“You’re not. Everyone needs to be questioned. I’m not positive we’re going to find the person, but a notice will go out to all staff. Sometimes fear gets tongues wagging.”
It wasn’t like her to operate that way. But it was Hunter’s call.
“I’ll leave that to you. I’m concerned, as I always am, of anything that might reflect poorly on a guest’s stay or future guests.”
“We get a lot of celebrities here, not to mention extremely wealthy clients and events. Staff sign confidentiality paperwork. If someone, anyone, breaks that, it’s immediate termination.”
“Agreed. But we’ll need proof and no one is talking.”
“We can comp Arik back some of his stay for his trouble,” Hunter said.
“No. He wouldn’t want that. He thinks I’m making a bigger deal out of it. If I didn’t work here, he wouldn’t have said a word.”
“I’ll let you use your discretion on that.”
“Thank you. I’ll reach out to Grace before I leave and we’ll meet and keep you posted.”
“Thanks.” She stood to leave. “And, Natalie. Don’t get twisted when people find out you’re dating Arik. It’s going to happen.”
“I know. I hope it’s after he leaves. He’s looking for a house to rent.”
Hunter smirked. “Good for you.”
“Yeah, good for me.”
She left Hunter’s office and went to the third floor to see if Arik was around. Though he didn’t seem to mind all that much about his mother finding his room number, she did, and she’d keep him informed of what she was doing to make it right.
After the third knock, she was turning away when the door opened.
Her boyfriend stood there with glasses on his face that she hadn’t known he wore, his hair a disheveled mess of spikes in all directions, and an impatient glare right at her.
“Whoa. What happened to you?”
“Sorry,” he said. He lifted his glasses up and a flip switched in his features.
His facial muscles relaxed, his eyes were bright and clear, not annoyed and frustrated, and his hand came out to reach for hers, yanking her into the room so hard she slammed into his chest.
“You’re going to hurt us both doing that,” she said, catching herself from tripping on her feet. It reminded her of the drunken wedding adventure over a week ago coming out of the elevator in her much higher heels.
“Nah,” he said, his mouth landing on hers. “I’ve got you.”
“You do.” She returned his kiss, her arms sliding around his neck, him pulling her hips closer, his hands staying on her waist.
She shouldn’t be standing here kissing her boyfriend. Getting worked up. Wanting to strip him naked.
She was a good girl.Good girlsdidn’t do these things at work!
“What brings you by my room?” he asked.
She moved back a few feet and looked around. His laptop was open, and there were two empty water bottles next to a candy bar wrapper and a bag of chips.
The galley kitchen had dishes in the sink, the counters some residue she hadn’t noticed before. There were sneakers not matched up and kind of littering the living area with a few sweatshirts over chairs.
“Everything okay?”
He followed her eyes to the table he’d been at. “I’m working. I get lost in things.”
“You eat like that while you work? Do you leave DNA all over your keyboard too?”
