Page 35 of Inarticulate

The woman inclined her head and flipped to a new page on her notepad, her pen poised to take an order.

“I’d love a fruit salad and a coffee with cream, no sugar.”

“Certainly. The kitchen will have it prepared right away.”

Yes, the kitchen certainly wouldn’t take long. Not when the restaurant was practically empty when it should’ve been the busiest morning period.

“Thank you.”

The woman walked away as Savannah reached for her cell on the side of the table and opened her email application. Her position here was to facilitate the settlement and extinguish the spot fires that continued to spark to life. It wasn’t her job to continuously speak to marketing to develop strategies to bring the hotel into the black for the few remaining weeks. That was in the hands of hotel management, and she outlined a quick email telling them as much.

“Here’s your coffee.”

Savannah didn’t look up as the liquid gold was pushed across the table. “Thanks.” She kept her focus on her emails, writing a mental list of all the things that needed to get done today. Only, it didn’t matter how busy she became, her thoughts always traveled back to her bedroom and the man who left the intoxicating scent of his cologne on her sheets.

She wondered if he had to sit through an inquisition from Penny on his whereabouts from the other night. She wondered way too much about him—where he was, what he was doing. Did he think about her?

“Savannah, can I have a word?”

She placed her cell back on the table and met the concern of the hotel shift manager. “Sure, what’s wrong?”

Grant stood over her table in an immaculate business suit and slicked back hair. He was around her age and didn’t have a relaxed bone in his body. Now wasn’t an exception. In fact, his anxiety seemed worse than normal as he picked at the quick of his nails and dodged his gaze around the room.

“You look stressed.” She pushed out the chair opposite her with her foot and took a sip of coffee. Her cell buzzed between them and she looked down to see Keenan’s name on the screen.

Keenan: Meet me tonight.

She schooled her expression, trying to dissuade the grin threatening to explode across her face. Where was the question mark? The arrogant bastard was dictating rendezvous with the assumption that she would snap at his command. And maybe she would, but there was no need to be overtly cocky.

She flipped over her cell to hide the screen and cleared her throat. “Take a seat, Grant.”

“Um…” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Sit,” she ordered. “Did you just get my email about increasing numbers in the restaurant?”

“Yes, but that isn’t why I’m here.” He pulled the spare seat out further and sat. “I need to talk to you about something.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” She pasted on an expression filled with managerial comfort and waited for him to elaborate. Normally, she had the patience of a nun with a lifetime of service, but there was an unanswered message on her phone and she wanted nothing more than to put Keenan in his self-righteous place before she confirmed a time and date for their next tryst.

“I had to fire one of the housekeeping staff this morning.”

“You what?” All thoughts of pleasure vanished as she grasped at her coffee mug to hide her frustration. Deep breaths. Calm down. “I’m fighting to convince the staff who have already left to return. Why would you make my job harder?”

He looked away, the tops of his cheeks flushed as the waitress came toward them with a bowl in her hand.

“Sorry to interrupt.” She placed the fruit salad in front of Savannah and straightened. “Can I get anything for you, Grant?”

“No.” He dismissed her without a glance and remained silent until they were alone. “There was gossip.”

“And?” She tried to remain calm by forking a piece of strawberry into her mouth. “I hope there’s more to it than that.” She chewed, fought to swallow, then forked another piece of fruit.

“There is.” He ran an anxious hand over his mouth. “Can we chat in the office?”

Fucking hell. “No.” The restaurant was barely functioning. There was no threat of being heard. “Just tell me.”

“But…” He was fidgeting now, playing with the edge of the tablecloth.

“Look, it can’t be that bad. I’ve solved ninety-nine problems so far. I’ll be able to fix this one, too.”

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