Page 16 of Grand Escape

“You look so cute.”

She bounced in place with excitement, making me wish she would move on to her next job. Brianna was more cruise-ship material. Those were like floating singles parties at night.

“It’s my day off,” I said, trying to distract her from questioning me.

“Oh, right. You going to eat somewhere?” Her eyes widened. “Rylan Phillips, do you have a date? With who?”

“Got some errands. That’s it.” I left it vague, hoping she’d let me escape.

“Oh, good. I just got off the lobby bar, and I’m grabbing something in the locker room before heading out. We’re cooking at our place if you want to stop by.”

Brianna lived in an apartment with three other girls, two locals and another transplant like her. They all worked at different hotels and aspired to meet a rich sugar daddy.

“Thanks, but I’m probably going to call it an early night.”

She flipped her hair off her shoulder and smiled at me, probably trying to figure out why I never wanted to hang. “Love those shorts, though,” she said with a wink before she took off.

I blew an errant hair out of my face and headed toward the lobby again, rethinking my cutoff Levi’s and white tank. If Brianna thought my outfit looked good, maybe it was sending the wrong message?

As soon as I entered the open-air lobby, I muttered shit for the second time in minutes. Adam sat at the lobby bar with Tony standing next to him.

“Hi,” I said, making eye contact with neither of them as I approached.

“Tony was nice enough to buy me a drink,” Adam said.

“He gets those for free, like when I give you a drink. Now, if he offered to let you take out the hotel Jeep, that would be a different story.”

Tony pulled me into his side and kissed the top of my head. “Insurance doesn’t allow it.”

His action was a threat disguised as a moment between friends, but Adam rolled with it.

“Good thing I can’t drive on the wrong side of the road.”

“For sure,” Tony said, then took a sip of his mineral water.

I used to worry when he’d hang around the bar, but that had faded over the years. He’d replaced a bad addiction with a healthy one—the gym.

As the awkward moment stretched out, Tony finally said, “Well, I’m off to lift.”

“You do that,” I told him.

“Behave yourself,” he said while walking away.

“I see Howie let you get away with ice,” I said to Adam, nodding my head toward my fellow bartender at the end of the bar.

“Either way, he’s not my favorite barback,” Adam teased, standing and leaving a twenty on the bar. “Let’s go,” he said, trying to take charge of the evening.

He saw me eye the money but didn’t offer any explanation for the tipping differential.

“So, what was that all about?” I asked while we walked out the front door, playing it cool as to what I was asking about.

“What? Tony? He wanted me to know he knew what villa I was staying in, and he would cut off my limbs in my sleep if I hurt you.”

I playfully stabbed Adam in the side with my finger. “He didn’t say that.”

“Not exactly, but close.”

As we walked down the driveway, I took in Adam’s khaki shorts and white T-shirt. It wasn’t Hanes, but it was more casual than I’d seen him. “How’s the sunburn?”

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