He studied me for a beat. The sun reflected off water drops caught in his eyelashes. My eyes ate him up like he was the chocolate treat he described.
Suddenly, he flashed a big smile full of teeth. “Well, gotta get back to work. Cheers.”
He strode out of the ocean and straight back toward the inn with water streaming down every line of his chest and arms and his cotton cutoffs plastered to his skin. A red elastic waistband peeked out of the top of the shorts, and my level of curiosity about that red underwear reached ludicrous levels.
He was a child, and I was embarrassing myself.
“Yeah. Uh, see you later.”
As soon as he’d crested the rise over the dune and disappeared, I smacked myself in the forehead. “See you later?” Ugh. I sounded old. And pathetic.
With a sigh I gathered my towel and other supplies and slowly made my way to the hotel. I needed a place to stay, and no matter what the receptionist had said earlier, it was obvious from the parking lot there were plenty of empty rooms available at the Sea Sprite.
I hastily pulled a shirt on and grabbed my wallet from the car before making my way toward the lobby. I hesitated only slightly when I noticed it wasn’t the receptionist behind the counter, but one mercurial bartender who now looked even hotter after a dip in the ocean and a change into dry clothes. He even had reading glasses perched on his nose as he poked his way around a laptop keyboard.
I made my way over to him and waited by the counter. When he didn’t look up, I pressed the little brass bell, causing him to jump and nearly tumble off the stool he sat on.
“What the hell do you want?” His eyes met mine over the rim of his glasses which made him look adorably geeky.
“World peace and some aloe lotion. But I’ll also take a room, please.”
He shrugged. “Haven’t got any available. Sorry.”
I looked behind him at the rows and rows of available room keys dangling in individual cubbyholes.
This was a game, and I was losing. There was a part of me very unfamiliar with losing.
I shifted into business mode. If there was one thing I knew this man needed, it was money.
“Name your price.”
6
Sawyer
Two could play at this game.
“Two hundred fifty thousand dollars.” I clicked through the laptop to the reservation screen as if preparing to take his information. “Per night.”
The posted room rate was $129 per night, and that was only because it was located on the shore. Most of the time we discounted through online booking partners down to $79 per night. There was no telling how much of that James knew.
James lifted an eyebrow. Damn the man for being beautiful. “I’ll pay a hundred a night. And that’s if my room isn’t soggy with toilet water.”
Touché.
Still, I wasn’t backing down. “How about a hundred thousand? Guy like you probably has that much in his checking account.”
“How about a hundred fifty and that includes the lobby donuts and fancy coffee?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How about you go fu—” I stopped talking just in time. A family with three little girls came bursting in, all windblown and smiley. “Hi. Welcome to the Sea Sprite. Checking in?”
The mom stepped forward. “We don’t have a reservation, but we’re really hoping you can help us out. Is there any chance you have two rooms connecting? We’re hoping to stay the full week.”
“Absolutely,” I said, flashing her my biggest smile and reaching for the laptop. “Let me just gather some information from you and we’ll get you all set.”
I ignored James’s grunt of frustration and pretended not to notice him wander over to pour himself a glass of water from the cooler in the corner of the lobby.
As soon as I’d finished checking in the Burnside family and showing them to their rooms, I returned to the check-in desk to see James standing there with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
“You really going to tell me you’re full now?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
I held up my hands in a “what are you going to do?” gesture and flashed him an apologetic grimace. “Mm. They took the last two rooms. Shame.” I threw myself back down on the stool behind the counter before snapping my fingers. “Hey. You got that pretty new towel today. You do know the beach is public property, right? You can make yourself a nice little nest down there for the night.”
My grin turned predatory. I had to admit, I was enjoying myself. It was fun to make James squirm. Twin dots of red flamed up his cheeks. I had a feeling this was a man who was used to getting his way.
Well, I didn’t plan on being that easy. “For a small fee,” I added, “I’ll even let you keep your car parked in our lot.”
We both turned to peer out into the giant, mostly empty lot. When I turned back to look at him, James was staring at me with a knowing look. He flexed his fingers against the counter. “I’ll pay you a thousand dollars a night for the next five nights, guaranteed.”
I opened my mouth to give the expected snappy rejection, but the words stalled on my tongue. Five thousand dollars would be more than enough to finish fixing up the room I wanted to use as an example for my uncles to see my vision. And after just booking the two Burnside rooms at full price for the entire week, I didn’t have to feel as guilty about siphoning off the extra from James’s bill to pay for the renovation project. It was for the inn after all. It wasn’t like I was taking the money and jetting off to Hawaii or something.
I hated giving in to this man, but I knew that being stubborn wasn’t going to get me what I wanted. I might lose this battle, but I intended to win the war.
I stood up and reached my hand out for a shake. “Prepay up front in cash and you have yourself a deal.”
He took my hand in his which turned out to be a huge mistake. His fingers wrapped around mine, firm and strong. The warmth from his grip reminded me of the night before when that same hand had clasped the back of my neck. Our eyes met and something passed between us. I felt a shudder slowly make its way through my body.
His lips parted on a breath. “I don’t have it.” His voice was low and unsteady. “In cash, I mean,” he added. “I’ll have to find a bank.”
I pulled my hand back quickly and rubbed it on my thigh behind the counter to get the memory of his touch off my skin. This wasn’t the sexy, kissing James, I reminded myself. It was the business James. And he was going to help me foil his own damned client whether he knew it or not.
“I guess you’d better head to town, then. Barwich Trust closes at four.” I turned around and busied myself with nonsense against the back wall of the reception area, straightening piles of paper and checking the printer connections.
When I glanced over my shoulder to see if he was still there, I found him standing in the exact same spot. He smiled slowly. “I’ll be right back, then.”
Now it was my turn to check out his ass he left, stalking across the parking lot with purpose, the shockingly bright bathing suit tight across his ass, giving me a view that made me sigh. Why did he have to be so fucking gorgeous? And sexy? This whole proposition would be so much less confusing if he were ugly and old. Then I wouldn’t have to keep reminding myself that he was the enemy which meant keeping my hands off.