by Ashley Blake
“And what is going on here?” His voice was pure seduction and I had difficulty getting my lips to come together to form a sentence. After a moment I was able to finally utter words.
“I think your date would not appreciate you being here with me in this secluded space, Mr. Blu.”
He pondered what I said and then I sucked in my breath as his face moved toward mine. Is he going to kiss me?
I held my breath as I waited for what came next. Oh, what I would give to feel those sexy lips on mine. I felt as though my world was spinning as he continued coming closer. Instead of kissing my lips he leaned down and whispered in my ear.
“Do me a favor, love, call me Sebastian. My father is Mr. Blu.” His warm breath caressed my ear and his words made my belly flip.
I stood there puzzled as he left me standing alone to ponder what had just happened between us. I was clearly daydreaming because I didn’t hear Marissa, one of the servers, calling my name.
“Elena? Are you okay?”
My fog cleared as I realized that she was standing right in front of me.
“Um, yeah I’m fine Marissa, just a touch of a headache. Is everything going okay out there?”
“Yeah, everything is fine. Ms. Parker wanted me to let you know that we will be serving dessert soon.”
I got nervous because I thought Ms. Parker may have been looking for me and couldn’t find me.
“Was she looking for me?” I tried to sound as nonchalant as possible because I didn’t want Marissa to see me fretting over anything. She was a new server and I had to keep my cool at all times.
“No, she just told me if I saw you to let you know, but she said she figured you probably were already on top of it.”
I smiled at her and thanked her for relaying the message. I went back to the ballroom and did my best to avoid eye contact with Sebastian because I was sure that my body would betray me if I locked eyes with him. I walked around the table glancing at everyone’s plates to make sure that none of the plates were empty. The guests were enjoying dessert and conversation and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention and eyes boring into me as I was walking around. My mouth went dry and my palms were sweating because I knew he was watching me. I was terrified to look in his direction because I didn’t want anyone to see what he was doing to me, and I knew that one look at me looking at him and the heat between us would be obvious to any observer.
I must have been off in my own world because even though I thought that I was doing my job by keeping an eye on Sebastian’s section, I felt someone tap me on the arm and it caught me by surprise. I turned to see Marissa looking nervous and I immediately got worried.
“Is something wrong, Marissa?”
“Mr. Blu has been trying to get your attention for the last few minutes.”
My heart dropped into my stomach. Oh crap! He needed something and I had made him wait. Dammit. This isn’t going to look good for me. I took a deep breath and gave Marissa’s arm a quick, gentle squeeze as I whispered to her.
“Thank you.”
I shifted my eyes to Sebastian, feeling totally flustered, and he looked amused as he watched me try to compose myself as I quickly walked over to him.
His date once again gave me a dismissive once over and wrapped her perfectly manicured hand around his arm. Okay lady, I get it, you want me to know that he’s off limits. Maybe you should check with him on that one. I gave him my sweetest smile as I locked eyes with him.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Blu. What can I do for you?”
His eyes were fixated on me giving me all of his attention. “The first thing you can do is call me Sebastian.”
I could feel my cheeks flush and I quickly glanced at his date who was staring daggers at me, and I smiled at her trying to diffuse her anger.
“Okay, Sebastian, what can I do for you?”
“I would like a Diet Coke and a glass of ice.”
Huh? Did I hear him correctly?
I was careful not to raise my eyebrow at him. “I’m sorry, did you say you would like a Diet Coke?”
His eyes were intense as they held my gaze and he had such a serious expression on his face. “Yes, I would like a diet coke, in a can please, and make sure it’s ice cold.”
“Absolutely, Mr. Blu. Excuse me, Sebastian.”
I turned to go back to the kitchen praying we had a cold can of Diet Coke in the fridge. What kind of weird request was that? And why did he have to ask me? The servers were waiting on him hand and foot.
I hurriedly searched through the refrigerator and, thankfully, I found a few cans of Diet Coke on the bottom shelf. I wiped down the can of soda and brought it out to Sebastian’s table along with a glass filled with ice.
“Here is the Diet Coke that you requested. Is there anything else that I can do for you?”
A tiny smirk played at the corner of his mouth. “Yes, I would like another can of Diet Coke and another glass filled with ice.”
I felt my cheeks fill with warmth as I held his gaze. What kind of game are you playing?
“Of course, I will be right back.”
I had to stop myself from stomping away because I felt like he was trying to make me look silly in front of his guests. I grabbed another soda from the fridge, wiped it down and set it on the table in front of him with another glass filled with ice. Defiance brimmed in my eyes as I held his gaze and then I forced myself to smile at him.
“Anything else, Sebastian?”
His eyes searched mine for what seemed like an eternity, I couldn’t tell if he was upset with me, and I began to feel uncomfortable because I could feel everyone at the table staring at us. I hope I didn’t sound annoyed. The last thing I wanted to do was piss off the man who held the key to my future.
“That’s all for now, Elena.” The way he said “for now” let me know that he had more in store for me.
I went back to the kitchen, my heart thumping, totally nervous that I had pissed off the owner of the hotel. He shouldn’t have cornered me earlier because it threw me off. I prided myself on always being in control of my emotions and I had finally met someone who shook me to the core. Sebastian Blu was not the kind of man I was used to.
Later that evening, at the end of the night as guests were leaving, I was helping to clear Sebastian’s table when I felt a hand on the small of my back. I turned to see Sebastian looking at me with that sexy smirk and I literally jumped away from him.
“So you don’t like my touch.”
“You caught me off guard. Did you need something?”
He slowly ran a finger down my arm and I was totally flustered because there were still plenty of people in the room and I was afraid someone would see the handsome billionaire flirting with me. This was not the way I wanted to be noticed and if he continued to come after me like that people would start to talk. If I did get the promotion, people would assume I got it because I was sleeping with Sebastian and that was the last thing I wanted. As those thoughts ran through my head I suddenly was very annoyed. I pulled away from him and my eyes were steely as I held his gaze.
“I do not mean to disrespect you Mr. Blu, but I am very uncomfortable with your advances. I work really hard for Blu Sierra Miami and I am a respected manager. I wouldn’t want any rumors to begin about us, especially since I am up for promotion. I like to earn my positions in life the right way.”
He took a deep breath, put his hands in his pockets and held my gaze for what seemed like forever before he said something. “Elena, the last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable, it’s quite the opposite actually.”
I was completely confused. “Why? Aren’t you here with a date tonight? How do you think she would feel if she knew what you were doing?” I couldn’t believe that I was rejecting this powerful man, but it was pissing me off that he thought he could just have me.
An amused grin played at the corners of his mouth and his crossed his arms and leaned against the table drinking me in with
his eyes.
“And, what exactly is it I am doing, Elena?”
I could feel that my cheeks were burning so I knew they had to be flaming red. How did I get myself into this? I had to be careful not to him so I chose my words carefully.
“You are flirting with me Mr. Blu, and while I am very flattered I just don’t think it’s appropriate.”
I could see that he was surprised by my rejection but he quickly composed himself as he held my gaze. He uncrossed his arms, cleared his throat as he straightened his jacket and gave me a generic smile.
“Have a nice evening, Ms. Sumner.”
He walked away and I was left standing there, my mind and heart racing, worried that I had just sealed my fate with the company. I began to pace back and forth in front of the table. This is not good, this is not good. I had rejected Sebastian Blu and I just knew that my time with the hotel was over. I tried to push the fear of being fired out of my head as I helped clear away as much as possible before the cleaning crew stepped in.
I went into the kitchen to grab my purse and Ms. Parker stopped me on my way out.
“Elena dear, thank you so much for stepping in to help tonight. I think the gala was a huge success and Mr. Blu seemed very pleased. Enjoy your day off tomorrow and I will see you on Monday morning!”
“Thank you Mrs. Parker.”
I went home feeling sick to my stomach about work and I hoped that Sebastian wouldn’t hold it against me that I turned him down. I climbed into bed a little while later and stared up at the ceiling in the dark replaying the night in my head. Sebastian was dangerously gorgeous and it would be really easy for me to get caught up in him, especially since he’d made it clear he was into me. But the last thing I needed was to have people at work gossiping about us, and I was on the career track, I didn’t have time for a man to derail my plans. If I could get this next promotion, that would mean a big bump in my pay and once I found another roommate I could really start to save a lot of money. If I stayed on track I could open my boutique hotel in a few short years. I could not let Sebastian Blu ruin everything for me. I would have to find a way to apologize to him and if I had to get on my knees and beg him not to fire me, I wasn’t above doing that.
Chapter Four – Next Steps
I tried to enjoy my day off but all I could think about was work and by bedtime I could barely fall asleep, drifting in and out of sleep all night, and when I woke up Monday I was dreading going in to work. I took my time getting ready and mentally prepared myself to have to beg for my job if it came to that. I walked into the hotel doing my best to appear as if it was any other day and not the day I was expecting to get fired. I put my things away and took a deep breath before going out to the front desk to check on everyone. An hour into the day I started to relax a bit because everything was just as it always was, and then I got the phone call.
“Ms. Sumner, Mrs. Hargrove would like to see you in her office. A car is waiting for you outside to take you to the corporate office.”
I felt the blood drain from my face as I hung up the phone. My mouth went completely dry and it felt like I had a softball sitting in the bottom of my stomach. Mrs. Hargrove was fourth in charge at Blu Sierra hotels under Sebastian and his brothers and I knew that this could not be good. As I rode to the corporate office I had to practice calming breathing exercises because I just knew I was going to be fired. Could I sue them if the real reason I was getting fired was because I turned down Mr. Blu? How could I ever prove that? I felt sick to my stomach on the elevator up to the 30th floor and I sat in the reception area waiting to be called, subtly performing breathing exercises. A few minutes later a gorgeous, leggy blonde came to greet me.
“Ms. Sumner?”
“Yes?”
“Mrs. Hargrove will see you now. Will you follow me, please?”
I reluctantly followed her and I could feel my heart banging against my chest with each step, my hands slightly trembling. I balled them in tight fists at my sides so that the trembling would not be noticed. We continued down a hallway for what seemed like forever and then we finally made it to a dark, ornate door and she lightly tapped on it announcing our arrival. When she opened the door I was blown away by how beautiful Mrs. Hargrove’s office was. There were beautiful crystal vases filled with fresh flowers everywhere and a gorgeous chandelier sparkled like a bowl of diamonds. The girl left quickly and I was face to face with Mrs. Hargrove. Please let this be quick and painless. I don’t think begging this woman for my job is going to do anything. I thought maybe if a man was firing me I might be able to flirt my way out of it the way I had flirted my way out of so many things in the past. But flirting with this woman? Not so much.
“Ms. Sumner, please have a seat.” She was all business.
I sat across from her massive desk and folded my hands, my pits sweating like crazy, waiting for the hammer to drop.
“Let me get right to the point.”
Please, I can’t stand this torture much longer.
“You are being promoted to Vice President of Marketing for the hotel.”
Say what?
I sat there dumbfounded, positive that my hearing had just failed me. I knew I was staring at Mrs. Hargrove but words and my brain decided they wanted to stop working together.
“Ms. Sumner, did you hear me? Are you alright?”
Elena, snap out if it! Say yes!
“Yes! Yes I heard you, but I think that you must have me confused with someone else.”
That seemed to tickle her funny bone because she could not stop laughing. “Oh goodness, I haven’t had a hearty laugh like that in a long time.” Her laughing calmed down and her eyes were pensive as they searched mine. “You weren’t joking, were you?”
“No ma’am.”
“Ms. Sumner, you are the new VP of marketing.”
The words floated in the air and I said the first thing that came to my mind.
“You mean I’m not fired?” I wanted to curl up and hide as soon as the words slipped from my mouth. Way to fuck things up before they even get started.
Mrs. Hargrove gave me a most peculiar stare.
“Fired? Whatever would give you that idea? Ms. Sumner, surely you must be aware that you are a rising star at Blu Sierra Miami. You became a manager faster than anyone in the history of the entire company. Your performance at the gala was the final test to see how you fare under pressure. Your supervisor was extremely pleased with how you handled Mr. Blu’s section that night.”
Wait, this is all moving a little too fast, let’s just take a deep breath for a second and let her words sink in. So Sebastian must not have mentioned to anyone that I didn’t fall at his feet like he expected. I was really proud of myself for doing the right thing that night. I looked at Mrs. Hargrove and then looked around the room as the reality of the situation finally hit me. I was being promoted to Vice frickin’ President of Marketing! My eyes settled back on Mrs. Hargrove and I gave her my biggest smile.
“This is all so overwhelming to me Mrs. Hargrove so please excuse my hesitation, I am absolutely thrilled to have this wonderful opportunity.”
“Well, we are pleased to have you. Now, let’s cover the administrative information. Your office is all set up for you and your executive assistant will walk you through your schedule and will be there for anything you might need. Do not hesitate to call on her, because she is meant to be your support. You have a meeting with the heads of each department at 2:00 and they meet once a month. If you need anything, let your assistant know and she will see to it that it is taken care of. Do you have any questions?”
“No, not right now.”
She buzzed someone on her phone as she stood, and I followed suit. She slowly walked to her door and I knew that was my cue to exit.
“Melissa will show you to your office. Congratulations, Ms. Sumner.” I shook her hand and realized that Mrs. Hargrove was short and to the point. I didn’t exactly get the warm fuzzies from her but she also was not a nasty person. She was relat
ively cold but I attributed that to her wearing her professional hat while at work. From the way she cracked up at me earlier, I knew there was a fun side in there somewhere.
Melissa was another gorgeous, leggy blonde and I was starting to notice a theme with the women in the office. When I walked into my office I could not believe my eyes. It was absolutely gorgeous and I should not have been surprised because I was, after all, working at a six star hotel. I had a beautiful mahogany desk with a plush full back chair, incredible artwork on the walls and crystal vases filled with fresh flowers. It was all a bit overwhelming for me because the change was happening so fast. I turned to thank Melissa and a stout older woman in what appeared to be her 60’s, was standing in the doorway and she had the most friendly smile.
