Page 20 of The Haunted Hotel
He grabs one from the top of the pile and hands it to me. My phone clatters to the floor as I awkwardly shake out the towel to cover myself, only to discover it’s a face towel and barely big enough to cover a single butt cheek, let alone anything else.
“Oh, sorry,” Ellis apologises and grabs a bigger towel from the bottom of the pile. He hands it to me and politely tries to avoid glancing down as I knot the towel firmly around my waist. “Um, I just wanted to check in and see if everything was to your satisfaction.”
“No.” I scowl at him. “It’s not.”
Ellis stares at me, surprise written all over his face. “I’m so sorry to hear that. What seems to be the problem?”
“The water is freezing and the shower is broken. The shower handle and caddy came clean off the wall, causing me to fall out of the shower. Then I discovered someone has been in my room and moved everything around, hidden my phone, and taken my luggage,” I finish hotly.
“Your phone’s right there.” He points to where it fell on the floor.
“Yes, thank you I can see that.” I glower at him, but he seems unperturbed, as if he’s used to guests getting angry at him. “But all my luggage is still missing, including the clothes I stripped out of before taking a shower.”
“You mean that luggage?” He points over my shoulder and as I follow the direction of his finger, my gaze lands on my suitcase and bags placed neatly in front of the wardrobe. The clothes I stripped off earlier are now laid across the foot of the bed… the bed where I’d been sitting moments before.
“What the?” I mutter.
“May I see the problem with the bathroom?” Ellis says politely, and I can’t fault his professionalism. “I’ll restock your towels and if needs be, I’ll give Ed the Plumber a call.”
“Ed the Plumber?” I repeat slowly, and Ellis nods.
“He’s John the Maid’s second cousin. He deals with all our plumbing emergencies.”
Unable to find the words to respond to that, I step aside and lift my hand in the direction of the bathroom. “Have at it.”
He crosses the room leisurely, and I do not stare at his perfectly rounded ass in those tight pants before he disappears into the bathroom. I close the door and step back into the room. It’s bad enough that I just flashed the blonde bombshell and I’m standing in nothing but a towel. The last thing I need is to inadvertently flash any more members of staff, especially the towering hulk of a maid or the cook with the meat cleaver.
Instead, my gaze trails along the floor, looking for the bedsheet I’d had wrapped around me. It must have snagged on something to cause my untimely wardrobe malfunction, but strangely enough, not only can I not see what it caught on, I can’t find the sheet anywhere either.
There is something very weird about this place.
I glance across as Ellis reappears. “Everything looks okay to me,” he says cheerily. “And the water’s warm enough now. They’re just old pipes, must be a little temperamental. I’ll put it on the list of guest feedback.”
“What about the broken shower handle?”
“I didn’t see anything broken.”
I stalk into the bathroom to find the floor bone dry, the handle reattached, and the caddy mounted back on the tiled wall, the toiletries neatly tucked inside it. There’s also not a single trace of all the shampoo which had covered the shower floor.
“What?” I mutter in confusion.
“Well, I should let you get dressed,” Ellis says with a smile so wide that two little dimples appear in his cheeks. I stare at him, stupidly aware I should say something, but for the life of me, nothing comes to mind. “I actually came to tell you that Mr Ashton-Drake is awake now. I’ve just taken him up his tea, and he says he’ll be really happy to see you if you’d like.”
“I…”
My stomach dips and I remind myself firmly that this is why I’m here: to see my grandfather, even if he is a complete stranger to me.
“You don’t have to if you’d rather have a rest first,” Ellis says sweetly, and I feel a little bad that I snapped at him.
“No.” I swallow past the lump of trepidation in my throat.
This isn’t like me at all. I don’t get nervous. I face everything head-on. I straighten my spine and push my shoulders back,selfishly taking a second to enjoy the brief dip of Ellis’ gaze to my naked chest and the way his little pink tongue peeks out to swipe his lower lip before he could censor himself. I may be nearly forty and a little softer around the middle than I used to be, but I’m still in good shape.
I clear my throat and step back in an effort to locate my dignity, which I fear may be back at JFK along with my patience. “No, I’ll see him now. I just need to get dressed first. Perhaps you could tell me where to find him?”
“He’s up on the fifth floor, but it’s a bit twisty-turny along the corridors up there, and I wouldn’t want you to get lost,” he says brightly. “I’ll wait outside while you get ready and then show you up.”
“You don’t have to–”