We walked side by side, his arm brushing mine. He hadn’t let me, or anyone else, hold his hand since his parents had died. My heart hurt.It’ll be all right, Allie.I walked him to his classroom, and smiled at his teacher. When a little blond boy motored over, talking a hundred miles a minute to Ollie, I felt relieved.
Ollie gave me a small wave as I left. Back in the car, I headed to the hotel. Glancing at the dash, I accelerated. Imightstill make it in time.
Windward attracted a lot of visitors. It was especially busy in the winter, and as soon as we got snow, the skiers and snowboarders would descend like an avalanche. The central part of the town was quite glitzy, with lots of high-end shops and restaurants that catered to the tourists. The eastern part of town was where the locals lived.
Then, the Langston Windward came into view.
It was a solid, sprawling building with a gabled roof, constructed of natural stone, dark wood, and glass. Until recently, the historic hotel had been owned by a Windward local, but after he’d sold it, it had been purchased by the Langston Hotels Group. I drove around the back and parked in the staff parking lot, then hustled to the staff entrance. I fumbled and pulled my ID card out. I was only five minutes late, so that wasn’t too bad.
The lock beeped and I shouldered through the door, my brain turning to everything I needed to get done. I’d start with checking in with my team, who’d be in charge of cleaning the guest rooms this morning.
I’d barely taken a step inside, when I slammed into a brick wall.
A brick wall that shouldn’t be in the middle of the hallway.
I almost fell backward, but the wall had hands and grabbed my waist. I looked up into brown eyes that were so dark they looked black.
Oh, hell.
“You’re late, Ms. Ford.”
Of all the people to catch me running behind. “Five minutes, Broody.”
His dark gaze narrowed at the nickname. Broody was actually Caden Castro, head of security for Langston Hotels. After the sale, more than just the hotel logo had changed. We now had the Langston Hotels executives underfoot, as they renovated and updated the hotel. Broody had been skulking around every corner of the hotel for two months. I was pretty sure thatparanoidwas his middle name. Or maybedistrusting. Maybe both.
“Late is late,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “So sue me. You’re making me even later.”
And sending my stupid body haywire.
That was my huge secret—bigger than collecting fairy statues—and I hadn’t told anybody. For some insane reason, Caden Castro flipped every switch I had. Anytime the man was near me, my pulse took off, my stomach felt fluttery, and I got tingles.Tingles.
I wasn’t a woman who got tingles.
And I didn’t have time for tingles. I barely had time to sleep.
Any time Caden’s dark gaze swung my way—assessing and intense—it reminded me that I hadn’t had sex in over a year. I hadn’t had an orgasm in months. I was too tired.
And don’t get me started on the man’s thighs. I’d never in my life ogled a man’s thighs before, but any time I saw him shift in a way that had his suit pants pulling taut on those long, muscular?—
Snap out of it, Allie.
Jeez. I cleared my throat and realized his big hands were still gripping my waist, digging into my skin. My traitorous heart did a weird thump.
“I can’t get to work until you let me go.” God, my voice was husky. Please don’t let him notice.
His hands flexed, his dark eyes locking on mine. Then he released me.
I sidestepped him and took off.
“No time for dark, broody men,” I muttered. “Even if they have killer thighs. And inky-black eyes, and…” I cursed and forced Caden out of my head.
After dumping my things in the locker room, my heart rate finally evened out. I met my team of housekeepers in our main area. They all wore the same brown uniform as me. Their carts were all stocked and lined up, like they were ready for battle. Sometimes cleaning the hotel actually did feel like a battle. Most days, things were normal, but every now and then, some guests sprung a disaster on us. I’d seen it all: blood, snot, vomit, semen, and some bodily fluids I couldn’t identify, which was probably for the best. I clicked my radio onto my belt and snatched my tablet off its charger.
“Morning, all.” I got nods and hellos. “I hope you had a good breakfast and are well-caffeinated.” Now I got a few chuckles. “All right.” I swiped my tablet screen. “No changes to the room allocations today, or special instructions. I have a note from the night team that someone was ill in room 407. They had to change out the sheets and towels. Amy, can you check in on them and see how they’re doing today?”
The brown-haired housekeeper nodded. “Sure thing, Allie.”
