Cassie crossed her arms and bit her tongue. Don't improvise? She had a freaking billionaire with bodyguards staying at her hotel. There was no corporate policy for this. There was no script or manual for how to do this. No Corporate Rule number worked here.
Especially when the billionaire was here to seduce the general manager of the hotel.
The elevator chimed, and they both got out. Lenny made a big show of smiling at the various employees befo
re talking loudly about his expensive dinner reservations. Cassie left him and went to her office, her brain and heart scrambled.
“What is he doing here?” she asked to the empty room, collapsing into her chair. She leaned the back of her head on the backrest of the chair, staring at the ceiling. “And what am I going to do about it?”
She had no idea. She wasn't even sure who he was anymore. She lifted her head and typed his name into her computer. Dozens of pictures and articles came up. She scanned them all, trying to get a grip on the situation.
He had taken over his father's company at a young age. Every article said that he was a hard worker and had helped make the company into the billion-dollar corporation that it was. Then suddenly, not long after the death of his father, he vanished. He went from being at all the fancy rich-people events to dropping off the face of the earth.
Of course, the media loved him for this. There were hundreds of articles and people that thought they'd seen him in Paris or Amsterdam. No one mentioned the handsome bartender in the Caribbean. Everyone was sure he was living it up in Ibiza or London, spending ridiculous amounts of money, not slinging drinks to tourists.
Already, news of his arrival was spreading. In just the past hour there were three new reports on the appearance of Wyatt back in the States. Speculation as to where he'd been and why he was back was rampant. So far, no one had connected him to the StarTree hotel, or to her.
It was days like these she wished she had whiskey in her desk drawer. But that was against corporate policy number twenty-two.
Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up. “This is Cassie Turner.”
“Cassie, the guest in the penthouse wants to speak with you. Personally. In the penthouse.” The front desk girl's voice quivered slightly. “Do you want me to call Mr. Patton?”
“No, don't call Lenny,” Cassie quickly said. “I'll be right up. Thank you.”
She hung up the phone and felt her heart skip a beat. What was she going to say to him? What was he going to say to her?
She didn't have any good answers. This was too far out of the norm. For once, she wished there was a corporate slogan or script to follow, but she was on her own.
She quickly smoothed her hair, put on some lipgloss, and headed up the elevator. She was trembling, but she was also determined to put on a good face. She was a professional. She could handle this. She knocked smartly on his door, trying not to think about what she was doing. If she thought too much, she knew she'd panic.
“Come in.”
She took a deep breath and opened the door.
Wyatt stood by the small bar, the sunlight streaming in through the big open windows. His bodyguards were nowhere to be seen, but she had a feeling they were nearby.
She froze, once again frozen by his handsome looks. He had taken off his suit jacket but still wore the dress shirt and tie. It looked good on him. It didn't match his easy-going smile as well as the t-shirt and swim trunks did, but it still looked absolutely amazing on him.
“Hi.” She wished she had something smarter to say, but at least “hi” was better than telling him about the credit card rewards club.
“Hi, Cassie.” He smiled as he said her name, his lips caressing the sound of her. The back of her neck went hot, and her knees threatened to give out. “And here's my room.”
She remembered saying something similar the night he'd come to her hotel room.
“What are you doing here?” She didn't mean to be so blunt, but she didn't have any other ideas.
“I came to see you.”
Her heart sang, and her chest tightened at the same time. He set down his drink and walked across the room, standing before her. He was close enough to touch, yet he made sure to give her some space.
“I hated the way we left things on the island,” he continued. His voice was low and soothing. His green eyes watched her face like she was a work of art. “I couldn't leave it like that. You said to come to Arizona, so I did.”
“I didn't mean quite like this,” she said without thinking. “I mean, this isn't what I expected.”
“I'm sorry if I've made things difficult for you,” he said. “I can find another hotel if you'd like.”
“My boss is thrilled. You've gotten me some serious brownie points,” she replied. “I just... I'm not sure what your plan is.”