Hired:The Italian's Bride

“I brought you the financial statements.” She covered the uncomfortable moment by holding out the manila folder.

“You’re serious?”

It was her turn to be confused, and she gratefully switched her focus to business. “Of course I am. I thought you’d need them.”

“Are we in the black?”

“Of course we are!” When he didn’t take the file, she lowered her arm again, hiding behind it.

“Then that’s all I need to know.”

“It is?”

“Please, sit down. Would you like a drink?”

“No, thank you.”

She perched on the edge of an armchair like a bird waiting to take flight, while he walked over to the small bar. She noticed he was in his bare feet and for a moment her gaze was drawn to the frayed hem of his jeans, the way it rested against the skin of his heel.

She couldn’t let his good looks distract her. She’d bet anything he was aware of his appearance and used it to his advantage all the time. But it wouldn’t work with her. She wasn’t so naive as that.

He wasn’t interested in the numbers? Worry plunged through her stomach. What was he going to do to the hotel? Run it into the ground? Every decision she’d made in the last two and a half years had been carefully thought out, balanced against the pros and cons. What to do, where to live, what to wear and say…And he was treating this whole thing like it was no big deal. More and more he was bearing out her initial judgment. That for him this whole thing was a rich boy’s game. But it was her livelihood. It was all she had. She’d built it from nothing. And he’d been given everything—life on a silver platter.

“What are your plans for the Cascade?” She spoke to his back as he poured a glass of red wine, filling a second glass despite her decline.

He returned and handed her the glass, then perched on the arm of the sofa. “I have many plans. I think revamping the hotel is going to be fun.”

Fun? Her heart sank further. Great. He was charming, handsome. There was no denying it. In fact he was the first man she’d responded to physically ever since leaving Toronto. Her eyes narrowed. Acknowledging his good looks meant nothing except that she still had eyes to see with. Taking her livelihood in his hands for fun didn’t sit well.

“Don’t you think those sorts of decisions should be examined, weighed?”

“What’s the fun in that?” His lips tipped up as he sipped his wine. “Aren’t you going to have any? I brought it with me. It’s Nico—the vineyards of my best friend, Dante Nicoletti. You’ll like it—it’s a fine Montepulciano. And it’s a staple on all Fiori lists.”

She dutifully sipped and looked down as the rich flavor surrounded her tongue. Oh, it was nice. Very nice. But that was hardly the point.

“I take my job seriously, Mr. Fiori. Not something to enjoy on a whim.”

“Sometimes whims are the very best things.” He smiled disarmingly and she found she actually had to work at not being charmed. Damn him!

She sipped again, sliding further back in the chair and crossing her legs. “I like what I do.” Would she have called it fun? Probably not. But it gave her a sense of accomplishment. Working in a hotel in the majesty of the Rockies suited her wallflower qualities to a tee. She could glimpse the fairy tale while still being able to watch from the sidelines. She felt protected, and yet had room to breathe. But fun?

She wasn’t sure she knew what fun was.

“But that’s not the same thing. Tell me, Mari, what drives you? What makes you get up in the morning?”

The fact that I can.

She pushed the automatic answer away. She didn’t have to justify her choices to him. He didn’t need to know how she’d had a narrow escape, how it could have turned out so very differently years earlier.

“This isn’t about me, it’s about what’s going to happen to this hotel. Paul Verbeek resigned when you bought the hotel. How much more is going to change? Staff is already upset at the possibility of change and insecurity. If I start handing out pink slips, morale’s going to take a serious dip.”

“That’s the first thing you’ve said that I agree with.”

She bristled. He waltzed in here and after what, four hours? decided she was wrong about just about everything. She knew how to do her job and she did it well, despite being new at it. This was going to be another case of owners sending in an emissary, turning everything upside down, then leaving the mess for local management to clean up. She sighed. Everything had been going fine. Why did this have to happen now?

“I don’t know what to say. We obviously have differing opinions yet I have no wish to cause any discord. You’re the boss.” She folded her hands. One of them had to keep a logical head.