“So you agree, Raff? I’ve been so excited to try it. I’m sure Wyatt would agree if he was here…” Darius’s eyes are bright.
“Sure, of course.” I don’t have any idea what he just said.
“Perfect. I’ll get on it. The clients are gonna love it.” He starts tapping at a keyboard.
My cell phone beeps with a series of messages.
Dave: Mate, you can’t hide from me FOREVER. It’s fucking Xmas.
Dave:A group of tech bros are gonna pay $500k if you do their Xmas party. You could live on that for what…at least three months.
Dave: You may think ppl have forgotten about you but your hardcore fans haven’t. In fact, your price has gone up since you’ve been away.
Dave: Don’t disappoint me, give me a call back.
Dave: Toodle pip.
Toodle pip? What does that even mean? Dave’s still out there hawking my name around. I’m sure he’s eager for his 10 percent. I was one of his top earners and now I’m off the roster, it must leave a gap.
He’s wrong though, most of the press have given up. I haven’t seen an article on one of the gossip papers or websites for at least a year. They got some mileage out of my sudden disappearance, and there were rumors I’d found God and joined a cult. I think my favorite one was that I’d become a yoga teacher and was teaching on a cruise ship to old hippies. A couple of old girlfriends sold their stories, and some woman I’d never seen before claimed she was engaged to me. But the bad boy thing is running out of steam with nothing to fuel it. I’m yesterday’s news now, whatever Dave reckons.
I walk back up to the bar. Billie stops what she’s doing, and a flush appears on her cheeks. So I am having an effect on her after all. That unfamiliar thrill rises in my stomach again and I have to stop myself from staring at her. Fuck, she’s so gorgeous with that long, silky dark hair accented with bright red streaks.
“All the clients in?” she asks. Her eyes are a captivating silvery-gray shade.
I nod. “Darius told me all about… something I couldn’t understand.”
She smiles. “Well, I usually just listen and zone out when he gets techy. It must be hard for Darius having a mega brain that size. So, are you a manager of reluctant elves and technical geniuses somewhere else, or what?”
I consider what I should tell her. “Do you like music?”
Billie shrugs. “Of course I like music. Don’t most people? I was sort of raised on my older brother’s record collection. He had a lot of New Wave and grunge records since he was fifteen years older than me. My listening tastes are mainly from the ‘80s and ‘90s. I’m not very up on current trends. Why do you ask?”
“I love your answer. I’m a musician. I invest in businesses but my real passion is writing and playing music. My stuff is more dance-based, but I use a lot of New Wave influences in my tracks.”
“Oh!” She looks excited. “It’s a pleasure to meet another creative…especially here in Snowflake Falls. You must play me some of your music sometime.” Her cheeks get pink again and I can’t help wondering if her nipples are the same rosy shade.
I need to stop this. I’m her boss.
“Sure,” I say. “On a quiet night, I’ll play it over the PA. Out of interest, how long do the clients normally stay in the escape room?”
“Well, that depends.” Billie takes off her elf cap, running her hand through her glossy dark hair. My dirty mind instantly imagines those glorious locks spread over a pillow, the rest of her body naked. Who is this girl? I haven’t felt like this since I was a teenager having wet dreams at night.
“On what?” I ask, trying to banish thoughts of her naked from my mind and get under control again. I don’t know if I like feeling so under another person’s spell.
“On what difficulty level Darius decided to switch on. It’s meant to take them anything from twenty minutes to an hour to solve the puzzles. The doors are meant to open automatically after 90 minutes.” Billie leans down to get some fresh glasses out of the cupboard. “I don’t know what Darius’s criteria are for setting the difficulty level. I think it depends what mood he is in on the day. I keep telling him that most people aren’t as smart as he is, but I don’t think he gets it. It’s kinda endearing, really.”
A loud, repetitive ringing sound starts up from the corner where the escape room is located. At the same time, at the entrance to the room, a huge plastic Santa’s belly starts flashing red.
Billie raises her eyebrows. “Houston, we have a problem. Someone inside the escape room has panicked and pressed the emergency alert. Either that, or they’re all just rattling every damn thing they can to see if it works. Both scenarios tend to happen a lot…”
“I better take care of this,” I say, walking back over to Darius.
Frankly, I’m glad for the distraction. Being close enough to Billie to smell her spicy, cinnamon-scented perfume was driving me crazy. I need to remember why I’m here. I’m helping my brother out for a few days, giving him a break, and taking care of this place. I’m not here to admire, salivate over and try to flirt with one of his employees.
There’s no way I want to undo all the hard work I’ve put in for the last two years by falling head over heels for a stunningly gorgeous girl.
I’ve got a job to do.
