Page 86 of The Main Event

It was a fair question. “It might have something to do with the fact that my father is coming for breakfast today. Even Tammy can’t live up to the horror that is Jared Hunter.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that.” Daisy’s point of worry shifted in an instant. “He’s not going to be mean to you, is he?”

“Mean to me?”

“You make it sound as if you have the worst father in the world.”

Had I made it sound like that? “Let’s just say the guy isn’t warm and fuzzy. I expect a perfectly stilted conversation over poached eggs and English muffins. It won’t be a big deal.”

“That doesn’t sound like much of a breakfast.”

“Well, my father is a stickler for eating as healthy as possible. He would never have one of those delightful skillets you’ve got me hooked on.”

“I just don’t know what to do,” she admitted. “I’ve never had a workplace …thing… before.”

“Thing?”

“You know what I mean.”

A smile took over my mouth, unbidden. She was too freaking cute for her own good. She made me want to cuddle her close and hand feed her fried dough. If I had to spend the rest of my life trapped in this room with her, I knew I would be fine with it. “Just don’t respond,” I suggested. “So everybody knows. That might make things easier for us.”

“Do you want things to be easier for us?” Now she sounded vulnerable.

“I want you to take a breath. It’s going to be okay. In two days, they’ll have found something else to gossip about. How bad could it be?”

“You’re going to regret asking that.”

“I guess we’ll see.” We lapsed into a silence for a beat. “So, where did we land on you coming back to bed?”

She huffed out a laugh, meaning she wasn’t quite as worked up as she had been when she first called. I was taking that as a win. “I’m going home to get cleaned up. You’d better prepare yourself. This isn’t going to be the cakewalk you think it is.”

“It’s going to be fine. Trust me.”

SHERYL POTTER WAS BEHIND THE DESK WHEN Iheaded downstairs. I happened to know that she was up on all the gossip in the hotel. She was also bad at hiding what she knew. That meant she would be a true test of Tammy’sgossip-spreading ability. The second her eyes landed on me, I recognized that Daisy was right. They would all know before the day was out.

I still wasn’t bothered.

“Anything to report from last night?” I asked as I stopped in front of the desk.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Sheryl asked in cagey fashion.

Ah, so Daisy was right about that too. They weren’t going to be afraid of giving me a hard time about our relationship. That didn’t mean I couldn’t play with her. “What do you mean? Did something happen? Did one of the guests get drunk and do something weird? Who do I have to fire?”

Sheryl looked momentarily horrified that I’d jumped to that conclusion. Then her expression hardened. “You’re not fooling me. Tammy couldn’t spread the news fast enough that Daisy was seen coming out of your room this morning. You’d better prepare yourself because you’re the new bird on the hot seat.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I lied.

“So, you’re saying you didn’t spend the night with Daisy?” Sheryl’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m saying that perhaps Tammy shouldn’t be talking out of turn. Maybe I should have a talk with her.”

Sheryl burst out laughing. “Yeah, that’s not going to make things better. She’s already calling you a fornicator … although, to be fair, she’s actually painting Daisy as the temptress who suckered you in. Her narrative suggests you were a victim who somehow got bamboozled by Daisy’s boobs.”

I thought about the way Daisy had looked in her Elvira costume. “That’s an interesting theory.”

Sheryl waited.

I did nothing but stare back.

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