four hours.”

“Sloane, you aren’t making sense. What’s going on?”

“That’s the bad news. I’m in…Charleston right now.” She cringed, biting the side of her bottom lip and knowing she was much safer on this side of the receiver.
Wait for it.

“Charleston, as in South Carolina?”

“Yes.”
He’s going to blow a gasket.

“What the hell are you doing in Charleston!”

“Gates brought me to dinner.” Sloane had filled Chase in before concerning her past with Gates and how they traveled a lot while they were together. She had also told him many of the trips were because of some spur of the moment decision made by Gates and Sloane would go along with it. “Chase, I know I’ve asked a lot of you, but could you possibly keep Brayden tonight?” She knew better than to ask. Before she could retract the question, Chase lit into her.

“Keep him? Are you kidding me? Sloane, you know Hannah and I have plans tonight. I’ve cancelled on her or changed our plans around for you this very week to accommodate
your
lie. Do you hear yourself? You’re in Charleston with your ex. Are you even still trying to keep this secret?”

“Chase, of course I am. But he wanted to talk about the project over dinner and I thought we could do it really quickly.” Glancing back over her shoulder, she only hoped Gates couldn’t hear Chase through the phone as loud as he was. Her excuses to him for coming to Charleston with Gates were failing miserably. “I had no clue he was going to pull something like this. If I could get back there right now, I would. It’s just not possible.”

“Whatever, Sloane. What is it now? I mean he has a freakin’ private jet, what’s the problem? Did it run out of gas?” She cringed at the sarcasm trickling from each word blasting through the receiver.

“No. There’s a
terrible storm and they won’t let any of the planes leave. If it doesn’t let up, we won’t be able to leave until morning.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” She could hear the frustration and anger in his voice and she knew if he ever spoke to her again, it would be a miracle.

“Believe me; I want to be home with Brayden.” She peered over her shoulder to see Gates slowly approaching her.

“Yeah, sure you do. Look, I can’t deal with this right now.” Not only was he mad, but it was evident Brayden sensed the tension. She felt an overwhelming sense of guilt hearing him whimper in the background.

“Chase, I’m sorry. I-”

“Don’t. I really don’t want to hear it.” With that, the phone went dead and she was left with a deafening silence in her right ear. Placing the now silent phone in her purse, Sloane closed her eyes. She’d royally messed up. Chase had been her lifesaver this week as she and Liyah worked on their presentation. Why did she have to give in to Gates and his hair-brained idea to come to Charleston?

“Sloane, I’m really sorry about all of this. If you want we can try and drive back, but it’ll take a while, otherwise-” She could hear his voice behind her and she opened her eyes and twisted around, cutting him off.

“Why did I have to come with you? I knew this was a bad idea.”

“
We can try and drive back if you want or-”

“You know, I would say yes we could drive back, but that’s probably just as dangerous. So, now what?” She looked at him and took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. She knew she was taking it out on him, but she really had no one to blame for any of this but herself. And even though Chase was furious with her, Brayden was in good hands. She just wasn’t sure how good their friendship would be once she returned.

“Well, I did manage to get us a room at the
Charleston Place Hotel
.”

“Oh this just keeps getting better.” She glared at Gates. “And I guess that wasn’t planned either.” She couldn’t believe he had booked them in
their
hotel.

“Believe me. I didn’t do it on purpose. It’s the only place I could get a room, everything else is booked in town and they had a cancellation. Lucky for us.” She could tell he was trying to make the most of the situation, but at the moment she didn’t want cheering up. It was bad enough they were stuck in Charleston, but now she was going to be stuck with her ex-fiancé in a place that held more memories than she could count.

“Gates, I could really kill you right now.”

“Yeah, but what fun would that be?” He beamed, trying to get her to smile, but she wouldn’t budge. “Look, I know it’s not the most ideal thing, but we might as well make the best of this while we’re here.”

Rolling her eyes, she brushed past him to head for the door. “Let’s just go. I’m tired and I really want to get out of here.”

She watched in silence as water pooled in the streets while Gates drove to the hotel. Admittedly, it was probably better for them to stay in one place until the storm let up instead of trying to drive back to North Carolina. She cringed each time the lightening flashed and it felt like it was getting worse each time the sparks illuminated the sky. Once they pulled in front of the hotel, she waited for him to hand over the keys to the valet and they walked into the expansive lobby. It was bad enough she didn’t have an overnight bag, but even worse, they were drenched from running to the car from the airport hangar. The cold rain seeped through her shirt and slacks making her whole outfit feel like suction cups. Now she stood in the lobby soaked through and through.

“Reservation for McCall.” While Gates checked them in, Sloane peered at the familiar lobby. She remembered the last time they’d been there and it was still as beautiful now as it had been years ago. The twin staircases were gorgeous and the chandelier glistened as the light bounced off of it.

“It’s still as pretty as ever.” She said softly as he approached behind her.

“I know.” He ushered her into the elevator and they headed to the suite. Gates opened the door and the sweet smell of magnolias hit her nose as she walked in and placed her purse on the table.

“Last minute cancellation, huh?” He shrugged at her sarcastic remark.

“Hey, I can’t help it if they decided to give us an upgrade. It’s the ‘stuck in the storm’ discount, what can I say?” He laughed at the face she made as she crossed the lush carpet. “I guess we should get out of these wet clothes and get the laundry service to take care of them for us.”

“I knew it.” Turning to look at him, she tipped her head to the side. “I knew one way or the other you would try to get my clothes off.”

“Believe me, while that is tempting, it’s not my objective. I simply don’t want to be blamed for getting you sick, too.” He chuckled, removing his jacket and reaching for the buttons on his shirt. Before she could reply, he turned back to look at her. “And it never took this much in the past to get your clothes off, if I can remember correctly.”

“Yes, well, you’re right. I don’t want to catch pneumonia on top of all of this.” She squinted at him all the while pulling at the wet material clinging to her body. Her pale blue shirt had become transparent with all of the water it held and she could feel a blush rise through her cheeks under his attentive eyes.

“Why don’t you go first?” Gates offered, watching her fidget.

“Thanks,” she answered, hurrying her steps into the spacious bathroom. Taking a long hot shower, Sloane checked her reflection in the mirror before emerging in the lavish robe the hotel provided. Her hair was an absolute mess as it had reverted back to its naturally curly state, and without her blow dryer, flat iron and a whole host of products, she was forced to let it hang in damp ringlets. Walking out of the bathroom, she felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of Gates standing half-dressed in the bedroom. He’d removed his jacket and rain-drenched shirt and he now stood with a bare chest in front of the window in nothing but his rain soaked slacks. The lightning flashes in the background etched out the definition in his arms and his abs. He was in impeccable shape and it took everything in her to resist reaching out and feeling his smooth skin and the muscles beneath.

“I guess it’s my turn.” His voice reached out and shook her back to reality and she looked away, realizing he’d caught her staring. She felt him walk closer to her and she swallowed hard knowing he was watching her.

“Ah, yes, I guess so.” His deliberate slow movements as he walked past her to enter the bathroom sent a shiver down her spine and she pulled the belt to her robe a little tighter.

Hearing the water from the shower snapped her back to reality and she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone.

“Hello.”

“Hi, it’s me,” Sloane sighed, collapsing on the bed. She could finally take a breath and it helped to hear the calming and supportive voice of her friend on the phone.

“Hola mi dulce. What’s going on?” Sloane knew Liyah would have an endless amount of questions for her, but the only thing she could focus on was the sight of a near naked Gates. And now she could only imagine his bare body in the shower. She envisioned rivers of water streaming across his rock hard anatomy and his dark eyelashes made even darker by the water coursing over him. Shaking her head to try and clear it of her impure thoughts, she fiddled with the remote to the TV. “Chase just dropped Brayden off with me and was mumbling something about lies and how they catch up with you. What’s going on and where are you?”

“Brayden’s with you? Oh, Liyah. I think Chase is mad at me. No, I’m pretty sure he’s mad at me. Are you going to be okay with keeping Brayden?”

“You know it’s not a problem. But honey, that’s an understatement. Chase is incensed. What did you do to him? And, where are you? And what did Gates say he was going to do about our project after I left?”

“He’s going with our project.” She fumbled with the end of the belt of the robe and tried to get a handle on Liyah’s barrage of questions as she moved up to lie
back on the pillows.

“What! We did it. Are you serious?”

“Calm down Liyah. You’re going to be mad when you hear the rest. Gates never had any intentions of going with D&S. He was stringing us along. I could’ve killed him when he told me that, but that’s not even the real kicker.” She stopped, waiting for Liyah’s response to her news.

“That rat, I could strangle him. Does he realize how much we put into this? I can’t believe he put us through this. Then again, he does still have feelings for you so-”

“Whatever. I do agree with you that he’s a big rat because instead of me being home with my little boy, I’m stuck here in Charleston with Gates.”

“What, Charleston? Like in South Carolina? What’re you doing there?” Liyah’s voice rose in telling anticipation of what was going on with her and Gates and Sloane could virtually see the wheels turning in her friend’s mind.