by Krista Lakes
“Sorry about that,” Wyatt said, running a hand through his hair. “They can be a little overzealous.”
“It's okay. I get it.” She shrugged like it was nothing. Her eyes went to the hotel room door, and she took a small step away from it.
Part of being a businessman was reading people. Wyatt was good at it and being a bartender had only enhanced that skill. He knew what people sometimes thought before they themselves did.
She wasn't ready to be alone with him, and she was nervous. He decided not to invite her in. She would just say no, and he didn't want to push things.
“I had a really nice time tonight,” he said, leaning casually against the corridor wall. “I was hoping we could do it again. There's a charity ball coming up. My company sponsors it. Would you be my date?”
Her eyes went wide for a moment. “A charity ball?”
He nodded with a smile. “I know it sounds fancy, but it's a lot of fun. I'd like to take you.”
“Um, sure.” She shrugged. “I've never been to a ball before. Sounds fun.”
“Excellent. I'll have my assistant call you with all the details.” He pushed off the wall and kissed her cheek. He was glad to see she didn't shy away from him. “Thank you for a wonderful evening.”
With that, he turned and went into his hotel room, leaving her out in the hallway. He caught a glance of her surprised face just before the door closed. It made him remember the business adage of “always leave them wanting more.”
He certainly wanted more of Cassie.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cassie
Cassie stared at the picture on her phone in total horror. It was her. Getting out of Wyatt's car. The headline read, “Prodigal billionaire returns! Who is the new mystery woman?”
There were well over a thousand comments on the one site alone. Cassie didn't want to read any of them. The first had been that she was too old. She didn't want to know what the world thought of her or her looks. She didn't want to know what they thought of her being with Wyatt. She had a feeling that it would all be negative.
“What have I gotten myself into?” she wondered out loud as she sat down at her kitchen table with her morning coffee. She felt like banging her head against the table.
She still wasn't entirely sure how she felt about Wyatt being here. She was still reeling from finding out that he was actually a billionaire and that he'd lied to her, but at the same time, he was Wyatt. She had fallen in love with him on the island.
The big question was whether or not Billionaire Wyatt was the same as Island Wyatt. The smaller question was whether Island Wyatt really was who she thought he was? What kind of man gave up the billionaire lifestyle to work as a bartender?
Last night had been great. She was surprised at how annoyed she was that all she got was a good night kiss on the cheek. It had felt like they were connecting again. She'd almost been ready to forgive him. But, then seeing the picture in the morning news, she was glad she'd stayed out of his room.
Everything around Wyatt felt like a big mess. She was better off staying away from him.
He wasn't the safe choice. He wasn't the smart choice right now. Not if she wanted to keep her life simple and under control.
Knock, knock, knock.
Cassie went to the door and squinted out the peephole to see Brianna holding up a bag marked with the bakery across the street. Cassie quickly opened up the front door and let her in.
Brianna went straight to the table and sat down, opening up the bag and putting bagel sandwiches out for each of them.
“I'm liking this Brianna food delivery service,” Cassie said, closing the door and joining Brianna at the table.
“Apparently, it's the only way for you to tell me anything,” Brianna replied, unwrapping her sandwich. Cassie ignored the hint of guilt tugging at her chest.
“What do you want to know?” Cassie opened up her wrapper to find an egg and bacon bagel sandwich. Her favorite. Brianna knew her well.
Brianna slid her phone across the table. Up on the screen was the news article Cassie had just been reading. The one about Wyatt returning to civilization. Again, she cringed at herself in the photo.
“Oh. Right. That.” Cassie pushed the phone back to Brianna. “So, apparently, Wyatt the bartender was actually Wyatt, the billionaire. Surprise.”
“Surprise? Why didn't you tell me?” The hurt in Brianna's voice made Cassie feel bad even though she hadn't done anything wrong.
“I only just found out myself when he showed up at the hotel last night,” Cassie replied. “I'm still trying to figure it out.”
“Wait, he didn't tell you?” Brianna's brow furrowed.
Cassie shook her head. “Nope. Complete surprise.”
“Huh.” Brianna looked thoughtful. “I guess I can understand that.”
“You can? Because I'm struggling with the fact that he lied to me all week.” Cassie bit angrily into her sandwich. “He didn't even tell me on the last day when he was asking me to stay with him.”
“Wait, he asked you to stay? On the island? And you didn't? The guy probably has the best beach house in the world!” Brianna exclaimed.
“But I didn't know that at the time,” Cassie reminded her. “All I knew was that he was a bartender. I didn't know he had enough money to actually make moving to the island feasible for me. I thought I was going to be the sugar mama in the relationship, and I didn't know if I had enough sugar.”
Brianna nodded thoughtfully. “That's why he came all dressed up to the room after you left. I bet he was going to tell you then.”
“You're probably right,” Cassie sighed. “If I'd taken my original flight, I'd be sipping daiquiris in the Caribbean right now.”
“You didn't know,” Brianna said, reaching across the table to pat her hand. “And who knows? Maybe this will work out better.”
“I still wish he would have told me sooner.” Cassie slumped in her seat as she took another bite of sandwich.
“I can get why he didn't tell you.” Brianna took another bite of her sandwich.
“Seriously? You can get why he lied to me?” Cassie stared at her, dumbfounded.
“You know how when people win the lottery, 'family' members come out of the wood-works? If you win, you're supposed to change your phone number and stop being on any social media because all your random relatives and long-lost friends suddenly want some of your money?” Brianna shrugged. “It would be like that, only all the time. He basically wins the lottery every day. People must ask him for stuff all the time. Can you imagine not knowing if someone is your friend because they like you, or because they want your money? Or a job at your company? Or a free ride on your jet?”
Cassie swallowed her bite of sandwich. “I guess that would be hard to know how people really feel about you.”
“And dating? That would be a mess. Is that really attractive woman into you, or just into your bank account?” Brianna shook her head. “It would be a King Midas kind of curse.”
“When he said he moved to the Caribbean to have some freedom, he wasn't just talking about his work,” Cassie realized. “At least when he's the hot bartender, he knows exactly why those women are into him.”
“I would bet he never tells them who he is,” Brianna replied. “But he told you. That means you're special.”
Cassie stared into her coffee, her stomach twisting inside of her. She was special. He liked her enough to reveal his true self to her. That had to mean something.
Slowly, the anger and betrayal faded. With that gone, the feelings of love and desire came rushing back.
“I need to get to work,” Cassie said, shaking herself from her thoughts. “Thank you so much for breakfast.”
“My pleasure. It gave me an excuse to have bagels instead of a protein bar for breakfast. Just don't tell Ian. I made him have a Pop-tart in the car on the way to school. He'd kill me if he knew I'd had breakfast sandwiches without him,” Brianna replied with a laugh. She crumpled up her sandwich
wrapper and dropped it into the bag. “I'll walk out with you.”
Together Brianna and Cassie cleaned up their breakfast and headed out the door. Cassie waved goodbye to Brianna as they each got into their cars. As she turned on the engine, a smile started to bloom on her face.
She was going to see Wyatt.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Cassie
Cassie had to struggle to get past the reporters crowding the lobby. Men and women with phones and cameras of various sizes were all camped out and waiting for Wyatt to come downstairs. One of Wyatt's bodyguards from yesterday currently guarded the elevator and was checking key-cards.
That was definitely against Corporate Rule Twenty-Five: No guarding the elevator and checking key-cards unless there is a specific event in progress. Guests and their guests must feel welcome at all time. Cassie didn't even care, though.
The hotel was in chaos.
The poor girl running the front desk looked like she was ready to cry and two bellhops were cowering in the storage closet, occasionally peeking out and gawking at the reporters.
“Thank god you're here,” Lenny announced as soon as he saw her. He grabbed her arm and nearly hauled her into Cassie's office. He shut the door and then sagged against it, like the escape from the lobby had exhausted him.
“What's going on?” She looked around, trying to get her bearings.
“Your big guest,” Lenny replied tersely. “Apparently, it's bigger news than we thought. The lost billionaire returned. And, of course, the fact that he has a mystery woman.”
Lenny fixed her with his stare. He knew it was her, and he wasn't happy about it.
“Lenny, I can explain--”
“You don't have to. At least I know why he chose this hotel now.” Lenny crossed his arms.
“I'm sorry. I promise that it won't affect my work and--”
“I don't care,” Lenny cut her off. “What I do care about is that other guests can't get into the hotel right now. There have been six cancellations this morning alone. Corporate has called three times. We're in violation of at least seven policies.”
“We need to ask the reporters to leave.” Cassie started a mental list of all the ways to fix the problem.
“Corporate policy says we can't since they haven't technically done anything wrong,” Lenny informed her. “Rule number twenty-three. Also, some of them are also members of our Rewards program and are asking for access to the lounge. I've got it currently closed for cleaning, but policy states they must have access.”
Cassie didn't even bother asking if they could go against policy. Lenny worshiped corporate policy like it was his religion. Most of the upper members of the StarTree Hotel group did. To even suggest it was heresy.
“Unfortunately, as much as we appreciate Mr. Landers choosing the Phoenix StarTree Hotel for his travel needs, he needs to leave,” Lenny informed her.
Cassie nodded. He was right. If they couldn't go against corporate policy to make things work, then the hotel wasn't a good place for Wyatt to stay. “Of course, sir. I'll tell him right away.”
“We just aren't equipped to handle this kind of publicity,” Lenny told her. He tried to give her a gentle smile like he was doing her a favor for telling her this. “Next time you have a gentleman caller like this, have him pick a hotel that can handle this kind of attention.”
“Of course, sir,” Cassie promised. She had no intention of ever dating another billionaire again.
“Oh, and one more thing.” Lenny stepped closer, leaning forward so that only Cassie would hear him if there had been anyone else in the room. “I've kept the extent of broken rules quiet from corporate for now. You've been a good employee. I don't want to see you get fired for breaking policy.”
Cassie's mouth hung open for a moment. She shook herself at the absurdity of it. She was the one who always followed the rules. This was none of her doing.
“Of course,” she managed to stutter after a moment. “Thank you, sir.”
Lenny patted her shoulder and left the office. She peeked out the door and watched him go back to the check-in desk. Several reporters came to speak to him, and he beamed at them. It was obvious he was enjoying the attention, even if he wanted Wyatt out of the hotel.
She heard him start the spiel to offer the StarTree credit card membership.
Cassie sighed and shut her office door. This was not the day she'd been expecting. She went to her desk and saw four urgent emails in her inbox. All of them were from corporate, and none of them were happy.
She sighed again, leaning back in her chair and trying not to feel overwhelmed. She loved managing the hotel, but she hated the way corporate breathed down her neck on every little thing. This was just another example. If she had a little more leeway on hotel policies, she was sure she could have accommodated Wyatt and the reporters outside better.
But, that wasn't her problem for the day. Today, she needed to kick out her semi-boyfriend.
She stood up, checked her hair and makeup, smoothed her work jacket, and headed up the back elevator to Wyatt's room.
The guard standing at the elevator entrance was definitely against corporate policy twenty-three and thirty-six, but Cassie wasn't about to say anything about it. The guard let her pass with a stiff nod. She hit the elevator button and rode up to the top floor alone.
Cassie knocked with her manager knock. She wore her manager's face and had her manager mindset. This wasn't personal. This was business. Wyatt would have to understand.
“Cassie.” Wyatt grinned as he opened the door. “Please come in.”
She stepped inside the room. She could see a messy bed through an open door, and the TV was on low. Other than that, it barely looked like Wyatt had even set foot in the place. Wyatt stood beside her in comfortable looking slacks and a polo. It was similar to his bartender uniform, but this set looked much more expensive.
“I'm afraid I have some bad news, Mr. Landers.” Cassie felt it was best to keep this professional. She stood up straight and clasped her hands behind her back.
Wyatt frowned. “Mr. Landers? Cassie, what's wrong?”
“We're afraid that the hotel can no longer accommodate your needs,” she replied, quoting the handbook precisely. “We appreciate you choosing StarTree Hotels, but feel that it is not a good fit for you to stay with us at this time.”
Wyatt looked at her and then chuckled. “So you're kicking me out?”
“The StarTree requests that you find alternate lodging,” Cassie replied.
Wyatt took a step toward her, his smile cocky. “You're kicking me out.”
Cassie fidgeted, struggling to maintain the expected StarTree image. “We're not kicking you out, as we do not kick out guests, but we are diplomatically asking you to go somewhere else due to the disruption of other hotel guests. We are happy to help accommodate you in this process.”
He laughed this time. “I already have alternate lodgings,” he told her. “I've rented an apartment downtown that can, how did you say it, 'better accommodate my needs.'”
“Oh, thank heavens.” Cassie let out a sigh of relief before catching herself. “I mean, thank you. We appreciate your business.”
Wyatt chuckled and shook his head. “Does the hotel really have you say it like that?”
Cassie nodded.
Wyatt put his hand on her shoulders and gave her a warm smile. “Then I shall tell them you did an exemplary job kicking me out.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I didn't kick you out. I suggested you find alternate lodgings.”
“Right. You did an excellent job of kicking me out to find alternate lodgings.” He grinned, knowing that he was pushing her buttons.
At least it made her smile, even if it was because he was being a goofball.
“There's the smile,” he said softly. He gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze before letting go. She could tell he wanted to do more but held back. "It suits you better than the frown."
“Well, just get out of my ho
tel, and I'll smile more,” she teased, throwing all the corporate policies out the window. Employees were not to make sarcastic remarks to guests. The goal was polite and sincere at all times. Rule Ten.
“I'll be out in an hour,” he told her. “We're still on for this weekend though, right? The ball?”
There was just a hint of concern in his voice that she might choose not to go, and it made her heart tighten. She didn't want to let him down.
“I'm looking forward to it,” she answered honestly.
His smile warmed his whole face and made Cassie's stomach fill with excited butterflies. She felt like a teenage girl getting smiled at from her crush.
“Will you come to dinner with me tonight?” he asked, green eyes hopeful.
She spoke before thinking. “Sure.” Though, with him smiling at her like that, she would have said yes to just about anything he asked of her.
He grinned wider, and the butterflies increased their dancing in her stomach.
“I'll text you the address to my apartment,” he replied. “We can go from there.”
“Okay.”
There was an awkward silence for a moment as they both just stood there and smiled. Cassie wasn't sure what she was supposed to say next. Should she apologize or kiss him? The bed was right there, and her body said that it was a good idea, but she was at work.
“I should let you pack,” she said, going with the safest option for her job. “Thank you again for your understanding about alternate lodging.”
Wyatt nodded. “Of course. Thank you for kicking me out.”
Cassie rolled her eyes and laughed. She looked up at him and his beautiful green eyes. Her chest tightened, and she bit her lower lip without meaning to. She didn't stop to think. She just went over and kissed his cheek. He smelled like fresh soap, and his face was smooth from a recent shave. It made goosebumps flow down her arms.
“Thank you,” she said, and quickly darted out the door.
She'd gone against at least three different policies in the last five minutes.