Page 126 of The Business of Love Box Set 1: Books 1 - 4

KATIE

T he Rubella’s were a young and obscenely wealthy couple.

From what I’d learned since I helped them with their check-in three hours ago, the husband was a trust-fund baby.

His father’s father had started a women’s clothing company in his younger years that exploded into popularity in the seventies.

What was then nothing but brick and mortar stores all across the country was now a massive online platform with customers all over the globe.

The wife was an economics professor at a community college in Atlanta. The pair had met at said college when he came to do a lecture for some of the business students. She bumped into him in the hallway and they went for coffee.

Now three years later, they were recently married and it was my responsibility to make sure they had an excellent honeymoon experience.

Since their arrival, I’d checked them in personally, given them a tour of the resort, reviewed their appointments at the spa, salon, sailboat excursion, and a la carte dinner reservations.

We’d made some last-minute changes to better accommodate them and their vision of what they wanted the next ten days to look like.

They were demanding, but that never bothered me.

Staying at the El Cartana wasn’t cheap and I wanted to make sure they got their money’s worth.

It helped that they were a lovely couple who were obviously head over heels in love with each other, and as I saw them up to their room, Giselle, the wife, handed me her phone, on which she’d pulled up the gallery of their wedding photos.

I stared in awe at the screen of the first shot.

Her dress was magnificent. So was her body.

It was all sheer save for the skirt and the front, but she was only covered by strategic pieces of lace laid over the sheer fabric.

The train was long and dramatic, as was her veil.

Her dark hair had been done up in a low bun, and long earrings dangled all the way down to her collarbones.

“Holy shit,” I breathed rather unprofessionally. “You’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen a lot of brides.”

Giselle laughed lightly. She wasn’t the sort of woman to giggle. “Thank you, Katie. It was a lot of work to get into that damn thing. My designer had to sew it onto me.”

I blinked at her in surprise. “How did you… you know? Pee?”

Giselle gave me a knowing wink. “That’s part of the magic, isn’t it?”

We made our way down the hall to their honeymoon suite.

They hadn’t opted for the diamond package, partly because it was out of their price range and partly because another one of my couples already had it booked.

Instead, we’d gone for one of the south-facing rooms with a double-wide balcony outfitted with its own plunge pool and hot tub.

I pushed through the door ahead of them and invited them in.

Kurt, the husband, stood back and let his new wife explore until she was satisfied.

She gushed over the fresh flower arrangements which I’d specifically ordered to match the florals from her wedding.

I believed in trying to tie in parts of the big day to the honeymoon for a cohesive feel and an extension of the wedding itself.

The big day always flew by so quickly for the bride and groom.

They were pulled between so many commitments, starting in the morning with getting ready and moving into the afternoon to the ceremony and then pictures, which always seemed to take a little longer than expected.

That wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg.

The reception was where things got wild with introductions, first dances, speeches, dinner, dessert, traditions like cake cutting or garter tossing depending on what sort of couple they were.

Before the bride and groom knew it, the day would be done and their venue would be pushing them out and trying to send everyone home so they could clean for a wedding that would likely be happening the next day.

Giselle ran her fingers over the plum petals of one of the flowers. “These were in my bouquet,” she breathed wondrously.

I smiled.

“How did you know?” she asked.

I winked. “That’s part of the magic, isn’t it?”

Giselle swooned over the rest of the room and whispered naughty things to her husband when they went out onto the balcony and discovered the hot tub and pool. I imagined they would be sliding into that later tonight, among other things.

“Is there anything else I can do to get you two settled?” I asked. “Just say the word. That’s what I’m here for.”

Giselle stepped in close to Kurt, who wrapped an arm around her lower back.

She leaned into him and he gazed down at her, knowing she was the one I had to please.

He already looked like he knew he’d won the lottery.

“This is perfect, Katie. Thank you for everything you’ve done.

We’re going to have the perfect honeymoon. I can feel it.”

I moved to the door. “I’m glad to hear it.

If you need me for anything at all, I’ve left my contact information on the notepad on the coffee table.

There are also the details for room serviceand other in-room services like massage or laundry and what not.

Whatever you need. No request is too small. Just call.”

“We will,” Giselle promised.

I let myself out after wishing them a good night and made my way down the hall.

I always felt fulfilled after spending a first day with a new couple at the resort.

It was a lucky thing to witness new love like that and to see it so frequently.

Sure, I’d had my fair share of couples who clearly weren’t in love but were going through the motions, but for the most part, I’d been lucky in my career.

Couples like Kurt and Giselle made everything worthwhile.

Even the last three hours of my night, which I was off the clock for.

My stomach rumbled with hunger and I pressed a hand to my belly as I stepped on the elevator.

I needed to eat something and to put my feet up.

My heels and the balls of my feet were aching horribly.

The blisters on my heels and pinky toes had all but gone numb and I knew that probably wasn’t a good sign.

I stepped off the elevator on the first floor, pushed through a double door that read “Staff Only,” and made my way down a winding corridor to my suite on the ground level facing north.

I didn’t have scenic beach views, but I didn’t mind.

I saw the water every day and it was just a short six-minute walk down to the beach if I wanted to go for a swim.

I stepped into my suite, locked the door behind me, and immediately kicked off my sandals. My feet sang with sweet relief and I stood there on the cool marble floors, letting the cold and the flat surface ease the pain away.

I groaned. “Yes. That’s the stuff.”

Part of me knew I could go down to the staff quarters where we had our own bar and sitting area to sit and eat dinner together. I just couldn’t muster up the energy. I was too hungry and too tired to even consider more socializing, so I decided to order room service.

As always, I ordered the Thai chicken bites with a garden salad.

My mouth was watering before I even hung up the phone.

While I waited for my dinner to arrive, I stripped out of my orange dress and changed into my lounge clothes, a taupe-colored silky pair of pajamas with black stitching.

I filled my bathtub with cold water and soaked my feet in it until room service knocked on my door.

After they dropped it off, I took my food out onto my balcony.

I ate in solitude and stared out at the gardens surrounding my suite. It was fairly private, extremely comfortable, and quiet.

Almost too quiet.

I loved my little slice of paradise, but over the last year, I’d begun to feel a sense of loneliness that had never bothered me before.

For the longest time, I’d been more than content to be by myself.

Sure, I’d dated men, but I hadn’t been in a relationship since I started working at the hotel.

I simply didn’t have time for it. My job was my life.

But there were other needs and desires that a job could never fulfill.

Like family.

Even I might not be able to fulfill that wish . Suddenly, I no longer wanted any more food. I pushed my plate away.

It was a privilege to see true love every day at my job, but it was torture trying to keep myself from wanting it for myself.

Every couple was a daily reminder of what I didn’t have and what I desperately wanted.

Every couple reminded me that soon they would go home and most likely start families of their own.

My chest tightened and my heart ached at the thought.

Birds chirped and sang their songs in the trees around my patio. I listened and wished someone was there with me to enjoy the show with.

How can you have someone to share anything with when all you do is work, Katie?

I tried to ignore that thought. I knew the inner voice was right, but I didn’t know how to change things. I loved my job and had no intention of ever giving it up. But how long could I keep going like this? How long could I come home to solitude?

Forever?

I shuddered at the thought.

Why couldn’t I be the woman I was when I first started working at the El Cartana?

I hadn’t wanted a partner then. Hell, I hadn’t even really wanted children then.

But now things had changed. I had changed.

The desire to be a mother was white hot and strong.

Seeing children was torture. Seeing what I wanted but could never have was cruel punishment, and sometimes I caught myself wondering what I’d done to deserve it.

The answer was nothing. I’d done nothing.

Sometimes that was just how life was. Unfair.

I sighed and left the patio in favor of my comfortable sofa and a W. Parker book. The words on the page pulled me in and distracted me from my thoughts.

At least I had my brother’s baby shower to look forward to coming up. Even though it would be torturous, I could still find it in my heart to be happy for him and Hailey. They deserved this. The fact that I wanted it for myself and couldn’t have it didn’t change that.

Being an auntie was better than nothing, wasn’t it?