Page 35 of Unlock My Heart

“Get down,” I order her with far more bravado than I currently possess.

She responds by swiping my water bottle off the desk.

“Bobcat or not, I promise you don’t want to make an enemy of me,” I warn her.

“Mrs. D’Amico?” Ellis sticks his head in my office.

“Now’s not a good time, Ellis,” I say with a heavy sigh, in no mood to deal with the house trumpeter. Despite his sweetheart of a girlfriend, the guy’s a shameless flirt and has propositioned me on more than one occasion.

“Is that a bobcat?” He eyes mine and Michele’s new “baby.”

“I’m not sure, exactly.” I take a deep breath, holding myself together by the barest of threads.

Ellis shifts positions, revealing his girlfriend. “Mrs. D’Amico, my name is Remi. We spoke last week about the job opening⁠—”

The cat hops down and trots across the room, rubbing her head against Remi’s ankle.

“Congratulations. You’re hired as the new petsitter.” I’ll be damned if I let Michele think he’s won. I’ll make this cat the mascot of the hotel; position the litter box under his desk.

“Oh, but I meant the opening in the house band⁠—”

“Fifty bucks an hour to keep this cat alive and out of my hair.”

Remi blinks. “Deal. What’s your name?” she asks the cat.

“You do the honors,” I tell Remi.

“You look like a Nola,” she decides.

“Nola it is.”

Sienna

The Present

“We can’t skimp on bathroom supplies,” the lounge’s GM argues as we make the rounds.

“Soap, I agree, but a little drip drying never hurt anyone,” I counter. “If someone bitches about no TP and paper towels, say both are on backorder.”

“And what about the situation with our ice vendor?”

An ice cube and pick over olive skin perfection.

If I had an ice pick right now, I’d chisel all memories of Fabien Calvani from my psyche.

I pour myself a glass of water behind the bar and down it.

Lukewarm, being as we have no ice.

“Mrs. D’Amico, the ice vendor?” The GM clears his throat.

“Who needs artisanal ice cubes, anyway?” I scoff.

“Um, we do, because we’re an upscale bar?”

“I’ve already cancelled the vendor contract and secured a freezer that we can dedicate to ice trays.” It’s a relic of a deep freeze someone dumped at the curb, but it’ll do. “Barbacks will now have the responsibility to monitor the ice levels.”

He runs his hands through his hair. “We’re shutting down. Just say it.”