by J. D. Chase
‘Sure,’ he replied as he jogged over.
‘I’ll do that,’ Xander intervened, his tone brooking no argument.
‘You need to stay in the car park and make sure that all staff are accounted for. Belinda and Nadine are still nowhere to be found.’
‘I don’t recognise them all yet,’ he snapped. ‘Rogers, you stay and check on staff. I’m checking the rooms.’
Not wanting to waste any more time arguing, Isla said, ‘Dean, please keep me updated. I’ve got my phone. Do not let anyone back into the building. The fire service should be here very soon. When they arrive, tell them that there are two of us doing a room sweep using this,’ she gave him the second copy of the occupancy list, ‘and tell them whether any staff are still unaccounted for.’
Heading back into the lobby, she began to fill Xander in on fire procedures. ‘We’ll have to take the stairs because the lifts will only descend during an alarm. I can’t smell smoke but we need to be careful before we open any doors.’
Just as they entered the stairwell, they heard hysterical cries. Isla paused and listened for the direction of the noise. It was on the ground floor – it sounded like the staff kitchen.
‘This way,’ she shouted to Xander as she dashed along the corridor.
There, seemingly oblivious to the fire alarm, were Belinda and Nadine, the latter in a state of undress and squealing like a pig as Belinda ripped hot wax strips off her legs.
‘Can you not hear the fire alarm?’ Isla screamed. ‘Get out now. It’s not a drill.’
‘I can’t go out like this,’ shrieked Nadine. ‘I can’t smell smoke so there’s no fire here – we’ll be done in a few minutes.’
‘You’ll get out now,’ bawled Xander.
‘No! No, it’s fine,’ drawled Belinda. ‘I heated the wax up on the hob and it got a bit smoky, that’s probably what triggered the fire alarm. I’ve turned it off now.’
Tell me she didn’t just say what I think she said. ‘You did what?’ Isla shrieked.
Belinda looked nonplussed. ‘I’m using hot wax. I’m thinking of doing a beautician’s course at college so I told Nadine I’d do her legs. You have to heat the wax up but I don’t have a special heater thingy so I used the hob. I think I left it on too long because there was smoke everywhere but it’s gone now. And I turned it off so there’s no need for any drama.’
Isla could feel herself losing control of her temper. ‘Get out now. Both of you. Get out and wait in the car park.’
Both women just looked at her like she’d spoken a foreign language.
‘You heard her, get out right now!’ roared Xander.
That was enough to send them scurrying out of the kitchen, Nadine trying to pull her trousers on as she went.
Xander turned to Isla who was shaking her head in despair, ‘So I guess we found the cause of the fire alarm then.’
‘Unbelievable. Totally unbelievable. To not have printed the occupancy sheet, to leave the desk unmanned in order to wax legs during work hours, to set off and then ignore the fire alarm – and we still haven’t swept the rooms for any guests who may be inside,’ she muttered.
‘Well since there’s no fire, is there any need?’
‘Xander! Of course there’s a need. We don’t know for a fact that Barbie was responsible for the alarm. It could be a coincidence and there could be a real fire somewhere.’
‘That’s unlikely, Red.’
‘Yeah, I know. And this fucking alarm is giving me a headache!’
He stepped right up to her so that his mouth was next to her ear. ‘A fucking alarm – that’s what I hear whenever you’re within reach, it screams time to fuck over and over. If I don’t fuck you, it doesn’t stop.’
His warm breath tickled her ear as he spoke, sending shivers down her spine.
‘I have one word for you – professionalism!’ She grinned and walked out of the kitchen, almost walking into Dean and a firefighter.
By lunchtime, the firefighters were satisfied that it was indeed a false alarm triggered by the smoke detector in the staff kitchen and had allowed everyone back into the building. They’d taken the time to lecture Belinda and Nadine about the risks of not printing out an occupancy sheet and ignoring a fire alarm. They also warned them of the dangers associated with heating hot wax inappropriately.
Xander called Isla, Belinda and Nadine into his office shortly afterwards and gave the gormless pair a written warning, leaving them in no doubt that if they put one pedicured toe out of line in future, they’d be fired on the spot. By the time he’d finished, they were almost cowering. Isla was almost tempted to feel sorry for them. Almost, but not quite. She was still reeling from the lackadaisical attitude to safety procedures they’d shown. She was just thankful it hadn’t been a real fire. The Health and Safety Executive would have torn them all to shreds, and quite rightly so.
After they’d left with their tails between their legs, Xander turned to her. ‘I don’t know about you but I think a G and T is called for.’
‘Oh no,’ she said, placing her hands on her hips as she admonished him. ‘Professionalism, remember?’
‘It’s lunchtime . . . surely just the one wouldn’t hurt.’
‘I don’t know about you but I haven’t eaten yet today so I’m steering clear of alcohol,’ she said, just as her stomach growled. ‘I think I should grab some food.’
‘Suit yourself.’ He opened the cupboard and poured a small G and T.
She left him to it and wandered through the lobby, pausing to glare at the Barbies, and into the bar where she found Dean chatting to Dina, one of the guest room attendants.
‘Hey Dina . . . Dean.’ She said, considerably more cheerfully than she felt.
Dina flashed her an overly bright smile and muttered about getting back to work before scurrying out of the bar.
‘Something I said?’ she enquired.
Dean shrugged. ‘I think it’s more to do with Belinda’s version of this morning’s events. She’s telling everyone to keep their heads down because Xander implied that he’ll be replacing all the staff, one by one.’
‘What? I was in there too and he said no such thing. They got bollocked fairly for putting themselves and others at risk. She’s a fucking liability . . . and if she carries on, I’ll fire her myself!’
‘Ah, I see. You’re not having the best day so far are you?’
She shook her head. ‘Nope. Pass me a packet of crisps please, Dean, I’m starving.’
He obliged but then narrowed his eyes. ‘Didn’t you sort any lunch out again? And please tell me you had breakfast today.’
She opened the crisp packet and avoided his eyes. ‘Maybe.’
‘Yeah and maybe not! You must look after yourself. You work way too hard. You don’t eat properly. You know, I thought that once Nigel had gone, you’d be doing less, but now it seems that this Xander is taking advantage of you.’
‘Dean I can assure you that Xander is not taking advantage of me. I’m a big girl – I can look after myself!’
‘I know you can look after yourself. You also know that you don’t have to . . . that I’d very much like to look after you . . .’ his voice trailed off as though his confidence had ebbed away.
Isla knew that this was her opportunity to let him down gently. She couldn’t bear the way his puppy dog eyes looked so anxious and afraid of rejection.
‘Miss Hamilton, I need you to come upstairs with me. I’ll try not to take advantage of her, Mr Rogers, but I can’t promise anything.’
Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh Fuck!
Isla turned to find Xander leaning against the doorframe, his arms folded across his broad chest but his face betrayed that he was far from relaxed. His expression was somewhere between condescending and hostile. Isla knew that he’d overheard the conversation and he wasn’t happy about it but, from the way he’d turned around Dean’s comments so that the taking advantage part was laced with sexual innuendo, she wasn’t sure what was going through his mind.
Oh double fuck! Isla cringed. Dean what are you doing, you idiot? There’s no need to take Xander on, I’m not only capable of speaking for myself but I’m far more likely to get somewhere.
‘For your information, Mr Rogers, Miss Hamilton has been late for work for the last two days so she’s working through most of her lunch break to make the time up. She’s already had a coffee break with snacks. If you have an issue with Miss Hamilton and how hard she works under me, feel free to drop by my office on your way out.’
How hard she works under me . . . very droll! Drop by my office on your way out . . . he’s never there when Dean finishes his shift at 10 p.m. Doh, that’s the point . . . he’s implying something very different.
She had to hand it to Xander, he was a master of the verbally suggestive and could seemingly deliver double entendres at will. She looked from one man to the other. Dean was glaring at Xander in a come-outside-I-want-to-kick-the-shit-out-of-you kind of way. Xander was . . . well, he was Xander. He was surveying Dean with a cocky, arrogant smugness that Isla realised was because he knew he had the upper hand and there was nothing Dean could do about it without risking his job.
Isla wondered why they were behaving like this. Had Xander taken against Dean at first sight? It certainly seemed so, but he’d appeared to have a bad first impression of her yet had later said he’d wanted her from the moment he’d seen her. So why was he being so hard on Dean when he didn’t know anything about him? If he took the time, he’d see that Dean was not just a hard worker and an asset to the hotel, but a damn nice guy too. God, men are confusing.
‘I only popped down for a quick snack,’ she said with a deliberate attempt to sound jolly and nonchalant. ‘I’m ready now, Xander, so let’s go. See you later, Dean.’
As she walked towards Xander, she could feel the intense dislike in the air stretch between the two men. Xander couldn’t resist a parting shot and it made her want to slap him. Hard.
‘I thought we’d start with the suite. I can’t wait to see how much passion we can create in there. I don’t think it’s going to be much of a challenge at all.’
She opened her mouth to clarify his comments but realised that the rest of the staff knew nothing about Xander’s proposals for the hotel. She shot Dean an apologetic look but she wasn’t sure he noticed. He was too busy glaring murderously at Xander as he wrung out a bar towel so tightly that she feared it would tear.
‘Do you have to?’ she hissed at Xander as they waited for the lift.
‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about, Red,’ he murmured.
‘Don’t act the innocent, Xander. I don’t know what you’ve got against Dean but what you’ve just done goes against your earlier instruction about keeping things on a strictly professional basis between us at work.’
The doors opened and he strode in, tossing over his shoulder, ‘I didn’t lay a finger on you and, believe me, seeing him drooling over you yet again, made that more difficult than ever.’
Gritting her teeth, she joined him. ‘He was not drooling over me and even if he was, what’s that got to do with you?’ She jabbed her finger on the button.
‘I’d like very much to look after you,’ he sneered, mimicking Dean’s voice.
‘Fuck off, Xander! So what if he has feelings for me? It’s got fuck all to do with you and it certainly doesn’t give you the right to treat him like shit, belittling him at every turn with your natural arrogance and spite.’
‘I don’t belittle him! I just find it pathetic. As if you’d ever go for a boy like him. You should let him know you’re not interested; that you only play with the big boys.’
‘Xander, let’s get one thing clear. We fuck. And yeah, we enjoy it. But that does not give you the right to an opinion on my love life. That includes belittling or insulting any other man that comes near me. Do you understand? What I do, or do not do with Dean is none of your business. Are we clear?’
‘We enjoy it? Is that all you have to say about how we fuck? Enjoy is such a bland, boring verb. I’m offended, Red.’
She sighed with frustration as the lift doors opened and he stepped out. He was Teflon-coated when he wanted to be – comments and insults just slid off him, and he always sought to have the upper hand. But he kept her on her toes and she relished the challenge, it was just the issue of his treatment of Dean that irked her. She assumed it was some sort of macho display over what he saw as his territory, but she wasn’t Xander’s to squabble over. He’d made it clear that it was all about sex. Nothing more. And while that suited her, it didn’t give him rights over her. He couldn’t have it both ways; she’d just have to help him figure that out.
Chapter Nine
By the time they’d viewed the suites, a couple of standard rooms, the bar and the entrance foyer through the eyes of a couple on a romantic break, Isla had a long list of changes that they’d agreed to note down for further consideration. She also had a long mental list of all of the sexual acts and positions that Xander had assured her they’d tick off one by one in the near future. She’d reached the conclusion that they could not be in a room with a bed, a table, or a shower if he was to stand a chance of keeping any professional distance between them.
As they returned to his office, she felt incredibly horny and yet oddly satisfied that she’d been the one to resist temptation when he so clearly couldn’t – but it had been a close call on more than one occasion and she’d had to draw on all her reserves to resist him when he’d asked her whether she felt the shower enclosure was large enough for a couple to shower together. Especially since he’d described the hotter than steam action that could be going on in the innocent looking enclosure, his breath tickling her neck as he stood just a little too close when he asked her whether she could picture the scene. Then, as he pressed his body to hers, asking whether she could imagine herself under the hot jets of water as he soaped her body so that her skin was all slippery under the soft touch of his fingers, and how he’d make sure her filthy pussy was spotlessly clean. And whether she could feel his hot mouth on hers and the cold marble against her arse and her back as he slammed her up against the wall, shoving his hard cock inside her just so he could make her dirty again.
Isla was almost faint with desire but when she caught herself pushing her arse back into his groin, she forced herself to snap out of it, declared the tour complete, and stomped back to the lift, trying to get her hormones back under control as she heard him chuckling behind her. Bastard! She knew he wasn’t going to make this easy for her.
They sat in his office and began to prepare an action plan. Xander was especially keen on changes that could be made quickly and relatively cheaply, but he expressed concern that the hotel didn’t have a restaurant. He’d been informed that Gerald had scrapped it, opting instead to offer simple hot meals in the bar which suited the clientele that they had. The restaurant, with a full complement of kitchen staff, had ceased to be financially viable. Whether a traditional restaurant would be needed when the hotel had its makeover was the subject of an intense debate.
He thought it would need one for couples to have romantic candlelit dinners, but Isla argued that they should work towards reopening the restaurant once they’d assessed how successful the venture was. She pointed out that there was a fabulous restaurant next door that patrons used if they wanted more than bar meals. In the meantime, she suggested altering the bar meals menu and rearranging the furniture in the bar to suit their intended clientele. She began to extol the virtues and benefits of room service for romantic liaisons and how they might be able to facilitate that.
Xander sat back and watched her speak animatedly about the project. She caught him smiling at her with a distant look on his face.
‘What?’ she demanded.
‘Hmm?’
She frowned. ‘Why were you
looking at me like that? And smiling . . . it was weird.’
‘Are you saying I look weird when I smile or that it’s weird for me to be smiling?
‘The way you were looking at me was weird . . . what were you thinking?’
He grinned, and she wondered whether she’d got it wrong but he looked ever so slightly bashful – just for a second. ‘I was watching you give your all to this project. You’re so enthusiastic, so passionate, so alive. It reminded me of how you are when we’re fucking . . . that would account for the smile – and the erection I’m getting. And the sight of that cashmere stretched across your fucking huge, beautiful tits is driving me insane – as is the reason you’re wearing it.’
She rolled her eyes dramatically but felt her nipples swell. ‘Does your every waking thought have to be connected to sex?’
‘Only where you’re concerned, Red. You’re such a sexual creature – and that’s a compliment so don’t jump down my throat. Although I have something here that would love to jump down your throat . . .’ He gave her an unashamedly lewd grin as he sat back and clasped his hands behind his head.
‘Xander! Not at work, remember! It’s your rule . . .’ she admonished.
‘I make them, I can break them,’ he smirked.
‘Well, I happen to agree with the rule so it wouldn’t matter if you did. Keep your hands and your cock to yourself in the office!’
He raised an eyebrow in that sexy yet damn annoying habit he had. ‘So my tongue’s good to go? Open your legs . . .’
She pressed her knees together tightly although she was sorely tempted. ‘Not a chance,’ she replied. ‘I thought you’d manage to hold out for at least a day . . . how disappointing that you’re so weak.’
He was upon her in a flash, his teeth nipping her earlobe as he quietly growled, ‘Careful, or I might decide to demonstrate how wrong you are. How disciplined and stubborn I can be – both inside the office and out. Until you’re aching with desire, every single minute we’re together – those beautiful, big tits feeling heavy and desperate to be touched, your whorish cunt getting moist at the very sound of my voice until you can no longer think of anything but my cock. You’ll come crawling to me on your knees begging for it. Begging me to take you anyway I please, the dirtier the better, and you know it. Because you’re my filthy little slut and you’ll take all you can get.’
