Page 49 of Captivated By You

He sipped his wine. “He’s very impressed with you. Everything I saw in you, he sees in you. If you choose to stay at Kingcaid for the long term, you’ll have a terrific career.”

Yeah, and not messing things up by screwing the boss is probably key to that longevity.

“I hope so.”

“What about the customer side of things? Where do you think we could improve to push up our satisfaction scores and increase the percentage of returning guests?”

I bit my lip. Giving feedback or criticism was something I’d always found challenging. I didn’t shy away from it so much as feel the need to pick my words carefully. A person’s response to critique was impossible to guess, and I was acutely aware that sitting across from me was the CEO of the company. The man with the power to hire and fire at will. My observations weren’t earth-shattering. I just hoped he wouldn’t see them as unjustified.

“I think there is room for improvement in our central reservation system, particularly in relation to guest profiles. The current system is fairly static, and so the reception staff are using the comments box to identify customer preferences. Those can easily be missed. If we changed the IT system to include several more categories with the most common requests behind them, we’d make it easier for the analysts to pick out trends and, therefore, enhance our guest experience.”

He swirled his glass again, his eyes flitting from the wine to me. “Go on.”

Bolstered by his interest and encouragement, I sat up straighter and put his position as CEO out of my mind. This was all about making guests at the hotel feel like part of the family.

“I think our reward system could benefit from an overhaul, too. Like a lot of hotels, our reward program focuses on free nights, but depending on how often the visitor travels, it can take a long time for those to be redeemed. If we expanded it to include rewards such as a free drink at the bar or a complimentary late checkout, we could differentiate ourselves from the masses.”

“Hmm.” He tapped his index finger against his chin. “What else?”

“Apart from those IT enhancements, which would make a big difference, the greatest issue I see is that we are having trouble attracting and retaining quality cleaning staff. Paula, the housekeeping manager, mentioned it to me, so I looked at the customer complaints from the last two weeks. Seventy percent of them mention issues with their rooms.”

His wide-eyed horror had me rushing on to reassure him.

“Don’t panic. It’s not hygiene issues they’re complaining about. It’s the little touches like the complimentary shampoo is missing or their drapes weren’t closed during the nighttime turndown service. Paula is constantly struggling with a shortage of staff, and attracting the right quality is an uphill battle. These might seem like small things, but your guests are paying a premium to stay at a Kingcaid hotel, and in my experience, rich people are the fussiest of all.”

I flashed a grin. He remained stony-faced. Gone was the lighthearted Ash, determined to get into my panties. Across the table sat Asher Kingcaid, CEO of Kingcaid Hotels.

And he looked mightily pissed.

Emma appeared with our food, sensed the tricky atmosphere, set the plates down, and beat a hasty retreat. I laid the napkin on my lap, picked up a fork, and stabbed at the buttery green beans. “Smells amazing.”

“What do you suggest we do about it?”

I frowned. “About what? The food?”

He sighed heavily. “The housekeeping issues.”

“Oh.” I wrapped my lips around the tines, and flavor exploded on my tongue. “My God, your chef is a genius. These are delicious.”

Asher’s silverware remained on the table, his napkin untouched. A nerve beat in his cheek, and a vein I hadn’t noticed before protruded from his forehead.

“Kiana,” Ash growled.

He meant it as a warning for me to answer him, but all his manly display did was turn me on, flipping my mind back to that night when he’d shown his dominant side. My nipples puckered beneath my dress. Thank goodness for padded bras.

I forced myself to focus on the matter at hand and divert my attention away from the heat coursing through me. Ash didn’t need any further encouragement. I was already teetering on the edge of capitulation. Standing firm was paramount. Maybe it was a good thing he wanted to talk about work.

I sliced off a piece of chicken and ate it. Jesus, no wonder they could charge kidney-donating prices. “Okay, I’ll tell you what I think as long as you promise not to lose your shit.”

His lips gave a little quirk. Relieved, I did the same. He dipped his chin in a nonverbal cue for me to continue.

“I carried out some research, and from what I’ve gleaned, you’re paying about eight percent below the going rate. Add that to a shortage of resources and increased competition, and you’re not going to attract staff worthy of the Kingcaid brand.” When his eyebrows flew up, I hurried to tone down my feedback. “A little harsh, maybe. Housekeeping isn’t exactly a well-paid profession, but if you pay just that little bit more, you are far more likely to attract people who care and have a genuine desire to do their very best. And they’ll stick around, too.”

“How do you know this?”

I smiled and tapped my nose. “Come on, Ash. You don’t expect me to give away my secrets, do you?”

“If I’m going to act on this, I’d like to know your sources.”

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