"Why would he care?"
"Because you're a guest at the hotel. It's forbidden. I can't lose my job, Cole."
"I get it. I can solve this problem, Maggie."
Before she could ask how, he turned her around so his body was blocking hers and pulled her up against his chest in a passionate kiss.
Her heart pounded against her chest, both from the idea of being discovered by her boss and also the heat and intensity of Cole's mouth. Every kiss with him was different and better than the last. There were more nuances now, more time added in to explore, more emotion behind the physical attraction.
Cole lifted his gaze, gazing down at her with serious brown eyes, no trace of his usual lighthearted humor. "Maggie."
She had no idea what he meant by saying her name in just that way, but she did know that it had given her chills.
She drew in a breath and let it out, trying to remember where they were and what they were doing. Her boss… She looked around and saw no sign of Harry Stone. "I think he's gone. We should go. I don't want to risk running into him again, not with you. Sorry."
"I understand," he said quietly, emotions in his gaze that she couldn't begin to decipher. "Let's go."
They walked back to the car without running into anyone else they knew. Since Maggie had driven Cole from the hotel, she took him back to the Stratton. She deliberately pulled into the farthest corner of the guest parking lot, not wanting to give the valet attendants at the front entrance anything to gossip about. "Do you mind walking from here?"
"No."
"Thanks for your help today, Cole."
"I'm glad I could get Henry to the festival for you. Are you going to miss him?"
She wasn't going to miss her pumpkin, but she was already missing Cole, and he wasn't even gone yet. "I'll survive," she said lightly.
Cole hesitated, and for a moment she thought he would kiss her again. But in the end he just said, "Goodnight, Maggie."
"Goodnight." She let out a sigh as he got out of the car and closed the door. If it was this hard to say goodnight, how difficult was it going to be to say goodbye?
* * *
Thursday morning, Maggie spent some time digging out the rest of her small pumpkin patch. She had six other pumpkins in the garden that she planned to give to the neighbors. The three houses closest to her all had little kids, so they would probably enjoy having extra pumpkins to carve.
As she set the pumpkins on the porch, a car turned in to her driveway. When Mr. Pastorini stepped out, her stomach clenched. She'd been hoping that not seeing him or hearing from him was a good thing, and that it meant he was too busy to be lonely or to be talking to realtors about selling her house. However, if he was still intent on moving to Miami before she had the money for the down payment, she was in big trouble.
"Hello, Mr. Pastorini," she said, as he walked across the grass.
His usually somber expression was gone. He had a smile on his face, a twinkle in his eyes. He didn't look like a weary old man anymore but someone young and alive and energized.
"Oh, Maggie, I am so happy," he said, putting his hand to his heart. "Such joy I haven't known in years."
"Because you're moving?" she asked tentatively.
"Moving? No. I'm not going anywhere. I've found the perfect woman. And I have you to thank for it. Ida has set my soul on fire."
Maggie couldn't believe what she was hearing or the transformation in the man who had seemed so despondent two days ago. "I'm so happy for you."
"And for yourself, no?" He laughed and shook a finger at her. "I'm not so old I can't see a setup. You wanted me to meet her."
"I did want you to see that staying in Napa had possibilities that you might not have considered, that there were people here you might not have met yet."
"The possibilities are quite attractive."
"Does this mean I still have a few months to complete my payments?"
"Take as long as you need. I'm not going anywhere."
She let out a sigh of relief, feeling an enormous weight slip off her shoulders. "You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that."
"It doesn't matter where I live as long as I have someone to share my life with," he said. "Time passes so quickly, Maggie. You can't waste a single second. I know you're young and you think you have forever, but you'll be surprised how quickly the years can pass. Now, I have to go. Ida and I are going to meet with her contractor before lunch, but I wanted to let you know that the house will be yours as soon as you can make the down payment. I have the paperwork ready to go."
"I just need thirty more days."
"You've got them."
"I'll take good care of this house," she promised.
"I know you will."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Pastorini."
"You're more than welcome."
As Antonio left, she pulled out her phone and called the hotel switchboard, because she didn't have Cole's personal number. His deep, husky voice came across the line a moment later.
"Hello?"
"It's Maggie," she said. "I have some amazing news."
"I think I know what you're going to say—Antonio is in love with my aunt."
"You heard?"
"I just had breakfast with my aunt. She's over the moon about him. I couldn't believe it."
"He's just as madly in love with her. You made a good match, Cole."
He laughed. "Apparently. So you don't have to move?"
"No. Mr. Pastorini was just here. He's going to give me all the time I need to make the down payment. It's a miracle."
"I wouldn't go that far, but I'm really happy for you, Maggie. I know you want that house more than anything else in the world."
"I do, and I owe it to you. It was your idea to bring your aunt to dinner."
"I'm glad I could help you out, although a part of me wonders if I didn't just help you chain yourself to a huge weight."
"You didn't."
"Well, you know what you want. Are you working today?"
"Yes, I'll be in at three."
"Maybe I'll see you."
"You know where to find me." She paused, feeling like there was more she wanted to say, but she couldn't find the words, so she quickly said, "Bye," and ended the call.
Chapter Fourteen
Cole approached the hotel front desk just as Maggie was about to take her dinner break at six. She gave him a smile, not letting on that she'd been watching for him all day. Now that he was here, her stomach was doing somersaults and her palms were sweating, and the man had done nothing more than say hello. But her body still remembered all the delicious, spine-tingling sensations of every intimate encounter they'd shared since he'd arrived.
"Break time?" he asked.
"How did you know?"
"My aunt told me you take a dinner break at six."
"Your aunt is always helpful," she said dryly, secretly pleased he'd made the effort to come by at her break time.
"I need your help," he said.
"One second." She grabbed her purse out of a drawer, told the other desk clerk she'd be back in an hour and then walked around the counter. "What do you need?"
He leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "I need you to get me between the sheets."
Her jaw dropped, and her head flew around to make sure that no one else had heard him. "Cole," she warned. "This isn't the place."
He laughed as he pulled back with a smile. "Relax. Your manager is in a meeting with my aunt."
"Still…"
"I actually meant that more literally than you might think."
She gave him a confused look. "Okay, you need to explain."
"Let's walk," he said.
"What are you up to, Cole?" she asked as they walked down the hallway.
"I want you to show me the hotel laundry, where the sheets and guest amenities are kept."
She stopped walking. "I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Because you're a guest."
"I'm the owner'
s nephew."
"Then she can show you the laundry. Although, why you want to see it is a mystery to me."
"She can't show me; she's tied up with Mr. Stone, and I don't have a lot of time. I need someone like you to get me past the laundry attendants."
"Someone like me? Cole, what's going on?"
"My aunt has some concerns about the inventory. She asked me to take a look at the linens while she was speaking with Harry."
"What kind of concerns?"
"Can we talk about this in the laundry area? My request comes with my aunt's blessing. You won't get into trouble."
She gazed at him uncertainly. There was more to the story than he was saying, but he was Ida's nephew, and she'd obviously told him to find her, so…what could she do but say yes?
"Fine." She walked over to the elevator bank and pushed the down button. Once they reached the basement, she led him down another hallway to the laundry department. She said hello to Marti who ran the laundry and said she was checking on inventory for Mr. Stone, then she took Cole down another hallway and into an eight by ten foot room that contained the hotel linens and guest amenities.
She shut the door and faced Cole with her arms crossed in front of her. "Okay, talk."
"My aunt is worried that the hotel orders aren't matching up to the supplies. She thinks someone might be adjusting the books, and she asked me to take a look at the inventory."
"Why you?" she asked, having a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "You didn't come here just to visit your aunt, did you?"
"Not completely. I came here to advise her on some business issues."
"And here I thought you didn't do business anymore."
"I occasionally consult," he admitted.
She wondered what occasionally meant, but Cole was headed to the shelves. He ran his fingers down a stack of sheets, digging around for a tag.
"When you said you wanted me to get you between the sheets, I didn't think you meant it literally," she commented.
He flung her a smile. "I wanted to get your attention."
"You really don't seem to have any trouble doing that."
"It works both ways, Maggie." He glanced back at the sheets. "These are not the high quality linens that were ordered. Would they be kept anywhere else?"
"No, this is it."
He moved over to another wall of shelves where the shampoos, soaps, and other guest items were kept. "This isn't the same shampoo on the order form, either. Damn."
"What does this mean?"
"Someone is padding the books. And I think it's your boss."
"Mr. Stone?" she asked in shock. "But he's so straight-laced, so self-righteous. I can't imagine he would do something dishonest."
"We saw him last night at the festival with a woman who isn't his wife," he reminded her. "You may not know Mr. Stone as well as you think you do."
She frowned. He had a point. "You're right. I don't actually know Mr. Stone, but still I'm surprised." She paused, drawing his gaze to hers. "Is it a lot of money, Cole?"
"Yes."
"What happens next?"
"I'll talk to my aunt. There are some other areas of the hotel that need to be investigated as well. We don't want Stone to know he's been made until we make sure we have enough evidence. You can't tell anyone about this, Maggie. We don't know if Stone is working alone or if someone else at the hotel is helping him."
"But I work here. You're asking me to keep things from my boss."
"Just for a little while. I know you want the best for the hotel, and you can't feel a lot of loyalty to Stone."
"I do love the hotel," she admitted. "All right. I'll keep quiet, but don't involve me in anything else."
"I won't."
She looked around the room. "Two guests complained to me about the sheets last week. They said they were threadbare, and they were surprised at the quality. I reported their complaints to Mr. Stone, but he never got back to me. I asked him at the time if he wanted me to check with someone in laundry, but he told me to get back to doing my own job. Now, it's making more sense." Although, she still had trouble believing that her boss could be fixing the books. Then again, his behavior had changed while Mrs. Stratton was traveling. "We should go if you don't want anyone to get suspicious of what we're doing here."
Cole nodded and reached for the door. He turned the knob, then frowned, and tried again. "It's locked."
"What? I just pulled it shut."
"Apparently, it automatically locks."
"Let me try."
"Have at it."
She tried the door and had no better success. "I'll call Marti and get her to unlock the door." She pulled out her phone and connected with the hotel switchboard, but when they rang through to the laundry, there was no answer. "She's not picking up. I can't believe we're locked in."
"I doubt it will be forever," he said with a shrug.
"You really don't get bothered by anything, do you?"
"Well, not by this." He put his hands on her waist and pulled her close. "I know a great way to pass the time."
"You have a one-track mind, Cole."
He smiled. "And you're on that track, babe."
How could she resist an irresistible man? "You are so bad for me."
"Sometimes bad can be really, really good," he murmured against her mouth.
He was right again. Wrapping her arms around his back, she took his kiss and made it her own as passion quickly ignited between them. He undid the top three buttons of her white blouse, sliding his fingers under the strap of her bra, then delving lower to cup and caress her breast.
"You're driving me crazy," she muttered, as he kissed the side of her neck and slid his mouth down to her collarbone. "Don't stop," she breathed.
"I don't want to."
But even as he said the words, Maggie heard a rumbling at the door, voices that slowly slipped into her consciousness. "Oh, God, someone's coming in!" She jerked away from him, her hands rushing to the open buttons on her blouse. She wasn't fast enough.
The door opened, and Mr. Stone walked in, anger in his eyes. "What are you doing in here, or do I need to ask?"
"We got locked in," Maggie explained quickly.
"Get out, Miss Gordon, and I mean out," Harry said. "Out of the closet. Out of the hotel and out of my life. You're a disgrace to your uniform and to the Stratton. You're fired."
Maggie stared at him in shock as she finally managed to button up her blouse.
Cole put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hold on there," he said. "This is my fault."
"No, this is none of your business," Mr. Stone interrupted. "Guests are not permitted down here. This is employees only. If Miss Gordon brought you down here, that's on her."
Obviously, Harry still didn't know that Cole was Ida's nephew, Maggie realized.
"Your final paycheck will be mailed to you, Miss Gordon."
"Please, wait, I can explain," she said, but her manager had already left the room and was quickly walking down the hall. "Dammit," she said to Cole. "What am I going to do now? Why didn't you tell him who you were?"
"I couldn't do that, Maggie, not yet. But I'll get you your job back. You don't have to worry."
She wanted to believe him, but she had no idea if he had the power to do that or how long it would take. "That's easy for you to say. But you might have just cost me my house."
He frowned. "It always comes back to the house, doesn't it?"
"Why shouldn't it? It's my dream. It might not matter to you, but it's everything to me."
"Mr. Pastorini said he would give you the time you need."
"That was today. Who knows how he'll feel tomorrow. I won't rest until I see my name on the deed."
"That will happen. This is just a blip."
"Maybe to you, but I never should have agreed to help you spy on my boss. I was an idiot. And now look where I am. You need to leave, Cole. You're the wanderer, so why don't you go wander somewhere else and leave me alone?"
; She stormed out of the room, heading straight to the parking lot. She wanted to get into her car before the dam of tears burst. She couldn't believe she'd just gotten fired. When would she learn to mind her own business and not try to help other people? It so often backfired on her.
Cole had told her not to worry, that he would fix things with his aunt. She certainly hoped that was the case, but at the moment her only reality was that she was now out of a job.
She'd thought she'd solved her housing problems when Antonio had fallen for Ida, but it looked like she wasn't out of the woods yet.
* * *
Cole entered his aunt's suite feeling pissed off and guilty for getting Maggie fired. He would get her job back for her—he had no doubt about that—but he had certainly complicated her life.
"I thought you were going to keep Mr. Stone here for an hour," he said when his aunt opened the door.
"I tried. He got a text and said he had to leave. I could hardly stand in front of the door. What happened?"
"I asked Maggie to help me get into the laundry room. We accidentally got locked in, and when the door opened, Harry Stone was there. He fired Maggie on the spot."
"For taking you into the laundry?"
He cleared his throat. "We might have been fooling around a little too."
"You were having sex in the laundry room?"
"No," he said emphatically. "We were just kissing." He saw the light of amusement enter his aunt's eyes. "It's not funny. Maggie got fired."
"Well, that's just ridiculous."
"Not according to Stone. He said she was a disgrace to her job and the hotel."
"Where is she now?"
"Probably at home. She ran out of the hotel pretty fast."
"We'll make it right, Cole. Tell me—what did you find?"
"Exactly what I thought: cheap sheets and generic amenities, nothing like what was allegedly ordered. I'm confident he's the one cooking the books. In fact, I think someone texted him because we were in the laundry room and his crimes were about to be exposed. It's time to confront him."
"It's still so difficult to believe he'd steal from the hotel, from me. I trusted him while I was gone. I gave him a raise, because I thought I could count on him."
"Maybe things changed when his marriage began to crumble and he got a young girlfriend. He probably needed more cash. Who knows? The reason doesn't matter. He needs to go."
Falling Into You (Bachelors & Bridesmaids Book 5) Page 14