Bargaining With the Boss

by Jennifer Shirk

  Because she now knew for a fact that the stranger in bed was her new boss. And apparently—if he ever woke up—she’d see him for brunch.

  Kinsley had almost chickened out.

  Almost didn’t show up at the restaurant. Almost called her brother to tell him she was too hungover and too sick to meet Damon St. James today. Not exactly a lie.

  But then while shampooing her hair, she had a revelation. She figured she would have to run into Damon St. James again sooner or later. How could she possibly avoid it? He was her boss. For now, anyway. And maybe—just maybe—he would feel as weird about the whole situation as she did, and if she were extra lucky, he’d feel so awkward being around her that he wouldn’t be able to handle it and have to sell the hotel back to them. Then they’d all live happily ever after. The end.

  Okay. It was weak reasoning and a bit of a long shot, but she wasn’t above fairy tales and some lofty dreaming at this point. She couldn’t lose the hotel. She wouldn’t lose the hotel.

  Kinsley walked into The Starlight restaurant ten minutes later than they had planned. Adjusting her giant sunglasses, she scanned the room and saw her brother sitting alone. Huh. Looked as though Damon never got her brother’s messages after all and was still sleeping.

  She let out a breath. Thank you, God. She was just given some more time. Her pulse rate slowed considerably.

  A blond hostess walked up to her with a smile. “Party of one?” she asked.

  Kinsley shook her head. “Actually, I see who I’m meeting. Thanks anyway.” With more confidence than she had a mere five seconds ago, she strode over to her brother.

  “Good morning, Wade,” she said brightly. “Been stood up by the great Damon St. James, I see. So typical. I told you people like him couldn’t be trusted.”

  Wade frowned. “Good morning to you, too, sunshine. And actually Damon’s here. He’s in the restroom.”

  She blinked and her stomach dropped. “He’s actually here?”

  “I am.”

  Kinsley gasped—and for a reason totally unexpected. That low, familiar, sexy timbre in his voice sent unwanted tingles up her spine. She brushed them aside and slowly turned to face him.

  Damon St. James. Lordy, she could have swallowed her tongue. The man looked even better today than he had last night. She couldn’t remember a lot, but she definitely remembered that face. How on earth did someone like her end up in that man’s bed? Now she really wished she could remember more of last night.

  He wore a light-blue dress shirt, no tie, with a dark sports jacket draped lovingly over his broad shoulders. A few buttons were opened below his collar, allowing the chest hairs that had tickled her nose this morning to peek out and practically wave at her as if saying, “Hey, remember us?”

  “And you must be Wade’s sister,” he said, holding out his hand all businesslike.

  “Um, yes.” Steeling herself for the inevitable, she removed her sunglasses. “I’m Kinsley Roberts,” she said, formally shaking his hand.

  Recognition hit his crystal-blue eyes in a flash then a slow, almost wicked grin played across his lips. “Have we met before, Miss Roberts? You look awfully familiar.”

  Kinsley glanced nervously at Wade. “N-no. No, we’ve never met.” She averted her eyes and tried to take back her hand, but his grip tightened.

  “Are you sure?” he said, feigning confusion. “I never forget a face. Especially one as lovely as yours.”

  “Nope.” She tugged her hand again, but he held fast. “Not at all.”

  His blue eyes crinkled at the corners in suppressed amusement. “Positive?”

  “We’ve never met.”

  “Hmm…my mistake.” He finally released her hand with a knowing grin.

  That settled it. Damon St. James was a rat. I never forget a face. Are you positive? What kind of game was he playing anyway? He didn’t appear fazed by their meeting again at all. No awkwardness. In fact, he seemed to be generally entertained. She didn’t think it was possible, but her level of dislike for him hiked up another notch.

  Wade stood. “Damon was in town for the same wedding you were at yesterday, Kinsley.” He turned to Damon. “That’s probably why she looks familiar. She was one of the bridesmaids.”

  With a glimmer in his eyes, Damon pretended to study her. “Maybe, but I think there’s a little more to it than that.”

  Kinsley could barely contain her temper, and if looks really could kill, she was sure the coroner’s office would have been called in to examine Damon’s body thirty seconds ago.

  She clasped her hands. “I’m sure that’s it. You just remember me from the bridal party, so why don’t we all sit down now?”

  The two men waited until she sat then followed suit. A waitress came, bringing water and coffee, and took their orders. As Damon placed the napkin on his lap, he turned to her, looking surprisingly concerned. “So, tell me, Kinsley, did you…have a good time last night?”

  No. Yes. Maybe. What she could remember of it, anyway. She supposed she did have a good time talking and dancing with him last night at the wedding. But that was then. That was when he was a funny and kind wedding guest she’d randomly met. And he thought she was fun and exciting and someone who threw caution to the wind. Now, all he seemed to want to do was play games when her family’s legacy was at stake.

  “I think I had a good time,” she told him honestly.

  “You think?”

  Her cheeks warmed. “Well, there was a lot going on and I had a lot to drink. A lot to drink. In fact, I don’t remember much.” She took a breath, braced herself, and looked him square in the eye. “Did you…have a good time last night?” And if so, exactly how good?

  “Of course.”

  Of course? “Um, so does that mean you remember all of last night or just…some of last night?” she asked, biting her lip.

  Damon’s brows furrowed for a brief second before he got a gleam in his eyes and leaned in. “I remember all of it. Every. Single. Minute.”

  It was worse than she thought. She must have had sex with him. The enemy! Her boss. Thank goodness she was seated, otherwise she’d faint.

  She’d probably have to go out and make new friends, since her old friends—who knew her as the one who lectured them on drinking too much—would think she’d lost her mind. It was probably no big deal to someone like Damon. She’d labeled him a playboy the moment she met him, and she’d been one hundred percent correct in her assessment. But she had always been the innocent one. The sensible one. The boring one. In high school she was voted “Most Likely to Have a Book in Her Hands.” She raised her coffee cup to her lips to cover the horror that had to be showing on her face.

  Wade scratched his head. “Gee, I’m kind of sorry I wasn’t invited to that wedding now. Sounds like it was pretty wild.”

  “Oh, wild doesn’t even begin to cover it,” Damon told him, trying to hide a grin.

  Kinsley choked. “Okay, can we stop talking about the wedding now? It’s over. Nobody is interested in reliving it,” she said pointedly to Damon. “Ever.” Especially when I can’t even remember any of it. A small miracle she was actually now grateful for.

  Wade gave her a look. “Are you feeling okay, Kin? You look a little flushed.”

  “I’m fine,” she blurted. “Just fine. But I’ll feel a whole lot better once I hear from Mr. St. James’s lips that his company does not plan on demolishing my hotel.”

  Damon raised a finger in the air. “You mean my hotel,” he corrected.

  She bristled. “Answer the question, please.”

  “I never said we had planned on that.”

  “So what does that mean? You do plan to knock it down now?”

  “No. What I mean is that I cannot promise anything. After all, it’s not just my company. My father is CEO, there’s a second executive vice president, and there’s a board to answer to.”

  “I don’t understand,” Wade said, shaking his head. “When we signed the papers, you said you wanted to revitalize it
.”

  “You’re right. I do. I want to do that. But wants and wills are different. At this point, I’m not sure it’s worth sinking that kind of money into it.”

  She slapped her palm on the table. “I knew it! I told you this would happen, Wade.” Her frenzied gaze shot to Damon’s. “It’s definitely worth putting money into it,” she insisted. “Plus, there are employees to consider. We have more than—”

  “Thirty on staff,” Damon finished for her. “Exactly thirty. Yes, I’m fully aware. Believe it or not, good businessmen do their homework on the properties they purchase.”

  “Your parents must be so proud,” she sneered.

  An odd look flittered across Damon’s handsome face, but before she could analyze it, his professional mask was back in place.

  The waitress returned with their meals, slicing through the tense atmosphere at the table. Even though everything looked delicious, Kinsley’s stomach swirled from a combination of last night’s liquor and frustration at Damon’s announcement. She pushed her plate away and folded her arms.

  “That property you purchased is a wonderful hotel for the town,” she told him. “With a little renovation, The Harbor Light Hotel could be a real tourist draw. It has history. And not just my personal history. My grandparents bought it because they saw the town becoming a tourist destination. It was a landmark in the thirties. I know the Historical Museum has many pictures and postcards of the hotel in their displays.”

  Damon chewed thoughtfully. “Actually, I like that you’re thinking about it being a city draw for tourists because of its historical value. It’s a shame you didn’t have more equity in it. And I hardly think it’s going to take just a little renovation. Nothing has been done to it in years. Perhaps you could have tried to register it with the Historic Landmarks Program. I’m not sure—”

  “Wait.” Kinsley rubbed her head, not sure if she’d heard right. “What do you mean not much equity? I know for a fact my dad didn’t have a mortgage.”

  Damon glanced at Wade. “Well, maybe that’s for your brother to explain.”

  “Wade,” she said, touching his arm, “what does he mean? Explain what?”

  “Nothing, Kin.” Her brother’s lips thinned as he stared at Damon. “Dad took out a reverse mortgage on the hotel. For medical and other expenses. That’s all.”

  Damon didn’t dispute that and continued to eat his breakfast. Kinsley sat back, knowing her brother wouldn’t lie to her but still not entirely convinced she had the full story, either, or fully understood why the hotel was only in Wade’s name. But even after everything, she still trusted her brother more than Damon St. James. He was all the family she had left.

  She looked at Damon once again. “So what exactly do you plan to do, then? Do I still have a job? Do any of the staff?”

  Damon nodded, raising a napkin to his lips. “Yes, of course. If anything were to happen, rest assured that we would give everyone plenty of advance notice to find other work.”

  “Wow, that’s mighty big of you.”

  “Kinsley…” Wade warned.

  Damon raised a hand. “No, it’s fine. She’s obviously upset.” Then he leaned his face dangerously close to hers, and any traces of the congenial man she’d met at the wedding vanished before she could blink. “But just so we’re clear, Kinsley, I have a little more experience in this area. So let me do what I do best.”

  Kinsley’s face heated as if she’d been physically slapped. Who was this man before her? Last night he’d been charming. Kind. Attentive. All that was gone now and replaced with a hard, money-comes-first shell of a man. His lack of trust in her ability to run the hotel reminded her of the highhandedness her ex had once held over her. Well, she’d prove him wrong.

  “Fine.” She balled up her napkin in her fist and tossed it on the table. “I will, boss. As long as you let me do what I do best. I’ll talk to you later, Wade.” Then, not wanting to waste another spare second of her day in the company of such a coldhearted man, she stood and marched out of the restaurant without so much as a glance back.

  …

  They both watched her go. “I’m sorry,” Wade finally said. “She’s obviously very passionate about the hotel. I wish I hadn’t had to sell, for her sake, but… Well, she only wants what’s best for it and the town. She’s had some tough blows to deal with recently, so don’t be too hard on her.”

  Damon’s gaze remained trained on Kinsley’s petite frame, with her long brown hair swaying with each pounding step she took through the restaurant and then out the door until he could no longer see her. For some reason, he felt compelled to jump up and follow her out. A weird reaction for him. He shouldn’t care if she was upset about him buying her family’s hotel. Things like this happened daily in his line of work. But there was a desperation to her plea to keep the hotel up and running. It caused something to crack inside him, and he had to will himself to remain seated.

  “Don’t worry about it, Wade.”

  Wade’s eyes darted from the door to Damon. Then he lowered his voice. “Look, I really appreciate you—”

  Damon held up a hand. “If me being the bad guy makes her relationship with you better, then so be it.” After all, Damon was used to being the bad guy. The bad student. The bad son.

  And ultimately the bad brother.

  Hell, even Kinsley had believed the worst about him, presuming he’d taken advantage of her drunken state and had slept with her last night. He could tell by the way she’d fled his hotel room this morning and the way she danced around her vague memories. It was almost comical to see her trying to put the puzzle pieces together and not liking the picture it made before her.

  So he let her believe what she wanted. After all, they had slept together—but only in the literal sense, since she’d passed out in his hotel room in the midst of changing clothes. Aside from one kiss shared on the dance floor, that had been the extent of their intimate contact. Originally he thought it a pity, but in light of their new working relationship, he now considered it a godsend. Romance and business never mixed well.

  Actually, romance and anything never mixed well.

  “Hey,” Wade said, “for old time’s sake, could you do me one more favor?”

  Damon looked at him. “What is it?”

  “Don’t tell Kinsley the details about why I had to sell the hotel. Okay?”

  Damon sat back, studying his old college roommate for a moment. He wasn’t so sure if withholding that kind of information from his own sister was a wise move—after all, Kinsley didn’t come across as some delicate flower—but then again, it was none of his business. Wade seemed to be hell-bent on protecting Kinsley from the truth. Wade had always been a noble guy. Someone Damon wished he could be more like. Maybe if he had been, things would have turned out differently with his own family. “Sure. I won’t tell her.”

  Wade blew out a breath. “Thanks.” He reached for his back pocket and withdrew his wallet.

  Damon waved it off. “Brunch is on me, man. It’s the least I can do.”

  Wade sent him a thin smile then stood. “I need to go. I’m covering a few hours at the emergency pet clinic today. If I don’t talk to you before you leave, have a safe trip back to New York.”

  Damon nodded but remained silent. Then after Wade left, he pulled out his cell phone. He needed to notify his personal assistant of his change in plans. He knew the moment he saw Kinsley again that he would not be returning to New York quite yet. Kinsley Roberts with her sassy big brown eyes and her unusual attachment to that old relic of a building had made an impression on him—both personally and professionally—and he decided to do a little further investigation on her beloved hotel before he completely wrote it off.

  His father certainly didn’t think it was worth the investment. But could he ever really do anything right in his father’s eyes? Back before his brother had died, Damon was already considered the screwup of the family. No coveted sports scholarship for him. In fact, he and a few friends from school alm
ost had been expelled for drinking in the boys’ bathroom. Five years of working under his father hadn’t changed his opinion much. That realization only hardened Damon more, and he became quite adept in reining in his emotions as a result.

  But when Wade came to him, asking for help, Damon had weakened. Maybe because he reminded him of his brother, Carson. So he’d give Kinsley a chance to plead her case once more, too. Apparently he had a soft spot when it came to family attachments.

  Lucky for her, despite everything that had happened, Damon still had something left of a heart.

  Chapter Three

  Kinsley arrived for work Monday morning with two large coffees and two chocolate chip muffins in hand for her and the front desk receptionist, Elena. As soon as Elena spotted her, her face lit up like a Fourth of July fireworks finale.

  She and Elena had been friends since high school. Elena began working at the hotel when she was sixteen, waitressing in the café that was open in the summer, and eventually working up to the front desk by the time Kinsley had left for college. They had kept in touch despite Kinsley moving to Connecticut and Elena deciding to stay in New Jersey and work at the hotel. She was loyal and had no plans on leaving—at least not voluntarily. It appeared as if Elena had the same kind of fond attachment to the hotel she had, which made her an even more valuable employee.

  “I love you,” Elena breathed, scooping one of the coffees out of Kinsley’s hand and raising it to her lips.

  “I don’t think your fiancé is going to be happy with that proclamation, but thanks. I have to admit I actually needed to hear that today.”

  Elena lowered her coffee with a frown. “Oh, no. Why? You didn’t meet anybody cute and nice at Lori’s wedding?”

  Kinsley hesitated, opening the bakery bag and slowly placing each muffin on a paper plate. Cute? Yes. Actually, more like devastatingly handsome. Nice? No. She hadn’t met any nice men at that wedding. Not by a long shot. Damon St. James was not a nice man. He was a devious cutthroat businessman. One she hoped she wouldn’t have to see again for quite a while.