“Thanks to you…” I sighed. “Why didn’t you apply for it?”
“That’s not me.” She shook her head back and forth. “I can’t stand there all day with a smile on my face—I’d rather be scrubbing toilets.”
“At least you’re not scrubbing the ones at the Carson City Inn anymore.” I raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“Ain’t that the truth.” She nodded. “This place is definitely a lot nicer—when people aren’t getting stabbed in the stairwell.”
“Yeah…” The smile disappeared from my face, and I nodded aimlessly. “Okay, I need to clock in.”
“Okay, I’ll see you around.” Rose pulled out her mascara and started touching up her eyelashes.
I had been working at the Pembroke for a couple of months, and thankfully, the incident on my first day was the only one worth talking about. If things like that had been a regular occurrence, I would have been looking for a new job by the end of my first week. I found out that I was the only weirdo that wore my uniform to the building after my second day on the job—the rest of the employees left them in their locker, and the hotel laundry service made sure they were clean before their next shift. I wasn’t used to that luxury, but I decided to take advantage of it.
The Pembroke really was a nice place to work and most of the guests were pleasant—that was a lot different than the Carson City Inn where half the people who checked in were drunk, high, or anxious to get the person they were with behind closed doors to do things to them that I didn’t even want to think about.
“It’s going to be a busy day.” Hank looked over at me as I took my position at the computer beside him.
“You always say that…” I shook my head and laughed.
“It’s always true.” He shrugged. “Hey, if you’re not busy after work, some of us are going to get drinks—you in?”
“I don’t know.” I raised an eyebrow. “I have schoolwork I need to do…”
“It’ll still be there after you have a couple of drinks with us.” He chuckled under his breath.
“I guess you’re right.” I nodded. “Sure, why not.”
Hank was the first guy that had asked me to go somewhere with him since I graduated from high school, but I knew he wasn’t asking me on a date—he had a girlfriend that he talked about every chance he got. He had also mentioned that he got together with some of our co-workers for drinks from time-to-time. It was the first time I had been invited, and while I really did need to work on my assignments for school, I didn’t go out much—at all, really. My other option was going home to an empty house. I didn’t even have to wonder if my mother would be coming home. The mysterious Edgar had whisked her off for some sort of getaway, which seemed to suggest that things were getting serious, but I still hadn’t met him.
“Hey…” I leaned towards Hank. “Who is that guy? I’ve seen him come in a few times, but he always goes straight to the elevator.”
“Him?” Hank motioned to the man I was looking at. “His name is Damien Sinn—he’s a platinum guest.”
“Ah…” I nodded. “Wait, you said Sinn? Like—Sinn Technology?”
“Yeah.” Hank shrugged. “I think he’s the CEO’s grandson or something.”
“Wow…” I blinked in surprise.
The platinum guests at the Pembroke had rooms permanently reserved in exchange for a monthly fee. They didn’t have to check-in or out—they could live there if they wanted to, and Hank told me that a couple of them actually did. I was normally too busy to notice the guests that passed through the lobby, but Damien Sinn was the kind of man that stood out in a crowd. My attention always seemed to be drawn to him when he stepped into the hotel, no matter what I was doing at the time. The first time I saw him, our eyes met for a moment, and a strange sensation swept through my body—like some sort of force was pulling me in that direction, but I had no idea how to take the first step.
“I think you have a crush…” Hank looked over at me and grinned once we finished with the guests at the front desk.
“No, that’s not it.” I shook my head back and forth. “I just didn’t know who he was—he seems to come here pretty often.”
“A lot of people do.” Hank raised his eyebrows and smirked.
It didn’t feel like a crush. I crushed on guys in high school—guys that never showed any interest in me. That wasn’t what I felt every time Damien walked through the lobby. He had a presence to him, but it seemed like I was the only one in the Pembroke Hotel who noticed it. I had no idea how that was possible. He was extremely attractive—tall, broad shoulders, and he had a jaw that looked like it could cut through steel. If Hank had told me that he was a famous actor or musician, I wouldn’t have been surprised—although I probably wouldn’t have been the only one that noticed him if that was the case. He looked like he belonged in Hollywood instead of Carson Cove.
“I’m going to take my break since we don’t have a line right now.” Hank stretched out his arms and let them fall to his side. “You should be able to take yours when I get back.”
“Okay, sounds good.” I looked at him and nodded.
A rather large group of people walked into the lobby as soon as Hank left the front desk, so his timing wasn’t quite as convenient as he hoped, but I was able to take care of them on my own. I never realized that Carson Cove had so many visitors from out of town. There was a beach at Carson Bay, and it was popular in the summer months, but it wasn’t exactly a tourist destination. The locals fought to keep it that way when a real estate developer tried to buy up land and build a hotel there. There were plenty of beaches in nearby towns that did cater to tourists—if I was planning to vacation at the beach, I would have wanted to see the ocean when I woke up in the morning. You could get a glimpse of it if you had a room on the top floor of the Hotel, but it wasn’t the same—in my opinion at least.
“Alright, I’m back.” Hank walked up beside me. “If you hurry, you might have time to grab lunch before the restaurant gets crowded.”
“Yeah, I should probably do that.” I nodded. “I skipped breakfast…”
Another perk of working there was that we were allowed to eat lunch at the restaurant for free—as long as we were happy with one of the four meals selected for us. There was an employee break room that connected to the back of the restaurant, and it was easy to place an order, but if they were busy, our orders went to the back of the line. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, so I was able to get a Caesar Salad with grilled chicken and extra croutons—something I had never tried before I started working at the Pembroke, but it was quickly becoming my favorite. I finished my lunch right before it was time to return to the front desk and arrived just in time to help with the next wave of guests before Hank got overwhelmed.
Time certainly goes by a lot faster here when it’s this busy…
“Ready to get that drink?” Hank walked up to me after I changed clothes and put my work uniform in my locker.
“Yeah, where are we going?” I closed my locker and turned towards him.
“The third floor.” He pointed in the general direction of the elevators.
“Wait…” I blinked in surprise. “We’re drinking here—at the hotel bar?”
“Of course.” He nodded quickly. “Why would we go anywhere else?”
“Ms. Valerie doesn’t mind?” I raised my eyebrows inquisitively.
“As long as we’re not hanging out in our work uniforms ignoring guests, she doesn’t really care. It’s not like we’re going to get drunk and belligerent.” He shrugged and chuckled under his breath. “I’m sure she’d rather have us spend our money here than anywhere else.”
“Okay, lead the way.” I motioned to the door.
We took the elevator to the bar on the third floor, and Hank introduced me to the people that I didn’t know. I was hoping Rosa would be there so I would know someone besides Hank, but she wasn’t. Hank and his friends had all been working at the Pembroke for a while. They had inside jokes, stories about people
I didn’t know, and I simply laughed along to be polite. A couple of people asked me questions, which I answered, but they didn’t really pay much attention to me otherwise.
It was nice to hang out with people—I didn’t do that very often—but I didn’t have much to share in the conversation. We stayed long enough to have two drinks before the party started to die down a little bit and a couple of people left. Hank finished his second drink and contemplated a third but decided against it when his girlfriend sent him a text message—that was my cue to leave as well because I didn’t know anyone there except for him.
“It was nice to meet all of you.” I gave the people at the table a polite nod as I started to stand up.
Tatum, one of the waitresses that worked at the restaurant, looked up at me and smiled. “I probably need to go as well—I’m supposed to be meeting my parents for dinner. You’ll have to hang out with us again sometime.”
“Blah…” Colton, one of the guys that worked at the concierge desk, let out a long sigh. “I’m not drinking alone, so I guess I’m going home too.”
The four of us left together and rode the elevator back down to the lobby. I got the impression that Tatum and Colton might be a couple based on their interaction in the elevator—or they were just really flirty after two drinks. If Hank noticed, he didn’t say anything—he seemed to be too focused on his cell phone and replying to whatever text message that had made him decide that a third drink wasn’t a good idea. I decided to pull mine out and see if I had any messages as well—not that I expected anyone to message me.
“Oh crap…” I felt around in my purse and sighed. “I think I left my cell phone at the bar.”
“Want me to go with you to look for it?” Hank glanced over at me.
“Nah, I’ll be okay.” I shook my head back and forth.
The three of them left the elevator once the doors opened, and I hit the button to take me back to the third floor. I remembered pulling out my cell phone at some point during the conversation, so it was either on the table or in the booth where I was sitting. Thankfully, the Pembroke wasn’t the kind of place where your phone would disappear if you left it unattended for a couple of minutes. I walked into the bar and found it in the booth—and as expected, I didn’t have any messages, go figure.
I tucked my phone into my purse, turned around, and nearly tripped over my own two feet when I saw Damien Sinn walk into the bar. He didn’t really look around or seem to be focused on anything except getting a drink. I tried not to stare, but he was even more attractive than I realized up close—he was hot. I felt a weird flutter in my stomach. The next thing I knew, I was walking to the bar and sitting down. The bartender came over and put a napkin on the counter in front of me—it would have been incredibly awkward at that point if I didn’t order a drink. I asked for a glass of red wine, which was what I was drinking earlier. Tatum recommended it, but I couldn’t remember the name, so I just pointed at the bottle behind the bartender—I hoped it wasn’t expensive.
One more drink—then I’ll leave. It’s not like I would ever have the courage to actually talk to him…
Chapter Four
Damien
I came to the Pembroke for the same reason I always did—to be closer to Caroline’s memory—but something had changed. It didn’t feel like she was there anymore. I couldn’t even close my eyes and pretend. Maybe the chaos in my head was just too intense, or my heart had begun to mend itself after five long years without her. People said it would get easier in time, but I refused to let it get easier. That felt like a betrayal to her memory—a betrayal to the love we shared—but deep down, I knew she would have never wanted me to turn the Pembroke into a mausoleum for the memories we made there.
“Can I get another whiskey?” I pushed my empty glass towards the bartender.
“Yes sir.” He picked up the bottle. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in here…”
“Yeah it has.” I nodded in agreement as he poured my drink.
I normally do my drinking alone…
Caroline was the only woman I ever loved, and a cruel twist of fate took her away from me. It was raining that night. We were supposed to be going to our engagement party at a business associate’s house. I got a call from my grandfather about an issue with a social media platform we launched for one of our clients, so I had to swing by the office first. I promised to meet her at the party before it started, but when I arrived at Benson Estate a few hours later, I found out that she never made it. A part of me died with her that night—I didn’t think I would have an emotional response to anything around me again—but anger was stronger than despair, and my father gave me plenty of reasons to feel that after she passed.
“One more I think…” I pushed my empty glass back to the bartender.
“Right away, sir.” He nodded and reached for the bottle.
I tried not to wallow in my misery as life handed me reasons to do so. I threw myself into my work, started seeing a therapist, and I even went on a couple of dates a few years after Caroline passed. None of it seemed to work. My grandfather decided to name my father as the next CEO of Sinn Technology, my therapist seemed more interested in writing prescriptions than helping me find a real solution to my problems, and I didn’t feel anything for the women I tried to date. I found solace in my trips to the Pembroke —even if it was just a placebo—but if it had finally stopped working, then I had no idea how I was going to pull myself back from the edge when I came dangerously close to it.
Maybe it’s time for me to finally let go…
Three drinks were barely enough to get me buzzed, but I knew that a couple more would probably push me in the wrong direction emotionally. I needed to just go upstairs, pack my stuff, and head back to the house. There was no reason to sleep at the Pembroke Hotel if it wasn’t going to give me the comfort I was searching for. It was too damn depressing. I didn’t want to sour the good memories if they were locking themselves away. The harsh reality was that I had been going through the routine as the connection faded for some time, but I did my best to cling to it—because I was scared to let go—but the time had come for me to try and figure out what life after Caroline actually looked like.
“Are you done, sir?” The bartender walked over when I finished my drink.
“Yeah.” I nodded and sighed.
I gave the bartender a generous tip and started to stand. As I turned, I caught a woman at the end of the bar staring before she immediately looked in the other direction. I recognized her—it took me a couple of seconds to realize that she was the new girl I saw at the front. That pause as I tried to figure out why she looked familiar was long enough for me to see her glance in my direction again—then immediately divert her gaze like she had just been caught doing something wrong. Her cheeks blushed, which was quite noticeable because she had a fair complexion. Instead of walking to the door, I sat back down—I didn’t even know why—I just seemed to react to what I saw without really thinking about it.
“Did you decided to have one more?” The bartender tilted his head inquisitively.
“Yeah…” I nodded aimlessly. “And get the lovely auburn-haired woman at the end of the bar another glass of wine—put her drinks on my tab.”
“Yes sir.” He smiled and put a glass down in front of me.
Any man with a pulse would have been intrigued by the sight of a woman as gorgeous as the one at the end of the bar looking in his direction. I just normally didn’t have that kind of reaction—not since Caroline. Was I finally starting to see through the veil of turmoil that had been over my eyes for so long? The dates I went on were absolute disasters that were entirely my fault. I dreaded every second of them before I arrived—wanted to leave as soon as I got there—and usually found an excuse to end them as fast as possible. Maybe I should have left instead of sitting down and buying the auburn-haired beauty drink, but the bartender was on his way to her with a glass of wine in his hand before I processed that thought.
There
’s still time—but for some reason, I don’t want to go…
The bartender put the glass of wine down in front of her—then he pointed to me. She hesitated for a moment, like she was trying to decide if she should look in my direction, but she finally did—and a faint smile formed on the corner of her lips that was more intoxicating than the whiskey already coursing through my veins. She had a pair of eyes with hints of green and blue—blended together like aquamarine. They were radiant—captivating—and just when I thought they were going to look away, she glanced at the empty seat beside her. In was an open invitation and the first one in five years that I wanted to accept. I picked up my drink as I stood, and my pulse raced as I closed the distance between us.
“Hi, I’m Damien…” I slowly sank into the seat beside her.
“My name is Leigh.” She blinked a couple of times—I got the impression that she was nervous. “Thank you for the drink.”
“Your next one is on me, if you want another.” I lifted my whiskey to my lips and took a sip.
“I don’t think I can stay that long...” She looked down at her glass and reached for it. “I’ve already stayed longer than I planned.”
“Got somewhere to be?” I raised my eyebrows inquisitively.
“I’m a student at Carson Cove University.” She took a sip of her wine. “That takes up most of my time when I’m not working…”
“Ah, okay.” I pondered what she said for a moment. “You just work here part-time?”
“What?” She blinked in surprise. “How did you know I work here?”
“I’ve seen you at the front desk a couple of times.” I took a sip of my whiskey. “Unless you have a twin sister…”
“No.” She finally showed another hint of that intoxicating smile. “Not that I’m aware of. I actually take my classes online, so I’m able to work here full-time while I’m going to school—which is part of why I can’t stay much longer.”
Devious Intentions (Carson Cove Sandals Book 3) Page 3
