“Dangerous in ways that compel you to lock your doors, or dangerous because he wants you to leave them all wide open?You work yourself to the bone. When was the last time you treated yourself? Not your father, or the hotel, or the guests.Yourself.”
“I’m fine.” Her brief hesitation suggests otherwise.
A knock ends the discussion, and their voices fade as they exit the office.
I close the app and tuck my phone into my breast pocket.
Sitting on the cold concrete, I watch a ship nose in, and a sensation I never experience presses down on me, wrestling in my gut.
I feel torn between the job and the woman whose sweet-as-sin mouth I can’t stop fantasizing about.
The gulls scream. Forklifts beep. Tides shift in the water and inside my chest.
When I’m confident enough time has lapsed, I trek back to my car to follow Brody’s dot north.
Back in the hotel parking garage, the video feeds bloom across my laptop. Brody’s porch squints into daylight, and Declan’s gate waits patiently.
Maeve’s bug catches her humming as she works.
I shouldn’t waste my time listening, but I do.
Not because of the job.
Because I enjoy the sound.
I last an hour before I call her.
She answers on the third ring. “Kellin?”
“Bad time?”
“Not at all.” Paper glides under her hand. “Potential investor calls get a slot above the rest.”
“I’m not calling on business.” I don’t actually have a reason for reaching out, so I come up with one on the fly. “This is a selfish idea.”
A quiet hum. “That’s even more concerning.”
A smile quirks my lips. I’ve been doing that a lot more often lately. “Breakfast tomorrow before your day bogs down. I found a spot called the Venice Café. They serve real coffee and eggs that require a fork.”
She pauses as if considering, and I picture her tucking hair behind her ear. “We have a restaurant.”
“That’s everyone else’s breakfast. This one belongs to you.”
With a tightening chest, I wait a few breaths, eager for her to say yes.
“Seven-thirty. I’ll meet you.”
“No pickup?”
A small laugh. “I prefer to arrive on my own.”
“Good boundary.” I mean it. “Afterward, I’d love to tour a few of the local hotels with you, to get a better sense of the competition.”
Another pause. “Kellin?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for asking.”
