Page 41 of The Ranger Gets His Girl

People mingled in the hallway, but the blond in white and pink stood out. She walked down the hallway with the to-go cafe bag. Bathrooms were halfway down the hall, so he aimed straight for that, weaving between the thin crowd. He slowed his pace to see her push open a staff entrance door toward the end.

He went into the bathroom, but kept the door propped open to keep watch. She didn't come back, so he stepped out again and glanced behind him. No one was watching from the lobby, as everyone seemed to be focused on the conference.

He could hear guest speakers in the ballrooms on either side as he walked to the service door. It swung open, and a hotel staff member came out with a tray of hors d'oeuvres.

Mason stopped to let the man pass, but he was in too big a hurry to look back. So Mason dipped into the staff kitchen. He looked around, but no one paid him any attention. Kitchen jackets hung on a hook along the wall, and an office was open with a staff member on the phone.

Mason grabbed a jacket and pulled it on over his plain blue t-shirt. His cargo shorts stood out and obviously weren't part of the uniform. But no one seemed to even glance at him.

He spied a blond head disappearing through a door on the opposite side of the kitchen, so he walked through as if he belonged there. The door had a porthole, so he looked inside.

A smaller hallway with the blond stepping onto a service elevator. He waited for the elevator to close, then looked behind him. A plate of pasta sat on a counter. He grabbed it and pushed through the door to see what floor she stopped on.

He stood there, watching the numbers light up. Then a door opened down the hall, and a security guard came walking toward him. His eyes narrowed on Mason's shorts and sneakers.

Mason's heart raced. He didn't know who was in the drug lord's pocket. He couldn't trust anyone.

He smiled and shifted the pasta. "Afternoon. Smells great, doesn't it?"

The security guard tucked his thumbs into his belt loops and frowned. "Sonny, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but you clearly don't work here. Are you going to tell me what you're up to or am I going to hold you until the police get here."

Mason widened his eyes and acted his heart out, pretending to be a dumb horny guy. "What? No, come on, man. I just saw the most gorgeous woman, and I'm trying to make my move. She'll think it's cute, right? I bring food. Every girl loves food."

The security guard rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You've got to be kidding me. Can't you just ask her for her number like a normal person?"

Mason shrugged and glanced up to see the elevator light stop on the eleventh floor. "I could, but if I'm going to score with this blond bombshell, I have to stand out."

The security guard looked up at the light and back down at Mason. "Blond you say? I'm afraid you're out of luck with that one, sonny. She's taken."

Mason let his shoulders slump and his hopeful expression fall. "Of course she is. All the good ones are."

The security guard snorted and waved to the kitchen behind him. "I wouldn't exactly call her a good one. Consider yourself lucky you escaped her clutches. Trust me. Now come on. I'm going to escort you out of here. Unless you'd like to revisit that police situation?"

Mason shook his head and shuffled back toward the kitchen. "No, no. I'll go. Sorry, man. You know how it is."

The security guard clapped him roughly on the back, giving him no choice but to go back into the kitchen. "I remember, but you're not going to find a decent girl by stalking those types. You'll find the good girls in decent places like the grocery store or the beach shops."

Mason set the plate back down on the counter and winked at the guard with a grin. "Ah, but I don't want the good girls. I want the dirty ones."

The security guard laughed but didn't remove his hand from Mason's back as they walked through the kitchen. A few more staff watched them but didn't stop in their food prep to say anything. "You dodged a bullet with that one then. She's the dirtiest on the island, but not in the way you're thinking. Now, return the jacket."

They stopped briefly by the manager's office, who was still turned away on the phone. Mason took the jacket off and put it back on the hook as the security guard asked him if he was a guest at the hotel or attending the conference.

Mason shook his head since he had no conference badge or a room key to prove a lie. Then the security guard escorted him through the thickening crowd to the front lobby.

He smiled a hard, firm smile and crossed his arms as Mason stepped through the glass doors. "Now you have a great day, but don't try coming back in here, sonny. Not unless you're a guest, and even then I'll be watching you."

Mason grinned and winked again as the valet brought his car around. "Don't worry about me, sir. I'm going to go hit up the beach and see what hotties are just waiting for me."

The security guard shook his head in disappointment even though his lips twitched. Mason got into his car and drove down the street. He circled the hotel in widening blocks and looked around.

Finally, he pulled into a parking lot and called the office.

"Yeah, it's Novak. She went to the 11th floor."

"Shit, that's the penthouse. We don't have any eyes up there. Our guy working at the hotel hasn't been assigned to clean that floor."

Mason looked up and squinted. "Do you have any surveillance equipment?"

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