by Parker, Ali
Hopefully, she and her friends would stop by the little meet and greet tomorrow. Few people, especially those on vacation or celebrating something exciting, could pass up free champagne and hors d’oeuvres.
Disappointed but not totally down, I made my way out to my car where Bentley was leaning against the front passenger door and reading the paper. He was a good-looking guy and tended to attract a lot of attention from admiring women, but he only had eyes for his wife.
“Anything interesting?” I asked, walking up to the car.
He smiled, putting the newspaper under his arm and shaking his head. “Nope. Just reading about the coming heatwave.”
He opened the door for me, insisting on acting like a professional driver.
“Thank you.”
“Home?” he asked before closing the door.
“Yes,” I said, anxious to get home and get the suit off. And to hang out with Leia.
I probably had an unhealthy attachment to my dog, but she was my best friend in the world. She was always happy to see me and was the best listener—as long as I was scratching her ears or rubbing her belly. I wondered if my mystery woman liked dogs.
That was a deal breaker for me. Leia and I were a package deal. I had tried to date one woman, and I thought we got along well enough, but she hadn’t been fond of Leia. I trusted Leia’s judgment, and when she turned and walked away from the woman without letting her pet her, I knew something was off.
I really hoped the woman that had occupied my thoughts for most of the day was going to be Leia friendly. I smirked, shaking my head as I realized where my thoughts were going.
I was already dating the woman in my mind, and I didn’t even know her damn name.
But I was that sure she was supposed to be in my life.
Chapter 4
Sade
I rolled over in the bed that I swore was made from clouds, and I looked into the sleeping face of Julia. She and I had agreed to take the room with the two queen beds, giving Khloe the master bedroom in the suite.
I didn’t feel like we had settled at all. The beds were comfortable and inviting. It kind of felt like a sleepover with my best gal pal. Julia and I had been friends since we were in third grade. Friends from a distance—a very long distance sometimes, with my family bouncing all over the world.
She’d gone to a different school, but we had kept in touch. We had managed to make plenty of time to hang out on the weekends, and the three of us had all become the best of friends. They were my family. They were my real support system, and I didn’t think I could have ever made it through the grueling years without them pushing me and encouraging me to keep moving forward.
“I don’t want to get out of bed,” Julia moaned.
“Me either, but I think that would completely ruin the purpose of coming here. We’re supposed to be on the beach.”
“Do you think Khloe is up yet?” she asked.
“If you’re quiet, you won’t wake her, and we can lay in bed a while longer,” I whispered. “If she gets up and sees that beach or that sun, she’s going to want to go for a run, and I can guarantee you she’s going to want to drag us with her. I’m not running, not even if a bear is chasing me.”
She giggled, her voice a little croaky after the late night and alcohol. “You’d run if a bear was chasing you.”
“Nope. Why bother? I’m not going to outrun a bear. I’ll just lay down and take it. No reason to get my adrenaline pumping. I’ve heard that makes meat taste bad. Did you know that?”
“What?” Julia asked. “You don’t want to taste bad for the bear?”
“Well, not entirely, but—” I stopped talking, realizing I was going off on one of my tangents.
“Get up, bitches!” Khloe’s voice boomed through the closed door. “It’s a beautiful day outside!”
“Too late,” Julia moaned. “The beast is awake.”
“I’m ordering room service,” I said, throwing off the blanket. “I need coffee and something sweet.”
“Good. Order me a bagel and bacon,” she mumbled, rolling over and pulling the blanket over her head.
I padded out of the room in my bare feet, appreciating the plush carpet under my toes. We’d walked for hours last night, and I hadn’t worn the most sensible shoes. My feet were killing me. I was looking forward to bare feet and sandals for the rest of our vacation.
“Where’s that room-service menu?” I asked Khloe, who was staring out the window.
“Bar.” She gestured at it without looking at me.
“You’re craving a run,” I commented, knowing her well.
“I am,” she said longingly. “I want to go running on that beach. Do you want to go for a quick run? It’s a great way to get the day off to a good start.”
“You’re crazy. There is nothing great about running. We’re on vacation. Nobody wants to run.” I found the menu, scanned it, and picked up the phone to order breakfast for all of us. I tried to order a combination of healthy stuff and plenty of bacon for Julia.
After making the call, I moved to stretch out on the couch, enjoying a leisurely morning with absolutely nothing to do. I didn’t have to go to work. I didn’t have to study. I didn’t even have to do the damn laundry or make myself food. It was strange to have nothing to do.
Khloe took a seat, flipping through her phone while I checked email. Breakfast was delivered. Julia finally crawled out of bed, and the three of us sat on our private deck and munched on the delicious offerings.
“What’s the plan for today, girls?” I asked, hoping excessive walking wasn’t on the agenda.
“Beach? Pool?” Julia offered, looking from me to Khloe while munching on a piece of crispy bacon.
“Pool, definitely the pool,” Khloe answered, getting back up to look outside. “Look at that water.”
“The pool sounds like a great plan to me,” I chimed in.
“Any hot guys down there?” Julia asked.
“Not as hot as Sade’s sexy pants,” Khloe teased.
“Stop,” I said. “You know he was good looking. And he isn’t mine. I could only be so lucky.”
“He was, but you went completely off the rails.” Julia laughed. “I’m going to see if I can find a bib for you. I don’t want you drooling all over yourself again.”
Khloe did an impression of me, her mouth opening and closing, her hand clapped over her chest. Julia made a big show of wiping her mouth before both of them burst into laughter.
I shook my head, not taking their jesting seriously. “I froze. I couldn’t help it. He was so—I don’t know—gorgeous, beautiful, handsome. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe him. You guys know I always freeze up. It was nothing new. I have no game. I suck at flirting.” I made a pouty face. “I’m going to be a spinster and have thirty cats.”
“Yes, you do suck at flirting, but I think if you just relaxed a bit, you’d do okay,” Julia said. “You get inside your head too much. You think too much about what to say and how to look. You just have to be naturally you. One of these days, a man is going to come in and sweep you off your feet.”
I rolled my eyes. “Easier said than done. I’m a dork. I sound like a dork, and I look like a dork. That man is way out of my league. He was only being nice. He probably dates Victoria’s Secret models.”
“I don’t know,” Khloe commented. “He looked like he wanted to eat you for dinner. It was kind of awkward. The tension was thick.”
“Stop. It was not. You guys are completely exaggerating.” I felt my cheeks flush.
“Oh, she’s blushing!” Julia squealed.
“Stop, I am not,” I argued, knowing I was.
“I think we need to see if we can find him,” Khloe suggested. “He could be your summer fling.”
I gasped in horror. “No! You’re crazy. I’m not going to have a fling.”
“I think you should,” Julia said. “You need to let your hair down and get wild. You’ve been buttoned up for too long. Take a walk on the
wild side.”
I shook my head. “My wild side is buying a movie I haven’t seen.”
Khloe nodded. “This is true.”
“There’s something to be said for being a good girl,” I said, lifting my chin.
“Yes, it says boring,” Khloe said. “You only live once, and we are in a place where no one knows you, and there is like a ninety-nine percent chance you will never see any of these people again. No one is going to know you. You can cut loose and take on a whole new personality. Let’s give you a fake name, an alter ego.”
“No thanks.”
“Jade,” Julia said, clearly getting excited about the idea. “We’ll call you Jade. You’re a princess from some little island, and you’re looking for some fun.”
“Why don’t you be Jade?” I shot back.
“Because I have plenty of wild memories to fall back on when I’m eighty,” she answered easily. “You need to have one week of crazy that is going to make you smile when you’re old and gray.”
“I agree,” Khloe said, bobbing her head up and down.
“Come on.” Julia smiled and jumped up. “Let’s get dressed and get down there.”
We piled the breakfast dishes on the table and got into our swimsuits. Mine was far more conservative than what Julia and Khloe were wearing. I didn’t have their bodies.
They were thin and beautiful, and I was—well, thin was not a word that would ever be associated with me. I wrapped the black gossamer wrap around my hips, skillfully hiding the bulk of my butt and thighs.
The three of us made our way down to the pool. They stripped down to their bikinis and found three open chairs for us to lay out on. I piled my thick brown hair on top of my head before putting in a clip to keep it up. I stretched out, letting the sun bathe me in hot rays. It wasn’t long before the heat became a little too much for all of us.
Khloe and Julia dove in the water. I chose to grab one of the pool floats, carefully climbing aboard and using my hands to paddle to a nice resting place along the edge, away from the splashing swimmers.
I closed my eyes, and my feet dangled in the cold water. I was completely relaxed, feeling fabulous about life, when a shadow passed over me and stayed. I opened my eyes to see who was blocking my sunlight and nearly flipped off the float.
“Hi,” Trent, the tall, dark, crazy-handsome owner of the hotel, said in a husky voice.
“Hi,” I squeaked out the word.
He was grinning, the smile sexy as hell. “Enjoying yourself?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
I felt like a complete dipshit. I was brilliant, book smart, and intelligent, but whenever he came around, I turned into a blubbering idiot. I could feel my cheeks turning red. It was hard to be such a bumbling fool.
“I didn’t get your name yesterday,” he said, looking at me like he could see right through me.
“Sade,” I blurted out. “Sade Jones.” I wanted to slap my hand to my head for giving him my last name.
He squatted down, and a brief glimpse of pain crossed his face as he extended his hand. I leaned forward, doing my best not to dump myself out of the float as I shook his very firm, large, hot hand.
“It’s good to meet you, Sade,” he said, giving a brief shake before getting to his feet. I noticed he winced and then leaned his weight on the other leg. “Is everything to your liking?”
I grinned, nodding. “Absolutely.”
“It was nice to meet you, Sade Jones,” he said in that smooth voice. “I knew a Jones once. Great man.” He looked thoughtful.
Julia appeared out of nowhere, splashing her hand in the water. “Are you this nice to all of your guests?”
My eyes went wide. I wanted to slap my hand in the water and splash her in the face to make her shut up. She was so unpredictable.
“I’m not,” he replied.
“But you’ve sure been especially nice to us,” she cooed.
He gave her a funny look. “I’m always nice to the gorgeous ones.”
I was sure I was going to melt into the float. His easy grin reminded me of a precocious schoolboy. He had a hard edge about him, but when he smiled like that, he looked young and carefree. I could see the wrinkles around the corners of his eyes and guessed him to be in his thirties, too old for me I surmised.
“You’re a flirt,” Julia said with a laugh.
He shrugged a shoulder. “I’m not flirting. I’m only stating the facts. I see a beautiful woman, I’m going to tell her.”
His eyes went back to me.
Chapter 5
Trent
She looked nervous. I could tell I was flustering her. Her cheeks were a pretty shade of red, and it had nothing to do with the sun.
I liked that she was shy. She had a very innocent quality about her, which was new to me. Since my recent rise in financial status, it wasn’t often I encountered a woman who truly intrigued me. They were usually very obvious in their attraction, and most were very skilled at the art of flirting. Not her.
I wanted to talk to her more. I wanted to ask her to have a drink with me. My ringing phone pretty much destroyed that plan.
I looked at the number on my phone and saw it was the front house manager. “I have to take this. I’m going to see you again.” I looked directly at her, letting her know I found her very attractive.
“Okay,” she replied, her voice so low I barely heard her.
I nodded, answering the call as I walked away. “Trent here.”
“Sir, I’m sorry to bother you, but we’ve got a situation here, and you said to call if there were any problems,” the man said, sounding very frustrated.
“I’ll be right there. What’s going on?”
He cleared his throat. “We overbooked.”
I bit back my anger. I hated the overbooking. I understood why hotels did it, but damn if it didn’t end up backfiring. “Do we have anything to offer?”
“No, sir.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. “All right, check the bookings for the week. Let the guest know I’ll be there in a minute.”
Overbooking happened. It happened more than I cared to admit. It was going to cost me. Mistakes cost money. I’d comp him a week stay in one of the suites, assuming I could find a time that worked for him and the hotel. I didn’t want to find myself in the same situation again.
I hung up the phone and immediately thought of the beautiful woman I had left at the pool. Jones was a very common name. Hell, it was probably the most common name in the US. It didn’t stop me from thinking back to the Jones I knew.
The dog tags that I still wore around my neck felt hot against my chest. I thought back to my CO. I reached up and pressed my hand against my chest. I allowed myself about three seconds to think about him before I pushed the memories back into the box I had stuffed them in three years ago.
I walked into the lobby area, and my front desk manager waved me over. I was glad I had on the suit. It made me feel confident. I had a feeling I was going to need every ounce of confidence to deal with the woman staring at me.
She had the look of a woman used to getting her way. She was probably in her fifties, had white hair cut in a sharp bob and red lips that matched her red nails. Piranha was the first thing that came to mind. No, barracuda. She was a barracuda.
“Hello,” I said, using a practiced tone reserved for difficult guests.
“I need a room, and this man is telling me there isn’t one. I suggest you boot out one of these spring breakers and let me stay. I’m a repeat customer. These kids won’t be back. They’ll never be able to afford a hotel like this for at least twenty years.”
I didn’t bother telling her it was well past spring break. “I am so sorry to inconvenience you. Why don’t we step into the office, and we can figure this out?” I looked to the manager.
I was taking her in his office, not mine. She looked me up and down before nodding. I was going to use my natural charm to ease her anger.
It took a full week comped during peak ski sea
son and me paying for her stay at a competing hotel for the current week, but she left satisfied.
I walked out to the front desk and was immediately honed in on by the head of housekeeping. I sighed, knowing this was likely to be the way my weekend went. Hell, probably the next three months. Then there would be a lull, and it would be ski season.
“Let’s go in my office,” I said, resigned to learning of yet another problem.
We walked across the grounds to the building that housed our admin offices. I gestured for her to have a seat, leaving on the damn tie.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I can’t do this without at least three more full-time housekeepers.”
I had expected as much. “When?”
“Yesterday.”
I grimaced, knowing I should have hired the temps. “I’ll call the agency and see what I can get you. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a few good ones.”
She scoffed. “I doubt that, but any help would be appreciated. I can team the newbies up with one of the more experienced ladies. An extra pair of hands will help. Why do vacationers have to be so damn messy?”
I laughed. “Because they know they don’t have to clean the mess.”
“If I ever go somewhere on vacation, I will not do that to my cleaning crew. No way. Thank you, Mr. Gilroy. I need to get back over there before there is a mutiny. Do you know we had to do every single room this morning?” She shook her head in disbelief.
“I did, and I’m sorry we weren’t better prepared,” I said. “We had a lot of guests show up last night without reservations. We are at full capacity.”
She grinned. “While that sucks for me, I think it’s kind of awesome.”
I winked. “It certainly is. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Our reviews for cleanliness are always high, and I owe that to you.”
“Thank you,” she said, preening under the compliments. “My staff and I do try hard.”