The man

Maddie.

When I first saw Nick Donovan, I had no idea he would be the reason my life turned upside down. Entering the restaurant, I noticed a tall, dark and handsome and sitting alone on a table near the window. His expensive-looking suit, sharp features and chiselled jawline immediately caught my attention. I felt a knot in my stomach and sighed as I picked up my notebook and headed to his table. I put on my calm and professional front as I greeted him with a warm smile.

“Good morning, sir. My name is Maddie and I’ll be your server this morning. May I take your order, please?”

He looked up at me, his piercing green blue eyes locking onto mine. I felt my heart skip a beat as the man gazed into my eyes with a sharp intensity. The man looked like he had just walked off a magazine.

He started giving his order. Nodding, I quickly scribbled his order down. As I walked away, I felt like he was watching me. When I was almost at the counter, I couldn’t help but steal a glance at him. We received a lot of rich handsome men at the resort but there was something about this man that piqued my interest. Maybe it was the fact that he was alone. Most rich men always came with their friends or women.

The man stayed inside the restaurant for over an hour and during that time, I found myself checking on him more frequently than I was doing with the other tables. His confidence and sophistication interested me and I felt like I wanted to know more about him. I was drawn in, having noticed that his eyes tended to linger on mine longer than usual. 

“You have been an excellent server, Maddie.” He told me when he was about to leave, flashing a charming smile. 

I felt my cheeks heat up, feeling happy. I thanked him and watched as he got up from his table and made his way out. I wondered if the attraction was mutual but after tidying up the table, I regained my senses. No billionaire would be interested in an ordinary server at least, not for a serious relationship.

“Did you have to make it that obvious?” Jerry asked me a while later. Jerry was my co-worker. He was one of the counter attendants. 

“What?” I asked, acting innocent.

He rolled his eyes. “Let me remind you again. You’re not allowed to date guests or do anything inappropriate with them. If you need this job as much as you say, don’t forget that.”

He knew I needed the job. Hell, I had been extremely lucky to get a job that paid that much. My sister Danielle was chronically ill with stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer, and we needed all the help we could get. The treatment was costing a lot. The family was struggling and every penny was important to us. Jeopardizing that job would be a recipe for disaster.

My mother was a single mother who had moved to Hawaii twenty years back with my father to start an adventurous life together. Unfortunately, my father had died five years back, leaving us alone. My mother wanted us to move back to Florida where we came from but my sister was too chronically ill to be moved to another environment. We planned to move if she got better.

As handsome as that man was, I couldn’t ruin my life because of him. All I could do was watch and admire from a far. In fact, the best option was to avoid him. And I tried, but unfortunately, things don’t always go the way we want.

Most of the luxury suites in the resort I worked for had private pools. Some of the guests choose to have their meals in the private pools and we had to deliver their food there. That day, Nick Donovan requested to have his lunch taken to his private pool, and he asked for me to serve him. 

“I’m reminding you again,” Jerry told me as I was lifting the tray. “Don’t do anything that would jeopardize your job. You may be feeling good but I’ve been working here longer than you and have seen this over and over. Those billionaires are all the same and all they wanna do is use beautiful girls like you, ruin your life and go back to their happy lives. I’ve seen many victims. Don’t be one.”

I sighed. “Okay, Jerry. Got it.”

I knew that Jerry was right. My nerves were all over the place as I went to the billionaire’s pool. I tried not to spill anything because everything needed to be perfect. 

When I got there, the man was lounging on the cushioned wooden chair by the pool. His eyes were closed as he basked in the warmth of the sun. I stared at his toned muscular body longer than I should have before remembering what had brought me there.

There was an umbrella near the pool that provided shade. I set the food on the table under it. I was about to go and speak to him when he opened his eyes and sat down.

“Good afternoon, sir,” I said with a professional smile. “I have brought your order.”

He took off his sunglasses and threw on the crisp shirt that had been on the chair next to him. “Thank you,” he said. “Would you like to join me for lunch?”

I smiled, feeling honoured. “I would have loved to, but I’m not allowed to eat with the guests.”

He stood up, and with a charming smile approached me. I began to feel a rush of emotions. My heart was racing and my palms were becoming sweaty.

“What if a guest requested for it?”

“It still wouldn’t be okay.”

By now, he was very close and I was struggling to breath. “You’re very beautiful.”

I found myself drawn to his full and expressive pink lips. I wondered what it would feel like to feel them against mine and all I could think about was how badly I wanted him to kiss me. I imagined him leaning in and pressing his lips against mine with a passion I had never experienced before.

“Y…you have great lips.” I blurted before covering my mouth with my palm for a second. “Oh no. I’m sorry, I mean you look great.”

The man smiled and I felt relieved that he had not taken it too seriously. He reached out and palmed my cheek, his warm hand sending shivers down my spine and making me weak. “You have the most beautiful lips I have seen and I want to kiss them so badly. I haven’t stopped thinking about you since morning.”

I wanted to stay in that position, for that moment to last forever but I remembered Jerry’s words. As honest as this man seemed, I could not trust him. The girls who had trusted men like him had ended up regretting and I didn’t want to be one of them.

“I’m sorry sir,” I said, and he removed his hand. “I can’t do this. I have brought everything you need and I have to go and serve other guests. Feel free to reach us if you need anything else. Enjoy your lunch.”

I walked away before he could say anything, my heart pounding like it was about to explode. When I closed the door leading to the pool, I leaned against it and placed my hand on my chest, taking deep breaths. That was close.