by Tina Martin
She poured a glass of orange juice and called Kierra at work. Kierra usually complained about being bored at work and she had just the story to get her hyped.
“What are you doing calling me so early?” Kierra answered.
“Girl, I couldn’t sleep.”
“Why not? Still trying to decide if you want to do that project with gorgeous Giovanni?”
“Um…I kinda decided to do it already. He was over here last night.”
“At your house!”
Jojo giggled. “Yeah. He was here…told him I was working on the table and he suggested that he come over and begin the first one-hour consultation.”
“Wait…is this Joelle Bannon?”
Jojo laughed. “It was nothing but work, Kierra.”
“Yeah, right. You have never, ever, ever, ever had a man at your house.”
“I know. That’s why I couldn’t sleep. Seems like Giovanni left some of his testosterone here.” Jojo laughed.
Kierra did, too. “I told you to watch those Lennox guys. It was the talk of the town when everyone found out Remington Lennox was married. It gave all these women hope that his brothers would be up for grabs. Wait until they catch wind of Giovanni Lennox spending time with you.”
“Yeah…like people would ever think Giovanni would fall for a woman like me.”
“I told you about talking down about yourself.”
“I’m not. I just know my place. Besides the fact that I don’t want to be involved with anyone, I know for a fact now that Giovanni has no interest in me.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Because he friend-zoned me.”
“What?” Kierra asked, chuckling.
“He friend-zoned me. Said he wanted to be friends, and we shook on it.”
“And you take that to mean he doesn’t have any other interest in you.”
“I know that’s what it means. Men don’t want to be friends with a woman they’re interested in. He made it clear, upfront, that he wanted to be friends. So, now when I’m around him, I don’t feel so guarded. Working with him on this project is going to be a piece of cake.”
“If you say so. Anyway, girl, I have a meeting to get to. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay. Later.”
__________
Giovanni sat in the conference room, twirling his pen around in his hand, completely zoned out from what Kenton was saying. His thoughts were on Joelle. Watching her work yesterday gave him a glimpse into her world. Her passion. He could understand why everyone at the lodge loved her. She had a heart of pure gold and had selfishly given of herself to make sure they were happy, even though she wasn’t happy.
Remington looked at Giovanni and lifted a brow. When had he ever seen his brother daydreaming?
“That’s all I have,” Kenton said. “Any questions?”
“No,” Remington said. “Giovanni, you have any questions for Kenton?”
Giovanni blinked out of his trance. “Nah. I’m good.”
“While you’re here, do you have any updates on the lodge?” Remington inquired.
“By some miracle, I convinced Joelle to be a consultant. I only have one hour with her for the next twenty-nine days. Met with her for the first session yesterday evening.”
“Oh yeah?” Remington said.
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“And what?” Giovanni asked.
“What’d you find out?”
He thought about everything Joelle had told him and said, “Found out that your suspicions were correct. She was the reason the lodge was doing so well. I want Kevin Knicely terminated, effective immediately.”
“Why?” Kenton asked.
“Because he does nothing. I went to the lodge yesterday. First of all, he wasn’t even there when I arrived, so I took the time to talk with the cleaning staff and they all told me how Joelle did little things to make the lodge as successful as it was. She had good relationships with the staff. She even gave them bonuses out of her own money.”
“Bonuses? How could she afford to do that making nine dollars an hour?” Remington asked.
Giovanni grimaced a bit before he said, “Must’ve been from the insurance money from her parent’s death.”
“Her parents are dead?” Remington asked.
“Yes. They died in a fire when she was a teenager. That’s why she quit the lodge. It wasn’t because of the pay. It was because of the fire. She didn’t need the money.”
“Oh,” Kenton said.
“She genuinely enjoyed working there, and Kevin took advantage of that. I want him gone by the end of the week.”
“We can’t terminate him without a replacement,” Kenton said.
“Joelle will be his replacement. She’s respected there.”
“But she said she wouldn’t go back there,” Remington said. “And now, I know why. The fire.”
Giovanni nodded. “No worries. One way or another, I’ll convince her to come back.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?” Remington asked.
“I’m an expert at convincing women to do things.”
Kenton grinned. “Really now?”
“Yeah. Really.”
“You sure about that, Giovanni?” Remington asked. “Just the other day, you were ready to walk away from the idea of working with Joelle. Said she was difficult.”
“I did say that, but I’d misjudged her. The other day, I didn’t know she was kind enough to pay our employees bonuses out of her own pocket. Something we should’ve been doing.” Giovanni stood up. “I’m sending an email to all managers this morning regarding performance reviews. I’ll copy you both on it.” Giovanni walked out of the room.
“Looks like he’s latching on to this role after all,” Kenton said.
“Yeah,” Remington said, “And I think I know why.”
___________
Giovanni stepped into his office, pumped and ready to type up an email to the managers – people he was overseeing directly now. Talking with Jojo made him want to accept the challenges of his new responsibility and work on the problems within the organization, beginning now.
From: Giovanni Lennox
To: Area Hotel Managers [All]
Cc: Remington Lennox; Kenton Lennox; Drake Lennox
Subject: IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED
Managers,
As a part of the ongoing restructuring of Lennox Enterprises, I have moved into a new district manager role. In the upcoming months, I will be meeting with each of you to talk about issues specific to your hotel and any other concerns you may want to discuss.
First on the agenda is performance reviews. It has come to my attention that employee performance reviews are either not up-to-date or are not being done at all. Effective immediately, I need you to schedule some time with your direct reports to accomplish this task before the end of the month. If, for some reason, you feel you will not be able to complete this by the end of the month, call me directly on my cell at 858-555-2774 to discuss.
Respectfully,
--
Giovanni Lennox
Chapter 10
Jojo brushed off the table with a new, dry paintbrush then wiped it down with a damp cloth, making sure to remove any wood dust or debris before applying the primer. Giovanni watched intently, eating his second corndog like he hadn’t had breakfast or lunch. She grinned. “Every time I see you, you’re stuffing something inside of your mouth.”
She glanced up at him and saw food bulging out of his jaw while he gulped down cola.
“That’s because I’m always hungry.”
She laughed.
“I am. Doctor told me I have to eat to keep up with all the excess calories I burn.”
“You can actually burn calories being a manager? Who would’ve ever thought?” she joked.
He grinned. “Unlike Kevin Knicely, I work,” he said. “Plus, I work out. Lift weights. I do two hours in the morning before work and an hour before bed.”
“You thought I was a wimp, didn’t you?”
Jojo laughed. “No. I didn’t think you were a wimp.”
“Yes, you did. You sitting out here doing woodwork and whatnot…got that tomboyish thing going on…probably got some Beyoncé independent anthem playing in your head, don’t you?”
Jojo didn’t know why she was so tickled, but she was, laughing while trying to work at the same time. “No. Not at all.”
“Yes, you do. Women like you think men are weak.”
She stopped, held the rag in her hand and said, “That’s not true.”
“It is true, but don’t let these suits fool you. I got power under here, girl.”
She laughed more. “Whatever, Giovanni.”
He loved the sound of his name off of her lips. Loved to see her tickled. It made him laugh, too. “Prove me wrong.”
“How?” she asked.
“Let me help you.”
“No. I told you…this is—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You told me. I get it.”
She withheld a smile as she stared at him.
“What?” he asked.
“You really need to stop doing that if it’s your goal to build a spirit of camaraderie with your employees.”
“Doing what?”
“Cutting people off when they speak.”
His cheeks dimpled. “Maybe I only do that to you, Jojo.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to hear your excuses.”
Jojo’s mouth fell open. She was convinced he had a few screws loose. “How many more corndogs do you have to feast on?”
He peeked in the bag and said, “Just one more.”
“Okay then. After you’re finished gobbling down that last corndog, I’ll let you prime the table. And I’ll sit back and watch you get this mess all over your expensive suit.”
He grinned. “You act like this suit can’t come off.”
She swallowed hard. Dang. She hadn’t thought about him coming out of his suit and all, putting his muscles on display. “Um…I have to let the table sit for about twenty minutes before priming. I’ll be right back. I need to wash my hands and then we can get started on lodge discussions.”
“Perfect,” Giovanni said.
While she was inside the house, he quickly finished his dinner, then took off his suit jacket. He loosened his tie, pulling it over his head. Next, he unbuttoned his shirt, removed his cuff links, sliding the platinum accessories inside of his pocket. Taking off his shirt, he kept on the undershirt, a white beater that showcased thick muscles.
After washing her hands and getting a bottle of water, Jojo returned to the porch to see Giovanni sitting there with muscles for days. She swallowed hard. Again. Not only were those muscles bulging from his arms, but she could also see the outline of his beefy chest right through his undershirt. His mountainous, broad shoulders that looked like they were ready for a climb. She gnawed on her bottom lip, guilty of something he’d accused her of – letting his suits fool her. She knew he had muscles, but nothing could prepare her for this. She was staring so hard, she hadn’t noticed he was looking directly at her.
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
“N-no. Why would there be a problem?”
“Because you’ve been standing there in a trance for about a minute.”
“Oh.” She continued on walking over to the table where he was sitting. Waiting. “About ten more minutes and I’ll be able to start with the primer.”
“You mean, I’ll be able to start,” he corrected.
“Right,” she said, catching a glimpse of his chest up close. Why did he have to smell so good? Or maybe she was enticed by his pheromones simply because she wasn’t used to the smell of a man, especially since she fought tooth and nail to avoid them.
“While we wait, tell me something about yourself.”
“Nope.”
“Seriously, Jojo?”
“Yeah. Seriously. That has nothing to do with the lodge.”
“It does. From what I understand, people loved you at the lodge. Everybody I talked to wanted you to come back. Took me by surprise because you’re so mean to me. I guess to everyone else, you’re nice.”
She smiled but it soon faded when she met his direct, intense stare. She wondered why he was looking at her so hard, with so much thought behind his eyes. “I’m not mean to you.”
“You’re not nice, either.”
Jojo sighed, releasing a steady, low breath.
“Tell me why you devoted so much time and energy to run the lodge,” he said. She wanted their conversation about the lodge, so he’d twist his discussion in a way that would accommodate her request.
“It was a way for me to stay busy. At the time, I needed a distraction in my life, and the lodge was the interruption I was seeking.”
“Why did you need a distraction? Bad breakup?”
Jojo frowned. “No…had nothing to do with a man. It was a rough time in my life.”
“That you obviously don’t care to talk about?”
“No. I don’t.”
“Okay. Then I’ll talk about me. Um…I’m a middle child. I have two brothers, Remington and Kenton who are older than me and two sisters, Davina and Jessalyn who are younger.”
Jojo smiled. Him mentioning his sisters made her think of Lindsay. “How old are your sisters?”
“Davina is the youngest at twenty-four. Jessalyn is the same age as you. Twenty-eight.”
“How do you know I’m twenty-eight?” she asked.
“I have your personnel file on my desk at work. Told you I’ve been studying it.”
“You don’t need to study my personnel file and you don’t need to do Internet research on me.”
“Well, obviously I do since you’re holding back on me.”
“Not holding back. It’s just that some things are better left unsaid and not spoken about, especially not to someone who wouldn’t understand.”
“How do you know I wouldn’t understand?”
Jojo shrugged. A breeze caught her ponytail before she said, “I’m going to go get the primer.” She walked away, feeling the heat of his eyes on her. She didn’t like the way the conversation was going, so she decided to end it there by making an escape.
When she was back, Giovanni asked, “Why don’t you just use paint that has primer already infused in it?”
“Because I’m not a woman who like to take shortcuts.”
He smirked.
“Besides, this is the way my father taught me how to do it.”
“Your parents live around here?”
“My parents are deceased, and no, I don’t want to talk about it.” She popped the can from the container and stirred it with a paint stick. Then she handed Giovanni a brush.
“Oh. You want me to jump right in, huh?” he asked.
“Yeah. Go for it.”
She was surprised to see him wasting no time dipping the brush in the primer and brushing it on the table. Looked like he knew what he was doing.
“Are you impressed yet?” he asked.
“I am,” she said smiling. “Managers usually don’t like to get their hands dirty.”
“Guess I’m not your typical manager.”
She took a sip of water, watching him work, but it wasn’t the way he glided the brush back and forth across the wood that got her attention. It was how his muscles would bulge when he stroked the brush. The movement of his chest. The way he folded his lips while he concentrated on doing a good job, seeking to impress her.
“My parents are deceased, too,” he said.
She frowned. “They are?”
“Yeah. Father was sick and my mother was, too. She had some mental issues that made her…um…made her give us up.”
“What do you mean?”
“She didn’t want to raise us. She gave us up. My oldest brother, Remington, adopted us.”
“All of you?”
“Wow. That’s crazy.”
“I’m sure we drove him crazy, but he kept our family together.” He applied more primer and said, “It was hard…being shunned by your mother can wreak havoc on a person’s psyche.”
“But you said she had some mental issues.”
“She did. Didn’t make it any better. There has always been a void in my life where she was concerned.”
“Oh.”
Giovanni stopped and looked at her. “Does this conversation make you feel uncomfortable?”
“No.”
“Of course not because it’s about me, right?”
“There’s no need to talk about myself,” Jojo said. “Why should I tell you stuff about me?”
“We’re friends, right? Friends know things about each other, and I want to know what happened to your parents.”
She drew in a deep breath, was tempted to open up to him but instead said, “That’s not something that’s easy for me to talk about, Giovanni, especially to strangers.”
“I’m at your house, priming a wood table on your back porch. I’m not a stranger.”
“Then it’s something I don’t share freely with people I hardly know. No offense.”
“None taken,” he said, though he was a little bothered that he’d opened up to her about his parents and she couldn’t do the same. Trying another topic, he said, “How could you afford to give your colleagues bonuses?”
“The money from my parent’s life insurance policy. I ah...I couldn’t bring myself to spend it, so I decided that I would give it away to people who needed it.”
“Don’t you need it?”
She shrugged.
“Did you, at least, pay off your house note?”