Delphi gave a short explanation.
“Well, it seems like we need to do more about the bad press. Any ideas?”
Lana looked at Cami. “There’s the Franklin’s summer party. The prince’s cousin almost always attends, as do several others with whom you are far friendlier than I am.”
The thought of being stuck for a full evening at the stuffy affair when she could be here with Vince made Cami’s teeth grind. “Yes, but you’re the hotel manager, I’m a lowly serf in comparison.”
“Give me a break. You have the golden touch with people. We need you to go rub elbows with a few of them. In addition, I’ll send a note to the prince’s secretary expressing our disappointment about the miscommunication and offering to put up his representative for a few days at no cost so they can review protocols and safety measures on location. It may net us nothing, but it can’t hurt.”
“Both good suggestions.” Blake turned to Delphi. “Is there anything we can do about the wedding?”
“I’m not sure I want to deal with them after all of this,” she said, but she twisted a pen between her fingers. “They said the groom is friends with Jeremy. Maybe he’s also friends with Vince?” she smiled at Cami, hopefully.
When did this all become her mess? “Oh no, I’m not asking him for that kind of favor. You can stop that train of thought right there.”
“I’m not saying he should step up and try to convince them this is the best place, the only place. I just think some schmoozing might be in order. You know, he gets together with friends and you happen to be there. Isn’t there some barbecue coming up? You two discuss the way the landscaping is coming along, what great photo opportunities it’ll afford—a sensible segue if Jeremy is handy.”
“You talk about how excited you are to see the whole place come together, the amenities, the gleaming glass, the perfect tables and chairs,” Lana picked up the line of thought.
“And how excited you are for the big opening gala we’re going to hold and invite all of the press to, because this conference-slash-reception center—the whole hotel—is something special,” Rosemary finished.
Cami growled. “Fine. Fine. I’ll see what Vince thinks and we can give it a try. I’m not making any promises.”
Jonquil’s mouth split into a smile. “They won’t know what hit them.”
The doorbell rang and Cami saw Vince through the patio door window.
“Perfect,” Lana said. “The man of the hour.” She smirked at Cami. “Now you can’t weasel out of asking him.”
Cami glared at Lana as she moved to answer the door. Tittering came from several of the other women, which she chose to ignore. She had a moment to debate the best way to bring up the issue with Vince as she crossed the room. When Rosemary laughed at something Jonquil had whispered, Cami knew what she was not going to do—she was not bringing him into the house so everyone could embarrass her. When she opened the door, she smiled. “Hey, there.” She nudged him so she could join him on the patio, shutting the door firmly behind her.
He took her hand. “I stopped to see if you in the fifteen minutes I had before my meeting tonight, but it looks like you’re in the middle of something.”
She led him to the railing and leaned against it. “There was a bad article in the paper that’s cost us some bookings. We’ve been discussing strategy.” She pursed her lips, then took the plunge. “We were just talking about how you could help, if you’re willing.”
He slid his hands onto her waist and moved in close. “I’m game. What do you need?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying the light scent of his cologne, the softness of his hair under her fingers. She filled him in on the wedding furor and the plan the others had hatched. She thought she was being very casual about the whole thing, so she was surprised by his response.
He stroked his hands up her back, then down to her waist again. “Now why did telling me make you nervous? Did you think I’d refuse?” He pulled her closer, holding her gaze.
The breath sucked out of her lungs when she saw the glint in his eyes. “I guess I’m not very good at asking people for help.”
“So you don’t expect your sisters to step up and help solve the problem?”
“That’s different. It’s their job.” She didn’t know how to deal with this man who wanted to be there for her through everything. Trent would have milked the favor for payback many times over.
Vince leaned in, his lips a scant inch from hers, his breath feathering across her skin. “And I thought such a slight favor was my job, since you’re my woman.”
Normally such a possessive comment would have raised her independent hackles, but coming from him, it didn’t. Their lips met in a soft caress and her brain went spinning. “Am I?”
“Most definitely.” Then his mouth took hers. His hands skimmed up her back, drawing her to him. She reveled in his taut chest muscles beneath her hand and the feel of his support surrounding her.
Much too soon, he eased back. “As much as I’d like to spend the next two weeks or so kissing you, I need to grab lunch and get back to work, and you should get back to your meeting.”
“Right. I better go.” She slid her arms from around his neck, still light-headed, and more than a little embarrassed that they’d been kissing in full view of everyone on the other side of the windows.
“Dinner tomorrow?” he asked, nibbling on her lip.
“Yeah, well, I’ll let you know. We should be done by dinnertime.”
“I’ll shoot for six-thirty. That’ll give me time to go home and clean up. Maybe we can plan another time to hang out with your sisters.”
That got her attention. “Wait,” she set a hand on his chest, easing him back so she could see his eyes. “Why?” His request to spend time with everyone threw her. Sure, been around them all before, but this felt too official or something. How would he fit into her unreliable family dynamic when so much was up in the air?
He tipped his face toward hers. “They’re your family and they’re important to you. I want to get to know them better.”
She wasn’t sure how she felt about most of them, so their importance was debatable, but she decided not to argue. “If you want to, we’ll have to set something up.”
“Great.” He pressed one last, firm kiss to her lips, then pulled away, heading for his truck. “I’ll see you at six-thirty.”
Thrown off balance by his dismissal, she crossed the patio and almost blindly reached for the door knob. The tabby Sage had adopted walked between her legs and pawed at the door. She nudged him aside, sucked in a steadying breath and slid through the opening.
She found everyone loading their plates with the sandwiches.
Rosemary cocked an eyebrow. “Whoa, serious lip-lock. I hope you got a yes out of him.”
Cami felt herself blush as Jonquil piped up. “Totally hot. You should have invited him to join us for dinner.”
Putting a hand to her hair, Cami tried to adjust to the teasing—something she and Lana rarely did with each other, and which she never did with others. It had a distinct sibling feel to it which both intrigued her, and made her nervous. “I didn’t realize you were all eating or I would have brought him in.”
Or not, since she wasn’t ready to expose Vince to these teasing women too often—because even those who kept their thoughts to themselves gave her amused looks. She walked to Blake’s side and grabbed a sandwich bun. “He wants to do a dinner thing another time, casual like, so you can meet some more people and he can get to know you all better.”
“Am I invited?” Blake asked as he passed her the mustard and shuffled the mayo toward Lana.
“Of course, if you’re in town.”
“Great. Give me some notice and I’ll arrange it.” He glanced at Lana and slid the American cheese slices to her, then grabbed the Sun Chips and set them nearby.
Lana’s eyes flew to him, confusion and surprise filling them before reverting back to her plate. “Thanks.”
/> “You’re welcome.”
Cami narrowed her gaze at Blake as he strolled across the room, returning to his seat. There were two kinds of cheese, and three of chips, but Blake had known—without prodding—which Lana preferred. This definitely bore further scrutiny.
Chapter 26
The sun was high and hot when Vince saw Blake strolling in his direction the next afternoon. A man with a mission, even if he did glance around the hotel grounds, as if taking casual perusal of the beds. Vince was cleaning away the last of the weeds on the west side flower beds and double checking the sprinklers and the mowing job his guys had done. “Howdy. Finally finish your meeting?”
“Yes. This has been an unusual situation. I don’t understand why someone’s picking on the girls; add to that this ghost nonsense.” Blake slid his hands into the pockets of his dress pants and rocked back on his heels.
“It makes me mad. Those women are doing their best, and from what I’ve seen so far, their best is impressive. Why would someone want to ruin it?”
“I don’t know, but I’m working on it.” Blake glanced at the snapdragons near his feet, and when he spoke, his tone changed. “You’ve been busy this summer.” When his eyes shot back to Vince, it was clear he wasn’t talking about landscaping.
Though it put his back up to have his motives questioned, Vince covered with a shrug. “You seem rather interested.”
“It’s natural.”
“Because you’ve got a thing for Lana, or because they’re your employees, more or less?” Vince wiped his hands on his pants, not worrying about dirt streaks. They were already beyond help of anything but a washing machine.
Blake’s gaze was steady on him. “Because I care. And because their father asked me to watch out for them.”
Vince lifted his brows. It was a very nice answer, but he thought it was only half accurate. “You have nothing to worry about, as I don’t want to see any of them hurt. Least of all Cami.” He hooked his thumbs in his pockets, hoping he wasn’t projecting the irritation he felt at Blake’s third degree and decided to turn some of it around. “And if I asked you about your intentions towards Lana?”
Blake’s eyes flashed and his face hardened, his voice growing cold. “What’s between Lana and I stays between us. I’m not going to hurt her and neither is anyone else.”
Vince figured he was supposed to be scared, but it didn’t come close. The response definitely intrigued him, though. “I feel the same responsibility to watch out for them that you do. So we understand each other.”
Blake studied Vince for a long moment. “Perfectly.” He put out his hand, offering it to Vince, who grinned and accepted it.
“So,” Vince said as he grabbed a shovel, glad to have it over. “Did George make it clear he picked you out to be a son-in-law too?”
A slow smile crossed Blake’s face. “Something like that.”
“You play poker?”
“Not well.”
“All the better,” Vince flashed him a grin. “Though we don’t exactly play high stakes. Let me know when you’re going to be around some Thursday, and you can join Gage, Jeremy, and me. We’ve been looking for a fourth since Jeremy’s brother moved.”
“I think I’d like that.”
~*~
Cami burst into the house, trembling with excitement. “Mrs. Grady,” she called out. The woman’s car was parked out front, so Cami knew she was here. She clutched the printout as she hurried through the house, finally finding Mrs. Grady in Delphi’s bedroom, washing the window.
“What is it?” Mrs. Grady turned to Cami.
Cami waved the paper in her hands. “I think I’ve found you some hope. A little, anyway. I just spoke with a friend of a friend in Chicago. They’re working on this new database of people willing to do live organ donation. He said he could get your husband’s information in the database. All he needs to do is sign the HIPAA waver and request the relevant records be sent over. It’s not a sure thing, but maybe.”
Tears welled up in Mrs. Grady’s eyes and she sat heavily in the gray office chair at the desk. “Are you serious?”
“It’s still a small database, totally run by volunteers, but it’s growing all the time. If your husband is a match, the donor will be contacted to verify that they’re still willing, then there will be testing and whatever—I’m sure you’re familiar with the process.”
“Yes.” The woman sobbed and covered her face with her hands. “I can’t believe you did this.”
“I haven’t done much of anything yet. It was only a couple of calls.” Cami had sent out a dozen emails and made two or three times that many calls, but it had been fun to have a good challenge. Managing the impossible had been her favorite part of being a concierge.
“Still, I can’t believe you did this.” Mrs. Grady looked up at her with wet eyes. “Why would you? I barely know you.”
“Do I have to know you well to want to help? You’ve been so good to us. You deserve to have your husband around for a long, long time.” Cami gave the woman’s arm a squeeze.
Sobs tore out again and Mrs. Grady stood, moving toward the door. “Do you mind? I need to . . .”
“That’s fine.” Cami laughed, never happier than she was right now. “You take care of the paperwork. We’ll see you tomorrow. “
Before she headed back to the office, Cami double-checked the locks, then practically danced out to her car.
~*~
Cami was ready when Vince arrived to pick her up that evening. She had no idea what he had in mind, so she’d worn stone colored dress pants, a dark red blouse with capped sleeves, and a pair of loafers, dressing it all up with some gaudy costume jewelry she’d bought two years earlier and never had the guts to wear.
Vince wore his usual T-shirt and jeans and his hair was still slightly damp. He brought her a small bouquet of pink Peruvian lilies. “Do you like them?” he asked when she accepted the flowers.
“They’re perfect. Thanks.” She brushed a kiss across his lips, then turned to the kitchen to find a vase.
“That’s all the thanks I get?” he asked, stepping in behind her and reaching over her head to grab the vase, which was a bit too high up for her to reach comfortably.
“Well, I might be able to do better,” she teased as she turned into his arms.
“That’s what I thought.” He tipped his head as he sampled her lips. “Take care of those so we can go.”
She slid out of his reach, her heart pounding a lot faster than normal, as she found the kitchen shears and snipped at the stems, resettling them in fresh water. “They are beautiful. Delicate, classy, but simple.”
He reached out, snagged a lock of her hair and gave it a light tug. “I hadn’t planned on flowers, but they reminded me of you.”
She didn’t know what to do with him when he was like this. She’d had other boyfriends say sweet things, but usually the comments were too planned, maybe even on the insincere side. Not Vince, though. When she saw the look in his eyes, she believed his words.
“Done?” he asked, taking her hand.
“Yes.” She followed him to the door, picking up her purse on their way out. The kitchen and great room were miraculously empty as they passed through. “So where are we going?”
He didn’t answer right away, taking her around the nose of his car and settling her inside. “My place.”
Vince shut the door and circled to his side without giving her a chance to respond. After the long day he’d had at work, they were going to his place? Maybe he planned to get take out.
When he pulled onto the street, she asked, “Your place? Are we stopping for burgers along the way?”
He grinned. “I am capable of cooking. Sometimes. I thought it might make a nice change. A little spaghetti, some puppy love, and uninterrupted time together.”
“Sounds nice.” And it did. When he reached for her hand, she threaded their fingers together, sat back, and enjoyed the ride as Jason Aldean crooned a country ballad.
The drive to his place was peppered with conversation about the day. When they pulled in front of a huge log cabin that stood two stories with a big bank of windows and a wrap-around porch, Cami thought the man had great taste in homes. She’d been too preoccupied to notice the first time she’d been there. “This is lovely.”
The home was snuggled into the woods, but with a little grass for a yard, and swaths of native bushes and flowers. She could tell he’d made an effort to ensure the landscaping blended with nature. “It’s like it grew there.”
He grinned at her and stole a kiss before releasing her hand to exit the car. “I’m glad you approve.”
How could she not, she wondered as she waited for him to get her door. Most of the homes she’d seen had either ruthlessly cut back the forest to impose out-of-place landscaping, or had let their yards grow wild. This was a perfect fusion of the two schools of thought.
After helping her out of the car, Vince reached into the back for a bag of groceries. “I stopped at the store for supplies before picking you up.”
The dogs went crazy in the backyard, barking like they were under attack and jumping so their doggie noses appeared over the top of the fence for a blink. Cami looked forward to seeing them again.
The inside was as bright as outside, all clean, clear-varnished pine on walls and floors. The furniture was minimal, but cozy with warm fabrics and soft cushions. It wasn’t so overtly masculine a woman would be uncomfortable, but held Vince’s taste through everything.
“Look around if you’d like. You didn’t last time. I’ll go start dinner,” Vince said.
Though a thought niggled that she ought to help, she decided to take him up on the offer to explore first. “All right. I’ll join you in a few minutes.”
The rest of the house fit the same mold. It could use a woman’s touch: a bowl of flowers here or there, something hanging on the walls that wasn’t wrought iron, or made of animal antlers—though there were no actual heads mounted, for which she was grateful.
Everything was clutter free, put where it belonged—but she supposed he probably wouldn’t have invited her over if it had been a mess. When she stopped at his bedroom door, she noticed the balcony on the other side. She crossed to step out, look over the backyard, and saw him loving on the dogs. She couldn’t hear what he said to them, but his voice was playful.
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