“What suites?”
“Celebrity suites. I’m making sure they’re stocked. Then I’ve got vendors to touch base with. I also need to make sure the restaurant managers received the last-minute changes to personnel. There’s so much. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself.”
I walk around him and his hand slips to my waist, circling my stomach. My breath catches and I look up. “Tyler,” I say, admonishing.
He doesn’t seem to notice what his touch does to me, or he’s ignoring it. “I’ll go with you.”
“Huh? No.” I shake my head. “That’s unprofessional. You can’t tag along. You have a job to do.”
“While you and Hayden are understaffed, security was beefed up for this event. There are plenty of guards to go around, especially opening night. I can help you. Four hands are better than two and all that.”
“That doesn’t apply to what I have to do, but even if it did, really, I’m okay.”
I make it to the door and hurry down the hall. I’m twenty minutes behind the schedule I set for myself. People are bustling around me, as if this were the middle of the day. Not even the show Drake put on has slowed the pace for tonight’s events. The music festival is one of the major draws to Blue Casino. Everyone is working overtime tonight.
Tyler catches up to my side. “I’ll just hang behind. Make sure everything goes okay. It’s my job, after all.”
“You got this job to torment me, didn’t you?”
He winks.
“Don’t get in my way, Tyler, I’m serious.”
“Would I do that? Pretend I’m your shadow. I won’t even say a word.”
Somehow I highly doubt that.
I promised Hayden I’d start with the suites, but I’ve got a meeting with a manager expecting me this very moment. I go there first and make sure everything is set up for the vendors to have access to the kitchens. I also provide the manager with a new list of temporary employees, which changed right up until the last minute. I’ve assigned badges to offsite vendors, but I’m double-checking everything. Tyler keeps his word and remains silent throughout all this, but I receive odd looks from the manager. It’s not every day that hospitality personnel are escorted by security.
I make my way to the penthouse suites elevator bank, inserting a special access key.
Tyler peeks at the list in my hands. “What is this?”
I snatch it away. “Nothing.”
He raises his eyebrow. “Doesn’t look like nothing. Since when does the hotel provide guests with”—he snoops over my shoulder again—“red satin sheets, extra-large lubricated?—”
“Knock it off. These are special guests.”
“I’ll say.” He smirks. “Why are you doing this anyway? You’re human resources. This seems a bit outside your job description.”
“The girl who’s been handling our hospitality shortage is really sick and couldn’t come in. That leaves Hayden to make sure there’s coverage, hence me. I’ve been helping out in hospitality anyway, so it’s fine.”
“Hayden can’t hire someone?”
“Will you stop already? Hayden will hire someone when she comes up for air. They’ve lumped a ton of work on her since she started. There are people around here who want to see her fail. They don’t want her in a power position.”
“When they give her this much responsibility, they’re putting her in a power position.”
The elevator doors open and we walk inside. “That’s true. Not very smart of them. Anyway, tonight Hayden’s responsible for making sure the high-end guests are happy.”
“So you’re on condom duty.”
“Exactly.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Tyler
