I can’t figure out if that’s adorable or infuriating or both. First, she tries to sneak out on me, and then I barely get her to agree to be my fake fiancé. This is all new territory for me.
But now is the time to turn my attention to Ashley and Liam. “What the hell? Who let you two into my room? Isn’t that illegal?”
“Relax,” Liam says. “She’s cute. Funny too. Pastry chef, going to work,” he shakes his head. “You can’t make that stuff up.”
I massage my temple with my fingers. “You could have texted. Like normal people.”
“This was way more fun,” Ashley says. “It’s too bad she couldn’t get out of here fast enough, Chase. A relationship would probably help your corporate cause.”
“She’s my fiancé,” I announce. Then I wait with smug satisfaction for the expressions on their faces to change. I can see that they have lots of questions.
“You’re kidding,” Liam says.
“Nope,” I answer. “Next.”
Liam tries again. “How long have you known her? How did you meet? Why did you keep her a secret?”
“Hang on,” Ashley interrupts. “You’re engaged? Why the hell didn’t you lead with that in the first place?”
“You surprised us,” I answer.
Ashley charges ahead. “Hey, wait a minute. I didn’t see a ring. If you two are engaged, why doesn’t she have a ring?”
“Yeah, brother. You’re a lot of things, but cheapskate isn’t one of them,” Liam jumps in.
“It’s getting sized,” I lie smugly.
Liam continues with a grin, like it’s a fun game that he’s winning. “I can’t believe you tried to hide her away from us.”
“I’m not hiding her. You two aren’t supposed to be here, remember? The bigger question is why aren’t you in your own rooms?”
Ashley shrugs. “We got here early. The rooms weren’t ready yet. We came to help you with the corporate intrigue. How were we supposed to know that there was a bonus fiancé involved?”
“By help me, you mean you wanted to get here before I found out so you could wallow in my misery, right?”
“I’m hurt,” Liam says, clutching his chest. Then he burst out laughing.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Then what’s your plan to help me?”
“Oh, there’s no plan. You were right the first time,” he shrugs. “I wanted to give you a heads up. I also wanted to come hang out at the beach.”
“Same,” Ashley chimes in.
They both grab coffee mugs and then head back to sit on my couch. It’s clear that I’m not getting rid of them any time soon. “I’m going to take a shower,” I announce. I have some serious thinking to do. And a phone call to make.
Chapter Ten
Kaylee
As much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. I’m still in my clothes from yesterday. I doubt anybody will notice, especially if I get to work a little early and throw my coat on. So that’s my new plan.
For once, instead of being a giant pain in my ass, work is a welcome distraction from the previous events of the morning. I slip into the kitchen area of the resort from the back entrance and head straight to my locker.
“Wow, looks like somebody had a fun night.”
I jump out of my skin at the sound of the nearby voice. Ugh It’s Vivian, one of the nosier employees at the resort.
“Not particularly,” I say as nonchalantly as possible as I slip the jacket on over my clothes. Normally I leave the top half of the jacket unbuttoned, but under Vivian’s prying eyes I button it to the top.
Vivian studies me and then I see her judgy face scrunch itself up into an expression I don’t like at all.
“Ha! You can’t fool me. I know what the morning after a fling looks like. There’s your hair, for one,” she says.
That’s just insulting. “What’s wrong with my hair?” It’s true that I didn’t have a lot of time to get ready this morning and after the whole conversation in Jellybean’s suite I also didn’t have time to go home and change.
Then I replay the morning’s events in my mind and panic washes over me. Did I really just make a major life decision entering into a verbal financial contract involving hundreds of thousands of dollars with a guy I know only as Jellybean? Shit.
“Your hair looks messier than usual,” Vivian continues, “like you had a very hot date last night.”
“Can’t a girl have a bad hair day without judgement?” I ask.
She holds her hands up, but her face remains an infuriating smirk. “Fine, don’t spill.”
“Okay. Good talk.” I grab my purse, manage a weak smile at Vivian, and head to my work area. That was a close one.
Vivian is one of the oldest and most experienced members of the kitchen staff at the resort. She knows every person, nook and cranny in this place and she’s a bulldog when it comes to gossip. With any luck at all I just sidestepped a major land mine in my plan to not be discovered having a one-night stand.
Besides, it’s almost time for the morning meeting. Every morning, all the chefs and kitchen staff line up for a meeting with Ralph, the head chef. Ralph fills us in on what to expect today, along with whatever updates we need about the weekend.
There have been rumors about a major top-secret event this weekend for a while now. We’re used to it. Celebrities come and go here all the time.
It’s not a big deal to us. It’s just a fact of life, like the tide going in and out. I get my station ready to open and then make my way to the main kitchen area where all the others are gathered and waiting.
Ralph is a tall, burly man with short dark hair and a mustache. He comes in and clears his throat. The chatter in the room ceases. “Okay, people, I need you guys to be at your best this weekend. We’re about to be up to our eyeballs in Covingtons.”
At
