Early to Bed

by Cara Summers

  Once she was behind the counter, Lucy beamed a smile at Lily. "Why don't we start over? This is where I say, I'm Lucy Romano. Welcome to Henry's Place."

  "I'm Lily McNeil and you must be Anthony Romano's sister?"

  "Cousin," Lucy said. "But he's really more like a brother. I've lived here in the hotel all my life. Usually, I work in the kitchen, but all the men in the family are out tonight. My cousin Sam got married a month ago, and they're playing poker at his new place."

  "I spoke with Anthony on the phone." Lily drew a credit card out of her purse. "I have an appointment to talk with him in the morning about renovating the hotel, and he made a reservation for me to stay here tonight as a guest."

  Lucy's fingers flew over the keys of the computer.

  "I'm so glad you have a reservation. We're booked solid. Thanks to the plumbing problem, there isn't a room to be had. Now..." Lucy leaned back in her chair. "All we have to do is wait for the slowest computer in the world. I keep telling Tony that he has to get a new system. All he says is that he's got it on the list."

  While Lucy chattered away, Lily glanced around the lobby again. In her mind, she pictured it as it had been in its prime. It was really a crime to have let it deteriorate this way. At least when her father took it over, the lobby would be returned to its original beauty.

  "Uh-oh," Lucy said with a frown.

  "What?"

  "I've pulled up your reservation, but there's a notation on it that it's been canceled."

  "That's impossible," Lily said as she pushed away a vision of a little black cloud forming over her head. First a monsoon and now a canceled reservation. This was the kind of luck the old Lily had, and she was no longer that person. "Your cousin made it for me himself."

  Lucy's frown deepened as she studied the screen in front of her. "He's also the one who canceled it. There's a notation that someone at McNeil Enterprises called this afternoon and said that your plans had changed."

  Thoughts whirled through Lily's mind. Who would have called? Had her father changed his mind about the job he'd given her? Surely, he would have called her first to let her know. "There must have been some mix-up at the office. Why don't you just give me another room?"

  Lucy met her eyes. "I don't have another room. I can find you something at one of the other hotels in the city."

  "Surely, you must have something." One thing Lily knew about the hotel business was that there were always rooms held back for just such an emergency. "Your cousin Anthony and I talked about how important it was that I stay here at Henry's Place. It's the only way that I can really get a feel for the place."

  Lucy's brow knit. "I would have a room if it weren't for the plumbing. Dame Vera's wasn't the only room affected."

  "I'll take anything," Lily said.

  "Tell you what," Lucy said. "I do have a suite on the roof. My Uncle Henry lived there while he was alive, and it's only used by family." She swung out from behind the counter, picked up Lily's suitcase, and led the way to the elevator. "I'm sure that Tony would want me to put you up there. I know that he was looking forward to meeting with you."

  As she followed the young girl, Lily let out the breath she was holding. In spite of Dame Vera's dire predictions, her past was not going to become her future.

  "I'll take three." Tony placed his cards face down on the table and wished fervently that he could have discarded his entire hand. The grinning look that passed between his brothers as Sam dealt him new cards added salt to the wound.

  "Don't get too smug," he warned his brothers. "My luck is going to turn. Dame Vera read my palm just before I left this evening."

  "Did she give you a date on the turnaround?" Drew asked.

  "Tonight sometime," Tony said. At least, he hoped it would be tonight.

  Drew and Sam exchanged another look.

  "I don't think we have anything to worry about yet," Sam said. "You haven't won a hand all night."

  Though he wouldn't have said that he had a pessimistic nature, Tony viewed his current cards as symbolic of his luck in general lately. The hotel, his family's home," was threatening to fall down on his head. Literally. So far, he'd managed to keep the severity of the situation from his brothers. They didn't need the grief. They certainly didn't need to know that two big hotel conglomerates, McNeil Enterprises and Fortescue Investments were pressuring him to sell out. Not that he ever would—and certainly not to McNeil Enterprises. His father and J. R. McNeil had a history. That was all Tony knew, but it was bad enough for his dad to warn him never to trust anyone from the company.

  Still, Tony would have liked to discuss the hotel's problems with someone. But Sam was a newlywed, and Drew had been working some tough undercover assignments at the precinct lately. The one person he might have confided in, his cousin Nick, was adjusting to fatherhood in Boston. He didn't need anything raining on his parade, either. Besides, running the hotel was Tony's job—the one his father had left him.

  "I only need one," Drew said as he tossed his card on the table.

  "And I'm good," Sam said.

  That figured, Tony thought. Truth told, Sam's luck was on a roll. He was not only winning at poker to night, but ever since he'd met and married A.J., his whole life had been on an upswing. The security company he worked for had made him a VP, and A.J. was expecting a baby in early summer.

  "I'm in for twenty," Drew said, pushing chips into the center of the table.

  "Big talk." Sam set a neat stack next to Drew's. "I'll see that and raise you thirty."

  Drew added chips and the two men looked expectantly at Tony.

  "You can always fold now, '' Sam said.” That way you can hold on to that pitiful pile of chips in front of you."

  Tony turned to Drew. "That sounds like a bluff to me. I'll bet he's got squat." "How much?" Drew asked. "Ten bucks," Tony said. Drew grinned. "You're on."

  Sam shook his head sadly. "This is like taking money from a baby. You guys are no challenge at all." Tony's smile spread slowly. "Those three cards you just dealt me could make me a full house."

  Drew snorted. "Not with, the string of luck you've been having."

  "I told you. It's about to change," Tony said as he placed his hand over the cards and rubbed them gently against the table. They wouldn't give him a full house since he had an eight and nine in his hand. But they had to give him something. If there was one thing he believed in it was that a person's luck could change as quickly as the weather.

  And Dame Vera's prediction had only reinforced his own personal feeling that his was certainly due for a change. The feeling had started a week ago on the day that Lily McNeil had contacted him to offer her consulting services.

  She'd been the third person to contact him from McNeil Enterprises. First there'd been the invitation to lunch with J.R. Then there'd been the personal visit from the well-dressed and well-manicured Jerry Lang-ford-McNeil. Not only had Lily been number three— Tony's lucky number—but he sensed something about her that was...different. Her father and stepbrother were smooth-talking sharks. His impression of Lily was that she was more of a goldfish. He gave the three cards on the table a rub.

  Of course, he hadn't believed one word of the line of baloney she'd fed him over the phone. She claimed she was starting a new department for her company, and she wanted to help him get an affordable loan to make the improvements that he'd always wanted to make. Plus, she would offer him a free analysis and a plan to increase profits so that he could pay off the loan in record time.

  Yeah, right. And then she'd probably have a bridge she'd want to sell him, too. No, it wasn't her too-good-to-be-true offer that had intrigued him. Her voice had caught his attention. Throaty and sexy, it had contrasted sharply with her brisk and businesslike presentation of her offer. And for some reason, it had made him think of hot, sweaty, all-night sex—the kind he'd fantasized about as an adolescent.

  "Are you going to pick up those cards or not?" Sam asked.

  "In a second." Tony continued to rub them gentl
y against the table. He'd been looking forward to meeting Lily McNeil. Contrasts had always intrigued him. And when she'd laughed—

  Hell, he'd really wanted to meet her—and not just to discuss business. He wanted to make her laugh again. And he wanted to watch her eyes light up when she did. He'd lost track of how long it had been since a woman had aroused his interest the way Lily McNeil had during their one phone conversation.

  Then today, her office had called to cancel. She'd changed her mind about helping him, and she hadn't even had the courtesy to call in person. Tony drew the cards closer to him. "I'm definitely due for a change of luck."

  "You could certainly use some at the hotel," Drew said. "Lucy was hauling buckets up to the eighth floor when I stopped in for a quick shower. The latest leak started there and flooded Dame Vera's apartment. When are you going to break down and get the plumbing replaced?"

  "It's on the list," Tony said as he drew the first card toward him. Of course, the list was huge—a new computer system for reservations, a new stove in the kitchen, new carpeting for the lobby. But a leak on the top floor would have to be the priority. If it was allowed to continue, all the guestrooms below would be in danger. He managed a quick look at his watch. Eleven-thirty. Another half an hour and he'd make an excuse to leave.

  "Now you've done it," Sam said to Drew. "He's going to make some excuse to leave now so he can check on that leak."

  "Not until I win this hand, and the ten bucks that Drew will owe me when you turn over the squat you're holding." Tony pushed chips into the center of the table. "You haven't even looked at your cards," Sam pointed out.

  "Don't have to. Dame Vera told me my luck is about to change." He picked up the first card and bit back a grin. The queen of hearts was a good start. An omen, perhaps. Then he picked up the last two cards and filled in his straight. Leaning back in his chair, he kept his face blank and let his brothers up the bet.

  ______2______

  Lily had never seen anything quite like the pent-house suite before. It had been built on one half of the roof of the hotel, and it spread out on two levels, a lower one that served as a roomy sitting area and an upper level that contained a kitchen and dining space, The most spectacular part was the glass wall that framed a panoramic view of the Manhattan skyline Even in the rain, the city was mesmerizing. In her mind, she pictured tables lined up against the glass, snowy white tablecloths, the gleam of silver.

  "Perfect." There was no other word for it. Turning to Lucy, she said, "Why isn't this space being used? Why isn't it booked all the time?"

  "We've never offered it to guests," Lucy explained as she stepped down into the sitting area. "My Uncle Henry built this place for Isabelle Sheridan, the woman he loved. They were a classic case of star-crossed lovers. She ran a very important investment company in Boston, and her family was socially prominent. They would have looked down on my uncle—to put it mildly. And running this hotel was his life. He could never have given it up and moved to Boston. She couldn't turn her back on her family and her company and move here." "They never married?"

  Lucy shook her head. "They used this place whenever they could for twenty years. Isn't that romantic?"

  "Yes." Lily let her gaze move around the suite again. What would it be like to have someone love you enough to build a space like this? She noted the comfortable-looking sofas, the antiques, and the framed photos on tables and along a mantel. Curious, she joined Lucy on the lower level and picked up a large framed photo. Four handsome men, their arms linked around each others' shoulders, stared back at her.

  You have a lover in your future—tall, dark... Even as Dame Vera's words slipped into her mind, Lily's gaze was drawn to the tallest of the four men, and she had the strangest sensation of...what? Surely not recognition. She'd never met any of the men in the picture. Still, there was something about the tall one...not merely his looks, she thought. All four of them would draw a woman's eyes. And it couldn't be merely the smile—because they were all grinning at her.

  No. He was not the lover Dame Vera had been talking about. It was ridiculous to believe that the retired actress had any kind of power for seeing into the future. Besides, Lily McNeil wasn't in the market for a lover. She'd never had a talent for attracting men that way, and she didn't need any more failures right now. She had to focus on the job she'd come to do.

  But she couldn't seem to drag her gaze away from the man. His smile made her feel that they were sharing some private joke. And she thought of her phone conversations with Anthony Romano. She'd felt a similar sense of connection then.

  "Those are the Romano men," Lucy said. "Grace and I weren't allowed in that picture. That was the day that they won the basketball tournament with the Mur-phys, and the testosterone was running high. When ever that happens, they get just a little chauvinistic." She swept a hand out. "And they don't think of this place as romantic at all. Tony and Nick think that Uncle Henry was a fool to settle for half a loaf. None of them liked Isabelle Sheridan. They thought she was a snob. But my sister Grace and I think it's great that she and my Uncle Henry found some way to be together. When I first saw the movie Titanic, I thought of my uncle—falling in love with someone out of his social class. Soooo romantic."

  And potentially heartbreaking, Lily thought. It took a great deal of courage to reach out and grab that kind of love. A tiny shiver ran up her spine as she realized that she'd nearly echoed Dame Vera's words again. Even as she tried to shake off the thought, she realized that she was still staring at the tall man in the photo. She had to focus.

  Setting the picture down, she forced herself to glance around the room again. It appeared that nothing had been changed since the two lovers had occupied it. "Does your family use this place often?"

  "No," Lucy said and then she grinned. "Not until a year ago when my brother got married. Now he and his wife stay here when they visit from Boston. And Sam brought his wife, A.J., here one night—before they were married—and they got engaged the next day. My sister Grace thinks the place has the power to make true love happen."

  "I was thinking it has the power to make the hotel a lot of money. With that view, this place could be turned into a restaurant that offers intimate fireside dining during the winter and al fresco dining during the summer months. It's a sin to let it go to waste like this."

  "That's exactly what I've been telling Tony," Lucy said. "I even designed a menu."

  When Lily glanced at her curiously, she hurried on. "The minute I graduate from college, I'm going to a culinary school. Tony lets me create specials for the restaurant, and he's incorporated several of them into the regular menu. But the family wants me to get a degree like Grace and my brother Nick did." She wrinkled her nose. "That way I'll have something to fall back on if being a chef doesn't work out. But I don't see the point. I've known what I wanted to be since I was ten."

  "That's when I decided what I wanted to be too," lily said. "Really?" "Yes." She hadn't let herself think of that day for a

  very long time.

  "Did your family encourage you?" Lucy asked.

  "No." It still hurt to recall what had happened when she'd worked up the nerve to march into her father's office to tell him. It had been one of the few times in the years after her mother's death when he'd worked at home. Her nanny had orders to keep her out in the garden, but she'd slipped away because she'd wanted so much to spend time with him. When she'd burst through the door of his office, he'd been deep in conversation with two clients. The moment he'd looked at her, she'd become all too aware of her mussed clothes and dirty knees, and she'd been swamped by the feelings of inadequacy that she always felt in her father's presence.’ Still, she'd managed to blurt out what she'd come to say. One day she wanted to be a partner in McNeil Enterprises. To this day, she wasn't sure what her father would have said to her if one of the other men in the room hadn't begun to chuckle. Then her father had joined him. Even now, fifteen years later, she could recall the hot flood of embarrassment and her father's wo
rds later when the clients had left and he'd lectured her. "You'll never be a success in business. You're far too impulsive—just like your mother was."

  "When did your family start to take you seriously?" Lucy asked.

  Lily dragged her thoughts back to the present and straightened her shoulders. "I'm still working on them."

  When her father had reluctantly agreed to let hell handle the "problem" at Henry's Place, the expressions on the faces of her family had been less than con-gratulatory. Shock and anger had flashed into her step-mother, Pamela's, eyes. And the usual mocking derision in Jerry's had been replaced by cool speculation.

  At least no one had laughed. Once you'd been pegged as a failure, it was hard to change that image: But she was going to give it her best shot. Turning to Lucy, she said, "I'd like to see your menu in the morning." "Really?"

  Lily smiled. "Really."

  Lucy gave her a quick, hard hug. "I'm so glad you've come to help us out. If anyone can convince Tony to turn this place into a restaurant, you can." "I'll do my best," Lily found herself promising. A soft buzz sounded, and Lucy glanced at the pager she pulled from her belt. "I have to get back to the desk. There are fresh sheets on the bed—and I keep the fridge and pantry stocked for Nick and his wife." She began to back her way towards the door. "If there's anything you need, just phone down to the desk."

  Lily managed to keep the smile on her face until Lucy was gone. Then she sank down onto the nearest chair. She felt like a slug. Lucy was looking on her as a savior, and she was a traitor. It had been a mistake to get the girl's hopes up. She should never have asked for the menu.. It wouldn't do to get personally involved with any of the Romanos. If she didn't remember that, she was going to fail at what she'd come to do.

  Closing her eyes, she pictured herself back on that white sandy beach in Tahiti and drew in a deep breath. All she had to do was keep the right perspective. She was not here to take Henry's Place away from the Romanos but to prove to her father and her stepbrother and stepmother that she was capable of taking her place in the company. If she didn't remember that, she was going to backslide into being the family misfit again.