Page 45 of Sweeter than Honey

My eyes narrow. “Lilyasked you about our policy on workplacerelationships?”

“Yep.” Mel puts the tip of a pencil in her mouth, chewing on the eraser.

“And what did you tell her?” I ask sharply.

Mel shrugs. “Same thing I told you. It would be an ethical concern, and they would probably be fired.”

Well, I have a lot to think about. “Good evening, Mel.”

“Evening, Renata!” she says cheerfully, as I step out of her office and back into the hallway.

I walk by Lily’s desk as I return to my office. She’s on a phone call, explaining patiently to a cleaner how to remove blood stains.

“Yes, cold water,” she says. “Make sure it’s cold, or else it will set.” She gives me a bright smile as I press my fingerprint into the keypad to enter my office. “Running it under a faucet is best, if you can.”

I shut the door behind me, but I don’t go to my desk. Instead, I stand before the window, looking out at the dark shadows that dance upon the lake.

Lily asked Mel about whether employees could have intimate relationships. Was she…

No. No, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because what Mel said is true. If anything more were to happen between us, it would not only be highly inappropriate and unethical, but it would be a tremendous risk to both my position and her’s, not to mention the hotel.

It doesn’t matter how I feel about her, or whether she might have feelings for me. We can never act on them. Never even think about acting on them. What’s already transpired is more than enough.

It has to be.

Chapter 16: Manicures

Lily

My phone rings for the twentieth time tonight. I don’t need to check to see who it is before I tap the flashing red button to decline the call.

I have a strong urge to throw my phone down the emergency staircase. I’ve been trying to take the stairs since the incident on the elevator with Renata. My claustrophobia is even worse than before. And even more than that, it’s too painful to be reminded of the moment we had together on the bench of the service elevator.

I had no idea that being bitten by a vampire would be like that. I mean, I figured that it would behot, obviously, but notthathot! When her eyes traveled down to my thigh…if I didn’t realize I had it bad for my boss before that, well, now there’s no going back.

And it wasn’t even that it was sexy, or that it was dangerous (although it was both!), it’s how…how she held me so close to her when we were climbing out of the shaft. How unhesitating she was. How she made me feel like…like I was special.

For a moment, when she was drinking from me, I was sure that I was special to her. That I was more than just her assistant.

But I also know that it can never be more than that, between us. We both value our work more than anything else (except Eli, of course). I can’t risk my job, no matter how strong my feelings are.

I take my phone out of my pocket again, to text my mom. She was supposed to pick up Eli from the daycare at the hotel and drop him off at my suite, but it’s her first time doing it, so I want to confirm everything went allright.

But of course, when I look at my screen, it’s Dylan’s number again.

I shove my phone back in my pocket in frustration. I wish I could block him, but I need his contact in order to arrange his visits with Eli.

He’s been calling me all day. He doesn’t like that Eli and I have moved into the hotel, because he knows he can’t show up anytime he likes by charming my mother. So he’s been threatening all kinds of bogus legal action to scare me. He seems to have forgotten that I went to the same pre-law program as him (even though I never attended law school, because I got pregnant with Eli).

Finally, I make it to the front lobby, a little winded from the quick climb down the stairs. I really should work out more often. You would think that chasing after a five-year-old counted as cardio.

Mrs. Harrigan is screaming at one of the concierges. I immediately recognize the person at the front desk. It’s Lilith, the witch intern from the summer program who’s father is supposedly the Devil, although I’m too scared to ask how that works. She sits cross-legged on the chair behind the front desk, scowling at the shouting guest in front of her.

“I’m confused,” she says. “You’re upset because you didn’t like our food?”

“I’m not upset aboutyourfood!” Mrs. Harrigan spits. Then she sees me, and sighs dramatically. “Lily,finally, someone with some authority around here!”

Lilith bristles at the comment, her eyes flashing crimson. Mrs. Harrigan notices it and flinches backward. Before she can say something (and before Lilith can turn Mrs. Harrigan into a frog, which she looks like she wants to do), I intervene.