July 2015

ZOE

Teddy swings his arm around the back of my seat and reaches for his beer.

"Nice restaurant, Zo." The pad of his thumb brushes my bare shoulder blade. "Do you get people from outside the hotel eating here too?"

"The restaurant, yes. Only about a third of reservations are from our guests. It's technically a separate business to the hotel, so it's marketed as its own brand to attract more customers. The bar across the lobby is ours."

I'm rambling, flailing under the intense attention of the man sitting across the table from us. Face like thunder, his stormy gaze is trained on Teddy's arm. Even sat in a chair, he's all tall and broad and menacing. So damn hot. We're taking this friendship very seriously, though. And by that, I mean we've not had sex once. Not even a kiss.

I guess normal friends don't sleep with each other. They have coffee once a month and Skype every other weekend. When they're travelling, they send postcards. On the rare occasions they're in the same city for an extended period of time, they go food shopping together because the short one can't reach the stuff on the top shelf. Just mundane, normal stuff.

But my God I'm sexually frustrated. He could sort me out in seconds. In fact, pretty sure he could just look at my clit and I'd explode.

Heat creeps up the back of my neck, and I reach for more wine.

"Good idea, Zoe!" Marianne claps her hands together. "Let's get another bottle, shall we?"

The last thing I need is to get drunk, but we're trying to schmooze our biggest clients and Marianne clearly assumes expensive alcohol is the way to go. Ironically, only Teddy and his manager are drinking. Mark is on the water, and the other two security guys—the ones not guarding the entrance to the restaurant—are sipping Diet Coke.

I turn my head towards her and softly murmur, "Probably just the one bottle. There's only a few of us drinking."

"It's about the relationship-building, not the alcohol," she replies through gritted teeth. "We want them to think we're looking after them."

I bite my tongue. I don't agree with that, but Marianne is retiring in a few months and I'm eyeing up her job, so I need to keep her on side in the hope she'll put in a good word for me.

"Another beer, Teddy?" Marianne asks.

"Nah, I'm good thanks." He taps a finger against the rim of his water glass. "Pacing myself."

Spoken like a truly mature twenty-two-year-old. Meanwhile the thirty-year-old next to him is struggling to keep her vision in focus and we've not even had mains yet.

"I'm going to pop to the bathroom," I say. "Can you order me the risotto if they come over?"

"Sure," Teddy replies, even though I'd directed the question at Marianne.

"I think I'll take a bathroom break, too." She pushes back her chair and smooths down her dress as she stands.

"What's your order, Marianne?" Teddy asks with a charming smile.

God. This boy will break someone's heart one day.

"Lasagne for me. Thank you, dear."

"One risotto and one lasagne. Got it." Teddy fires us a thumbs up.

Chuckling, I squeeze his shoulder. "If music doesn't work out, you've got a job as a waiter here."

His grin is nothing short of heart-stopping, and yet mine doesn't even change rhythm. Maybe it's because he's several years younger. Most likely it's because my heart only beats for one man, and he's sitting right across the table from me, making it impossible to pretend he doesn't exist.

Booze seal well and truly broken, I wash my hands in the sink and smile at Marianne in the mirror. Her expression is friendly but grave.

"Word of advice, Zoe." She turns off the tap and shakes the excess water from her hands. "Don't sleep with the client."

My stomach flips. Am I that obvious? I'd deliberately tried not to look at Mark tonight. Oh crap. Maybe it's because he was glaring at Teddy. Jealousy all over his face.

"I'm not sleeping with him," I say. "We just have a good personal relationship outside our business one."

"And that's great! That's what you need. Earn that loyalty and trust. Make him see you as a friend and not just a nameless member of staff." She plucks a bottle of perfume from her handbag and spritzes herself. "But don't let it become more than friendship."

I lean a hip against the sink counter. "I don't have any time or interest in relationships right now. My focus is on my job. My only commitment is to this hotel."

Even under the influence of alcohol, I'm impressed at my ability to both change the subject and sow some seeds in her head. She needs to know I'm serious. I might be half her age, but I can do her job.

"And that's why it needs to stay as friendship." She drops the perfume into her bag. "Best case scenario, it comes out and people start to suspect that he's only our biggest client because you're sleeping with him. It doesn't look great for the hotel's integrity. Worst case scenario, the relationship ends badly and they drop us. Six figures worth of revenue gone."

I lower my eyes to the floor as that sinks in. Of course I've thought about it. The hotel's revenue has soared since Teddy Stone started staying here. They book far enough in advance now that they can get the top floor all to themselves, just like they wanted, and I'm stubborn enough to charge a high premium for it.

The GM is chuffed. Not only does a trendy pop star like our hotel enough to stay here several times a year, but his security team are also paying over the market rate to do so. It's an unintentional victory for me, and one that is building my case for Marianne's Hotel Manager position.

"It's always a fine line." Marianne's smile is sympathetic but sincere. "We need to keep the client happy without crossing professional boundaries."

"Of course."

"Plus, his security guy didn't look thrilled about it, either, and they're the ones ultimately in charge of where he stays, so..." She frowns. "It's just too much at stake."

Hang on. Have we been talking about different people this whole time? She thinks it's Teddy who I'm interested in? Oh, for heaven's sake. His stupid flirting. He only does it to wind up Mark, and now Marianne has the wrong end of the stick.

Although maybe that's a good thing. If she doesn't suspect Mark, I'm in the clear. I'll just tell Teddy to dial it down a notch, Marianne will think I've taken her advice on board, and boom: position is mine.

"I understand," I tell her. "Thank you for the advice. I appreciate it."

*

I follow Teddy's example and start downing glasses of water in between my wine. It slows the effects of alcohol enough for me to hold a semi-coherent conversation with his manager about baking. On the surface it seems like an innocent enough topic, but then it takes a turn.

"Do you cook, Mark?" Helen, Teddy's manager, leans forward in her chair to look down the table at him.

"Occasionally."

"You seem the type who'd like to impress a woman through cooking her a nice meal."

He did it for me for three years. Not sure that counts, though, when we're sharing the responsibility out of a necessity to eat.

"What's your signature dish?" Teddy glances up from his chicken.

Mark clears his throat and doesn't meet my eye. "I don't have one."

I try to remain casual as I slide another forkful of risotto into my mouth. The creamy sauce is delicious, but Mark used to add bacon lardons into his version, and I miss the salty punch they packed.

"What's the most romantic thing you've ever done for a woman?" Teddy then asks, like the little shit-stirring troublemaker he is.

Helen, who's possibly even more drunk than I am, rubs her hands together with glee. "Excellent question. Did you know," she says to Marianne and me, "this guy hasn't had a girlfriend in the whole time we've known him? Strapping man like this. It's a waste to the female population."

"You're just saving yourself for the right person," Marianne says, like a coddling mother. "There's nothing wrong with standards."

"Mm. Exactly." Mark pours more water from the shared jug into his glass.

"How high are your standards, Mark?" Teddy asks.

"Exceptionally high."

I shovel more risotto into my mouth. How did we transition from baking to Mark's romantic preferences?

"You've still not answered my question." Teddy sets down his cutlery on his empty plate. "What's the most romantic thing you've done? Come on, make the women here swoon."

It's just as well I can't bear to look up from my plate. I don't want to see Mark flipping through memories of Ruby. Why did she get his romantic side and I never did? She was a cheat. She didn't deserve him.

Would it be weird to excuse myself to the bathroom again? The wine is going straight through me.

"Come on, Mark," Helen presses. "Surely you've done something romantic in your lifetime? Or is it hard to pick just one?"

"I once flew to Spain to tell a woman I loved her. Does that count?"

Risotto lodges in my throat and I begin to choke. I swipe my wine glass and gulp several large mouthfuls to wash it down.

Luckily everyone is too busy cooing over Mark's romantic story to notice my reaction. Everyone except Teddy, whose previous teasing expression has now transformed into one of guilty remorse.

*

I've given up pacing. It was a valiant effort while it lasted, but Helen and Marianne are smashed, and my semi-sober state was teetering in an uncomfortable middle ground where I was drunk enough to feel emotional about Mark's confession, and not drunk enough not to care.

When I return from my third trip to the bathroom, I barrel straight into the wall. Which is weird, because I know the layout of this hotel like the back of my hand, and there definitely wasn't a wall there earlier.

"I hope you're not sneaking off to the bathroom this often to throw up."

Even weirder, the wall talks.

I crane my head up and find a familiar pair of green eyes staring down at me. So beautiful. Like shiny emeralds. The kind you'd find in an engagement ring, where you'd stare at it and feel love, affection, excitement about the future...

It's not fair that people have eyes like engagement rings. How am I supposed to look at them without falling in love over and over?

"Zo?"

Mark's face comes into focus, lines marring his brow as he frowns down at me. Such a sexy scowl. All serious and focused.

"You're so handsome." I lift a hand to cup his cheek. It takes a few attempts because he's swaying from side to side, but I get there eventually and moan in contentment at the light stubble scratching my palm.

"And you're so drunk."

Rude.

I withdraw my hand and fold my arms. "You're supposed to say I'm beautiful. That's how compliments work. I say something nice to you, and you say something nice back. It's the laws of communication. You should know about laws. You were a policeman."

Maybe I am that drunk, though, because it almost looks like his mouth is lifting into a smile.

"You're beautiful, Zo. You're also wasted."

"I'm also horny." I step closer and trickle my fingers over his belt. "So, so horny."

"Uhuh..."

I trail my touch lower, cupping his dick through his suit trousers. "But you're my top client so I'm not allowed to fuck you. Boss's orders."

"I see." He arches a brow down at me.

"Yes, so I'm sorry, but..." I step back and hold up my hands with a resigned sigh. "My body is off bounds to you. I have to turn you down and politely request that you stop touching me."

This time I know I'm not imagining it. It's a definite smile. The edges of those engagement ring eyes crinkle with amusement.

"That's fine, Zo. Don't worry about it."

"Okay. Thanks for being so understanding."

And when he walks away, it's even weirder, because his hands are in his pockets, like he hadn't even touched me at all.

***

Thank you for reading :) xx

***

What did Mark just confess 😳 The next chapter contains one of my favourite scenes from this book 💦. Let's just say Mark & Ed are doing Mark & Ed things, and poor hungover Zoe is not impressed...

If you want to read ahead, the completed book is available on Ream! Speaking of Ream, I have just posted a new bonus chapter over there. If you're a Heart of Stone series reader, this is a super spicy chapter for Book 2, where "Teddy" pens his autograph on Soph's body. It's by far the filthiest smut I've written, so proceed with caution if you're not into BDSM elements such as roleplay, spanking & restraining. I'll also drop the link to my Bonus Chapters card which lists all the bonus content currently available on Ream with spoilers blacked out 💜