Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“Good morning, Weston.” I flashed my most dazzling smile.

Apparently dazzle wasn’t something Weston was used to seeing on me. His brows pulled down, and he studied me with suspicion. “Good morning?”

He was seated behind the desk in what had been Ms. Copeland’s office. I’m sure he expected a fight over who got to use the big, corner office with the view of the park. But instead, I walked directly over to the round meeting table and kept my smile firmly in place.

“So, I’d like to fill you in on the other issues the general manager told me about yesterday. Maybe we could split up the list I’ve made and each be the point person for different things?”

“Uhh… Yeah, that makes sense.”

Weston was definitely waiting for the other shoe to drop. Though I didn’t have one. I’d given a lot of thought to the conversation Scarlett and I had early this morning and determined maybe she was on to something. Until the last few days, I’d considered myself pretty vanilla, but apparently some deep, dark part of me got off on arguing with this man. If Weston and I got along, I might have a better chance of not ending up with my panties around my ankles.

Weston got up from the desk and walked over to where I sat. This morning, I’d typed up a long list of the issues Louis and I had discussed. I slid three stapled pages over to the opposite side of the table and looked up at Weston.

“This is a list of things we should discuss. I prioritized them, but we should go over them all. I’m going to run downstairs and get some more coffee. Maybe you could read through what I’ve typed, and we can discuss it when I get back?” I stood from my chair.

The look on Weston’s face was pretty comical. He was waiting for me to be difficult. Not going to happen today, buddy. I headed toward the door and then stopped and turned back. “Would you like me to pick you up some coffee? Maybe some fruit or a muffin, too?”

“Uhhh... Yeah, that would be great. I’ll take a large black coffee and a blueberry muffin.”

“No problem.” This time I even managed to show my teeth with my over-the-top smile. Being sweet was almost like a new form of torture for Weston. Who knew? Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

As I turned to walk out, he stopped me.

“Wait. You’re not going to poison my coffee or something, are you?”

I laughed. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

My fake-cheery demeanor had seemed to sink in. On my way down to the coffee shop, I caught myself whistling. Not only did I enjoy making Weston feel off kilter, my neck really appreciated the lack of tension. I’d had a giant knot in it since I boarded the plane a few days ago.

When I returned to the office, Weston was still at the round meeting table. He’d written some notes on the list I’d given him and now had a yellow legal pad with even more scribbled notes, and he was scrolling through his phone. I handed him his coffee and the bag with his blueberry muffin, along with a chipper smile.

“I had them warm the muffin for you. Hope that’s okay. There are some butter pats in the bag, if you want them.”

His forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Yeah, that’s great. Thanks.”

I took the seat across from him and peeled back the plastic tab on my coffee before picking up my pen. “Why don’t we start with my list? And when we’re done, you can tell me how things went with the union yesterday and what I can do to help there.”

“Okay…”

For the next hour, I ran Weston through the issues I’d discussed with Louis. After I finished, he slumped back in his chair.

“We have our work cut out for us.”

“Yes, but I think we’ll make a good team, and we’ll be able to whip this place into shape in no time.”

“You do?”

“Absolutely. If anyone knows hotels, it’s us. We both grew up in them, years before we even started working for our families. It’s in our blood. I’ve already reached out to two contractors we’ve used at Sterling properties before, and I set up a meeting with one of them at two o’clock this afternoon to discuss the construction that needs to be finished in the ballroom.”

“Why your contractors? I was in one of your buildings for a meeting last month, and the place wasn’t looking too hot.”

My immediate gut reaction was to get defensive, but I tamped that down and managed to ignore the insult, focusing instead on working together.

“Well, I’ll tell you what. We obviously need to get a few quotes, so why don’t you call in one or two of your people. We can see what they all come up with, and how fast each one thinks they can get it done.”

Again, Weston hesitated. “Yeah, okay.”

We discussed a few other priority issues, including how to handle an employee Louis thought was dipping into the petty cash, and filling five key vacant positions, two of which were assistant manager jobs. I also had a team of CPAs and lawyers coming this afternoon to start due diligence on The Countess so my family could formulate its offer to purchase the minority share.

Without too much disagreement, Weston and I even decided which conference rooms we wanted to set up our teams in. We then threw around some counteroffer proposals to the union’s offer we’d discussed earlier. All in all, it was a damn productive morning.

“Okay, well…” I shuffled the papers I’d spread out in front of me into a pile and neatened them into a stack. “This was a good meeting. I’m going to go talk to Louis about setting me up in an office somewhere, and I guess I’ll see you upstairs when the first contractor arrives.”

“You don’t want this office?” he asked.

I stood. “You look like you’ve already settled in. I can find another one. No big deal.”

We were about two minutes away from Weston feeling my forehead. Suspecting I’d made his head spin enough for the morning, my job here was done. “See you at two?”

“Yeah. I might be a little late. But I’ll meet you up there.”

Now it was my turn to be suspect. “Do you have something else planned?”

Weston got up and walked back to his desk, avoiding eye contact. “I have a meeting. But I’ll be back after.”

“A meeting? What kind of a meeting?”

“The kind that’s none of your business. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Unable to hide how annoyed his response made me, I left the office. I’d just laid all my cards on the table, and that little shit probably had something up his sleeve that he was doing behind my back.

This being friendly thing wasn’t going to be easy after all.

***

Sam Bolton had been doing construction in New York for my family since I was a kid—though I hadn’t known Bolton Contracting was now Bolton and Son. Travis, Sam’s son, introduced himself and shook my hand. He was handsome, in more a clean-cut-boss type of way than a contractor-who-swings-a-hammer look, but definitely nice looking.

“It’s nice to meet you,” he said. “I didn’t realize William had a daughter.”

Travis meant no harm with his comment, but it hit home.

“That’s because he’s still hoping I’ll come to my senses and tie on an apron and stay at home, preparing for my husband’s arrival from work, like a woman should.”

Travis smiled. “I hope you don’t mind my saying so, but I’ve worked with Spencer, your brother, and I believe they make aprons to fit his size, too.”

I liked Travis already. “Half-brother, and I’m pretty sure he’d burn anything he tried in the kitchen.”

If I wasn’t mistaken, I thought I caught that look in Travis’s eyes. You know the one, a bit of a sparkle that shines when someone is interested in more than just your business. Though he was a perfect gentleman and did nothing inappropriate as I showed him around the construction space. Travis had been early, so a few minutes later, his father arrived. I’d also invited Len, the head of hotel maintenance, to join us, and he led the tour of what had been done and what still needed to be completed.

“What happened to the original contractor?” Travis asked.

“There were apparently multiple inspection issues that came up,” Len said. “Ms. Copeland was unhappy about the frequent delays, so she fired the contractor with the intention of bringing on a new one. At one point, she told me she gave a new contractor a deposit, but nothing was ever started.”

Great. Note to self. Add find out if a contractor was paid to start work and pulled a no-show to my to-do list.

“Everything pretty much came to a halt fourteen months ago when Ms. Copeland’s health took a turn.”

“And when do you need all of this done?” Sam Bolton asked.

“Three months,” I said.

Travis’s eyebrows jumped while his father blew out a deep breath and shook his head. “We’d have to have crews here around the clock. That means paying night differential, two foremen working overtime in twelve-hour shifts, and all sorts of extra benefits the union would require.”

“But it is possible to get it done?” I asked. “We have events lined up starting in three months and really don’t want to have to cancel them.”

Sam looked around, scratching his chin. “It’s possible. Not going to lie, I don’t like working like that. I won’t cut corners to get things done. Many times I’m at the mercy of subcontractors, so there’s always a chance something could go wrong, too.” He nodded. “But yeah, with those extras I think we could shoot for three months. We’d need to get down to the building department right away and see what the issues were with the last inspections and also take the blueprints with us today. But we can give it a shot.”

“How fast could you get me an estimate?”

“A couple of days.”

I sighed. “Okay. Well, let’s do that.”

Weston showed up just as we were finishing—more than a little late. Nevertheless, I kept the peace and even managed to smile as I made the introductions. He and Sam got into a discussion about people they both knew and jobs they were both familiar with. I told Len from maintenance he could go, and that left Travis and me talking.

“Do I hear a bit of a British accent?” he asked.

I didn’t think I had one. But he wasn’t the first person to ask me that. I’d only lived in London for six years.

“You’re very perceptive.” I smiled. “I was born and raised in New York, but spent the last few years living in London. Apparently I picked up a few things while I was there.”

“What brought you to London?”

“Work. We have hotels there, and my father and I get along best when we’re on different continents.”

He smiled. “What made you come back?”

“This hotel. Plus, the timing was right. I was ready for a change.”

Travis nodded. “And not one that entails an apron around your waist, I take it?”

I laughed. “Definitely not.”

From the corner of my eye, I caught Weston looking over at Travis and me. It was the second or third time in five minutes. He was definitely monitoring our discussion.

After the Boltons left, Weston shook his head. “Those two are definitely not right for this job.”

“What? What are you talking about? They said they could get us an estimate in a few days and meet our crazy timeline. My family has worked with them many times over the years. They’re absolutely reliable. What else could we hope for at this point?”

“I just didn’t get the right vibe from them.”

“The right vibe? What vibe did you get?”

“I don’t know. Just an untrustworthy one, I guess.”

“That’s insane!”

“They can submit their bid on the job. But I wouldn’t count on my vote to give them the work.”

My hands flew to my hips. “And who, exactly, do you think is right for this job? Let me guess, one of your people.”

Weston shrugged. “I can’t help it if we use better contractors.”

“Better? How the hell do you know anyone is better than anyone else at this point?”

“Maybe if you paid a little more attention to what was going on around you, instead of checking out the contractor’s son, you’d be in the same mindset as I am.”

My eyes widened. “You’ve got to be joking!”

He shrugged. “Lust is blind.”

“Obviously! Why else would I have slept with you!”

Weston’s eyes darkened, his pupils blocking out most of the soft blue color of his irises. I could feel my face heat with anger, and… Oh my God, my damn belly did a little flutter.

Is my body insane?

It had to be. A sheen of cold sweat broke out on my forehead, and my body started to light up like a Christmas tree.

What the hell?

Seriously?

No. Just no.

As my head reeled from my body’s crazy response, Weston’s eyes dropped to my chest. I was mortified to find my nipples protruding. The traitors were standing at full attention, saluting this asshole through my blouse. I folded my arms across my chest, but it was too late. My eyes lifted to find a giant, wicked smirk on Weston’s face.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and counted to ten. When I opened them, Weston was still sporting a smug smirk, but his brows were pinched together, and his forehead was wrinkled.

“If you were hoping I’d disappear, I’m sorry to disappoint you,” he said.

I know I’m not that lucky had been on the tip of my tongue. But instead, I plastered on a sparkling smile.

Well, I was going for sparkling, but the look on Weston’s face told me it came out more maniacal Joker than anything. Yet I rolled with it.

Speaking through my teeth, I said, “Why would I want you to disappear? You’re so helpful. I look forward to meeting with your contractor.”

Since I wasn’t sure how much more I could take without losing it, I turned on my heel and walked toward the door. Without looking back, I said, “Have a good afternoon, Weston.”

He yelled after me, “I will. And don’t forget dinner tonight, Fifi.”