Page 48 of Night and Day

“She loves this place.”

I glanced back at the maintenance manager. With his job and the flannel shirt, it would be easy to dismiss him, but I saw the intelligence.

And the protectiveness.

“I’m getting that.”

“You tear this place down, or rip out the heart of it, you’ll destroy her.”

With that, he strode off down the corridor.

I wasn’t here to make Tessa happy. I was here to make the Windward Mountain Resort worthy of being the Langston Windward. I looked at the dirt smeared on my shirt and shook my head.

So far, I wasn’t off to the best start.

Chapter13

Tessa

Clean and tidy again, I finished dealing with some paperwork in my office and checked in with Jazz.

I was due to meet Ro for the rest of today’s tour. God, this morning had not been good. Ro hadn’t said a lot as I’d shown him the guestrooms, but I’d seen a glimmer of…something in the lounge, then it had all been ruined with the Great Basement Debacle.

Getting locked in the dirty basement had possibly lost me points.

And the fierce lip-lock certainly hadn’t helped.

Even now, I quivered. This had to stop.

I sighed. He’d handled everything like a champ. I’d expected him to be angry, but he hadn’t been. It had left me hopeful I could get through to him.

Who the hell would have locked us in the basement on purpose? I couldn’t think of a single person. All my staff members were trying to make a good impression on the man who held the fate of our hotel in his hands, not lock him up.

Well, except Coral, but I knew she hadn’t locked us in the basement. She preferred a more direct approach to letting you know she was unhappy.

Heading out of my office, I aimed for Ro’s office. I spotted Allie holding a stack of paperwork, and waved.

“Hey.” She frowned, taking in my black skirt and gray blouse. “Weren’t you in a dress earlier?”

“Yes.” I ran a hand down my hip. “So, while giving our new owner the hotel tour this morning…I managed to get us locked in the basement and rip his shirt open.”

Allie blinked, then her lips twitched. “You must have made a hell of an impression.”

“Allie, it was a nightmare. We were stuck in a dirty, dusty, spider-infested basement, and I fell and landed on him.”

My friend couldn’t hold back a snort-laugh.

“It’s not funny.”

“It totally is.” She composed herself. “Then you decided to fix it by trying to get him naked?”

“What?No.” Heat filled my cheeks. Damn my pale skin. Some staff members walked past, and I smiled and nodded. I kept my voice low. “He caught me when I fell and I grabbed his shirt, and ripped some buttons off.” I sighed. “He’ll personally drive a bulldozer into this place himself at this rate.”

“I’m sure he knows all of this was an accident. He can’t blame you for that.”

“Mmm.”

Allie studied me. “What aren’t you telling me?”