High heels clicked at a fast pace behind me, and I considered running. It was an employee hall. No hotel guests would see me, and I was so close. Only twenty feet separated me from the door. I could be in my car before the night manager turned the corner and spotted me.

Sighing, I stopped and turned, waiting for her. Even if I made it to my car, she'd call, text, email—hell, if she could, she'd train a damn carrier pigeon to hunt me down and deliver a note at the first hint of any possible problem. Anything but read the damn daily shift change announcements. Why did I even bother writing them?

I gritted my teeth as she careened around the corner, panting. "Mr. Carson! Oh, thank goodness you're still here." She leaned against the wall and clutched her side as she gasped for air.

"Mrs. Foster." I forced my face to relax. "How can I help you?"

The door to Mr. Harrison's office opened, and I braced myself for him to throw in his two cents. What was he even doing here? It'd only been a month since his February visit to check on things—which really meant spending a night in town avoiding his wife. Didn't he have other properties to monitor?

But it wasn't him. A head of long blonde hair poked into the hall, and I pasted on my most pleasant but disinterested smile. Stacy Harrison, another thorn in my side. "Hello, Stacy. I didn't realize you'd come for a visit. Is there anything I can help you with?"

She stepped into the hall wearing a skintight dress. Leaning her hip against the doorjamb, she smiled and fluttered her fingers toward Mrs. Foster. "Go ahead with what you were doing. I'll wait."

Turning back to Mrs. Foster, I raised my eyebrows in question.  "I'm sorry," she said. "I know you're going out for the night, but Claire just told me Pascal called in sick! We have three large parties on the books besides the regular dinner crowd. What will we do?" Her dull brown eyes bugged from her face in a way that would've been comical if she wasn't so frustrating.

Stacy frowned. "Oh, no. Daddy won't like that."

Ignoring Stacy, and restraining an eye roll, I told Mrs. Foster, "We'll let Chef William handle the kitchen."

"Oh, yes." She nodded. "That'd be perfect. I'll call him. I just hope he's available."

As she spun to rush away, I worked to keep my tone even. "He's already here, Mrs. Foster. Has been for over an hour. It's all in the shift change announcements I send you daily before your arrival." My cell buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it. The faster I finished here, the faster I'd see Nate.

"The announcements? Oh, goodness! I suppose I forgot to read those again. Sorry about that."

"No problem. Now, if there's nothing else..."

"Nope, nothing." She smiled. "If anything pops up, I'll call and let you know."

"I'm sure you will. Have a good evening, Mrs. Foster."

"Yes, sir. You too."

As soon as she skittered away, I turned my attention to the other problem waiting to be crossed off my list.

"You really are fantastic at your job." Stacy slinked closer than necessary, gracing me with her abundance of expensive perfume. Personal space seemed to be a foreign concept for her—something I'm sure many men enjoyed.

"Well, thank you. I do my best to stay on top of things."

"I bet you do." She wrinkled her nose playfully, and it was all I could do to stay in place. "You know, Daddy thinks I could learn a lot from you, and I think he's right." She scanned my body as though this were a bar and not my workplace. "We're going to need to spend a lot more time together."

Dumbfounded, I searched for a response. "I'm sorry. I'm confused. What could I teach you?"

"Lots of things, I'm sure." She giggled as her fingers skimmed my chest. "But Daddy wants me to learn the business before I take over for him. Of course, I have my degree, but he says nothing beats hands-on training, and I'm all about hands on. So why not?"

"Ah." I nodded and hoped I didn't look as horrified as I felt. "I'd be happy to show you the ropes. Unfortunately, I'm headed out for the night. Maybe on your next visit?" Or never.

She beamed. "Don't worry! I'll be here all week. We can start tomorrow."

"Wonderful." I tried not to cringe as I took my keys from my pocket, hoping she'd get the hint. "If there's nothing else I can help you with..."

"Nope. That's all. See you tomorrow." Her smile was pretty, and if I were someone else, I'm sure I'd have been excited by the chance to spend time with her. As things were, I hoped she'd find something else to do.

"Have a good night." I turned and headed for the door before she could prolong our conversation.

The warm sun and cool air hit me as soon as I stepped outside. I took a slow breath of the spring air and relaxed. That was enough of Peachtree and Kings for today.

My sister's words rang through my head. Being the hotel manager shouldn't mean you can't have a life outside of it. Liv was right.

Surely, between Mrs. Foster and the two supervisors currently on shift, they could handle things for a few hours without me, and there was no way Stacy really needed anything from me. This would be a new way to make her father happy and talk him into doing something she wants.

Pressing the button on my keychain, I unlocked the doors of my black Mercedes-Benz S-Class and tossed my suit jacket across the backseat. After cuffing the sleeves of my shirt, I slipped my phone from my pocket—I'd missed one text. I got in the car and pulled it up on the screen.

Nate: Can't wait to see you. Hope you're hungry.

I typed out a quick reply before pulling from the parking lot: Can't wait.

Tingles filled my chest at the reminder that across town, Nate waited for me. It'd been almost three months of us dating and my feelings for him had only grown. Guilt needled the back of my mind, but I shook it away. I was doing the best I could.

Thanks for reading! 💜