Page 35 of Worth the Vow

“Why?”

“Because you’d never leave the kids on a Sunday unless it was really important. Your mom is watching them, by the way.”

Woah. I didn’t realize how much Kate paid attention. Sunday has always been family day for me. It takes one hell of an emergency at Everlasting for me to go into work on a Sunday. Typically the kids and I cook breakfast together, then choose an activity for the afternoon. Once a month I let them pick something paid, but everything else has to be free. It can be as simple as building a blanket fort and watching a movie, or going to the zoo. Sienna once spoke about wanting to learn how to cook, so we took a series of cooking classes over a two month period. Aspen was an absolute disaster, and I’m sure the instructor was thrilled to have us leave.

“So were you avoiding me?” Kate asks hesitantly.

I sigh and rub my eyes. “No. We had a large sum of cash stolen last night. I’ve been going through security footage, as well as all the accounting paperwork to see if I can figure out who took it.”

“Oh, wow,” Kate says quietly. “I can’t believe someone would do that.”

“Yeah.”

“Did you notify the police?”

I nod.

“What are they doing in their investigation?” she asks.

“They told me to turn over all the security footage. Well, they originally said they wanted all employee banks to be frozen until further notice, so they could have someone count all the banks and see if there are any major discrepancies, but I said no to that. If I cut off everyone, we’d have to shut down the hotel. We can’t run without cash.”

Kate hums as she thinks, tapping her fork against her lips. It makes me zero in on her mouth, and I remember all too well how much I enjoyed our few kisses. “I always hated dealing with my employee bank when I’d pick up a bartending shift here. It stressed me out. I swear I’d count the thing three times before I dropped it in the accounting deposit box.”

“I’d do that too,” I chuckle.

“What? When did you have an employee bank?” she asks, her mouth hanging open in shock. I look away before my mind gets ahead of me and I start thinking about stuffing her mouth.

“I wasn’t always in charge, Katharine. I’ve done just about every job here at one point or another.” When I realize my dick didn’t get the memo about ignoring Kate’s mouth, I discreetly try to adjust myself so she doesn’t realize I’ve got a half-chub.

When Kate clears her throat, my eyes jump to hers, expecting her to smirk at catching my faux pas, but her face remains blank as she studies me. “Have you ever thought about becoming a cashless hotel?”

“What? No,” I say with disdain, shaking my head. “We’ve always allowed cash transactions.”

“Just because you’ve always done something doesn’t mean you have to continue. I mean, places used to not allow credit cards. I remember my mom telling me about working retail in the nineties when every credit card transaction had to be called in for approval. Lots of people paid with checks, too, and nowadays there are kids who don’t even know how to write a check.”

That’s true. Not that I’ll admit to Kate she’s right, though.

“I don’t think my dad will allow it,” I confess, which is the closest thing I can think of to say without telling Kate she’s probably right.

“Does he actually have any say in the decisions you make around here, Dominic?” Kate asks. “I get that he used to run this place. And there’s history with your family. But you’re in charge now. If you make a change, can he actually do anything about it?”

“No, not really. He’ll just bitch nonstop.”

“Is that really any different than what he does now?” she teases.

I chuckle as I take another delicious bite of enchiladas. “Very true. It pisses me off that he already called me complaining today. I don’t even know how he found out I was here.”

“Sienna.”

“How do you know?”

“She stalks your location all the time, Dominic. She reports to everyone what you’re doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a group text with your parents and siblings without you.”

This is what I get for giving my ten-year-old a phone. “Honestly, I’m not that surprised. Carter will be worse about tracking me whenever he gets a phone.”

“He got Sienna to put the tracking app on his iPad. He already stalks you.”

“Lovely.”

---