Page 48 of Off-Limits Bosses
On my way to the staff area, I double-checked the timing on my tablet. We were on track. I could spend some of my mental energy figuring out what to say to Bryant while still keeping Landon and Nolan in the dark about him.
“Clearing time in ten for the first course,” I said into the staff room, where most people were tensely waiting for orders and a few veterans were relaxing.
Afterward, I made my way to the first-aid kit, and searched through it. As I did so, I half-expected Bryant or Landon to appear behind me again with another set of questions.
I can tell him that there is some chemistry, but we’ve all agreed to stay professional,I thought as I grabbed the remedy for Reggie.No. He won’t believe that.
I wished that I could text Sierra and ask for her advice, but I knew what she’d say. That she told me so, I should’ve brokenthings off after the first time, that I would simply have to come and work with her in the frame business.
She would probably be right on all counts, too. Maybe it was time to accept that I was driving myself over a cliff with my own desires.
Icouldtell Bryant that Nolan and Landon were none of his business, but that might end my entire career right there and then. I might never work in a hotel again. So that was not the smartest route to go down.
There has to be something I can say,I thought as I once again ascended the stairs.Think.
“Oh, you’ve got to be magic,” Reggie said when I handed the medication to him. “This is the good stuff, right?”
“The best,” I smiled, hiding the tension in my soul expertly. “Can I do anything else for you?”
“I’m all good,” Reggie answered as he reached out to pat my arm, before downing the medication with a glass of champagne rather than the bottle of spring water that was right in front of him.
“I’d like something non-alcoholic,” the VIP beside him said. Martha Merrington: a woman with an odd name and an incredibly deep wallet. Rumors were that her family was highly connected with the geopolitical elite. I didn’t question that. It didn’t matter much; the job was the same.
“Of course,” I nodded, mentally checking my tablet for her preferences. “Rosemary kombucha?”
She smiled at me. “You’re good at your job.”
“I try.”
I spent the next hour hovering around the table and attending to every request that was sent my way. I could feel Bryant’seyes on me, but I pretended not to notice. Simultaneously, I ran options through my mind of what I could tell him. As soon as he saw me going off on my own again, he’d definitely ask his questions again.
Even if he had to wait until we were back at the hotel.
I sent an assistant to call the staff to clear the second course as well as dessert. Bryant probably knew what I was trying to do. I could see it in his expression, which was getting more curious by the minute.
Eventually, however, his attention was drawn away from me by Reggie, who pulled him into a conversation on deep sea fishing.
Soon enough, most of the VIPs were embroiled in the talks, arguing about rods and the best places to fish. I didn’t think that any of them—aside from Reggie, maybe—had ever actually been fishing without some extravagant measures to make it more convenient.
Still, it was none of my business, and it was keeping Bryant busy.
Then it was time for the yacht to slow down. We’d reached the last point before turning back; the sunset spot.
“You want to come watch it with me?” Landon asked from beside me, and I followed him to the other side of the upper deck. The view wasn’t as perfect as the guests’, but it was far more private and away from prying eyes.
I pushed Bryant to the back of my mind as I stood with Landon, watching the sun dip below the horizon and paint streaks of orange, pink, and purple across the sky.
“Incredible,” I said, my eyes widening as I watched the clouds moving through the colors. “I can’t believe I’m really standing here.”
“Sometimes I do tend to take these views for granted,” Landon replied. “But you’ve helped me to notice them again.”
I blushed, glad that the incoming dusk was hiding it from him. “We shouldn’t be talking like that. People might be able to hear us.”
Landon glanced at me curiously, as if he was going to ask who I was talking about. I hoped that he’d ascribe it to the staff who were still creating more rumors about me and him, and Nolan and me.
“Then maybe we should go somewhere no one will hear,” he suggested with a quick wink before leaning in to whisper in my ear. “I have a private cabin downstairs. Why don’t you meet me there?”
Without allowing me a second to answer, Landon walked away, leaving me to decide whether I would give in to my desires or hold back.
