Devious Intentions (Carson Cove Scandals 3)

“I don’t know.” I raised an eyebrow. “I have schoolwork I need to do…”

“It’ll still be there after you have a couple of drinks with us.” He chuckled under his breath.

“I guess you’re right.” I nodded. “Sure, why not.”

Hank was the first guy that had asked me to go somewhere with him since I graduated from high school, but I knew he wasn’t asking me on a date—he had a girlfriend that he talked about every chance he got. He had also mentioned that he got together with some of our co-workers for drinks from time-to-time. It was the first time I had been invited, and while I really did need to work on my assignments for school, I didn’t go out much—at all, really. My other option was going home to an empty house. I didn’t even have to wonder if my mother would be coming home. The mysterious Edgar had whisked her off for some sort of getaway, which seemed to suggest that things were getting serious, but I still hadn’t met him.

“Hey…” I leaned towards Hank. “Who is that guy? I’ve seen him come in a few times, but he always goes straight to the elevator.”

“Him?” Hank motioned to the man I was looking at. “His name is Damien Sinn—he’s a platinum guest.”

“Ah…” I nodded. “Wait, you said Sinn? Like—Sinn Technology?”

“Yeah.” Hank shrugged. “I think he’s the CEO’s grandson or something.”

“Wow…” I blinked in surprise.

The platinum guests at the Pembroke had rooms permanently reserved in exchange for a monthly fee. They didn’t have to check-in or out—they could live there if they wanted to, and Hank told me that a couple of them actually did. I was normally too busy to notice the guests that passed through the lobby, but Damien Sinn was the kind of man that stood out in a crowd. My attention always seemed to be drawn to him when he stepped into the hotel, no matter what I was doing at the time. The first time I saw him, our eyes met for a moment, and a strange sensation swept through my body—like some sort of force was pulling me in that direction, but I had no idea how to take the first step.

“I think you have a crush…” Hank looked over at me and grinned once we finished with the guests at the front desk.

“No, that’s not it.” I shook my head back and forth. “I just didn’t know who he was—he seems to come here pretty often.”

“A lot of people do.” Hank raised his eyebrows and smirked.

It didn’t feel like a crush. I crushed on guys in high school—guys that never showed any interest in me. That wasn’t what I felt every time Damien walked through the lobby. He had a presence to him, but it seemed like I was the only one in the Pembroke Hotel who noticed it. I had no idea how that was possible. He was extremely attractive—tall, broad shoulders, and he had a jaw that looked like it could cut through steel. If Hank had told me that he was a famous actor or musician, I wouldn’t have been surprised—although I probably wouldn’t have been the only one that noticed him if that was the case. He looked like he belonged in Hollywood instead of Carson Cove.

“I’m going to take my break since we don’t have a line right now.” Hank stretched out his arms and let them fall to his side. “You should be able to take yours when I get back.”

“Okay, sounds good.” I looked at him and nodded.

A rather large group of people walked into the lobby as soon as Hank left the front desk, so his timing wasn’t quite as convenient as he hoped, but I was able to take care of them on my own. I never realized that Carson Cove had so many visitors from out of town. There was a beach at Carson Bay, and it was popular in the summer months, but it wasn’t exactly a tourist destination. The locals fought to keep it that way when a real estate developer tried to buy up land and build a hotel there. There were plenty of beaches in nearby towns that did cater to tourists—if I was planning to vacation at the beach, I would have wanted to see the ocean when I woke up in the morning. You could get a glimpse of it if you had a room on the top floor of the Hotel, but it wasn’t the same—in my opinion at least.

“Alright, I’m back.” Hank walked up beside me. “If you hurry, you might have time to grab lunch before the restaurant gets crowded.”

“Yeah, I should probably do that.” I nodded. “I skipped breakfast…”

Another perk of working there was that we were allowed to eat lunch at the restaurant for free—as long as we were happy with one of the four meals selected for us. There was an employee break room that connected to the back of the restaurant, and it was easy to place an order, but if they were busy, our orders went to the back of the line. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, so I was able to get a Caesar Salad with grilled chicken and extra croutons—something I had never tried before I started working at the Pembroke, but it was quickly becoming my favorite. I finished my lunch right before it was time to return to the front desk and arrived just in time to help with the next wave of guests before Hank got overwhelmed.

Time certainly goes by a lot faster here when it’s this busy…

“Ready to get that drink?” Hank walked up to me after I changed clothes and put my work uniform in my locker.

“Yeah, where are we going?” I closed my locker and turned towards him.

“The third floor.” He pointed in the general direction of the elevators.

“Wait…” I blinked in surprise. “We’re drinking here—at the hotel bar?”

“Of course.” He nodded quickly. “Why would we go anywhere else?”

“Ms. Valerie doesn’t mind?” I raised my eyebrows inquisitively.

“As long as we’re not hanging out in our work uniforms ignoring guests, she doesn’t really care. It’s not like we’re going to get drunk and belligerent.” He shrugged and chuckled under his breath. “I’m sure she’d rather have us spend our money here than anywhere else.”

“Okay, lead the way.” I motioned to the door.

We took the elevator to the bar on the third floor, and Hank introduced me to the people that I didn’t know. I was hoping Rosa would be there so I would know someone besides Hank, but she wasn’t. Hank and his friends had all been working at the Pembroke for a while. They had inside jokes, stories about people