Page 29 of Room 710 (The Scarlet Hotel #15)

The Staff

Benny was waiting tables during the restaurant’s lunch rush when Monsieur Holland found him, weaving between tables.

The man was usually the epitome of poise, never a blond hair out of place, suit immaculately pressed and free of lint.

Today, though, he seemed all kinds of rattled.

His steps were closer to a jog than a walk, his eyes pinched at the corners with stress, and even his tie was slanted off-center.

Add in the curl of hair that fell across his forehead and he was practically a disaster.

“Benedict, could I borrow you, please?” he asked tightly, spinning on his heel to head back toward the hall entrance without waiting for an answer.

“Oh, um…” Benny started looking around for one of his co-workers and found Delia’s eyes across the room.

He gestured after Monsieur Holland’s retreating back and shrugged, like “ what can you do? ” and she waved back to indicate that she would take over his tables until he returned— if he returned, that is.

Benny’s boss had a tendency to “borrow” him for all kinds of tasks, and honestly, it helped keep his job interesting.

This could be to help carry luggage or run room service upstairs.

Once, he’d even been asked if he knew how to fix a leaky pipe—he didn’t, but he could look up how-to videos like a pro.

“I apologize, Benedict,” Holland said as he marched down the hall, Benny scrambling to keep up. “I thought for sure we were prepared. Last year, it wasn’t anything like this. I didn’t know…”

Benny opened his mouth to ask what he didn’t know, but as they rounded the corner, he very quickly connected the dots.

“Ohhhhh,” he drawled, his steps slowing.

The hallway was packed full of people carrying homemade signs, and there was an electric vibe to the air that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Monsieur Holland reached back and grabbed Benny’s lapel, dragging him forward. “Don’t back out on me now. I can’t be left alone with these fanatics. They’ll eat me alive.”

Fanatics was an accurate description for Lonely Alpha fans.

They never missed an episode, dedicated whole forums to discuss every detail, and were rabid when it came to defending their favorites.

He wouldn’t have been surprised if they foamed at the mouth or howled at the moon—and they had been known to bite.

For a while, after the disaster that was season nine, Benny had suspected the show was on its way to the trash heap, relegated to 4am reruns on the retro channel, but after season ten’s surprise plot twist (that was either incredibly romantic or clever marketing, he hadn’t decided which yet), they’d come back for season 11 with a reinvigorated fanbase.

And it looked like they’d broken out their glitter glue…

WE HEART YOU ZIGGY the sign said, pink glitter raining down as they began to nudge into the crowd. Benny decided it was like being swallowed by a multi-headed monster, hellbent on auditioning for the show.

“Excuse me, please. Coming through,” Monsieur Holland said, raising his voice to be heard over the dull roar.

As they squeezed through the low-key mob, pheromones battering them from all sides, Benny noticed something odd about this particular crowd. “Ummm, these are all alphas, sir,” he observed, but all his boss said was, “Uh-huh.”

Once on the other side of the crowd, Benny was finally able to draw a full breath.

They passed by the small meeting room they’d used for the auditions last year, then continued down the hall to a set of double doors that led to a larger ballroom.

Emerson Holland turned back to Benny, a look of concentration on his face.

“Okay, so as you can see, the crowd is a little larger than we anticipated. Who knew the Lonely Omega spinoff would be so popular. Anyway, we’re moving into the larger room.

We’ll need to set up all the tables, some rope barriers to keep the line organized, bring in some water and snacks…

probably someone to act as crowd control…

” A crease formed between his sculpted eyebrows as he went over a list that Benny imagined would take more than the two of them to complete sometime today.

Luckily, help soon arrived. Patrick from housekeeping, Timothy from the lounge, Joseph from room service, Conner from the front desk. Staff from all parts of the hotel came together to make this happen, all curious about the group of eager alphas who’d gathered to audition for a place on the show.

Working together, the staff had the room ready to go within half an hour, and as soon as the A/V and casting crew for the show arrived, they opened the doors to the crowd. The hundreds of people who’d been waiting streamed in, and then things really got started.

Benny was passing out bottles of water, since the temperature in the room quickly rose, even with the air-conditioning running on full.

It didn’t seem to dampen the alphas’ excitement, though, and as the afternoon wore on, audition after audition being recorded, there was still no end to the line in sight.

He began to wonder what it might be like, to compete against a bunch of other alphas to win an omega’s affection.

He’d watched the show, obviously—who hadn’t?

—but it wasn’t until now, at the concept of having to work for one man’s attention, that he truly considered it.

It could be… exciting. Especially when he thought about who the omega would likely be.

They hadn’t made an announcement yet, but it was easy enough to figure it out.

Benny knew Ziggy was taken, since he followed him on social media, and Prairie was married to Devon Blake, as of last month.

Benny’s first choice would be Darnell, for sure, with that lithe dancer’s body and sharp wit.

Maybe I should audition too , he thought, reaching for one of the printed applications.

His musings were interrupted when someone let out a whoop, over by the door. A ripple of excited murmurs and cheers slowly rippled through the crowd, until Benny heard someone calling, “Hey, Elijah! Where’s Ziggy?”

Everyone seemed to hold their breath to listen to his answer. “Not here,” he replied gruffly, and there was a collective, “Awww,” of disappointment.

The show’s director wound his way around the outside of the room, the top of his head visible above the crowd, since he was over six feet.

When he approached where Benny was standing at the front, though, a bright flash of color and flailing limbs appeared; Benny laughed at the baby Elijah had strapped to his chest.

“It used to be that nobody cared who I was,” Elijah muttered as he set down the diaper bag next to the sign-up desk.

“I miss those days.” Benny thought it best not to point out that, technically, they still didn’t care who he was, since they were more interested in his husband.

Ziggy had recently released a line of lingerie which he modeled himself, post-baby body and all. His self-confidence was inspiring.

Elijah turned and looked straight at Benny. “Hey, I know you’re probably busy, but I have a bit of work to do. Would you be interested in babysitting for a few minutes?” He gestured to his son, who was gazing up at Benny with wide gray eyes and a drool-covered chin.

“Oh, uh… sure.” He’d never even held a baby before, but as Elijah transferred the sling over and the sturdy weight settled on his chest, he found himself smiling. This was nice. He tried a gentle bounce, which the baby seemed to like.

“A few minutes” turned into an hour, and baby Brandon soon fell asleep to the gentle sway of Benny’s steps and the constant attention as they walked the length of the room, passing out those water bottles.

The crowd finally thinned, and Monsieur Holland came by to see how things were going.

He smiled when he saw Benny’s companion.

“You look good with a baby, Benedict. Any thoughts to a family of your own one day?” Monsieur Holland, for all his strict rules and stern attitude, was a family man at heart.

Benny shrugged. “Sure, one day.” He wasn’t actively looking for a future husband, but he had no doubt he would meet him one day. He knew deep in his heart that he wouldn’t find him on a TV show, though.

With the last of the applicants recording their audition videos, Elijah returned, shaking first Monsieur Holland’s hand, then Benny’s.

“Thanks for watching him. I wanted to give his daddy a chance to take a nap, but then my assistant called to say they needed my help. Couldn’t have managed it all without your help. ”

Benny was almost reluctant to hand the baby over. He’d gotten used to the weight of him, gotten comfortable with it. Now, as Elijah unstrapped Brandon and took him back, Benny felt a little… unbalanced.

“Hey, buddy,” the large man cooed, somehow making baby talk look manly, as his son woke up and offered him a gummy smile. “Should we go home and see if Daddy is feeling better?” He turned back to the hotel staff to explain, “The morning sickness this time has been rough.”

Monsieur Holland started offering some remedies for his own husband’s morning sickness, and for a brief second, Benny felt incredibly left out. Just this morning, if someone had asked him about marriage and kids, he would’ve said he wasn’t ready. Now? He was no longer so sure.

I can be patient , he told himself. Good things come to those who wait . Besides, he knew the most important thing about finding love—timing was everything. Love would find him when the time was right. And when the universe spoke, Benny would listen.