Douche magnet. That’s what she was. “No, Brandon?—”
“It’sBrayden,” he bristled.
Oh, good freaking God. “Whatever. I have a boyfriend, so no. I’m not giving you my number or having dinner with you.” She was conscious of the fact that they were drawing the attention of the people around them, but she didn’t care. The faster this guy got away from her, the better.
A smirk grew on Brayden’s smarmy face as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh yeah? Well, where is this supposed boyfriend of yours?”
Heat tore over her face. “I owe youzeroexplanations.” She spun and stalked toward the bar, making a beeline to the center where Maya was waving her over.
Brayden kept pace with her. “You’re at a bar by yourself accepting drinks from guys who aren’t your boyfriend. You’re asking to get hit on. No real man would allow that. I mean, what kind of man lets his girl talk up another guy at a bar?”
Her jaw dropped as she glared at him. Of course that’s what this d-bag would think.
“Those are some big words, bud,” Maya said, a smirk lifting her ruby-red lips.
A smirk that had Freya frowning. What was her friend up to?
Maya crossed her arms over her chest. “You gonna call out her boyfriend’s manliness to his face?”
“Absolutely.” Brayden scoffed as a haughty do-you-know-who-I-am expression settled over him. “If she actually had a boyfriend, I’d definitely tell him what’s what to his damn face.”
“By all means then,” a deep voice said. The grumbly baritone had the fine hairs on her arms standing at attention. “Feel free to tell me what’s what.”
Freya’s gaze shot to the left—to the man she hadn’t noticed standing beside Carmichael—and was rendered mute.
Holy. Crap.
How had she not seen him? Not only was the man enormous, but he was breathtaking.
Before she could blink, he was beside her. His strong arm settled over her shoulders, and he tucked her close. She had a split second to take him in, but that was all she needed. Shoulder-length dark hair pulled half back into a bun, stunning dark-brown eyes, high cheekbones, a chiseled jaw with the sexiest five-o’clock shadow, full lips, and massive shoulders.
Her breath caught as he bent and dropped a quick kiss to her lips.
“Hey, baby.” A smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. “Sorry I’m late.”
CHAPTER THREE
“We’ll look around before we head out, but we’ll be back tomorrow with a bigger team,” Xander Bonetti said, shaking the hand of Gabriel Ortiz, the owner of Pacific View Resort.
“Thank you. I appreciate you coming right out.”
“Not a problem. Also, Gavin Frazier sends his regards,” Xander said, referring to his boss, friend, and the founder of Hudson Security. “He said he’ll call you later this evening to touch base. He’d be here personally, but he’s currently out of town.”
“I understand. Believe me, I know how busy you all are, and I appreciate you fitting us in on such short notice.” Gabriel let out a sigh, shaking his head. “I get what happened today was an isolated incident, but that guy should never have been able to make it to the spa. If you’re not already a guest, you have to check in at the front desk to get an access card for our spa facility. We have a secure entrance to our grounds, so I’m not sure how he got past the front desk.”
Xander knew that secure entrance or not, most people were lax when it came to security. Especially at a place like this. People didn’t want to offend anyone by inadvertently denyinga guest entry. Xander hadn’t seen the man who’d stormed the spa, but Sheriff Quinn O’Conner, a personal friend he’d worked alongside with on various cases, had briefed him when they’d run into each other earlier.
The man responsible for all the destruction was Jason Edwards, the estranged husband of a guest at the Pacific View Resort. Edwards was a middle-aged white male who worked in finance. Average height, average build. Short brown hair and brown eyes. Dressed in khakis and a polo shirt. Basically, he’d blended in with the guests. Hospitality staff at a high-end resort wouldn’t stop and question someone like him because of their own biases and because most people avoided confrontation. So yeah, Xander was nearly 100 percent sure how Edwards got past check-in, but he didn’t want to burst Gabriel’s bubble. Yet. That was for tomorrow.
“It’s something we’ll examine more in depth,” Xander said, choosing his words with care. “My team will not only assess your current security protocols, but also how your resort is accessed by both guests and staff. We’ll also talk with your current security staff and make recommendations. Do you know if the media has gotten wind of what happened?”
Gabriel shook his head. “Not that I know of, but there’s extra security personnel stationed at our main entrance. If any news crews come by, security has been instructed to move them along. We sent a notification to all our staff and instructed them to forward any and all press inquiries to my office. We obviously closed the spa facility after what happened. Luckily, it was near the end of the day, so only a handful of guests were affected, but with the police presence and EMTs, I know rumors are buzzing among the guests. We sent out a text to let them know there’d been an incident and assured them that it was isolated and there were no lingering safety issues. We also informed everyone thatsalon services are cancelled for the week, but spa services will resume tomorrow as scheduled.”
Xander’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. He’d seen the aftermath and the place had been a disaster. “Really?”
Gabriel nodded and glanced at his watch. “Sheriff O’Conner said he’d be releasing the scene in about an hour or two. I have a cleaning crew on standby. The way the facility is set up, the spa and salon areas are on opposite sides. We’re going to cordon off the entire salon side, but that won’t affect the spa areas or treatment rooms. Also, by opening tomorrow, I’m hoping it will keep the rumor mill down. We don’t need this kind of publicity.”
“Understandable. We’ll leave you to it then.” Xander gestured to his colleague who stood silently beside him. “Carmichael and I will look around and get a feel for how your evening security is set up, guest activity, that kind of thing.”
