Chapter 14

CHAPTER14

“Why are you pouting?” came the question that had Andi releasing a shuddering sigh as she sat there, admittedly pouting, but for good reason.

She’d been dumped.

One minute, she was contemplating getting a new Eeyore Christmas stocking while mentally going over the list of things that she still needed from Roman Palms Hotel, and the next, Devyn was telling her to take the day off as he walked off with the incredibly beautiful manager of Roman Palms without her. She just thought…

God, she didn’t know what she thought, but it wasn’t that she would be sitting in her hotel room while Devyn went over her notes with the manager. When she took this job, she thought that she would be doing more than just running numbers and looking over financial reports only to once again find herself delegated to the accounting department, but this time without the cubicle. She didn’t know why she thought things would be different with Devyn.

“I’m not pouting,” Andi mumbled pathetically, telling herself that it didn’t matter. Maybe it was time to accept that this was what she was meant to do. She was going to spend the rest of her life telling herself that it was good enough, she thought, deciding that definitely earned another heartfelt sigh.

“Then what would you call it?” Drew asked as he dropped down on his bunk and placed his phone on the nightstand so that she could see him better on her phone.

“Contemplating my options,” Andi said as she turned over onto her side and placed her phone on the nightstand and sighed.

“You don’t need to work, Andi,”he said, shifting to get more comfortable before continuing, “but since I know that you’re too stubborn to listen to reason-”

“I am,” Andi murmured in agreement.

“-then, I would have to say quit and find a new job.”

“But I love my job,” she mumbled pathetically.

“Then why the hell are you pouting?”

“Because I don’t know what else to do,” Andi admitted with a sigh as she rolled over onto her back and proceeded to stare up at the ceiling.

“Why do I have a feeling that this is about more than just a job?”

“It is and it isn’t,” she said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, wondering why she couldn’t seem to figure out what she wanted.

It should have been so easy.

Get good grades, earn a scholarship to the school of her choice, pick a major, study hard, and get a job that she could spend the rest of her life doing, only she couldn’t do it. While her brother had known before they learned to walk that he wanted to be a fireman, she’d never been able to figure it out and-

She wanted to be in that meeting.

The problem was that she had no reason to be in that meeting unless…

“I can see that you’re off in your own little world now, so I’m going to head back to work now,” Drew said dryly, not that she was listening since an idea came to her, one that had her absently murmuring, “Love you, too,” as she climbed off the bed and grabbed her iPad.

“I’m an idiot,” Andi muttered to herself, wondering why she didn’t think about doing this before.

It was perfect, Andi thought, unable to help but release a heartfelt sigh only to frown, mumble, “Damn it,” and return to pouting when she remembered that she didn’t bring any of the Hillshire Hotels files with her. For a moment, she contemplated using the notes that she’d made, but…

That wouldn’t be enough.

She’d have to wait until she got home, Andi realized, feeling her shoulders drop with a disappointed sigh only to end up worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as her attention shifted to the files that Roman Palms Hotel provided them for the audit. It wouldn’t be a bad place to start, she decided with a firm nod as she tossed her iPad on the bed, grabbed the files, and-

Grumbled when someone knocked on the door. For a moment, she debated ignoring whoever was on the other side of that door, but that probably wasn’t an option with this being her job and all. Hoping that this would be quick, Andi opened the door only to find a large man standing in the hallway.

“Your boss wants you to go have fun,” came the announcement as he leaned back against the wall and folded his arms over his chest with a satisfied sigh.

When she only stood there, blinking at the admittedly handsome man, he shot her a boyish smile. “I should probably introduce myself.”

“That would probably make this less awkward,” Andi said, nodding in agreement as she wrapped her other arm around the files and hugged them against her chest as she waited for him to get to the point so that she could get back to work.

Chuckling, he said, “My name is Travis. I’m the assistant manager here at the Roman Palms and I’ve been tasked with making sure that you have a wonderful time while you’re here.”

“I appreciate that, but I’m actually working on something,” Andi said with a pointed look at the files in her arms.

“Then, I guess I wouldn’t be able to tempt you with an afternoon spent exploring a sunken ship right off the coast?” Travis said with a teasing smile even as she had to admit that actually sounded like fun.

Still…

“I should probably stay here just in case Mr. MacGregor needs something,” Andi said, running all the possibilities through her head and…God, she really wished that she had the Hillshire Hotels files with her.

“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Travis said with a sheepish smile that had Andi frowning as she tried to figure out what that look meant when she remembered the way that the incredibly beautiful manager looked at Devyn and-

She was pathetic.

There was no other way to describe it. He was her boss and somewhere along the line she’d stupidly allowed herself to forget that. At some point, she’d started to think of him as Devyn, the man that she liked spending time with and thought about more than she should.

He was her boss.

Nothing else, she reminded herself, no matter how much…

It didn’t matter.

* * *

“How many attempts were made?”Devyn asked as he sat there, absently drumming his fingertips against the small cocktail table as he slowly glanced around them, taking in the hotel guests relaxing on the patio and by the pool, the ones making their way to Roman Palms Hotel’s private beach, relaxing on the lounge chairs placed along the shore, and the ones lined up by the cove willing to pay a small fortune for a chance to explore a sunken pirate ship.

“Five times,” Abigail said after a slight hesitation.

“And I’m sure that there was a good reason why you didn’t contact my office,” Devyn said, moving to return his attention to the woman that hadn’t been happy when she’d discovered that he’d planned on doing this audit in person.

“Because we had it handled,” Abigail said firmly even as she gave him a warm smile to soften her words.

“Yes, you did,” Devyn murmured in agreement with a pointed look at the notes that Andi made last night. “Walk me through how the requests were made.”

“There were no requests at first,” Abigail said, pausing to take a sip of her wine as she relaxed in her chair, watching him curiously. “Before the transfer finished coming through, they attempted to authorize a transfer, but the authorization for the transfer came into question and our accounting department flagged it.”

Nodding, Devyn glanced around the large French-Caribbean style patio as he asked, “What was wrong with the transfer authorization?”

“They used the name and authorization code of an employee that retired the year before,” she explained as Devyn found himself watching as Andi made her way down the long walkway that led to the cove with the man that Devyn asked to look out for her by her side.

“Was it him?” Devyn absently asked as he got up and crossed the short distance to the railing and watched Andi as she made her way to the cove and-

God, she was beautiful, Devyn thought, his grip tightening around the railing as he stood there, watching as she reached up and pulled her long, beautiful brown hair up into a messy bun before he ran his eyes over her. He’d seen her dressed in tasteful blouses, skirts, tee-shirts and jeans, and oversized pajamas, but he’d never seen her like this before. She wore a black bikini that she must have grabbed at the hotel gift shop that complimented her sun-kissed skin and showed off the generous curves of her breasts and-

Fuck.

“No, it wasn’t him. Somehow his access was reinstated, but they didn’t realize that we change authorization codes quarterly,” Abigail said as she joined him.

“Who reinstated his access?” Devyn asked, unable to take his eyes off Andi as he had to admit that it didn’t matter what she wore, he just…

Christ, he didn’t know what the hell he was doing.

“I don’t remember the name off the top of my head, but James could probably tell you,” Abigail said as Devyn stood there watching as Andi smiled shyly up at the asshole as he helped her with her wetsuit and-

“And where is this James?” Devyn asked, reminding himself that he was here for a reason, and forced himself to look away only to find Abigail frowning up at him in confusion.

“James Jamerson? I thought he worked for you?”