On the way home, Faith mentally replayed the events of the evening.
She hoped she’d said and done all the right things. Ryan and Paul had immersed themselves in business through dinner, while Faith endured Jenelle’s barrage of questions about her life, her past, her education and social ambitions.
Social ambitions? She had none. When she couldn’t come up with a list of social obligations, Jenelle had been horrified.
Was she supposed to volunteer for some committee? Join the Bridge Club? What? She made a mental note to ask Ryan about it later.
When they arrived home, Faith went upstairs to prepare for bed and Ryan marched into his office without a word to her.
Had she done something to upset him? At the beginning of the evening, when he gave her the jewelry, she could have sworn she read desire in his eyes.
Obviously she’d been wrong. Like she’d know what desire in a man’s eyes looked like. She was certainly no expert there.
So why had he been so quiet on the way home? She’d been nice to the Worthingtons and hadn’t done or said anything that should have embarrassed him.
Maybe men got moody too, just like women.
Faith hung her dress in the closet and slipped on her nightgown. She slid into bed and turned off the light.
The bed seemed overly large without Ryan in it, despite the fact she continued to keep her distance from him. She wasn’t ready yet to make that intimate leap with her new husband.
But, still, the bed was too large for her to sleep in alone. Funny how quickly one’s perspective could change.
Faith needed her husband in bed with her.
Ryan sat at his desk, pondering where his mission had gone wrong.
He’d bought her jewelry. Women loved jewelry. They gushed, they ooohed, they aaahed, then they jumped gratefully into bed with you.
So, why hadn’t Faith?
Damn, she had looked incredible tonight. The dress clung to her curves, accentuating a body he was dying to get his hands on, and wasn’t allowed to touch. Yet. He made a last ditch attempt to will the lustful feelings away.
They wouldn’t leave. And despite his carefully planned round one, he was downstairs in his office, and she was upstairs in their bed.
The bed where obviously no lovemaking would occur tonight.
The diamond idea had been a complete bust. Faith acted as if he’d purchased them on some television shopping network for twenty dollars.
Nothing. A polite thank you and that was it.
Why hadn’t he noticed that the only jewelry she wore was her wedding ring?
Faith wasn’t like other women. Obviously.
He stood and paced the dark-paneled office, skirting the oversized desk and plopping down on the plump sofa. He propped his feet on the glass coffee table, leaned back and laced his fingers together behind his neck.
Jewelry didn’t do it for her. Fine, then. He had other ideas. Which strategy to employ next?
He glanced at the calendar on the wall and thought a moment. Yes, this would be a good time. Things were going well at work. Nothing pressing coming up. He could afford to take a few days off.
He loosened his tie, went back to his desk and pulled out his scheduler.
A few telephone calls and round two would be in action.
This one would work. This one would get Faith into his bed, only there wouldn’t be any sleeping.
With a satisfied grin, he picked up the telephone.
Chapter Eight
Faith couldn’t believe she was actually on a plane heading to Hawaii.
And not a commercial airline either, but the McKay corporate jet.
Ryan was full of surprises. He’d shocked her early this morning when he announced they were going to take a few days off and go to Hawaii.
At first she thought he’d been joking, but he hadn’t been. With a stern look and a glance at his watch, Ryan had informed her she had approximately one hour to throw a few things in a suitcase and get ready to leave.
Why he decided on this trip, she didn’t know. But, she had to go along, as did both James and Stan.
James arrived downstairs in a less than jovial mood. They left at a little past seven in the morning, and James usually didn’t rise until well after noon. But then again, Ryan told her, James always stayed out partying until almost dawn. No wonder he was tired.
Stan looked wide-eyed and ready to go, apparently more than happy to take the trip to Hawaii. That didn’t surprise her, since he worked only for the McKays and could conduct his business from anywhere.
Now the four of them were shortly to land on the island of Oahu.
Stan worked on his laptop, James was asleep and snoring loudly and Ryan was on the phone.
Faith gawked out the window, amazed at the expanse of ocean below her. She’d never been to Hawaii, although she’d always dreamed of it.
She’d expressed her delight about the trip to Ryan, who’d only smiled enigmatically as he packed his things.
When she’d asked him if the trip was business or pleasure, his only comment was, “Pleasure, I hope. And lots of it.” He’d said it with a huge grin like he’d just eaten the best dessert of his life.
Men were so strange.
The pilot announced it was time to land. Faith watched the descent of the plane into the islands with the excitement of a child, anxious to get out and explore.
The islands looked so small, she thought as they circled in preparation for landing. It was hard to believe that these tiny little islands held such attraction for so many mainlanders. But then again, her own heart pumped in anticipation of setting foot in the tropics.
The plane touched down and Faith, Ryan and their two chaperones disembarked and piled into the awaiting limo.
Their hotel, owned by the McKays, was an opulent twin-towered high rise located on Waikiki Beach. When they exited the limo, Faith didn’t know where to turn her eyes first. She inhaled, filling her lungs with the heady fragrance of the abundant ginger permeating the front entryway of the hotel.
They were shown to their rooms immediately by the bellman. Faith and Ryan’s top floor suite overlooked the ocean. It took up the entire floor, obviously the best one in the hotel.
“Shouldn’t this suite be saved for one of the paying guests?” she asked as she followed Ryan onto the balcony.
“No. This is my personal apartment. It’s never rented out to paying guests. There’s another suite like it in the adjacent tower.”
Personal apartment? It was more like a mansion, and bigger than most homes. The long hallway stretched as far as she could see, and Faith counted at least four bedrooms in addition to the oversized master, which had its own private balcony overlooking the ocean.