Page 18 of Forty, Flirty & Fall Inn

I lean back in my chair, staring at the ceiling, and try to figure out how this went so wrong.

SafeStay was supposed to be my breakthrough into the hospitality industry.The product that would establish Sterling Security as the go-to cybersecurity solution for hotels and inns.

Instead, I've created something that three-star hotels can't use and five-star hotels don't need.

My computer chimes again, this time with a Google alert for my name.

Another article about my "romantic weekend," complete with speculation about wedding plans and quotes from Alder Ridge residents about how "perfect" Sage Winters and I are together.

I find myself clicking through to the Cascade View Inn's website.

The property is beautiful, that’s a given.The atmosphere’s cozy, the people lovely—if not a little pushy.

And yet it’s failing.

Anyone who spent more than five minutes at the inn could see that.

The cancelled bookings.The DIY maintenance.

The Wonder Woman undies-owning manager who looked like she’d taken exhaustion to bed with her every night.

Under the pine-green eyes of the woman I’d shared a breakfast with were dark shadows, lifeless skin.

In that kitchen, over a set of Sterling Romance pancakes, we’d barely discussed SafeStay before she’d left—pulled in a million other directions that the inn needed.

I knew the feeling.

The feeling that one wrong move, one bad pull on a loose thread, would unravel everything you’ve built.

A shame.

If the inn weren’t in such bad shape, it’d actually be a…

My teeth grind in my mouth, my thoughts starting to work overtime.Seconds later, I pick up my desk phone.

It barely rings twice before Daniella picks it up.

“You changed your mind about ‘Bachelor in the Mountains,’ boss?”

“No.Hell no.”I clear my throat.“Dani, I need you to book me a hotel stay this weekend.”

“Sure thing.I’m guessing the W.The LXR?Or the Four Seasons?”

“Not exactly.”I grip the phone tighter.“The Cascade View Inn.In Alder Ridge.Make it for one night.And as for the ‘accommodation notes’ in the booking, listen up.”I clear my throat, my thoughts straying to visions of green eyes and goats.“Because I’m only going to say this once.”

6

RETURN OF THE MAC (ADDRESS)

SAGE

Days pass after Luke Sterling's midnight arrival turned my life into a small-town soap opera, and I'm sitting in my office at two PM on a Thursday, doing what any rational business owner would do…

Stalking my ex on Instagram while a baby goat judges my life choices.

The October rain pitter-patters on the inn's windows, creating the perfect soundtrack for my descent into digital masochism.

The Cascade View Inn has settled back into its usual state of barely-controlled chaos, though the lobby still smells faintly of Eleanor's autumn flower arrangements.