Chapter 3

Three

Charlie checked on room 208 on his way down from the third floor. This was the fifth room Mr. Jack had let him redo, and it was looking good—the white bedding would contrast beautifully with the maroon wallpaper and the art, which was botanical illustrations. Just the sight of things being returned to the period of the hotel soothed something deep inside him.

"It looks great, doesn't it?" He nodded to the woman who was hanging wallpaper. "I'm so pleased. I think Mr. Harlan will be over the moon."

"I think he'll love it," she said, shooting him a grin. "Seriously. It's so historical, yet clean."

"And very strong, but not rough. I love—" His phone rang, the front desk's emergency tone sounding. "Excuse me, I have to take this."

He grabbed it as he headed out into the hallway. "Hey, what's?—"

"Mrs. Norman says there are horses in the courtyard!" Samantha was brand-new, so wet behind the ears she squeaked.

"Horses?" What? That was a new one. "I'm on my way down. Are they attached to a person, or loose?"

"I don't know. I have guests here checking in."

"Then you focus on that. I'll deal with the—" Horses. "—courtyard." Fuck him. He didn't run until he hit the stairwell that was for employees only. Then he zoomed.

"Yes, sir." She hung up, and he snorted. Every time someone called him sir, he looked over his shoulder to see if Jack or some other alpha was there. It was bizarre. He was panting by the time he got to the ground floor and raced out to the big patio courtyard that, in the summer, housed a little breakfast area that served just coffee and pastries and doubled as a tiny bar in the evenings.

Right now, it should be deserted.

He heard the rushing sound of something or somethings running at him about a heartbeat before he was tackled to the ground, fuzzy paws on his shoulder as a giant dog licked his face.

Wow. That was a lot of slobber.

He reached up to push at the hairy chest and neck, laughing. "Hi there. Oof. Oh, there are two of you. You are kinda pony sized. Did you know it was snowing?"

Neither beast looked particularly Cujo-esque, so he decided not panicking was the smart thing, and he sat up. "Can you two sit? I'm assuming you belong to a guest…"

Both hairy butts hit the ground, tails wagging hard.

"Good, uh, dogs." He was in no position to ascertain gender at this point. Charlie climbed to his feet. "You guys want a cookie?" He pulled out the hotel phone.

At the words cookie, they both perked right up.

"Samantha? Can you please bring me two dog biscuits and find out which guest has two beautiful Saint Bernards, please?"

"Oh! They're not horses?"

He did not grit his teeth. "No. They're dogs."

"That's one-oh-nine."

"Got it. Biscuits."

"Yessir."

One-oh-nine was one of their luxury ground floor rooms with a little patio. Obviously there had been an escape.

"Let's get a cookie; then we'll find some towels from housekeeping and get you to your person, huh?"

"Neo! Trinity. Where are—Oh, Lord. So sorry about this!" A tall broad-shouldered man rushed out to the courtyard, leashes in hand. "I thought I had them corralled. I just went to the bathroom for like, a minute."

"No problem." He found the guest a warm smile, even though his butt was wet and frozen.

"Did they knock you down? Do you need any help?" The guy clipped leashes onto collars.

"Here are those cookies, Boss." Samantha stopped short. "Oh, good. You found him."

"I did. Or he found me." He took the dog biscuits. "Can I give them a treat?"

"For mauling you?" The guest laughed, head falling back, showing off an absolutely stunning body.

"Oh, they are vicious, for sure."

Chuckling, the guest looked him over. "I'm sorry again. They're used to having some room to run. They were staying with my mom over in Fort Collins for a few weeks."

"Aww…poor babies. They're welcome to be out here, but they need to be leashed. Boss's orders."

"Oh, absolutely. Otherwise, it's a liability issue. And from now on, they'll be leashed on the little patio too. I'll be here at least week, maybe two."

Oh, well, that was good to know. He'd let all the staff know they weren't ponies. And he would also maybe have something pretty to look at from time to time. One-oh-nine was very attractive, with his glossy black hair and light-colored eyes. It was hard to tell out here what color, but he was hot as hell.

That was pretty rare here.

This place called to the older men, omegas generally, who didn't trigger Antonia, the hotel's resident ghost. The alphas ended up getting a little spooked, what with the knocking and wailing and sometimes soup spilling.

"Can I give them the treats?" The dogs were watching his hand, where he was holding the cookies Samantha had handed him.

"Of course. They're not finger nippers. Be good, you two."

"They're good babies. I can tell." Goofy and huge, but just babies. How could he not like them?

"They are. I'm Kaleb, by the way. This is Neo, and that's Trinity."

"Oh, how cool." He fed Neo first, then Trinity. "I'm Charlie, incidentally. I work the front desk during the day, so if you need anything at all, please holler. Samantha here is my backup, and she's also amazing."

Samantha flushed and ducked her head, stammering a thanks, then fled.

"She's new, huh?"

"So new," Charlie said with a laugh. "And she was convinced we had ponies in the courtyard."

"Ah. So new and a townie, at that." Kaleb's tone wasn't ugly or anything. In fact, Charlie got the feeling it was self-deprecating.

"Yeah, but she'll learn, and she did the right thing, one way or the other." Because it was his job to deal with hotel emergencies. No question.

He was the king of deal-with-it.

"They can be overwhelming, for sure. Thanks so much for corralling them. They wouldn't wander too far, but they would make themselves a nuisance."

"It's my pleasure, sir." And his job. He was like the concierge of Secret Springs.

Kaleb grinned back. "You're very kind. Where do I go to get a cookie?"

"The human-friendly ones are in the lobby. Today, we are having white chocolate macadamia."

"Yum. Let me put these guys in my room." Kaleb tugged the slobber factory back inside.

"Lord have mercy." Charlie shook his head and went to make sure there were, in fact, fresh cookies waiting for their guests in the lobby.

Somehow, he really didn't want to disappoint Kaleb.

A fresh tray of cookies sat on the big huntboard along one wall, and he checked the temp on the coffee and the hot water containers. They did need more cold water, though, so he filled that dispenser and changed out the lemon slices.

By the time he got back, Kaleb was there with the cookies and coffee, a blissful smile on his face.

"Oh, good. You got a cookie."

"A cookie? I've had three. So good. Where do you guys get these?"

"There's a local bakery in town that provides them. Dan and Matteo are good friends with the Harlans."

"Oh, man. I know where I'm going tomorrow for a midmorning snack. I have to have breakfast here. The buffet is too good to pass up, and I'm the dogs snow hiking, so I'll take some sweets with me."

"Oh, have a good time, sir. Make sure you let someone know where you are heading and when you'll be back."

"I will. I filed a plan with my realtor." Kaleb chuckled. "She's really the only one I know in town. I mean, I've talked to my my contractor too."

"Mr. Tierney?" Kynan was amazing. Everyone loved him. "Did you know he used to be the mayor?"

"No. Really? He seems young for the job."

"He said no one else wanted to do it, so he stepped up. He was great for the older parts of downtown."

"I bet. There are some gorgeous old ladies. Houses, I mean."

"There are." He had a wistful moment for one of the old Victorians he could never afford but would kill to decorate. "Which one are you buying?"

Kaleb chuckled. "I bought the Dewhurst mansion."

"Goodness! Really? That's…that's a project. Congratulations!"

"Thanks." Kaleb's smile went wry. "I had intended just to camp out up there, but man, the power and water situation is dire. So I'll stay here while I at least figure out what needs doing." The wry turned into a wince. "Since I already sold my condo in Denver."

"Well, this is the slowest season, so we're more than pleased to be your home away from home."

"I appreciate it." Kaleb offered him a cookie. "I don't suppose you can join me."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I have to work, but thank you for the offer." He didn't do that. He wasn't alone with strange men. Ever.

"Sure." Kaleb's face fell, but then his smile reasserted itself. "Well, thank you for all the help."

"Of course, sir. If you need anything, please call. We're here for you." He smiled. "And the pups."

"I should get back to them. I need to actually walk them before supper." Kaleb snuck one more cookie, winking at him as he did.

He chuckled and went back to his job.

Pretty man. Too bad Charlie was off the market.